France – Part Quatre

Managed to get up at 7:30am and Tim did the mountain of washing up. We stopped in Nevers for petrol, it was 23°C by 10am, a cloudless sky.

It was a lovely drive to Lyon with some beautiful views. We arrived at the Camping International site, 9 km from lyon centre, at about 2pm. Chose a pitch near to the amenities – toilets, showers, games room (table tennis, table football), washing machine – and set up camp. Relaxed for the rest of the day ready to take on Lyon the next!

06.09.04.
Got into Lyon at about 11:30am and took the funicular railway up to see the Roman theatres. Then back down and wandered around the Presqu’Ile, a peninsula between the Rhone and Saone rivers. The campsite had given us a really excellent tourist booklet about the city, very well written and humorous. We went to see the underground car park the centre of which is designed to look like the tower of Pisa, with a revolving, angled mirror! Very cool, took some photos and did some filming.

Had a meal at a cafe in Place des Terreaux, a large square with a huge fountain involving a large guy and some horses. Found a chocolaterie, they just seem to call to us! Incredibly yummy dark chocolates called Palet d’Or.

Went to a lovely internet cafe but struggled with a slow computer running Windows for nearly 2 hours :-( trying to get some photos up.

The Lyon transport system is amazing. You buy a single ticket, we got ours at the campsite on the bus, which can then be used to travel on bus, metro or tram on a journey in one direction within the space of one hour. Really good value too, 1.40 euros for a single and 4.20 for a day travelcard. The metro trains are very cool, funky seventies-style decor and driverless!!

07.09.04.
Relaxed at the campsite for most of the day, did a load of washing. Went into Lyon and wandered around to pass the time before meeting our friend Simon, who works in Lyon Tuesday to Thursday every week. Found some cool, little shops and bought a few gifts (it’ll be Christmas soon you know). Took some photos of a beautiful church and a waterfall.

After meeting Simon he showed us a whole area of Lyon we had missed the previous day which was great and he took us to a lovely little Bouchon – not one of the ‘official’ ones but what does it matter – where he knows all the staff and the owner! The food was heavenly and the wine wonderful, we talked and talked and then thought we had missed the last bus back to the campsite.

On our way to get a taxi, after saying goodbye to Simon, realised there was a night bus, waited for 40 mins, then found out it was the wrong bus stop so had to wait another 30 mins for the right bus. Got bakc to the campsite at 1am! Tired but very happy!!

France – Part Trois

We enjoyed Paris but were glad to get away from the big city and into the country. The weather was wonderful and we were driving on lovely, long straight roads with not much traffic and frquently tree-lined: lovely!

We entered the Loire valley and drove through some lovely towns and villages, took opportunities to cross over the river and the nearby canal and enjoy the views from the bridges.

We stopped in Gien; it was so beautiful. We took a few photos and had a drink at a cafe overlooking the river. We then walked back to the van along the river.

We were planning to camp in Poilly-sur-Loire because this is home to one of the vineyards that our handy friend Mike had recommended from his extensive experience (hic!), unfortunately when we had wended our way there we discovered that the campsite had closed that very day!! So we didn’t manage any official wine-tasting but instead continued on to La Charité-sur-Loire where we camped, bought some local white wine and proceeded to drink the whole bottle. We like it so much that we bought a second to take home with us – hurrah!

The campsite was very calm and peaceful and we had chosen some shade which was a good job as the weather was so hot and sticky!

The next day we slept in, got breakfast, baguette and delicious ham from local shops and chilled out: Tim on a blanket in the shade and Kathy on a chair in the sun (with suncream on). Wandered into town about half-five and window-shopped; found a chocolaterie! Had to buy some samples of course: it would be rude not to!!

We had seen a pizzeria with outside tables overlooking the river when driving to the campsite so went back when it was open and shared a large Parisienne pizza. It was lovely to sit and look out over the town and hear the water moving by.

It was a wonderfully relaxing day and we then set the alarm for 7am so we could leave early in the morning for Lyon.

France – Part Deux!

We are now in Paris! On our first day we went to the Eiffel Tower, only to the first floor as this was all Kathy’s knees could take. The view was great and the tower was impressive to say the least.

We have been enjoying french bread with nearly every meal and also some french beer with dinner!

Kathy’s teddy bear from nursery has been enjoying the sights as well, look out for pictures. Tim also blames the bear for the fact that we ended up at the Apple Mac Expo, an exhibition for the launch of their newest computer, the iMac G5!

Tim had a bit too much sun and not enough water and had to go to bed early with a headache so today we have been drinking lots and staying in the shade a bit more as the weather continues to be astoundingly beautiful.

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary – hurrah and huzzah! Thanks for all the cards we received before we went away; we are saving the celebration for when we meet up with a friend in Lyon.

We have enjoyed Paris but are looking forward to getting away from big city life and out onto the road again.

France – Part Un!

We’ve arrived! / Nous sommes arrivees!

The ferry was top notch; we had a welcome meal of fish and chips and that took up most of the journey. The campsite in Calais was a bit of a dump: lots of loud English peeps and not much privacy. The ladies’ loos were locked! Gorgeous weather though: went for a brief walk on the beach.

Fairly good night’s sleep and then croissants and baguette fresh from the boulangerie for breakfast. Then we were off…

We headed towards Paris; the journey took longer than we had anticipated and we saw lots of fields of sweetcorn (reminding us of our allotment). Absolutely beautiful weather though: clear blue skies and sunshine.

We stopped in Abbeville and sought out some lunch – baguette with pate and pork – delicious. Continuez tout droit!

We arrived in Paris at about half-past four and found the campsite without too much trouble. By the River Seine, it is large and we are quite far away from the entrance but we can see some lovely houseboats and we met our neighbours who are from New Zealand. Just some sleep needed.

Itinerary

A number of people have asked us about our planned route around Europe. It’s still a little bit up in the air, but at the time of writing the plan is as follows:

  • France: Calais – Paris – Loire Valley – Lyon
  • Switzerland:Lake Maggiore
  • Italy:Lake Como – Bologna – Venice
  • Austria: Salzburg or Graz – Vienna
  • Slovakia: Bratislava
  • Czech Republic: Prague
  • Germany: Dresden – Osnabruck – Bonn
  • Belgium: Bruges

Day 0

Start: Bath
End: High Wycombe
Distance: 98 miles
Time: 2h10m

We left two cats and two parents (we’re not quite sure who’s looking after whom) at 5:50pm on Sunday and hopped in the van, steaming up Box Hill at 40mph. At one point Kathy got up to 65mph on the motorway; Tim, of course, didn’t stray above 60.

We arrived in High Wycombe after an uneventful journey to a wonderful meal of pie (mmm, pie), mash and veggies. Thank you Clive & Claudia!

Then it was off to bed, but not before Tim had (yet again) attempted to upgrade C&C’s computer to Windows 2000 Service Pack 4. He’s not giving those computers up lightly, you know.