We finally arrived home on Sunday 14th July at around 8am. As planned we spent two great days at what is probably our favourite municipal site in France...Camping Municipal Sezanne. For around 11 euros a night you get a spotlessly clean terraced site with lots of well drained flat pitches. There is free access to a heated Olympic sized swimming pool. Because we'd already done the bike rides and walks in the area we spent these two days swimming in the pool and relaxing listening to the first test match on the radio. The weather continued to be hot with temps around 30c.
After leaving Sezanne around 8am on the Saturday we drove to Calais for our 4pm boat, stopping on the way for lunch and a visit to the supermarkets to fill up with fuel and booze.
We finally docked at Dover around tea time and drove to The Bowling Green at Banbury, a free overnight stop for motorhomes. Unfortunately this was not an ideal location as it was positioned right next to the M40 and the car park had a 2metre high barrier. The owners were kind enough to lower this for us but the traffic noise kept us awake for most of the night. Consequently we set off for home around 5pm on Sunday morning.

Camping Municipal Sezanne, spotlessly clean, flat and well drained...

...there always seems to be a council worker in attendance keeping the site well maintained and clean...

...the Olympic sized pool is heated with a large grassed area for sunbathing...

...Easy access and well landscaped.

Lake Settons

Ray and Barb in pool

Camping le lac photies

5th July - 10th July

5^th July

We drove the 150 or so miles to St Antoine – d’Auberoche in the Dordogne region. It was now getting really hot with temps in the late 20’s. This was a delightful well managed site with a swimming pool and a waterslide pool. There was plenty of shade but quite a few mozzy’s. We liked the site a lot but also wanted to try another one in the same area..

6^th July

We phoned our friend Ray up over at Savignac les Egises but he was working that day so we decided to meet up with him on the Sunday and have a barbeque with him. We then drove the short distance to Plazac and camping Du Lac. Again a beautifully positioned site in a nice quiet rural location. It had a large swimming pool and a beach on a lake. The temperature had slipped over the 30c mark so we dunked Pickles in the lake to cool off and had a swim in the pool. Although it was extremely hot the pitches were still a bit damp and our front wheels nearly got stuck in the soft ground; a measure of just how wet the spring and early summer has been in this part of the world.

7^th July

Sunday, the day of Andy Murray’s victory in the Wimbledon final. We were fortunate that one of the houses Ray looks after needed some attention. So we met up at the house in Savignac packed the motorhome with bbq stuff and drove the short distance to the house. What a lovely day; we were able to have the tennis final on the tv and kept popping in to watch it but we also had the use of the pool, once Ray had cleaned it and done his little jobs. Later we returned to Ray and Leslies house and watched the closing moments of the tennis. That evening we sat on the porch drinking and eating a tasty supper of kebabs. Back to the motorhome and an unsettled night due to the heat and the noisy road nearby.

8^th July

At 6am we were wide awake and immediately kicked off heading further north. We decided to take a look at the motorhome Aire at Lurcy Levis about 190 miles away. When we arrived there we were surprised at how good this aire was. Each motorhome bay was separated with hardstanding. It looked over a lovely lake and due to the distance between each bay most motorhomes had there tables, chairs and awning out, something you are not really allowed to do on Aires. The town was a short distance away and everything looked ideal for a nights stay. However we were short of supplies it was really hot and we just fancied a site where we could use the facilities. We decided to head for the Morvan area and a favourite of ours Lake Settons. This was about an extra 100 miles. We headed for Settons and stopped at a Lidl in Chateau Chinon for supplies. 20 minutes later we booked in at Camping Municipal De La Faye, a good basic site right on the shores of Lake Settons.(about 11e a night with electricity)

9^th July

The excellent weather continues and so we set up the bikes, put Pickles in his buggy and drove around the lake. This is a stunning area and also in comparison to many other parts of France is relatively quiet and not too commercialized.. It’s the type of place where you’d always get a pitch in the high season, the lake is great for swimming and sailing and if you have a detailed map there are lots of walking paths. We’ve been here several times and I’m always surprised that it isn’t more popular with the Brits.

We stopped off at the beach just by the sailing centre and spent a few hours swimming with Pickles and just lying in the sun listening to a loud American woman trying to convince her kids that “there are no crocodiles or alligators in France.”

10^th July

We decided to book Pickles in to the vets at nearby Montsauche. It was a 4 mile bike ride. We will take him there tomorrow at 10am for the necessary worming and signing of his passport; then we intend to drive about 140 miles to another of our favourite sites at Sezanne. The 8 mile trip to the vets and back now means that we have ridden 400 miles on our bikes since we left the uk on March 20^th.. At the moment its another hot day so we’ll probably go for a swim after lunch. This site doesn’t have internet access so to update the blog we’ll have to go to Camping du Midi up the road later and have a drink and use their wifi. That might be our last blog update as we get the boat on Saturday 13^th. We’ll stop off at a pub near Banbury where they allow motorhomes to stay overnight…then its home after 4 months away.

5th July update

1^st July 6, 2013”The old gits 61 today.

1^st ,2^nd, 3^rd July  We spent 3 days on the SW coast at Camping La Cote near Messanges. The weather on the day we arrived was nice so we had a couple of hours on the beach in the early evening sun. I also had a swim in the sea. After the freezing cold waters of Portugal the water felt warm and it was good to be in the surf. The next couple of days were overcast so on the third day we went on a bike ride to Soustons, a round trip of about 19 miles. We stopped off at a restaurant and had a ‘menu of the day’ for 12e each. 3 courses with a quarter ltr of wine. A tasty meal and good value.

4^th July

We arrived in Biscarrosse, Camping Navarrosse. It took 40 minutes to book in. We were allocated a pitch but told if we didn’t like the one allocated we could pick another and tell them the number. The one they chose was unshaded and sandy, we therefore picked another shaded pitch. The motorhome was nicely positioned and so I went to tell them the number. The manager kicked off…we should have taken the one allocated. I told her we needed shade to kept the insulin cool. I also complained about the bureaucracy and time spent booking in. She suggested I wasn’t understanding and that the pitch I’d chosen was unsuitable for motorhomes. I told her to look at the pitch I was on, it was perfect, the site was empty and we were only staying one night so what was the problem. She wouldn’t have it we would have to move to one for motorhomes. I tried to explain about the insulin and that I would be filling out an ACSI report. She just said that she couldn’t understand me and turned her back. We moved to another pitch but we are not staying here more than one night and wont be back again! What a pity as I was looking forward to another couple of days on the beach. Still we went on a bike ride around the lake and Pickles had a good swim.

Monday 1st July

Now in France on the SW coast near Soustons