# France at last!



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Seems a lifetime since we returned from France last November but finally we are here again.

Spent the first night near Dunkirk then found a lovely wild spot 20 miles north of Reims by an Abbey and yesterday as it was so hot we headed south east for lac d orient. Sadly so did everyone else!

There are about 30 vans on an unofficial aire at the south of the lake. Had two massive thunderstorms and now can't decide if we should visit Troyes then head further south east towards Jura or stay put. 

There only appears to be one beach here and it was packed yesterday. We are both a bit tired as its been a long journey and wouldn't mind finding somewhere quiet. 

Still two months of fun ahead!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Stay there Barry.
At least we know where you are....... 8O 

Ray.


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

Keep me a place, we will be there on Sunday!


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Forecast to be 34c. Very overcast and muggy though. 

Just trying out the toggle sim on the mobile. Seems good and cheap so far. 

Made two calls yesterday that cost 27p would have been £2.50 on Vodafone.

Off to Troyes in a minute


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Don't go yet. There's a good aire I think. I'll send the co-ords if I'm right.

I was wrong!!  
There is one but it's on a campsite. 48.31137, 4.09644 if it's any good to you.

Dave


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

barryd - Off to Troyes in a minute 

Please note that Troyes is 'twinned' with Chesterfield.

Just thought I'd mention it!

Have a great holiday.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The weather at the North of France is wetter and more thundery than further South, much of the thunder is heading off to the UK during today (oh dear...... :lol: ), we have electrical storms forecast for a couple of nights over the next week, hardly surprising as it is 36C during the afternoon and it gets increasingly humid as the day progresses and the electrical storm clears the air very markedly.

The summary is here (if it works);

http://france.meteofrance.com/

That might help you decide where to go,

If you end up this far South ping me a message and drop in - several MHF friends have done precisely that - it is always good to put faces to names...

Dave


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

we are off to Ounans 39380 and then to Corcieux 88430 stopping at Lac d'Oreint on way down!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

You can keep 36 and muggy Barry.
A light breezy 23 and sunny is just fine for me in La Manche. But as usual we are selling at our local boot sale Sunday and the forecast is showers.

Ray.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Drivers warned of traffic jams July 26, 2013 HOLIDAY traffic is expected to be jammed in all directions this weekend as traffic monitoring agency Bison Futé has set a red alert for difficult conditions tomorrow. Traffic heading from the big cities to the holiday resorts is matched by the first holiday-makers returning home - as temperatures reach heatwave proportions in the Isère and Rhône while 10 departments in the south-west are on orange alert for thunderstorms later today. Bison Futé said that driving conditions would be difficult all over the country as French holidaymakers would also be joined by families from England with the start of the school holidays across the Channel. This morning thunderstorms were still hitting Ile-de-France and neighbouring departments, with residents in the north of Paris reporting on Twitter that they had been wakened by thunderclaps about 6.00. The thunderstorms are moving north-east towards the Channel ports with gusts of wind reaching 100kph. Lyon and Grenoble are both on canicule heatwave alert with minimum temperatures of 20C and afternoon temperatures rising to 36C. However, conditions are expected to ease from today. - See more at: http://www.connexionfrance.com/Driv...-14909-view-article.html#sthash.ny5pCrob.dpuf


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## babyrhino (Oct 19, 2006)

Welcome back Barry!

We are having continuous high temperatures down here near Carcassonne, always at least 35 and sometimes up to 40. Then last week I logged on to my Orange email to see the news that a "canicule" was on it's way - didn't actually know that French word so looked it up and found it was a heatwave! Diane was already complaining that she couldn't go out to do the garden so she was well impressed when I told her it was going to get worse!

She is praying for thunderstorms and rain but it doesn't ever quite reach us here - friends west of Carcassonne have had a few but they don't seem to have the energy to get this far east.

Get the Leffe in and enjoy the break - as Dave said, if you get this far call in and say hello.

Regards

Brian


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## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

Barry
Where is the unofficial Aire?
We were there in March and found that both Aires in our outdated book were now closed and the service point moved to the nearby campsite.
We ended up staying with 5 others on the coach park at the rear of the sailing club near the sports hall.
James


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

JP said:


> Barry
> Where is the unofficial Aire?
> We were there in March and found that both Aires in our outdated book were now closed and the service point moved to the nearby campsite.
> We ended up staying with 5 others on the coach park at the rear of the sailing club near the sports hall.
> James


I would hazard a guess it's the parking at Mesnil-Saint-Pere...

http://www.campingcar-infos.com/Francais/ccia.php?numero=18989

I think they all pile in here now the aire at Geraudot has closed.

Pete


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

peejay said:


> JP said:
> 
> 
> > Barry
> ...


Yes thats it. Just a big car park but plenty of room. Premier spots are longways at the top end of the car park. We just parked in the middle to be awkward. 

Troyes is lovely but we binned Lac d'Oreint as it wasn't our cup of tea. Just parked in E'Leclerc 3 miles out and biked in. Nice town, better than Reims and Epernay which were a bit dull unless your into Champagne and we are not really. Smells of poo!

Headed south a bit and found a quiet little Aire and had a ride through the cool forest on the bike. Sun came out around mid day and its been boiling all day.

Had a beer and wine in a local bar which was very quaint but for some reason had an industrial size washing machine in the middle of it which looked liked it was doing the whole villages smalls!

So. a Lovely warm evening, Quiet surroundings (until the guitar comes out), Leffe on ice, Brie de Meux slowly melting, decent French bread at last and pate. GET IT!!! Been a while!

Ray. France may be chocka this weekend but you can always find your own piece of tranquillity!


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

barryd said:


> Ray. France may be chocka this weekend but you can always find your own piece of tranquillity!


The last time I saw those trees, there were loads of French, Spanish, Dutch and German Motorhomes around there - must have been 30 or 40, all enjoying the tranquillity........

Maybe the guitar playing has preceded you and they have all moved back to Le Lac d'Orient...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll:

Dave


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Stuff em! I've bought a new set of strings an all! 

Anyway that photo isn't lake orient. It's our secret hideaway! 

It's still too dammed hot! Can't go for a ride on pig now either as I've started on le leffe and ill end up in le ditch!


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## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

peejay said:


> JP said:
> 
> 
> > Barry
> ...


Yes that's where we ended up in March, it was only an overnight stop on route south and we had a pleasant walk along the beach.

Happy travelling Barry.

James


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks JP and all. Sorry I havent thanked you all but everytime I press the button the screen freezes. Must be this crappy French Weefee!  

our refuge of solace has been taken over by at least 6 vans now and some of them have brought Children!!! How condsiderate is that??

Im just off out to pop their footballs and stomp on their toys! 8O


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Its been a slow hot day here at Chaource so I started this years blog. Its a bit dull so far but adventure wont be far away.

Its still way to hot but due to cool by ten degrees tomorrow and a lot of Rain.

We are going to head a bit further south into Burgundy and Ive spotted a few likely Aires and places to visit. A couple of lakes as well but Ironically it might be too cold and wet now!

There is only us and the resident French couple in the corner left on the Aire. I think they probably come here each year for their summer holidays. They seem very pleasant though.

Anyway if anyone is interested here is the start of this years blog.

Hank the Tank Summer 2013 blog


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## simandme (Jan 11, 2011)

If you're heading to Burgundy, can recommend the aire at St Gengoux de Scisse, in the Chardonnay Valley! (though I heard that the grapes have been hit hard by thunderstorms).

Free electric; only us and one other, so we stayed hooked up for the night. Nice easy walk into the village.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

simandme said:


> If you're heading to Burgundy, can recommend the aire at St Gengoux de Scisse, in the Chardonnay Valley! (though I heard that the grapes have been hit hard by thunderstorms).
> 
> Free electric; only us and one other, so we stayed hooked up for the night. Nice easy walk into the village.


Thanks for that. We did see that one but as we are officially heading to Jura thought it was a bit long of a dog leg but who knows!

After my last post we had a bit of drama. Saturday night the weather changed and there was a massive storm. I think we may well have been in the eye of it as the lightning seemed to circle around us as a result I think we missed the worse of it as the next morning we set off a few miles further south to an Abbey near Montbard and there were trees down all over. Even some of those massive circular hay bails had been blown out of the fields.

Took us ages to get anywhere as there were Route Barre signs all over. The French love these so have a field day in a storm.

Seemed to be sporadic though.

To cap it all I broke my tooth on a flipping baguette!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your dramas Barry.
We did a boot sale Sunday and apart from a 20 min shower it was a very comfortable day with 23c and slight breeze.

French dentists are very cheap and accommodating.

Ray.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks Ray. I've used a French dentist before. Excellent he was. Its a tooth at the back that my dentist ad home spent ages building up but said it might last ten years or ten weeks. It's about ten weeks. It's completely disintergrated. There was a loose bit left so I just set up my own dentists in the van and pulled it out. . I'll leave the rest of it to the experts though.

Finally arrived in Jura near Abois today. It's taken us a week to get here and it's only 450 miles from Calais!

Looks good so far. Off to do some wilding up in the hills near some lakes and hopefully stay put for a few days. Forecast is HOT!


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