Thursday 9th Sept.
This morning we had a little wander round Serignat, went to the post office, tried to go to the toilet - thereby hangs a tale! The French seem to take great delight in putting up signposts directing the unsuspecting traveller to places that don't exist, most commonly parking areas and toilets. We followed every lead in Serignat to find somewhere to park. I even went and stood in a vacant spot to guard it while Keith raced back to fetch the car from where he had illegally parked it, but had to beat a hasty retreat when a car made to zoom into it and showed no sign of stopping for the mere fact that a human being was standing in it! When we had eventually found somewhere to park, I saw a sign for toilets and, feeling that it would be expedient to take advantage before our next stop, set off to follow the sign. I found the local museum, the back of the post office and the police station, but toilets were there none. All I can say is that if there were any, they were extremely well hidden!
One reason why we were so anxious to visit this little town was that I had brought travellers' cheques with me. Yes, OK I know I can use my debit card in cash dispensers on practically every corner of even the most insignificant little town but when I last came to France, 35 years ago remember, travellers' cheques were the way to go. Nor did anyone at Barclays seek to dissuade me when I went for them. The problem is that when you try to change them here, they all but laugh in your face and insist that, non, madame, they absolutely cannot change them. So I'm not very impressed with either Barclays Bank or the local banks. The general attitude could be described as less than helpful!
On we went to the beach and stayed a couple of hours, long enough to brave the wind and choppy sea, more reminiscent of the Atlantic than the Med. Then off elsewhere to our little riverside haunt from yesterday for our picnic lunch before heading off to Agde to take some photos for Keith's dad, who often holidayed around here years ago. We called in at La Grau d'Agde also and bought some food for our evening picnic at a very French shop (not) called Spar, where the service was just as helpful and friendly as in any of our local Kwik Saves! :)
A la recherche........
Wednesday 8th
Many times, Keith and I have agreed that our idea of a holiday was not to lie all day on a beach somewhere. today, we succumbed to temptation and did just that. We had intended driving into the little town nearby called Serignan to have a look at the shops but it was market day and there was absolutely nowhere to park so we headed out of there and on to Valras-Plage, which we had visited very briefly the day before. It has a lovely beach, the Mediterranean, sun - what more can one want? I had had the foresight to bring my swimsuit and Keith his trunks and before we knew where we were, there we were - on the beach sunbathing, in the sea, swimming, generally relaxing and having a great time!
After a couple of hours, we realised what a terrible waste of a day this was and set off to find a shady, riverside spot in which to have our picnic lunch - Baguette, French cheese, fruit......very native! Unfortunately, we then found ourselves succumbing to temptation once again, this time at another little beach just outside Serignan itself. I spent more time sunbathing this time as the waves were a bit rough and Keith had the temerity to splash me (I love swimming as long as I don't have to get my face wet!) He, on the other hand, amused himself snorkelling and
stayed in the water for ages. As I write this, he is out for the count, snoring gently, exhausted with all the physical exertion. Men! They just can't hack it, can they? :)
P.S. Have spent the whole evening trying to post this! Blogger seems to have been most unco-operative this evening!
Many times, Keith and I have agreed that our idea of a holiday was not to lie all day on a beach somewhere. today, we succumbed to temptation and did just that. We had intended driving into the little town nearby called Serignan to have a look at the shops but it was market day and there was absolutely nowhere to park so we headed out of there and on to Valras-Plage, which we had visited very briefly the day before. It has a lovely beach, the Mediterranean, sun - what more can one want? I had had the foresight to bring my swimsuit and Keith his trunks and before we knew where we were, there we were - on the beach sunbathing, in the sea, swimming, generally relaxing and having a great time!
After a couple of hours, we realised what a terrible waste of a day this was and set off to find a shady, riverside spot in which to have our picnic lunch - Baguette, French cheese, fruit......very native! Unfortunately, we then found ourselves succumbing to temptation once again, this time at another little beach just outside Serignan itself. I spent more time sunbathing this time as the waves were a bit rough and Keith had the temerity to splash me (I love swimming as long as I don't have to get my face wet!) He, on the other hand, amused himself snorkelling and
stayed in the water for ages. As I write this, he is out for the count, snoring gently, exhausted with all the physical exertion. Men! They just can't hack it, can they? :)
P.S. Have spent the whole evening trying to post this! Blogger seems to have been most unco-operative this evening!
Tuesday 7th Sept.
Last night we had a lovely meal outside at the hotel where we were staying - that in itself is a treat - to be able to sit outside, with no breeze and not a breath of chilly air right up to 10pm. Up bright and early this morning, we headed off towards Sete on a beautiful early autumn morning. Jealous? You should be! :) There was a dramatic change in the scenery, from the endless flat fields of the north, now we were travelling through the Auvergne region with its mountains and superb views. I took photos again as we were driving but can't post them until we are back home with the benefit of broadband. The French seem to have invested heavily in their road system. Granted, you have to pay tolls on many of the motorways, but the driving is easy and, because the country is not nearly as heavily populated as Britain, the roads are far less crowded. Of course, in the towns, there is always the archetypal French driver who thinks that the rules of the road don't apply to him....no different to Britain then! Another outcome of the abundant space is that they seem to just build their motorways beside the older roads, rather than replacing them, so, when roadworks are necessary, the motorway can be closed off and the traffic diverted along the old route which is usually running alongside.
I am still intrigued to see the desolation of some of the little villages. Buildings stand empty, quietly rotting away and the whole effect reminds me of those old films which show soulless, mid-western American towns which seem to be totally bereft of human habitation. Keith got quite excited at one point when he saw a young mum with two small children walking along! On the other hand, some of the towns we have seen are very attractive, with lovely flower displays in the main streets, and obviously well kept, with no rubbish lying around. Their bins have lids, which deters wasps, and seem to be well used!
Anyway, the view of the Mediteranean in all its glory was well worth the long drive, although, as it was slightly overcast, it was not as blue as Keith remembered it from his youth. I persuaded Keith to buy some swimming trunks and tomorrow, we are off for our first dip! We will probably stay here until the week-end and then set off towards my old stamping ground, the south west, Bordeaux area and, in particular, Marmande, where I stayed with a family several times. I have long since lost contact with them and they are sure to have moved on, but it will be nice to see the area again.
Last night we had a lovely meal outside at the hotel where we were staying - that in itself is a treat - to be able to sit outside, with no breeze and not a breath of chilly air right up to 10pm. Up bright and early this morning, we headed off towards Sete on a beautiful early autumn morning. Jealous? You should be! :) There was a dramatic change in the scenery, from the endless flat fields of the north, now we were travelling through the Auvergne region with its mountains and superb views. I took photos again as we were driving but can't post them until we are back home with the benefit of broadband. The French seem to have invested heavily in their road system. Granted, you have to pay tolls on many of the motorways, but the driving is easy and, because the country is not nearly as heavily populated as Britain, the roads are far less crowded. Of course, in the towns, there is always the archetypal French driver who thinks that the rules of the road don't apply to him....no different to Britain then! Another outcome of the abundant space is that they seem to just build their motorways beside the older roads, rather than replacing them, so, when roadworks are necessary, the motorway can be closed off and the traffic diverted along the old route which is usually running alongside.
I am still intrigued to see the desolation of some of the little villages. Buildings stand empty, quietly rotting away and the whole effect reminds me of those old films which show soulless, mid-western American towns which seem to be totally bereft of human habitation. Keith got quite excited at one point when he saw a young mum with two small children walking along! On the other hand, some of the towns we have seen are very attractive, with lovely flower displays in the main streets, and obviously well kept, with no rubbish lying around. Their bins have lids, which deters wasps, and seem to be well used!
Anyway, the view of the Mediteranean in all its glory was well worth the long drive, although, as it was slightly overcast, it was not as blue as Keith remembered it from his youth. I persuaded Keith to buy some swimming trunks and tomorrow, we are off for our first dip! We will probably stay here until the week-end and then set off towards my old stamping ground, the south west, Bordeaux area and, in particular, Marmande, where I stayed with a family several times. I have long since lost contact with them and they are sure to have moved on, but it will be nice to see the area again.
Sunday 5th Sept.
Having arrived at Dover early, we took the opportunity of visiting the castle, although it was so hot, we didn't have much energy for walking very far. However, we got an earlier ferry and arrived in Calais at 4pm (3pm in U.K.) Keith set up the GPS to take us to Etaples sur Mer, where we had booked to spend the night. While we were waiting to disembark, I suggested he could do a sales pitch for GPS to the couple in the car in front of us, who were using ordinary maps! How archaic can you get?? However, he declined the offer, rather to my surprise.
So off we went, out of Calais and towards Boulogne, past the famous flat cornfields of that part of Northern France. We noticed that the roads seemed much less busy than in Britain but also, Keith remarked on the fact that, unlike the sixties, which was the last time either of us was in France, all the cars are the same - all jelly moulds, as he calls them, no distinctive 2CV's to be seen at all. We also had to pay road tolls on the motorways, which was an unwelcome innovation since our last visits!
And so we continued.....We did pass a sign for Etaples, but the GPS wasn't having any and, as Keith pointed out, there could be more than one Etaples. On we drove......kilometre after kilometre, towards Reims. I had a very simple map of the location of our hotel, which I tried hard to reconcile with the way we were going but, as Keith never makes mistakes with directions and neither, he said, does the GPS, I assumed that it was me getting it wrong. However, when Keith noticed that we had now clocked up nearly 100 miles. we thought we should pull over and investigate. It was then that we discovered that Keith had typed in Etables instead of Etaples and the GPS was trying to take us somewhere near Bordeaux! There was no way we were prepared to retrace our steps, so we continued. Keith negotiated his way through Reims without incident and we continued in search of somewhere to stay. Now you would think that Northern France, beloved of so many of our compatriots for the duty free trips across La Manche, would be bristling with Travelodges or the like - not that we were looking to repeat last night's experience, but any port in a storm... Rien, nada, niente! Finally, when we were beginning to think we would be spending the night in the car, we came across a hotel, which is really a neat little bunch of chalets and so, eventually, we found somewhere to rest our weary heads!
After a very pleasant dinner, here I am .......blogging before I crash out for the night. I should be able to post this in the morning - the signal on our mobile phones is good here, so, till then, good-night at all........Bon soir et bonne nuit!
(And the moral of the story is.........get your spelling right if you use GPS!! :))
Monday 6th Sept.
Today we set off further south, having decided to leave Paris for another time. There is no way we could do justice to it in a day - I think we need to keep it in mind for a holiday in the future and visit properly. So our route took us south west of Paris towards Clermont Ferrand. We travelled through more of the flat, open countryside so characteristic of these parts - huge expanses of cornfields. We saw the outline of Chartres cathedral in the distance and I did try to get a photo of it, but didn't manage a very good one. I have taken some photos from the car as we have travelled, but because we are driving on the right and I am on the left of the car, that technique doesn't work as well as it does in Britain.
We stopped at a couple of service stations - not nearly a big and complex as those in Britain, and remarked on the 'sameness' of products on offer. We could almost have been in service station shops off any British motorway - another effect of the E.U. - an insidious loss of each country's individuality. Where we got off the motorway and drove through small villages, it was much more as we both remembered it. In fact, in some cases, it was as if time had been frozen in the 50's. There were many garages, shops and restaurants that had obviously been the casualty of main roads and motorways being built nearby.
We are now in a small hotel just outside Issoire for the night. (Got your map of France? Follow with your finger! :)) Tomorrow, we should make it to Sete, where we plan to stay put for a few days.
Last night was too late to try for an internet connection, this morning. Keith's phone needed recharging. To my annoyance, my phone just won't play ball as regards enabling me to go online at all, and here, guess what! No signal again! So. I'm not sure when this will hit the ether - soon, I hope!
Having arrived at Dover early, we took the opportunity of visiting the castle, although it was so hot, we didn't have much energy for walking very far. However, we got an earlier ferry and arrived in Calais at 4pm (3pm in U.K.) Keith set up the GPS to take us to Etaples sur Mer, where we had booked to spend the night. While we were waiting to disembark, I suggested he could do a sales pitch for GPS to the couple in the car in front of us, who were using ordinary maps! How archaic can you get?? However, he declined the offer, rather to my surprise.
So off we went, out of Calais and towards Boulogne, past the famous flat cornfields of that part of Northern France. We noticed that the roads seemed much less busy than in Britain but also, Keith remarked on the fact that, unlike the sixties, which was the last time either of us was in France, all the cars are the same - all jelly moulds, as he calls them, no distinctive 2CV's to be seen at all. We also had to pay road tolls on the motorways, which was an unwelcome innovation since our last visits!
And so we continued.....We did pass a sign for Etaples, but the GPS wasn't having any and, as Keith pointed out, there could be more than one Etaples. On we drove......kilometre after kilometre, towards Reims. I had a very simple map of the location of our hotel, which I tried hard to reconcile with the way we were going but, as Keith never makes mistakes with directions and neither, he said, does the GPS, I assumed that it was me getting it wrong. However, when Keith noticed that we had now clocked up nearly 100 miles. we thought we should pull over and investigate. It was then that we discovered that Keith had typed in Etables instead of Etaples and the GPS was trying to take us somewhere near Bordeaux! There was no way we were prepared to retrace our steps, so we continued. Keith negotiated his way through Reims without incident and we continued in search of somewhere to stay. Now you would think that Northern France, beloved of so many of our compatriots for the duty free trips across La Manche, would be bristling with Travelodges or the like - not that we were looking to repeat last night's experience, but any port in a storm... Rien, nada, niente! Finally, when we were beginning to think we would be spending the night in the car, we came across a hotel, which is really a neat little bunch of chalets and so, eventually, we found somewhere to rest our weary heads!
After a very pleasant dinner, here I am .......blogging before I crash out for the night. I should be able to post this in the morning - the signal on our mobile phones is good here, so, till then, good-night at all........Bon soir et bonne nuit!
(And the moral of the story is.........get your spelling right if you use GPS!! :))
Monday 6th Sept.
Today we set off further south, having decided to leave Paris for another time. There is no way we could do justice to it in a day - I think we need to keep it in mind for a holiday in the future and visit properly. So our route took us south west of Paris towards Clermont Ferrand. We travelled through more of the flat, open countryside so characteristic of these parts - huge expanses of cornfields. We saw the outline of Chartres cathedral in the distance and I did try to get a photo of it, but didn't manage a very good one. I have taken some photos from the car as we have travelled, but because we are driving on the right and I am on the left of the car, that technique doesn't work as well as it does in Britain.
We stopped at a couple of service stations - not nearly a big and complex as those in Britain, and remarked on the 'sameness' of products on offer. We could almost have been in service station shops off any British motorway - another effect of the E.U. - an insidious loss of each country's individuality. Where we got off the motorway and drove through small villages, it was much more as we both remembered it. In fact, in some cases, it was as if time had been frozen in the 50's. There were many garages, shops and restaurants that had obviously been the casualty of main roads and motorways being built nearby.
We are now in a small hotel just outside Issoire for the night. (Got your map of France? Follow with your finger! :)) Tomorrow, we should make it to Sete, where we plan to stay put for a few days.
Last night was too late to try for an internet connection, this morning. Keith's phone needed recharging. To my annoyance, my phone just won't play ball as regards enabling me to go online at all, and here, guess what! No signal again! So. I'm not sure when this will hit the ether - soon, I hope!
Ashford
We had a bite to eat in Pizza Hut - loud music, loud voices and too many children running around and since then, Keith has been working hard at creating an internet link through one or other of our mobile phones, but, would you believe it? - no signal for either T mobile or Three!! Thought this was supposed to be the civilised part of the country!! lol. Tomorrow - a leisurely drive to Dover and the ferry. France, here we come!
That was yesterday. The night presented us with a choice - window open + air to breathe + noise or windows closed + no air + sleep without noise but also without breathing! I alternated between the two and so did not have a good night. Keith, on the other hand, unusually, slept like a log! More later, hopefully, if I manage to get this uploaded! Au revoir for now.
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