December 7th Angers to Vouvray

Repeat, cold and grey, foggy, not nice. Gloves scarves, wool in our socks, yes and that's all when we are in the truck. \condensation needs to be wiped down by the underpants rag full before we can start out and the truck engine run for a few minutes to get a head start on the windscreen clearing.
We left Bouchemaine headed further up the Loire valley towards Tours and just beyond, Vouvray an aire with a charger in the chateau region.
Drizzly and grey, but between the clumps of fog were very beautiful rural village scenes, no less pretty because of the greyness, in fact that lent an almost ethereal mood as spires and tours of dark grey contrasted against the pearly grey of the cloud cover. Of course there were grand chateaux and mansions along the way with square towers, orbs, rounded turrets, all manner of fairy-tale shapes perched on hill sides or towering above the denuded forest. Much of the journey was along the banks of the Loire, high up on a stock-bank on a narrow and windy road, but with clear views over the river and green freshly planted fields.
We headed to a chateau which was awarded three stars (not to be missed) in our Michelin guide to France, it was the Chateau Azay Le Rideau - not surprisingly in a village of the same name. When we arrived it was raining, we parked at a camper-stop without power for lunch and to allow the rain to stop, and use up some time as the Chateau closes from 1230-1400 each day. Despite our best efforts (and those of Oshkosh) the sky remained resolutely dark and the day cold, though the rain did stop sufficiently long for us to have a wee explore around the grounds and admire the exterior of the chateau. It is a pretty little chateau with a lake surrounding it allowing for good reflections, and woods all around providing scenes of near naked trees on bright green grass with a rug of red brown leaves at their feet.  There were interesting fungi in the damp leaves under the trees. Large odd shaped almost sea-like growths of dark grey through purple, and I imagined truffles by the kilo under the oak trees. It is truffle hunting season at the moment, and I'm sure they are abundant in areas, I have visions of making my fortune with a truffle hunting dog, but am yet to find one handy who wants a job, and I'm not sure about the rules of possession when hunting on the lairds land.
Inside the chateau were a number of grandly furnished rooms including some wonderful tapestries- and of course some narcissistic paintings of giant proportions.
Once we had finished our tour of the house we had a scout around the village before returning to the truck. It was about 4.30 I guess and beginning to get dark especially as the rain had returned. We didn't have much further to drive to Vouvray, about 40kms. We found the campsite OK - there was another campervan there for the night, with a British couple in it, who had a daughter and son-in-law living in Cromwell so that was nice/ Unfortunately the power charger and water had been turned off for winter and so we had to make do with candles, wind-up lamp and battery operated lights, which isn't enough to do much close work by.

December 13th

We spent the day in Milly. it alternated freezing rain and watery sunshine. We mostly stayed in the truck, though Hilary had spent the night at Jacky and Nick's with Josie and Elena so I went around earlyish to pick her up. We found an aire to stay at, it doesn't have power but does have other facilities and it keeps us out of Jackie and Nick's hair, there is another one in the town with power but it was too wet to stay there (grassy underground) but maybe in a day or two there will be a spot we can use. Ze babysat Elena in the afternoon in the truck which was fun, she had a lovely time playing with Hilary's toys and enjoying our company. She seems to know we are relatives and doesn't mind spending time with us, though she is still a little anxious about creche.
I had a quick walk into Milly to post our insurance letter (which got to Le Mans very quickly I must say) but it being 3 o'clock a lot of the shops were closed. In the afternoon Hilary and I played soccer in the car park at the aire, and then we went to Nick and Jackie;s for dinner. We slept well in the truck despite the rain and howling wind; and are now here at Jacky's again looking after Josie while Jacky and Elena are at swilling lessons. Josie doesn't have school on Wednesday. she used to go on Saturday morning instead, but now they just do 4 long days instead. It is lovely to be able to help out with child care to give a bit back to Jacky and Nick who have been wonderful at accommodating us and making us welcome and helping with dealing with French businesses etc. Of course it is also wonderful that Hilary and Josie can spend time together too. They get on really well and it is nice for them both to have English speaking companions to play with. They are in the kitchen now creating a birthday cake for Nick who has his birthday today, they didn't want any help, so hopefully all will be good.  Josie has done a 10 day courdon bleu course (she is only two days older than Hilary) but they have great opportunities over here (if parents can afford it). She is going on a 10 day camp in January to the Alps where she will ski (alpine and cross country), sled with teams of dogs, go our animal tracking in the snow, and raquetting (I think) walking on those snow shoes/tennis racquet things.
Anyway, I need to go, to let Di have a turn, and to get some bread, hopefully I'll be able to sort the computer out with Jacky's help and then it will be all go again.

It's the 14th of December today; I am sitting at my cousin's computer in Milly La Foret about an hour south of Paris. It is a bit of a challenge using this computer' the keyboard is configured differently than my one, or those from NZ. I guess it is to do with how common a letter is in usage of the native language. Also of course all the sites are in French and so negotiating my way around Google France is a challenge.
Why am I writing on my cousin's computer rather than mine (don't the French use a question mark) because I can't find one anywhere on this keyboard) anyway' the answer is my computer has crashed big time. Hard drive kaput. A real piss off as it means communication is even more difficult than before' and my blogging is now ne'er impossible. Also it means I have lost many documents and all the blogs I written but not yet posted and I can't back up my photos or view them. Thankfully I had the foresight to bring a portable extension of memory and therefore all my photos are saved on there or else still on the card in the camera. I had lost photos when a previous computer decided to die on me so I was prepared this time.
It does mean that my blogging will not contain photos for a while though' I may be able to get the machine fixed over here as it is still under warranty and has an international warranty so it is able to be fixed if I can find a certified Toshiba repairer' but of course language is the problem.
The truck fixing is hopefully moving on though. The insurance company has all the papers, including a declaration that I wasn't under the influence of alcohol or any stupefying agents, and they have passed the information on to the garage where we will drop the truck on Monday for an assessment. I imagine it will take a few days or maybe longer to get parts, if it is possible at all, on account of our girls age, but we at least can entertain ourselves in Paris and around in the meantime. What a hardship, having to visit the Louvre and other fine places to fill in time. Oh I just found the question mark but it was disguised as an exclamation mark so where is that?
It is cold here now, sometimes sunny, but often rain, the temperatures are consistently in the low single digits and that remains the forecast for the next few days. I can't imagine things will change radically. We are still unsure of our plans for the next couple of months, it is very dependent on getting the truck fixed, then we can either sell it straight away and do a little independent travelling by train or plane, or keep it a bit longer and maybe drive over to the snowy parts in the east. It is a bit cold to be doing too much camping overnight though in the truck as it doesn't have heating and can get a little chilly in the evenings. We will see though. what happens over the next week.

December 3rd

December 3^rd Oradour sur Glane to Angers (in the Loire)

My brother’s birthday today, I’ve thought of him often in the build-up to the day, especially yesterday when it was the day where he is in New Zealand. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to have internet access for quite a few days so, haven’t been able to send him a message.

The sunshine of late yesterday disappeared (obviously when the sun went down, at 5ish) but what I meant was that the weather crapped out in the night. The rain started pounding on the truck roof at about 3 this morning, cleared briefly at 8.30 but was back by 9.15. We breakfasted, packed up the truck and were on the road in a  north westerly direction towards Angers which was to be our first stop in the Loire Valley/Chateaux region.

The weather remained drizzly all 248kms, driving wasn’t hard though, and things went smoothly apart from a lack of coffee shops.  At about half way we left the main road to enter the city of Poitiers, had it been a nice day we would have stopped and looked around, done a walk around the old town and checked it out, as it was we were on the hunt for a McDonald’s which had been sign-posted just outside the town, hoping to check emails and ensure everything was OK at home, and insurance things moving here. Unfortunately the advertised golden arches never appeared out of the gloom, and after nearly getting wedged in a narrow city centre street, between high walls and badly parked cars on one lane narrow streets, I decided to try another town and get back where we could move freely.

We stopped a further 50kms up the road at a small town called Louden where we got a few groceries, our daily trip to the patisserie (citrus tart, berry creation and mille fleurre (I can’t say it let alone spell it, but boy can I eat them!!).  We had lunch in the car-park in the middle of the village, watching the rain come down and the people passing by, before continuing our journey for the last 30 or so kms. Again our route was well signposted and our map books easy to follow, so after an uneventful drive we arrived here in Beaumonche  where we came and parked in the aire beside the river with about 8 or so other campervans. The book says there is power here (which is why we chose this particular spot, 10kms from Angers, rather than the one in the middle of Angers which doesn’t have power, but despite there being power boxes which we hooked up to, no power was forthcoming. I had been a bit suspicious when none of the other trucks were plugged in, and two at least had generators going. Because it was raining and Di had come in after doing the connection, before she realised the power wasn’t  forthcoming, we just sat in the truck drinking tea we had made by boiling water on the gas stove, and chatting by the light of one electric bulb running off the reserve battery and a light which has its own battery. We wondered why everyone kept looking at us, and one couple even did a walking circuit of the van, but we are quite used to being stared at (I don’t know if it’s the old truck, or just the fact we are interesting specimens), but it was only when Hilary said one of the other trucks was plugging in to the power boxes that we realised they thought we had managed to get an electricity supply. We sat discussing what they might be thinking about how we could get it when no-one else could, and various scenarios of making the most of their consternation, but in the end, Di instead went out and unplugged our cord and put it away.

The others are now bickering over a game of cards, Hilary is, to quote Diana, “playing dirty” whereas Hilary says, she is playing within the rules, using strategy to win. I’m with Hilary, what’s the point in not trying to win,  Diana says it should be for pleasure too, bloody Hillary Commission has a lot to answer for!!! 

The rain is still plopping down heavily on the roof, we’ve told OshKosh he’s got until 6am to sort it out, as there is a chateaux we want to visit tomorrow and also a walk around the city of Angers. Hopefully he’s not too busy at the pub, it being a Saturday night!!

  

December 1st

1^st December  St. Laurent sur Gorre  through Limoges to Oradour sur Glane

Hilary was on a mission this morning. I had told her in the evening that if she was up, dressed and ready to leave with all her gear secured by 9.15 we could go and look for the geese to feed, and take some sugar lumps and lollies for the donkey. Hilary is not speedy at anything she does, mornings are a constant battle and so is meal time, however today, with the thought of hand feeding the donkey again, she was up like a greyhound and off, ready before 9.15 and had to wait for me to finish brushing my  teeth before we could go. We set off through the ankle deep leaves and damp grass, me drinking the last of my cup of tea as I walked, Hilary swinging a stick, and bread and lollies, over to the paddock where the donkey, a sheep and the geese were. The donkey was a wee way off, with its back turned to us, but when Hilary whistled it looked over and came sauntering over to her hoping for a treat. The sheep, with bell on collar, but clanger missing, also came over, at a much faster rate. Hilary hand fed the donkey a few sweets and then a little hard bread squares, and then the sheep stood on its hind legs, forelegs on the fence wires, begging for a taste too. It wouldn’t take the food directly from her hand, so she tossed a lolly to it, but it missed it. The geese weren’t remotely interested but I suspect they had recently been fed with hot mash or something because the chickens and ducks were all pecking around up there, and as we left the geese flew/waddled back up to their accommodation and began scuffling around on the ground.

We headed back to the truck and were on the road north by 9.45. We took some narrowish “D”  roads before meeting up with the N21 which is the next step up on roads, still only one lane in each direction, and in need of a bit of smoothing in places, but an OK road. They don’t have very much shoulder on their roads here so what you drive on is pretty much it and there aren’t white lines on the edge either, it can be a little nerve wracking when you meet a large vehicle coming the other way as you often pass with what seems like inches to spare at a combined speed of 180kms/hr. The speed limit on the roads with 2 lanes in each direction is at least 110km/hr  and 130 on the motorways, again, the lanes seem narrow compared to those at home, and the markings aren’t as informative as those I am used to either, with no suggestion of safe speed for corners, or severity of the bend. It all takes a bit of getting used to, especially as the truck is significantly higher, wider and longer than anything I have driven before.

We only had about 20kms to drive to Limoges which we wanted to visit to see ceramics and enamel, the two major crafts the area is renowned for.  We parked opposite the tourist information centre, pretty much on the main street, pleased to have found a park which we could access.  We went across the street to see what information we could glean, not a lot really, a few pamphlets and a map, I asked the woman if there was a walking tour marked which we could follow and she said no, not really, just walk anywhere. (Later after we were sitting back in the truck about to leave we had another look at one of the brochures and found that there is in fact a walking tour (we had seen markers on our ambles that we thought were indicators that there was a historical walk), and that the pamphlet had information about each site. Nevermind, we walked up the main street to look at some ceramic shops and a few windows with enamel Cloissone type work. Unfortunately it was now 1230 and so most places were closed or try to close until 2pm or later, so we went to the truck, had lunch, and then drove around a few streets trying to find a park nearer the old centre. We eventually found a spot down by the river by an old bridge, and then climbed up into the walled part of the city.

The jardins, though it was definitely wintery, still had lovely structure, with topiaried little trees and ponds and a fountain. There was a large Cathedral in the background as well as a chapel which no longer served as a religious building but was "The Museum of Resistance” but was unfortunately closed as it is relocating to a hundred or so metres further away. I had that highlighted as a place I’d like to have seen, so that was a little bit of a bother, but that’s the breaks.  Instead we went and had a coffee (we forgot the really important “grand” on the front so were served up with an egg-cup full of “stand the spoon up in it” coffee, and a small jug of cold milk. Not so good!!!! Felt my carotids pulsating as I swallowed it, and the legs started giggling before it had reached my stomach.

We went and had a look around the cathedral, nice stained glass, and then to the Museum with great enamel work. Some incredible stuff there, hard to believe much of it was done in the 1500s. 

November 30th

30^th November. A restful day in Saint Laurent sur Gorre

We spent the morning doing chores. OshKosh had come to the party and the sun was shining through the trees, so we strung up a clothes line and hung all our bedding out to air. Then we set about washing all sorts of things, tea towels, smalls, tee-shirts and a pair of trousers each. We filled the line with our clean hand wrung out washing, and waited for the gentle breeze and pale sunlight to do their thing. Of course almost as soon as we had it all hung, and were sitting down for a well- earned cup of tea, the clouds closed together and the sunlight disappeared. Despite a very gentle breeze, the temperature dropped sufficiently to prevent any drying happening, sp we had rows of wet garments to house when we finally gave up trying.

In spite of the now quite cold day, we needed to get out, so we had a short walk into what constituted the village, but was not much more than a few buildings collected together. 

One was a bookshop where we were able to buy a postcard of the village for our book, and a small grocery shop where we got a few fresh vegetables and dairy products. Our last port of call was the patisserie (of course) where we purchased a delicious loaf of pain traditionale, a small sponge roll with citron curd and raspberry conserve wrapped in it and covered with whipped cream flavoured with citron on one side and raspberry on the other. It was actually pretty good, despite being a shocking pink and equally shrill yellow. We also had  a piece of apricot flan, with a thick custard filling topped with sliced apricot and apricot glaze, the filling was delicious but the base was a bit eggy, almost like a frittata/omelette which wasn’t how we expect flans to be, it wasn’t unpleasant just unusual for us. Our other piece was a coffee flavoured profiterole with coffee icing and a coffee custard inside. Again the profiterole pastry was like the eggy base of the flan, and the custard different texture and flavour for us. Not nasty at all, just not a 10/10 score for us. That’s what we have been doing in France. We get something tasty from the nearest patisserie/boulangerie most days (to help the local economy we always say, so for purely altruistic reasons of course) we tend to get three items, one choice each, but then we divide them all in thirds so we have a wee sample of each. Often we will (or Hilary will) draw up a grid and we will score them in order of preference. Many times they look superb and the taste doesn’t quite meet expectations, but sometimes they score very highly. I think my favourite still is probably the mille fille is still my tops, especially the ones with a little grog in the custard.

After indulging in pastries for afternoon tea I felt a distinct need for exercise, so I took the bike off the back of the truck and went for a ride along dirt tracks/roads through the forest and country-side around the environs of the village. It was really beautiful to be out, taxing the body on hill climbs and riding over rocks and through sludge in the fresh air. I didn’t go for long, probably only 45 minutes but it was good. On my journey I found a whole lot of what looked like NZ field mushrooms, so I picked them and stuffed them down my jacket and took them back to the truck.

On my trip I had seen some geese, and as Hilary had some old bread,  we had been looking for ducks or some other likely taker to feed. There weren’t any wild ducks to be found in the vicinity of the village (I guess they were all in the locals’ freezers) but I thought these geese might be an option. So Hilary and I went over with the bread but couldn’t find the geese. Instead we found a donkey who came running when he saw us, and chewed on the little hard knobs of bread as though they were lollies. We promised him that if Hilary was onto it in the morning we would come back with some boiled sweets, at which he smiled.

Unfortunately they were a bit gritty and they also tasted a little medicinal (like the smell of a dentist’s rooms) so after a tiny nibble we decided to give them a miss, I had visions of some terrible central nervous system failure besetting us so as Hilary had not wanted to try them I told her to run over to the British campervan and tell them what we had eaten (along with samples) should we start exhibiting odd (or odder than usual behaviour, or strange twitching). She looked at me with Bloomer eyebrow raised, until I assured her I was fair dinkum!!!

In the evening it was so cold we all decided to sleep together, Hilary one end of the bed and us the other, it was excellent for warmth, but not really conducive to a restful sleep with constant tug-of-warring for covers, and feet in odd places. So when I finally awoke I can’t say I was particularly rested. 

November 29th

29^th November.  St Cyprien to Saint Laurent sur Gorre

Fog shrouded the village of St Cyprien again this morning and filling the truck with water bottle full by bottle full because our hose couldn’t attach to the freshwater outlet, was taxing indeed. I had the truck idling as I worked to try to warm up the interior and disperse some of the condensation before our journey began, so the burnt diesel fumes combined with the wet air to try to cause my end. I survived however, and once the others came back from the patisserie with fresh bread and a few tasty looking morsels, we hit the road, in a now warm truck. As we climbed out of the valley and through other villages and forest lined roads to the north we broke through the fog to a stunning sunny day, and we were soon shedding layers and marvelling at our good fortune.  To tell you the truth actually and let you into a secret I’m not sure I have shared before, Hilary has 2 main companions on this journey of ours. She has Lambie, who many of you will know, who she has had since pre-birth, given to us by a friend  at a baby shower. Lambie has lived through many experiences, and like Hilary is a world traveller. He has been to Australia at least twice, Malaysia, and the UK and Europe three times. He has been reborn or even reincarnated almost at various times, we like to tell the story of him losing his head in an Irish pub when we were in Ireland with my mum in 2005, and he has been reinvented and re -sewn so many times that I’m not sure any of him is his original self, but he has always maintained a link with his past. Lambie is part of our family. The other character is Osh Kosh, who is a bear of similar stature as the original Lambie, in fact he was bought about 5 years ago as a substitute for Lambie who was no more than a rag by then. Osh Kosh didn’t ever curry the same favour as Lambie, was begrudgingly taken to bed if lambie couldn’t be found after extensive searching, but was really a very poor cousin. Hilary, when we were planning for this journey was told she had to only bring two “friends” and a couple of small toys, (as we had to fit everything into a pack each, which we would have to carry some distance). She chose Lambie (of course, as I said he is family), and OshKosh and a few Schleich (brand name) lions. 

Well since we have been on tour, OshKosh has gained a great deal of character (Lambie always had it), but amongst other things, like going to the pub while we are all asleep, and arriving home in no fit state, and using the occasional rude word, OshKosh’s primary claim to fame and role is that of weather man. He doesn’t forecast the weather mind, we have a machine on the wall that does that, he creates the weather, so it is OshKosh to whom we turn when the weather is bad, and ask for help. Diana and I think OshKosh does pretty well, however Hilary is convinced that whenever the weather has a change to the good, Lambie has had a hand in it, if it is inclement, OshKosh is in sole command.  So to get back to our trip from St Cyprien, in actual fact we weren’t thanking our good fortune for the gorgeous weather, but heaping praise on OshKosh. As I said to Diana a day or so ago, when she returned from the shower with Hilary, “If anyone had seen me in here (the truck) they would have been quite concerned, as I was extolling out loud to a bear head with blue velvet skirt, to take the clouds away and bring some sun”. She agreed, but understood completely.  Strange things happen when you live in very close proximity to two other people (even if they are loved ones) for an extended period.

We hadn’t intended stopping on our journey to Saint Laurent sur Gorre as it was only about 160kms and we could have made it easily before lunch, however, after only 14kms we were bewitched by a pretty little village, beside a river, shining in the sunlight, and with a full blown market in progress. I found a park for the truck while the others started browsing, I caught up with them at a cane basket stall where the vendor was in full flight explaining about the quality of his products and rapidly dropping the price to try to make a deal. They were beautiful, and would have been very functional, especially for going to the market and buying fruit and vegetables, cheese and other products each week, however, highly impractical when you think about getting them home, and more so when you wonder what the MAF people might say at the NZ border. So despite the fair price and beautiful wares, we left there empty handed. I went to a couple of fresh vegetable stalls and chose a few things like parsley, a parsnip, a broccoflower,  a few carrots and some green beans, I have got the etiquette of market shopping sussed I think. Some places you point to what you want as the vendor doesn’t want you touching it, but at other places you are allowed to choose your own. I observed the locals, and realised this was a “touch it yourself” situation and so acted accordingly. 

We walked a little further and were accosted by a woman selling her sheep’s milk cheeses. She held out samples which we willingly tasted as she chatted to us in excellent English. I don’t usually like blue cheese, but being in a different land, thought I would sample the local product (isn’t that a big part of being in foreign places?), and to my surprise discovered I really liked it. We also sampled the plain cheese which got a thumbs up from all of us, and a sweet chilli cheese which also met with approval from all of us. So we asked for a small wedge of each. When she said, that’s 1.2kgs of cheese (as she looked at the scales) I became a little nervous, but when she asked for €55 I decided that pride could take a fall, and told her we could not afford that (over $100). So we took the plain and blue cheese (still 30 plus euros worth) and mumbling “pardons” repeatedly, beat a hasty retreat.

We needed a coffee after that, so stopped at a small bar/café and snuggled inside beside the heater drinking cups of hot coffee and feeling relieved that we weren’t having to sell ourselves to finance our cheese habit.

We stopped at a wine stall on our way back to the truck and picked up a half bottle (a whole bottle but half the usual volume) of a local red wine (Bergerac, a local village but also reminds me of that smooth gorgeous John Nettles on the t.v. ).

By now of course it was lunchtime so we had some of our new cheese with fresh bread, avocado, pate and hot pumpkin soup, before making our way back on to the main drag and moving north.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, just a smooth ride up through the pretty Dorgogne countryside and into Limousin.  Our campground was about 10 kms off the main highway in a small village surrounded by sheep, cattle, geese and beautiful fields and trees. It is about 20 kms from Limoges where we wanted to visit, and this was the best spot.

The campsite has showers, power, emptying facilities, and is in beautiful surroundings with lakes and village nearby, and in amongst large glorious coloured oaks. Really quite peaceful and very relaxing.