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Published: December 5th 2014
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November is the river month. We have loitered along the Loire, ambled along the Allier, dawdled along the Dordogne, cruised along the Creuse, lingered near the Lot, yomped along the Yonne and trickled along the Tarn.
We spent our first two nights back in France at the Ferme Horloge motorhome site. For the first time in all our trips back and forth across the channel the weather was actually clear and dry so we took advantage of this opportunity to spend a day exploring the Deux Caps with a hike up and around Cap Blanc Nez for great views across to Dover followed by lunch of Moules et Frites in a local brasserie packed with local families. There was another reason for hanging around and that was we had not enough fuel to go very far and it being Sunday could not get any nearby. The French 24hr fuel stations do not generally take cash and don’t take non French cards so we were stuck until Monday morning.
Having fuelled up we headed south east to skirt around Paris to pick up some of the Loire valley in autumnal colour. We were not disappointed and enjoyed several days exploring
the lesser known sites including Chateau Vaux le Vicomte, Sens cathedral with soaring arches and stunning stained glass and another church in Joigny with equally lovely stained glass.
We stopped over night at four France Passion sites including a cider farm and three wineries in a row in the Sancerre/Pouilly Fume region. All were welcoming and we enjoyed lots of conversations in pigeon French as none of them spoke much English, as well as consuming quite a bit of wine.
Our meanderings took us further into the heart of France as each night we pored over our Michelin atlas to find “green routes” taking us along sections of rivers such as the confluence of the Loire and the Allier rivers where we found a nice walk around an area which is frequented by storks in summer and cranes in winter. We were pleased to spot a family group of cranes feeding in a field as well as a herd of deer and a group of Charolais cows who moved as one whenever we did – a bit spooky really. We wild camped outside the cemetery in Mars sur Allier as the next morning was Remembrance Day and we
wanted to join a local community as they held their ceremony at the nearby memorial. Some said hello to us and one man thanked us for attending, especially when we told him we were from Australia.
Other rivers we have explored in more depth (no pun intended) included the Cher, the Yonne, the Creuse, the Dordogne and the Lot where yet again the autumn colour seemed to glow all around us. We have seen numerous crenellated, gargoyled and turreted chateau during this month. We have wandered around the outsides marvelling at the longevity of the stonework and goggled at the beauty of the interiors with their ancient furnishings, carved stonework or beautiful tapestries.
We have lunched out on a few occasions, mostly finding places that are packed with locals and we have not been disappointed with our “menu de jour” or “menu traditionelle”, usually costing anywhere from 12 to 17euro for three courses. For supper we then have the produce we bought that day from the market, ie cheese, bread, salad, pate etc...
There have been some remarkable nature sightings including spotting a family of otters on the roadside. Mum was busy making sure the youngsters all
got off the road as we approached in our great white beast. Another day we stopped to admire a tiny fieldmouse with deep chestnut fur and who seemed just as interested in us. Yet another day we were stopped by a man waving a red jumper just before a herd of sprightly cattle came galumping along the road determined not to be headed off by the tractor leading them. However one sighting of the great white beast made them veer away into the required field.
November has also been a good month for Geocaching with Brian discovering lots of pleasant walks for us to do as we find a few caches. We have also foraged for chestnuts and walnuts on our walks although the chestnuts seem a bit on the small side this year, perhaps something to do with the wet summer and late autumn, maybe. France is not a place to be at this time of year if you want to stay in caravan parks as they are pretty much all closed so we have relied heavily on motorhome aires and France Passion places topped up with a few wild camps. In fact we have spent less than
1euro a day for camping fees this month.
We are both keeping pretty well and Brian keeps hobbling along despite his bad knee giving him occasional reminder jabs to make sure he takes things slowly. I sometimes go for a walk with him then go out for a walk at my own pace later just to get the exercise, although sometimes the short winter daylight defeats my best efforts. The good thing is only three more weeks until the days start to get longer again, yippee!
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