Ok, OK, I know the blog hasn’t been updated for ages but once again an acute attack of laziness overtook me. Once we got home the garden had reverted to a poor imitation of jungle and sorting that out plus the other necessities of life seemed to take over.
Meeting an old mate and fellow Vulcan Volunteer, ‘Shackers’, at RIAT I was forcibly reminded to get on and complete the blog. So here goes……..
Regular readers, if there are any left, might recall that we had got as far as the Canal du Midi at Homp after our drive south through the Ardeche and spending some time by the Med. at Gruissan. We were now starting to slowly head north and home.
Leaving Homp we drove through the extensive Minervois vines heading for Beziers and the A75 towards Millau. Just short of the Millau Viaduct we turned west and through the hills to Lac de Pareloup (GPS 44.20027º 2.77601º) and its lovely aire on the steep banks of the lac. We have been there several times and it is now firmly on our ‘favourites’ list. With the weekend approaching and good weather we expected the aire to be really busy but there was loads of room with only about 15 out of 70 plus pitches taken.
The almost empty aire at Lac de Pareloup
A pitch with a view
Evening storm clouds gather
Lac de Pareloup is about 2500ft high in the hills and so the weather can be changeable to say the least. With thunder storms all around we were lucky to miss them all but after four lovely days the forecast started to look a bit dodgy so we continued our way north.
Our next stop was at a site recommended a couple of years ago by our caravanning friends Jenny & John, https://jennyandjohngocaravanning.wordpress.com.
Campground Huttopia at Beaulieu sur Dordogne (ex Camping des îles. GPS 44.97957º 1.84196º) is on an island in the Dordogne and right beside the lovely old village of Beaulieu. The approach needs some care if you are in a high vehicle as not only do you need to negotiate the narrow street from the village centre but there is a 3m high footbridge at the site entrance. We just scrapped through, literally, as the satellite dish was just touching the wood work. There is another side entrance, which we later found, with has no restrictions. That entrance is off the D12 and past the Aire de Camping-Car under the high road bridge that crosses the river. (GPS 44.97738º 1.84196º) That gives you a back way in to the site.
Beware! Low entrance.
It is a lovely, well cared for site, much of it under trees for shade but there are also open areas with plenty of sun. Our pitch was right beside the river and apart from the distant roar of water pouring over a weir, was very peaceful. Although we didn’t use any of the loos and facilities they all appeared to be of a very high standard.
Our peaceful pitch beside the river.
A short walk through the site entrance and you are right in the middle of the village with its medieval centre. Narrow cobbled streets and alleys, some entrered through stone arches, a huge 13th century abbey church, market square and plenty of bars and restaurants. The church was once part of a benedictine abbey around which the village was originally developed.
Original entrance to the village.
Mellow stone buildings and cobbled streets.
Archways, towers and timbers.
An elegant village square.
The impressive entrance to the abbey church.
Cross the footbridge over the river for lovely views of the Dordogne and another church that stands on the edge of the village with a string of attractive houses beside the water. It all makes an extremely scenic and photogenic picture. There are plenty of benches on both sides of the river to rest on and enjoy the views.
Lovely old riverside church.
An attractive group of riverside houses.
A gabare moored on the Dordogne.
As I mentioned before, there is an Aire de Camping-Car just outside the site and along side the ‘back road’. It looked pretty basic with a pay machine and not much in the way of views. OK if you just want to visit the village but I would rather pay a few more euros and enjoy the site which takes ACSI cards and so isn’t too expensive out of high season.
After three nights at Beaulieu we only had a week of our trip left so we continued north. Across country to join the A20 motorway, past Limoges and Chateauroux and then onto the D2020 to Salbris and Camping de Sologne. (GPS 47.43025º 2.05475º)
This pleasant site is set beside a lake with a short walk round the lake to the village for morning croissants from the excellent boulangerie by the bridge. This is another ACSI site and there is always a warm welcome from Christine who runs the site with her husband. The weather was lovely so we spent three days enjoying the sun and moving under a shady tree when it got too hot.
Our lakeside pitch.
With just a few days remaining we continued north and back to La Mailleraye-sur-Seine for a couple of nights and then to Cite Europe for our last night before getting the train home next morning.
We had a terrific six weeks and had driven for just over 2,000 miles through France. We met up with good friends and enjoyed weather from snow to hot sun.
Must do it all again soon.
Motorhome Moments 