Pruzilly

An early start this morning, we set off just before 10 am, with pants and socks drying on the dashboard, no traditional furry dice for us!

Marge's first refill of fuel today, since setting off from England. She's a thirsty thing, and needed 85 euros of diesel to replenish her.

The earlier part of today's journey, took us across country, through fields of wheat, a carpet of green dancing in the wind. Above birds of prey hovered, ready to dive down at the sight of a tasty morsel. Passing a nearby church, the swallows had taken up residence above the windows, some of them flew skittishly back and forth across Marge. This morning, we also saw our third stork in two days, a large graceful bird, dominating the skies.

Leaving the countryside we headed towards the city of Macon, following the road alongside the river Saone, which runs from Bresse in the east to the Beaujolais hills in the south. Passing through the city, the roads were quiet, and we were glad we'd come through on a Sunday. Today's drive has seen Marge and her driver in unison, we're all confident now.

Tonight's stop is amongst the Beaujolais grapevines. We are high in the hills, after another 'look at the view' drive involving some very precarious narrow roads and tight switchback bends to negotiate. In the distance we can see the outline of the alps, Mont Blanc is just 108 miles away, and is supposed to be visible from here on a clear day. We are now just into the Rhone-Alps region, and pretty stunning it is.   

After lunch, we took a walk up through the grapevines. Despite the warm sun, the wind had a chill to it. We were suprised at just how different the vines looked at this time of year, to when we see them in September. They are now cut back to almost nothing, amazing to think in a few months time they will be bearing bunches of plump grapes for the next batch of Beaujolais wine.

Wildlife was a plenty. A buzzard flew out from nowhere across in front of us, as large vibrant yellow daisies danced in the wind. Many of the wild orchids had gone over, but there were still a few to see. Alongside the path as we walked back, a tortoiseshell butterfly basked in the afternoon sun. It is so peaceful here, one of France's secret places.

When we arrived at lunchtime, we were the only van here, but now another English van has arrived, this is only the second English vehicle we have seen since arriving in France. 

Before we leave in the morning, we will leave the 3 euro donation requested for the town, as there are no shops, bars or restaurants in the village. The idea of the  motorhome aires, are to encourage spending in the town or village. If the weather is clear we may even see Mont Blanc.

Nuits-Saint-Georges

During last night the rain came down, hammering on the glass roof above our bed, and the wind funnelled down the river Seine, rocking Marge. Despite all this commotion, we woke late, rising at 10 am! The travelling of the three previous days had taken its toll, and I think we were both glad of a good nights rest.

As we ate a late breakfast , we watched a car being craned onto a nearby barge, and watching it set sail into the greyness, we discussed how France had changed since we have been coming here over the last few years. More rubbish, hedges, grass and flower borders in public areas not so immaculate, and more potholes on the roads.

Before setting off, we relieved  Marge of her waste water, positively gushing out of this Marge, unlike old Marge who could produce only a trickle and take forever, much to the annoyance of the French all waiting behind us.

On route here, we saw some of the 'Gilet Jaune', (yellow vest) protesters. We could sympathise with their cause, having seen diesel as expensive as 1.60 euros a litre. 

We stopped for lunch beside the Chateau d' Ancy le Franc, a masterpiece of Italian architect Sebastian Serlio. After lunch the weather was an improving picture, tomorrow it is suppose to settle down and become warmer. As we bowled along, surrounded by a vast expanse of lush green fields, we were reminded of yesterdays terrain, comparative with its neat, newly planted fields of seed potatoes, they looked like metres of brown corduroy cloth unfolding into the distance. Later in our journey we began to climb some steep inclines, we were now in the Burgundy region, so close to the edge of the alps. Some of the roads were quite precarious, and reminded us of our trip to Spain last year. But we were old hands at this, 'just don't look down, oh you already have!'

Tonight we are staying at Nuits Saint Georges. The aire is on the outskirts of the town, and we are sited under a horse chestnut tree. There are four other vans here, one of which is from Sweden.

After a walk to explore the town, and the vineyards on the edge, we are back in Marge ready to cook a vegetable stir fry for our evening meal, waistlines are already expanding, oh dear, so soon into our trip! 

Bray Sur Seine

This morning at Beauvais, the town was still waking up when I went for an early morning walk. The watery blue sky, and the new green of the trees, framed the cathedral St. Pierre, the cathedral seeming even more impressive this morning, than in yesterday evening light. As the nearby church bells struck out the hour, a new day was beginning.

Leaving the town, we set off to skirt around the east side of Paris, passing through the  Normandy countryside, flat and lush, with its familiar architecture, fruit trees, and fruit boxes stacked high at every turn.

Mid afternoon we stopped at Saint-Cyr-Sur-Morin, which was our chosen overnight stop, a charming small town with a river running through.

But after we had our lunch (the first of many salads we will eat this holiday), we realised perhaps this was not a good idea. A couple of young men arrived with a rather excitable dog, and set up shop on a picnic bench on the far side of the car park. When their first customer arrived we decided it was time to move on.

So tonight we are at an aire (along with quite a few other vans) alongside the Seine. There is a small church on the opposite bank, with a small sheep farm adjacent. Large  pleasure boats are moored alongside, and barges carrying gravel from a local pit  slink by, gently cutting the calm waters of the river.

After washing our smalls, and ourselves, we headed into town, deciding to treat ourselves to pizza.

Today we have driven about 130 miles, and guess what, Marge has been mastered! After a good nights rest, and a boost of confidence, we are back in the game. During today's journey, there were less sharp intakes of breath, and more calm. Tomorrow we hope to travel a similar distance. 

We have been lucky with the weather since we left England, but since late this afternoon, we have experienced some heavy rain, but this Marge is water tight, so no worries there! The weather is set to improve on Sunday, so perhaps we'll be able  to break out the shorts.

For now it's time for a second very large glass of Bordeaux.

Beauvais

This morning at Newhaven the sun was shining, and after discussing this fact with a fellow lady van owner, she informed me she was off with some friends, to a meeting of Morgan and other classic cars which was being held on Saturday just south of Paris, and that we could expect to see the cars arriving for the ferry shortly.

It was not long before we could hear the throaty engines of the classic Morgans approaching, they were a real sight, and some over a hundred years old.

Besides the Morgans, there were other classic cars waiting to board the ferry, Lotus, Mini, Morris, Land Rover and more, some of them were on a car transporter destined for sale at a garage somewhere in France.

And as well as all these wonderful vehicles, there were of course many cyclists, all eager to arrive in Dieppe to begin cycling the 'Avenue Verte' to Paris.

With Marge safely secured on the vehicle deck of  the ferry, we settled into the lounge and enjoyed a coffee, and whilst doing  so, the cheery captain of the ferry came around and greeted us all with a 'bonjour'. The announcement of the public address system said the crossing would be moderate, so to be careful if you ventured outside. Still being on English time, we decided to head down to the cafeteria for a cooked meal at 1 pm (English time), but of course the ferry being French, they were running an hour later, so all the meals had finished. So for John and Angela, it was cold pizza left over from lunch yesterday, boiled eggs, crisps and nuts, eaten hastily as we departed Dieppe ferry terminal. Welcome to France!

As we drove south east from Dieppe, the swallows darted in front of Marge, it won't be long and they will be sighted in gardens back home in England. Now today should have been an easy drive in Marge, her being left hand drive in a country that drives on the right, but no, having mastered driving Marge in England yesterday, suddenly panic, unhappy driver and passenger. So back to basics, water bottle time, line it up with the centre white line, but then oh dear, 'don't drink the water in that bottle' now line the bottle up again! They say it's good to do something scary once in a while!

Tonight we are on an aire with quite a few other vans, including some English.

It is sited just above the town, and early evening we walked down to take a look at the large church, and the cathedral behind it, together they looked quite a sight.

To return to Marge, we had to climb up many steps, so we've decided to nick name tonight's stop 'High Nook', after somewhere we've heard about in south Wales.

This evening, with the sun shining brightly, we sat in Marge with her side door open, enjoying a much needed meal of chorizo and butter bean stew. Tomorrow we will travel south east around the top Paris, hopefully are nerves are now settled, just no one move the water bottle on top of the dashboard!

Newhaven

Margie, Margie here we go again!

With the house fully bleached, it is with excitement, nervousness and some trepidation we set off to take Marge to Italy.

By the time we hit the M25 Marge had settled into a steady rhythm, and bowled along quite happily in the afternoon sunshine, glad to leave the showers of earlier behind. New Marge is left hand drive, but a little trick with a water bottle placed in the holder on top of the dash board resulted in a happy driver and co-pilot.

As we approached the south downs, we were on the last leg of our journey, and just after 6 pm we arrived at Newhaven ferry terminal once again, where we would rest Marge overnight.

After securing Marge in the car park with the other vans, we took a walk into the town centre, spotting various sculptures of cormorants on the way.

Newhaven town turned out to be yet 'another down at heel' coastal town with it's resident drunks, so we decided to walk up to the west quay, where we enjoyed a much welcome alcoholic beverage, and meals of  fish & chips and lamb and mushroom pie. Our holiday had begun...

After the meal we took a gentle stroll back to Marge, accompanied by the background noise of scrunching scrap metal being loaded onto a ship to 'goodness knows where', a harsh sound in comparison to the murmur of the lifeboat as it was  put to bed after a practice night, probably with the crew hoping for a quiet night. The time 8.40 pm and still daylight. Tomorrow evening we will be in France, where it will stay light until at least 9.40 pm, what's not to like?