En France - Le Loir Valley - March '24

Friday 22nd March

Day 1

The alarm went off at 6.15am, we had planned to set off before 9.00am, everything had been packed and topped up so it was a relative straight forward morning.

We left at 9.30, I don’t really know what took the time, perhaps it was the endless list of things Adele reeled off, what Luc had to do or had not to do, it was like a school boy in front of the head mistress and like being at school, I don’t think he was really listening.

The trip to the motorway was not as straight forward as usual as the main road had been closed for weeks for road works so we had to take a detour of about 15 minutes but once on the motorway all was good until as normal we hit the M25 which was, as ever, very slow moving.

Once on the M20 towards Folkestone I mis-read the road signs and joined the freight lane on the motorway travelling at the mighty speed of 30MPH, the lanes were cordoned off for lorry checks although no-one was checking any thing.

We arrived at Le Shuttle with over 3 hours to spare but luckily we were offered an early crossing, we had just 30 minutes to have our holiday sandwiches, tinned salmon on crusty bread before we were called for passports and loading, we had expected it to be much busier than it was, we sailed through all the border checks without issue, got our passports stamped, we didn’t even get stopped at the gas check this time.

Onto the train and left almost straight away.

35 minutes later we were in France, still raining but at least we are here, we travelled the short distance into Calais and the aire de camping-car at Bleriot Plage for our first night, tea tonight is a simple meal of American style hot dogs with crispy onions, ketchup and yellow mustard followed by an early night.

Saturday 23rd March

Day 2

Woke 7.30am, we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine streaming through the helki sky light, it was very breezy but looked a lovely day.

After getting washed and dressed we sat with our back up breakfast, weetabix and a cup of coffee, first on our list today was shopping, so after clearing away we shot down the motorway to L’Clercs at Boulogne-sur-Mer and two hours later re-appeared, €106 lighter, trolley laden with French goodies, enough, hopefully for 3 or 4 days.

It was gone 12.00pm when we were left the hypermarket car park, sat-nav programmed with our destination Alençon some 5 hours drive, we decided to use the autoroute to speed up the miles.

All okay until the infamous Rouen, we lost our bearings and the sat-nav when going through one of the cities many tunnels and were thrown a little but soon got back on our planned route.

It was becoming apparent that we would not make our planned destination tonight or rather not in the time were prepared to travel so found a lovely little village aire / stop-over at Irai next to the village school and over looking an orchard of apple trees.

Parked up it was 5.45pm a little late but with all the treacherous driving conditions I think we did well.

We sat with a cup of tea as the black rain clouds dispersed and beams of evening sunshine spilled through the van windows.

Tea tonight is pork chops with grains and vegetables, it will be pork chops a few nights as the pack we bought has enough for 3 days.

Its still a little blowy as it starts to go dark, we cleared away and had an early night.

Sunday 24th March

Day 3

The bells!!

We didn’t need the alarm call this morning the bells from the church in the village started just before 7.00am, we have had a lovely nights sleep here at this park up at Irai, no facilities on site but peaceful and quite.

We finally got up about 7.30, breakfasted with fresh fruit and pastries with the rear doors open, lovely.

After breakfast we moved into the village to find the Aire Service Point, topped up with water and emptied all the tanks.

Our first call today is at the pretty small town of Mortagne-au-Perche  with its narrow streets, we went to visit the 18th century Notre-Dame church but being a Sunday there was a service on so didn’t intrude.

Back to the van and onwards to Bellême in the Orne region, a petites cités de caractère, it was lunchtime when we arrived and after finding a spot to park we have lunch, croque monsieur with salad.

After lunch we went to visit the 15th century Church of St. Sauveur Wandering around the square we came upon the oldest house in the town built in 1580, then by chance the ancient crypt in Saint-Santin Chapel dating from 10th century.

Another amble about before returning to the van, time was now pressing, we didn’t want to find we were as late finding a stop-over as we were last night so headed to the small town of Bretoncelles where there is a free Aire, a lovely spot with hedged pitches and right by a small stream.

We had tea and cakes in the last of the days sunshine.

Tea tonight is a steak and vegetable melange with a glass of wine.

Monday 25th March

Day4

Woke 7.30 after another peaceful night, although I did hear a couple of camions trundling down the road at about 3am.

We both had showers then breakfast before emptying the tanks, then on the road, we had a couple of towns to visit today the first was Nogent-le-Rotrou, on arriving in the town we noticed a hypermarket, we needed bread and pasties for breakfast so popped in, an hour or so later and €89 lighter we came out.

I must say I have never been in a hypermarket in France where they have such expensive wines, I found a bottle for my next birthday at an eye watering €1571.14, I some how think I wont get it.

We topped up with LPG then went to find somewhere to park, this was more difficult than we thought, we also couldn’t find the old part of the the town and before we knew it we were miles outside the town so decided to give it a miss and move onto our next stop, La Ferté-Bernard a very picturesque town with medieval houses and the waterway of the Puisne river, the 15th century Church of Notre-Dame-des-Marais in the heart of the town is also very impressive.

The car park was also an aire right next to a lake so as time was getting on decided to stay here tonight, there are a couple of other MoHo already there so should be safe enough.

The Aire also has free water, grey and black waste disposal.

We took a walk around the lake in the last of the late afternoon sunshine,  making the most of it as its supposed to hammer it down tomorrow, we even had a work-out on the outside gym equipment.

We have pork with mange-tout and potatoes tonight followed by a nice goats cheese.

A game of Othello tonight, this time I won the honours, the French Holiday League now stands at Adele 1 - 1 Nigel

Tuesday 26th March

Day 5

They were not wrong with the weather, we woke to heavy rain so the early morning work out on the open air gym was off the cards.

After breakfast we made use of the free Aire de Service point, emptied tanks and topped up with water.

We made our way to Montmirail about 20 miles away, when we arrived the rain had eased enough to don our rain coats for a walk around the quaint village, the Chateau wasn’t open until April so just had a wander around the village and the 11th century village church.

We moved on to Vendôme, it was now hammering it down again, we found a parking space in the town and had lunch in the hope that the rain would lighten, it didn’t! Plan B. We moved onto another ‘petite Cités de Caractère’ Lavardin, we parked up under the old castle, we are the only ones here, we plan to hold up until tomorrow which, hopefully, is going to be a little drier so we can take a look around this beautiful village.

We read and wrote the diary before tea which tonight is paella and a bottle of Loire rosé.

After tea we resumed our Orthello championships after another good and close game, Adele came a close second

Adele 1 - 2 Nigel

We had an early night as we wanted to be up bright and early as the weather forecast was dry and sunny first thing.

Wednesday 27th March

Day 6

Woke just after 7am, and the forecast was correct, we had clearing skies, windy but dry.

After breakfast we took a walk around Lavardin, a medieval village on the banks of Le Loir river, its dominated by a ruined Castle high above the village, its classed as one of the most beautiful villages in France and you can see why.

In the centre of the village is the 11th century L’Église Saint-Genest de Lavardin, its internal walls are decorated with frescos from the 12th century, unfortunately the church had not been opened when we were there so could not get a look.

We took the riverside walk across the roman bridge to the lavoire, the old wash house, I walked on the old height adjustable washboards not knowing they still worked and nearly fell in the river.

Back at the van we took the short drive to another extraordinary village, Trôo known for its cave dwellings, houses that are dug into the cliff side, we wandered the terraces and down the steep escallier or steps, we visited the old bakery, again dug into the rock which only closed from making bread in 1970, we also visited the well cave where the inhabitants of Trôo would have originally got their water.

It was almost lunchtime when we left and as we always seem to do, had no bread. We drove on to Chartre-sur-loir where we used to holiday with the kids, we popped into super U to get supplies including a few bottles of the local wine Jasnieres then parked up in L’Homme at the village aire for lunch.

The rain had by now returned so decided that as we had done so much this morning we would have a relaxing afternoon reading and catching up on the diary and photos.

We had a quick snooze then has fresh strawberry tarts before getting tea ready, pork slices with a mixed bean salad.

After tea the Othello challenge resumed after an hour and a mistake by Adele I was the victor.

Adele 1 - 3 Nigel

We retired to bed, the church bells rang out on the hour, every hour which is not a problem, we are, after all in a small French village but these bells double peel meaning at 11pm we get 22 gongs of the bell, it may be a restless night. 

Thursday 28th March

Day 7

Woke 7.00am after a surprisingly good nights sleep, we think the bells must have stopped 11pm but resumed at 7.00am again double peeling, something to do with letting farm workers know when they are out in the fields.

We showered then went into the village to get bread and croissants, as the aire was free we alway like to buy a little something from the village where we were allowed to stay. 

We were on the road bu just turned 10am, it was going to be a busy and expensive day today, first stop was in the village of Chahainges to visit a wine producer we first called at over 20 years ago, M. Croissards at Domaine la Raderie, we were met by Michelle, The domain is family run for 4 generations, its speed over 23 hectares in two appellations, chateaux du Loir and Jasnieres.

Ater tasting the vines, we bought our preferred choices, 5 cases in all, two more than we had planned but couldn’t make our mines up they were all so nice.

It was almost lunch time when we loaded the wines into the van so took the short tourist route through the vineyards to a spot we used decades ago, overlooking the appellation of Jasnieres, we took some photos but were not too exciting as the leaves had not yet appeared on the vines.

After lunch we called into the town of Chateau de Loir, which if you are interested doesn’t have a chateau and is not on the Loir, we needed an aire de device to empty our tanks as the aire last night didn’t have a black waste drop, to our surprise the aire de service was on the car park of the towns supermarket, giving free drops together with free water and free electricity 

Again as its free we popped into the supermarket and bought a couple of items as a thank you for suppling these services.

Onwards towards our next nights stop at La Flèche, as we drove through C-D-L a new first for us today, we got pulled over by the French Gendarmes for flagrantly breeching the 'priorité à droite' rule whilst going through Chateau du Loir, We hear sirens behind us expecting them to come through but no they indicate for us to pull over, as the officer came to our passenger side I don’t know who was more surprised by not seeing a steering wheel.

We were told that in town priority is from the right and we should have given way even though we were on the main road.

Now before people shout out, I do know about the rule but as we were navigating through this busy little town l missed the road marking or more accurately the No road markings.

We were politely reminded of this rule and sent on our way.

Lesson learnt.

A little tired and frustrated about being pulled over we change our plans and find an aire at Luché-Pringé, this one is a payed aire run by Camping-Car parks, we have not used them before but already have a members card loaded with a few euros credit, its very straight forward to use. You just pass your card under the reader and the barrier opens, assuming you have enough credit on you card, there was one other moHo on the aire its €11.30 PN with electricity.

We settled in, put the kettle on for tea and cake.

Tea tonight is steak-Hashé with potatoes and mixed veg and perhaps later another game of Othello.

Friday 29th March

Day 8

We had another very peaceful sleep, we had showers and breakfast, as its Good Friday we exchanged Easter cards and chocolate eggs, we filled with water and emptied the tanks, we were off the aire by 10.30am, this morning we are heading to the town of La Flèche famous for its zoo but we are going to look around the town, the architecture is a bit of a mis-match of old and new but it was a pleasant walk all the same, we peering at the French Military academy and took photos which afterwards we found were totally a NO NO!

It was a little early for lunch so moved onto another ‘best village in France’ Parcé-sur-Sarthe, they had a small aire just outside the old part of the town we parked up and had lunch then took a walk around its sleepy, narrow streets. We found the old watermill but as the Sarthe River was so swollen the mill was almost under water.

Time to move again this time to Sablé-sur-Sarthe, the plan was to park up by the river but when we got there it didn’t feel quiet right, couldn’t put our finger on it but neither of us felt comfortable, so checked the aires book, there was another about five miles away, when we got there the aire had been closed and a commercial aire was beefing built but that was not open either, we moved on to Solemes a place we intend to visit tomorrow, the first location had again closed so, at the fourth time of trying we found an aire for the night, just outside the town over looking the river, there is a little road noise but this soon died down.

Being good Friday and as our tradition we had fish for Good Friday, a bought fish pie but with lyonassie potatoes and fresh trout together with some sugar snaps all washed down with a nice coteaux de lair rosé.

After clearing away we had another game of Othello.

As the sun went down we were treated to a stunning sunset over the valley.

Saturday 3oth March

Day 9 

Woke after another quiet night, we returned to Solemes to look around the gothic abbey, its still used as a monkastary so couldn’t go inside but could wander around its impressive walls and visit the church. As it was Dads birthday we sat in the church contemplating, said a few prayers and shed a few tears.

Onwards again this time, surprise, another beautiful French village, Asnières-sur-Vègre, a medieval village built around its stone bridge, we had hoped to look in the village church of Saint Hilaire with its medieval wall paintings but it was closed for restoration. 

We were running out of supplies so called back into Sablè-sur-Sarthe to do some shopping, as its Saturday and a bank holiday weekend in France everybody was out shopping, the supermarket was rammed, we found what we needed but just before leaving came across the pattiserre counter full of tempting Easter treats, our will power gone we bought four to last the next couple of days before leaving to find our nights stop.

Not happy with the ones around Sablè we moved onto Avoise and an aire in the town, next to an old campsite that was closed, but the Aire was find, by the river.

We had mergueze Sauasages with ratatouille and a glass of beer.

Another game of Othello followed, I’m on a winning streak at the moment but time will tell who will be this trips victor.

Sunday 31st March

Day 10

Woke by the village church bells that also double toll, its a good job they did as the clocks have gone forward over night and we would have had a late start.

We had breakfast then move onto Saulges, again another sleepy village, here they have photographs of how the village looked decades ago and its fascinating to see how they have or have not changed today.

We had a good look around here and were blown away by a small 12th century church, with its original wall fresco paintings.

The village doesn’t have a boulangerie and being Sunday getting bread may have been a problem but by the village Marie was a baguette vending machine, although we had seen them before we have never used one.

What will the bread be like?? Well €1.00 later a baguette popped out and in all fairness it's not bad, nowhere as good as a locally baked bread but up to par with a supermarket cheap baguette.

Our plan for the day was to visit the medieval town of Sainte-Suzanne, one of the most beautiful villages in France, it has a Camping-car Parks aire within a couple of hundred feet of the old town, we checked on the app, it was showing 4 vacant spaces, we headed off its only about 30 minutes away but last time we tried this in France when we got the it was full.

Not this time, there were spaces and after swiping our card we went in, the aire has all the services you need, water, waste, black and grey drops together with electricity at €13.60 PN including local taxes.

Its now lunchtime and its started to hammer it down, we had lunch and the remaining Easter cakes.

After tiding we sat and read and wrote the diary as the rain hammered on the roof of the van, hopefully it will dry up later so that we can go and explore this beautiful village.  

By mid-afternoon the rain had cleared and some blue sky had returned, we decided to go and explore this village, its narrow cobbled streets were lined with medieval houses, we were a little surprised by the lack of tourism but this made it all the better for us.

The only draw back, being Easter Sunday, was the amount of people here, lots of families enjoying the afternoon sunshine, we called at the Medieval Castle only to find it had closed half an hour earlier.

We continued to wander the streets and made the decision to return to the van and visit again in the morning.

It was almost 6pm and time to think about tea, being Easter Sunday we had bought some thing a little special, paupiette de veau à la crème which we had with a melange of green beans, potatoes and mushrooms and must say was lovely, we bought a special bottle of Chinon red to go with it, followed by some Easter sweet treats.

The evening sky was a stunning red, a beautiful sunset so after tidying and before it got too dark we went  another stroll around the town however we soon found that what street lights there were they were not lit leaving every where very dark.

Back to the van for another game of Othello, which was really tight game up until the last couple of moves, in which I managed to win

Adele 1 - 5 Nigel

We decided that we would stay at Sainte-Suzanne an extra night so that tomorrow we could have showers and go and enjoy the sights once again.

Monday 1st April

Day 11

We woke to blue skies, we showered and had a leisurely breakfast, it was 10.30am when we locked up the van to walk the short distance back into town, we went a slightly different way and found a boulangerie, we dandy need bread today but would tomorrow.

Back into the walled city, such a difference to yesterday, there was no-one around, the odd person going about their daily business, the old castle was open, we had expected to pay admission but this appeared only to be for the exhibition, so explored the castle.

There is a castle walls walk that takes you around the outside of the castle, this we did and enjoyed stunning views over the Mayenne countryside, a small path took us down to a mock up of a Medieval garden and some of the herbs and plants which would have been grown, this was very interesting with some of the things the ‘peasants’ would have grown.

Back to the van for lunch, a bit of a ‘Franglais’ lunch scrambled eggs on a toasted baguette.

We were surprised how quiet the aire has gone only one other MoHo left, 21 units last night now only two. We read, wrote the diary and had a snooze before taking another walk around the village.

Again very quiet with so little people around, we really got a feel of how this place is out of the tourist season.

It had gone 8pm when we had tea, really late for us, chicken with roasted tomatoes and grains, after tidying we sat and read and listened to some music before bed.

Tuesday 2nd April

Day 12

Woke by the bells, 7am but had a little lay in. It was 8am when the bells went again, time to get up.

I took my normal morning walk whilst the sun was shining.

We had breakfast, the plan was to go into the village to get bread and croissants but we noticed yesterday they were closed this morning, so it was fresh fruit and supermarket croissants.

After dumping the tanks and refilling the water we hit the road for an area just south of Alenç0n, Les Alps Mancelles, we managed to get bread from a small village boulangerie but we needed supplies, these small villages do not have any other shops, the weather had turned against us so we didn’t get out to explore so many of the villages.

Although we did get to Sille-le-Guillaume and found a small mini market, it was 5 minutes to 1pm and they were about to close we popped in and got a few bits to tide us over, the staff were really pleasant considering we were taking them into their lunch break, we jumped back in the van and went to continue our journey only to find an Aldi around the corner, this didn’t close for lunch so again we popped in to get the remaining things we needed then back on the road to Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, St-Céneri-des-Bois and finally St.Léonard-des-Bois where we found our stop for the night, the village allows parking overnight for €5 such a quiet spot right by the river Sarthe.

We are having tomate farcie or stuffed tomatoes for tea with a glass or two of Chardonnay.

We were just about to eat when there was a knock on the door and a man from the village had come to collect our monies for staying the night, €5 seemed a bargain to be in such a quiet and restful place, he insisted on giving a receipt and moved on to the other three vans staying here tonight.   

Hopefully it will be a little less ‘damp’ tomorrow so that we can take a walk around this lovely place.

Wednesday 3rd April

Day 13

We were woken by the sounds of the birds, a woodpecker to be precise, tapping on a tree somewhere in this wooded valley, the only noise to be heard.

It had been raining over night but was just grey this morning, we had breakfast and decided to explore all the same, the rain clouds kept coming as we left the van on the overnight aire, we walked the short distance into the village, just a matter of meters really, the village was amazing, like something of the cover of a chocolate box, we walked down to the old medieval stone bridge that crossed the river Sarthe, you could see the 11th century church perched on the cliff over looking the river, we walked up the cobbled streets lined with quaint houses and auberges to the church which contains beautiful frescoes paintings and metal sculptures depicting the crusifiction, which were stunning.

We continued our walk to the spiritual 7th century fountain in whose name Saint-Céneri was named.

We returned to the van, slightly damp from our walk for a spot of lunch and to decide our next move.

We would aim to move north to Falaise, we needed to get gas (LPG) and some provisions before we made camp so might not make it that far. By the time we had reached Agentan, we had released that we needed to drop all the tanks and found a free aire du service, somewhere where MoHo can use to drop tanks and refill with water. 

Then after a stop at L’Clercs for wine and cake and a couple of other bits we continued and did in fact make Falaise and parked up under the walls of the Castle for the night.

Tea was Steak-Hashe with a glass of Côte du Tarn.

Although there is a road to the front of us its not really noisy, we read and wrote the diary after tea with the last of the wine, then finish off the day with cake, like you do.

Bon Nuit

Thursday 4th April

Day 14

We woke after a really quiet night considering we are parked just below the castle walls and oppersite the hospital, the rain hammered down during the night but the forecast today is for sunshine and clouds today, I went for my morning walk to get my bearings, its slightly cloudy but felt a spot or two of rain, I returned for breakfast.

As we eat we planned a walk around the castle then to visit the inside as we will have plenty of time before moving up north later.

As we cleaned away the sky went black and it hammered it down, the skies looked awful, we hoped that it would pass but after half an hour it was still raining, at this point we almost threw the towel in, and give up the rain started to ease.

We put coats back on and walk the short distance into town, we suffered one more deluge then a glimmer of sunlight.

We walked the the gate of the castle to find a school party just going into the museum, its just not to be today.

We walked around the walls of the castle and explored where we could, there is a good 10 minute video showing the history of the castle.

We enjoyers our visit even though it was delayed and cut short, by the time we came out it was 12.30pm, time to move north, we had a 3 1/2 hour drive upto Le Crotoy, the drive north was fine, if a little tiring, we arrived at the Aire at Le Crotoy just after 5.30pm.

The aire has changed a little and not for the best, where we parked last October was now bare, all the trees, shrubs and hedgerows have been torn out and its being used as an area to dump all the sludge being dredged from the harbour in the town. The sea front parking had lovely views of diggers, trucks and trailers.

We decided to park at the furthest point away, we reversed in so had some  views of the tidal stream and the sound of birds.

We had a well deserved cup of tea as we wound down from our journey, the sun was shining but was very windy.

It was almost 8pm when we sat down to tea, merguez sausages with ratatouille.

Friday 5th April

Day 15

Woke late this morning, its rained all night and still is, so no rush to get up.

We showered and had breakfast, the forecast is for the weather to improve towards mid-day.

We are a little disappointed with this Aire, when we called last in October ’23th ii was a really pleasant park-up but all down one side the trees, shrubs and hedgerows have been ripped out and the area is being used as a dumping ground for all the sludge being dredged from the harbour, there are large trucks, trailers and tractors continually running up and down the track above the aire until 8pm the sea front park-ups have a lovely view of diggers and lorries.

We are, fortunately, far enough away that its not too invasive.

By mid-day the sun had come out so went for a walk to the town.

It was almost 2pm and we were both getting hungry, Adele found a lovely sea front restaurant, as it was late we checked to make sure we were ok to eat, we were.

We chose our starters, Adele had crevettes and I decided to brave oysters.

Our mains were mussels with a smashing bottle od muscadet, the food was wonderful although I’m still not sure about the oysters.

It was gone 4pm when we had finished, we were the only people left in the restaurant, the staff closed the door behind us when we left.

A walk back to the van and an afternoon snooze, thoroughly stuffed.

Niether of us fancied any tea, so just sat with some cheese, bread and a glass of wine.

As evening came we went for another walk into town but as we got there it started to rain so returned to the van.

Saturday 6th April

Day 16

Woke 8.00, had breakfast and went for a walk along the promenade du bassin du chasse, took in the salty air, we saw lots of wild life including a seal who popped his head up to watch us watching him, back to the van for some lunch before moving on up the coast to Boulogne sur mer, to do our take home shop, not too much this time as we had already bought our wines from down in the loir.

We then took a leisurely drive up to calais and the aire at bleriot plage for our last night in France 

Adele made tea, pork slices with ratatouille, we had an early night as we have to be up at 6.30am tomorrow

Sunday 7th April

Day 17

Woke 6.30am, had coffee and made our way to Le Shuttle terminal, we were very early for our train but hoped that we would be able to get on an earlier one.

Check in was fine and got on a train 2 hours earlier than booked, but it only gave us 25 minutes to get through customers and passport control, we needn’t have worried we sailed through all the customs and drove straight on the train.

At this point we had breakfast and before we knew it we were back in old Blighty on the M20 heading home.

We stopped at the services at Oxford for lunch, we had bought some freshly made cobs from a boulongerie in Le Crotoy and were very nice too.

Onwards up the M40 and M42 home and were parking Vera on the drive just before 2pm.

We have had a wonderful Easter break, the weather was much better than forecast, we saw some lovely villages, ate lots of food, remermised at places along Le Loir Valley and ate cake.

Heres to the next.

  

benivanadventures - travels in our campervan

Trip Details:

Miles: 1277 

Ave MPG: 32.7

Fuel Cost: £315.90 / £1.55 ltr (€1.79)

Car Parking: £0.00

Autoroute Charges €14.70 / £12.67

LPG €33.92 / £29.24  (€0.98 / £0.85)

Nights: 16

Camp Fees: €83.85 / £17.30 

Camp Ave per night: €5.24 / £4.52

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