Sunday in the Loire Valley

We made it through "le Tunnel" ...our first time under the channel, and waiting to board the trains, well they look like something out of a film set, almost prison like....the lack of windows, the dirty bland brown carriages....
But a short time later light flashed into the carriage, and the sun greeted us in France, sparkling off the snow. Yes, January, and more snow.

With my team of navigators alerted and switched on we set off...the team, in no particular order Katie, Tom and Gary...made up of one up date tablet, with bang up to date  Copilot software ....the smart one is female :-) Then there's the old guys, Tom whose maps are 5 years out of date, plus Gary who is the most adaptable and flexible...and the only one who can resolve differences of opinion between the other two!

The nice French motorways lulled us all into a sense of security, and we progress southwards towards Rouen. There's no hint of the recent "pongs" that have been in the news drifting towards England from a factory leak, thank goodness. At Rouen we drive out of the snow and then things get a bit more tricksy with the roads, due to French road closures - none of the navigation team are on "active traffic alerts!". Hey ho, with a bit of a diversion, and a drive beside the River Seine we find our way to the Aire at Oissel, parked up for the night beside the river just before the light goes.

After an evening with church bells every quarter hour, we sleep well and thankfully the nice people of Oissel don't carry on bell ringing all through the night. In the morning we wake early to find....a covering of snow - only a centimetre (we're in France, so of course it's not an inch), and little feline pawprints coming up to the van door - someone has been investigating us and the dogs water bowl!

 

Saturday we set off again, creeping gently out from the minor roads onto the well gritted main roads. I breathe a big sigh of relief, driving feels so much safer on the roads without the additional risk of skidding.

 

Several hours later the temperature is rising, and again we drive out of the snow as we head south. This time we're aiming for the Loire Valley and Camping LeCormier...from an ad in the Caravan Club magazine, and English (or as it turns out, Welsh) owned campsite open all year. Mike and Kath welcome us, and we fall in love with the place almost immediately. We're sited on hardstanding, beside the pond complete with ducks, hooked up the electric, wifi...and hot showers. It's a no brainer, we decide to stay two nights and have a day chilling out on Sunday.

 

 



Oh and we're "still" travelling with our fresh home grown flowers...guesses as to how long they'll last....