France 147 - Rocroi /A vauban fort/ a new road /its 15 degrees and it Christmas /Flans and cake shops

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Where in the world is Gabby the motorhome? She is parked up on her Jack Jones on an aire in the tiny town of Rocroi. Its gone 4pm and starting to get dark and we are quite alone. It is a free aire , you pay for water and electricity if you want it. Wind back a bit to this morning if you will. We wake up to a dark morning in England on the banks of the Thames . We breakfast on English croissants and strong coffee . It is pouring down with rain and we waiting listening to the pitter patter on Gabbys roof. We have to wait for 7 before the gates open and we can be on our way. We have an hour and a half drive to the tunnel. Slightly longer than had we stayed at Theobalds Park . We are on the other side of London and wont be going over the Dartford crossing . A new road for us . We have not been this way for some years. The drive to the tunnel was hell with the rain coming down in bucketloads and traffic crawling along . The M25 is hell this time of the morning. We stopped for a top up of diesel , expensive diesel at Stop 24 . We tried to top up with LPG but it was either too cold or our bottles were too full so we gave up. By the time I got to the cashier she was thinking we had done a runner and had not paid . We almost had the police on our backs . Next time not to myself pay for diesel and then go back for the LPG.

We arrived slightly early at the tunnel but yet again were just offered the one crossing. It has been a long time since we managed to get on an earlier train. However time soon flew by and we got our call to start loading. There wasnt even enough time to make a cup of coffee. The crossing went as smoothly as ever and 35 minutes later we were disembarking into a cold and grey Calais . Heading right past the allotments there was not much to see . Towns were undecorated . It felt less like Christmas . Heavy rain and flooded fields . It seemed as if Calais had suffered with floods much the same way as we had back home. The fields that were not flooded were full of Brussels Sprouts . Trees of them. That seems an old fashioned word for a lot of Sprouts still on their stalks . We passed many reminders of the devastation of war. Commonwealth war cemeteries all neatly laid out . We even saw our first Frenchman using a toilet rather than the hedge , Now that must be a first !!! On route we saw our first accident . A bad one . The car curled around the fencing and the gendarmes out in force . Not a good Christmas for someone. The temperature by now had started to rise 15 degrees . It felt almost springlike.

We crossed the border into Belgium De Dum De Dum - with our eyes closed we would have known we were on Belgian roads. They have not improved .

And so we ended up at our overnight stop. This town of Rockroi is endowed with a fine set of fortifications improved by Vauban but first fortified by Francis I of France and expanded by Henry II.. Rockroi changed hands many times during wars and is best known for the BAttle of Rockroi in 1643. It had a strategic position in the north of France and in 1815 just after the Battle of Waterloo it was taken by Prussian and British troops .

Our aire was outside these walls and defences . Just a short walk took us into town. Apart from a few primary schoolchildren and their teacher the town was empty. The tourist information although open was staffed by rather miserable staff . Bah humbug seemed to be the attitude . The cake shop however was better. The display in the window drew me in . I left having spent up on a quiche for tea , a french custard flan and the Buche de Noel - a Christmas log that we were to find in every patisserie we came across. The ones bought here were full of raspberry mousse and cream , redcurrants and top with a golden axe and saw. One baguette was quickly eaten with stilton cheese and branston pickle . There is nothing quite like cheese and pickle when you are hungry.

It is a long night at this time of year. It is dark by 5pm and we are out of range of TV. We are locked up on our own private aire . Would we come away again for Christmas ? Probably - so far so good . Now come on you want to know the answer to the question "Is the battery working?" . Overnight we used the heating and the lights and by morning the battery had used 4% and was sitting at 96% full. The guys who fitted it told us that half an hour driving would normally replace what we had used . Did we believe them? After our experience with the first battery it was an emphatic no . No chance . We talked about having an inverter fitted . Did we need one ? No I dont use a hairdryer or a coffee machine . It seemed a bit too expensive and flashy bit of kit to add on to Gabby. It was more to go wrong . Better to keep it simple. Watch this space though . I shall leave you with that germ of a thought.

Before I say Bon Soir to you all I leave you with thought from Mooji " We dont need to know many things , we just become confused . We just need to know the right thing - the thing that we need to know now"

So its Bonsoir from Rockroi See you in the morning .



















































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