France - Vinnie Van Goes

Vinnie Van Goes

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France

A collection of 17 posts

France Passion

We left Camping Les Cigules after breakfast and headed along the coast. Mike had studied the forecast map carefully and assured me that the forecast for Toulon was sun! The drive towards Frejus was stunning and we thought of stopping there but the town did not seem very impressive and

Pisa and a mad dash to the sun in France

Pisa and a mad dash to the sun in France

We woke, Thursday morning, to the most glorious sunny day in Pisa and after giving the dogs a brief walk and breakfast we set off to find the famous leaning tower - a 30+ minute walk away. The walk took us through the outskirts of Pisa and then through the

Alsace Wine and Gingerbread Houses

Alsace Wine and Gingerbread Houses

On Tuesday morning we explored the forest around Mittelbergheim via a two hour walk that took us up to a fantastic viewpoint (Rocher Sainte-Richards), a ruined castle (Chateau d'Andlau) and back amongst the vines - all before breakfast for the dogs - woops! We then left the dogs

Old castles and beer

Old castles and beer

Our night in Montherme was not brilliant as it poured with rain and some 'worse for wear' locals were quite noisy at 2am and 6am. The boulangerie van then arrived beeping his horn at 8.30am and Mike just managed to rush out to buy our breakfast before

And we are off again!

And we are off again!

Our journey began with a drive in the pouring rain down to the Camping and Caravanning Club site right be the sea in Folkstone. Once parked we enjoyed a great walk along the coast before returning to Vincent to cook a lovely meal of harissa chicken with chickpeas and couscous.

France - Our stops and the route

France - Our stops and the route

Here is a short post which shows our stops and our route in September. We travelled over 1,500 miles and only stayed more than more than one night in 2 places, Chartres and Amiens. 7/9/2019 - Le Tréport - Camping Municipal les Boucaniers 8/9/2019 -

Following the Somme River

Following the Somme River

On Friday we decided to walk into Amiens without the dogs. It took us 45mins to walk down the river to the town and then 15mins to get to Notre-Dame Cathedral (an UNESCO World Heritage site). It is huge! Apparently it could hold two cathedrals the size of Notre Dame

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink!

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink!

So we woke to a small leak in the loo from the roof which we mopped up and decided to drive to get some breakfast. When we moved Vincent the small leak turned into a deluge as water which had obviously formed a puddle on the roof cascaded down the

We are (nearly) all going on a Boar hunt!

We are (nearly) all going on a Boar hunt!

The next morning we decided to go for a walk down the canal but opted to leave Mitzy in Vincent for a rest. At the bridge at Saint Oulph we opted for the 10k. As we turned the corner we came across a 'Danger Boar Hunt Season' sign

Chablis and Burrs

Chablis and Burrs

We headed into Chablis for breakfast. We managed to find a nice big car park and then walked to the Boulangerie with the dogs and discovered a 'Balade des Grands Crus de Chablis' which we decided to do after the tasting. After the biggest Pain au Chocolat on

Art trail

We left our France Passion site before breakfast as we decided we needed to let the dogs have a roam so headed towards Loches. Luckily we found a convenient aire on the way then continued our journey. We parked at a great aire by the river in Loches and walked

France Passion

We left the 'Slow Camping' site and headed down the Loire to find a nice place to walk. We stopped at St-Saturnin-sur-Loire which had a convenient aire by the church and also a clearly marked 6k circular walk - perfect! The walk took us through some woods, across

Bourgueil to Angers for Power

Bourgueil to Angers for Power

We woke in the morning in our little vineyard to a beautiful sunrise. The dogs had a lovely time exploring the area whilst we enjoyed a cup of tea then fresh peaches and muesli. We now had no power (!) so we decided to pack up and head towards a campsite

France - Vaas to Bourgueil

France - Vaas to Bourgueil

We left our private spot and drove down the south side of the Loir towards Le Lude passing more sleepy villages of cave houses. We had pinpointed a campsite near Marcon by the Loir with a lake which we thought looked good. We arrived whilst it was closed for lunch

France - to Troo and Vaas

France - to Troo and Vaas

We had some fun with the power in Vincent while writing the blog the evening before the leisure battery died completely with a alarm going off (the one in the main van not the engine). We quickly unplugged everything but it did not seem to recover! Not a good thing

France - 1st trip - south from Chartres

France - 1st trip - south from Chartres

We planned to leave at 9 but woke at 8.30! After yummy eggy bread (the best way to use up old English bread ) we left Chartres at 10.30 and headed south with a plan to stop in Chateaudun for lunch. We got to the small FREE aire sited

France - 1st trip - Days 1-5

France - 1st trip - Days 1-5

A little drama This is the first post in a while as we have had a bit of drama in the household. We were due to travel to France and onwards on the 12th September however Bridget slipped and fell when cycling, on the 19th August, and after a trip