Stumbling through France
Sunday 29th sept.
Still in Noirmoutier we had a long walk around to town and along the slated marshes. Unfortunately the weather was turning bad again and extremely windy. We decided to leave the next day and go inland. We figured that, as least, away from the Atlantic sea, we would get less wind.
As it was Sunday, all was closed.
The second leisure battery which had failed to arrive on the Friday at my brother’s house, had still not showed on the Saturday. I expected it would arrive the Monday
Monday 30th of sept. – Saumur
With the end of holiday season, most campsites are closing by mid or end of September. Looking inland I found a nice one within walking distance of the town of Saumur. Saumur is not far from Angers so it would be a short drive to my brother’s house.
The campsite was set in an island in the river Loire, with superb views of the castle. It was a nice setting and we had a walk around town.
We set then for the evening. I did some research. As usual, on Mondays, most shops and restaurants are closed in France. Searching online I found a Moroccan restaurant, opening the next day, so we decided to get there for lunch time to celebrate Alistair’s birthday.
I phoned the company, after 2 pm as if you call between 12 and 2 pm the switchboard will answer an automated message and then hang on you! They blamed the courier company ( Chronopost) and promised to send a batterie again to arrive the next day.
Tuesday 1st October
We had a lazy day and walked to the Moroccan restaurant for a fantastic Couscous Royal with amazing lamb skewers.
Later on my sister in law texted me to say the battery was still missing.
I phoned the company and then chronopost.
Wednesday 2d and Thursday 3d October, Angers
We drove to Angers and Mimi, my sister in law said there was still no sign of the battery. It eventually arrive mid afternoon. Alistair spent the rest of the day working on the van fixing few things.
The next day we took the van to the motorhome shop. We took the opportunity to visit som dog te most expensive ones (150k to 250k euros!). They were truly houses on wheels!
Smaller vans like ours was still more than double what we paid for it!
Friday 4th October; near Montluçon
Finally we where ready to put some distance in. With the weather closing on us we were keen to reach Italy and Croatia as quickly as possible, still avoiding the motorways thoughts.
We left Angers mid morning and drove to a campsite near Montluçon. Most campsites are now closed so finding one open is not easy. It was like a carpark with squat toilets. Clean enough but FGS!
So we drove further and found a small one with very simple facilities but adequate. This part of France is mainly farms and cattle… we crossed few small settlements,
Saturday 5th October; near Chambéry
France has a new disease! They put round abouts every 500m! We never noticed when using the motorway but now it was horrendous! Scruffy is usually happy to lay on the bench at the back. However on that day, he decided, while we were on the move, to jump into the table and lay down there.
Next round about we heard a bit of a scramble, a thump! I turned to see and Scruffy was now lying down under the table, looking a bit dazzled! He has not tried to travel on the table since…. so I guess he can learn fast.