2015 Road Trip - France - Part 1

In May we were lucky enough to have the chance to take "Reggie" our VW camper on a road trip through parts of France we had not visited before on our way to a pet and house sitting assignment near to where we lived for a while in SW France.

We took the Dover to Calais ferry after a freebie overnight at The Flying Horse in Kent. Ideally situated just under an hours drive to the port.

An uneventful crossing and we arrived at 1435hrs local time. We headed to the Somme Valley and an overnight at a municipal camping site in Corbie. 

Next day we headed out on our bikes as we planned to cycle the Somme Valley route from Corbie and back, around 20kms. First off we had to find a local shop to buy a new valve!!

We had a lovely but exhausing ride! The wind was strong and gusting against us on the way back which made for hard going even though the cycle track was flat and followed the river for the most part. We stopped off at a local auberge at lunchtime and enjoyed a beer and crisps!!

The scenery was very green and we were surpised at the amount of marshes and ponds which lined the track. It was very pretty.

Another night was spent at a different but equally adequate municipal camping site nearby to Corbie.

In the morning after a good nights sleep we had a lazy start to our day, breakfasting al fresco and eventually driving on to Aube Lac D'Orient where we camped at a freebie site. The site was a snail farm  near Longsols and it was very interesting to see the snails and talk to the guy responsible for looking after them and taking them to market! Very friendly hosts and dog!

We ate our supper outside but it was a tad chilly.

An early departure the next day and the weather was overcast and cool. Nonetheless, we had our breakfast of pain au chocolat and coffee at the side of the lake and watched the locals fishing out on the lake. 

We then continued our journey south and our next overnight stop just outside of Lyon at Camping Indigo. The rain started but luckily there was a pizzeria on site and we had a delicious supper there including a jug of house red!!

Showers and windy weather was the order of the day the next day so we had a leisurely start to the day and then drove onwards to the Languedoc region.

Overnight at another freebie site in the Herault. Very, very windy but pretty site. 

There were 5 other vans camping there as well as us in the grounds of the vineyard. Too windy to walk anywhere or eat out but the buffering did not keep us awake!! We purchased some of the wines from the very friendly host. A bottle of white and a Muscat for Della. 

Saturday morning was sunny and mild but still the winds persisted. We made an early start and enjoyed our breakfast en route. We also stopped to refuel and stock up with more groceries.

Our next destination was Collioure in the Pyrenees Orientale. We had heard good things about the place but had never visited so our expectations were high.