Month: July 2019

I stayed at a municipal campsite just outside Epernay last night. Reims is where the big champagne houses are but this is the true heart of champagne country.

Headed south towards Troyes and stopped off at a recommended village called Vertus about ten miles south. Le Tour had been through earlier as all the windows were decorated. It has two Maisons so eventually dropped into one and persuaded myself I should at least buy one bottle. Bought two at €15 each. No clue how good they will be but added to the van collection!!!!!

On to Troyes though mile after mile of wheat fields. Must have been forty or so miles of them. Occasionally there would be a series of concrete silos for storage. This region must be the food basket of France. The centre of Troyes is old,really old. Very narrow cobblestone streets with half timbered houses. Worth a visit.

As there were no aires in Troyes set off east towards Chaumont. Rejected one aire and ended up in a tiny village called Colombey Les deluxe Eglises. It’s the former home and burial place of Charles de Gaulle. He’s buried in the local church. Guarded by two policemen I may add.

h Just a one stop town today. Reims. It was just over an hour away. Luckily I managed to get parked near the Porte du Mars which was a Roman gateway into town. The centre is not that large probably because it was flattened during WW1 but it’s very rewarding.

From the arch walked south passing the splendid Hotel de Ville and the Hotel Le Vergeur. Both magnificent buildings to be sure. On to Cathedral Norte Dame which must be one of the best in the country. Joan of Arc managed to get one of the kings crowned here. All in all 26 Kings of France were crowned here. It’s an awesome building with high buttresses and stained glass windows some of which are quite modern as windows go. Definitely worth a visit.

There were a few champagne houses south of Reims but gave them as miss as I headed south towards Epernay were the proper champagne area is based. You go through agricultural areas and then suddenly descend into a natural bowl and immediately the place turns into grapes.

Ive booked myself into a municipal camp site just outside Epernay as I needed to get a final clothes wash in before heading home.

I wanted to get to Charleville by the middle of the day as they have an aire that is on the river near the centre of the town.

Set off to Stenay which was not so exciting and on to Mouson which is right on the canal. It’s only a small place but has a massive church which must have come from tolls on the coal trade. Also a beautiful town hall and three hairdressers!!!!!! Also a good aire with electric hook ups.

On through Bazeilles to Charleville and finally to the aire. For some reason or other half the roads in the town have been blocked off. Why? It was only a short walk into the centre. It’s been made into a kiddies play area with a large beach, a plastic ball you can ride in on water, volleyball court. Right in the centre of the town square which must be one of the most impressive in France. Really cool with restaurants all around the outside.

Charleville is famous for its puppet school so went to have a look at that. It’s got a clock and on the hour a new puppet scene appears. Too hot to hang around for the next show.

Managed a quick beer in the square and watched the world go by for 30 minutes. Nice place.

I was not looking forward to visiting Verdun as I usually bottle out of these venues. But it turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Mother Nature has claimed back most of the land involved in the battle. To be honest you could not tell you were in a war zone for most of the time.

Initially headed up to see the USA monument at Montfaucon where the US were involved in the final push during the Mense-Argonne campaign. This was on top of a hill and the whole village had been wiped out. Now replaced a little way off. 26,000 lost their lives during this. Then to the US cemetery which is incredibly moving seeing all the graves. Row after row.

Verdun itself was just like any other small town in France. Couple of churches, monument but you could not tell it had a battle named after it. To be fair the main action was on a plateau east of the town there are a few trenches still to see but really Mother Earth has taken it back. This is where the French are buried. Each of the graves has a red rose bush at its base.

I’m heading west to Reims in the morning so went back to the aire I stayed at last night. It’s got showers and electric so it made sense.

Slow start to the day as the Chateau Malbrouck did not open until 10am. It was only twenty minutes away and situated at the top of a very 2nd gear hill. It’s actually a restoration job completed during the 1970’s. Good job too. It was huge.

I had no idea what to expect from the Tin Tin exhibitions but was pleasantly surprised. The Chateau had several turrets on the corners and dinning rooms etc. In each of these they had a Tin Tin display covering Herges career. Down to silly things like how he picked Snowy from a friends dog. They had quite a few of the original coloured proofs from the comics. Without words, just balloons. In the centre courtyard they had a red rocket from Tin Tin goes to the moon. Fantastic and the Chateau was OK tooooooo.

Its been dull and overcast all morning with the temperature not getting above 19 deg C. How good was that. Then it rained for a while.

Made my way over to Verdun for a visit to the WW1 area tomorrow. I’ve had to enter into one of those aires where you have to pay at the barrier. Just like the one in Brittany where I had to escape via the football pitch. Let’s see what happens in the morning!!!!!!! There’s no escape here.

The Pompidou centre in Paris was set up to bring modern art to the masses. Well let me tell you,you can bring a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. The building itself is rather modern and grand. I was OK with that. It was split into three sections on different floors. The worst thing I hate about modern art is bricks on the floor. This was large boulders on metal plates plus white canvases with blue squares. Not for me.

the second floor was given over to a woman called Rebecca Holt. Complete fruit cake. Beehives with mirrors underneath cascading light on to the ceiling. Mechanic butterflies on a bedstead. Come on!!!!!!

The third floor was given over to Opera World. I give up. But you have to try these things.

Headed north to try and visit a Chateau called Malbrouck but never made it. Halted at a village called Sierck Les Bains by the river Moselle. It’s also got a Chateau called des Ducks de Lorraine high above the river. It was OK. Discovered that Malbrouck has a Tin Tin exhibition on at the moment so I definitely go there in the morning.

A much better day today even though the temperature hit 39 deg C. That’s hot.

Only just over an hour up to Nancy. What a city. Very impressed. The centre was named after the Duke ofLorraine, Stanislas  Leszczynski. There are two main gateways into Rue Stanislas that take you into the square named after him. At each corner of the square are gold plated gates with fountains. The Hotel de Ville is there. Cafes and restaurants all the way round. Nice centre.

That would have done me for the day but found an aire near Metz so decided to head up there. In fact it was only a couple of hundred yards from the start of the city. Beautifully laid out grid system city with a stunning cathedral called Saint Etienne. Huge nave and excellent stain glass windows. There was a very good U shaped indoor market going on. All the main roads and squares are pedestrianised. Surprisingly there were more beggars here than in any other town or city I have been to. Quite noticeable. I’m going to safe the new Pompidiou centre until tomorrow. Too hot.

A quiet day at the office.

Travelled the relatively short distance from Colmar up to Strasbourg. Outside Colmar is a scaled down,but still large, Statue of Liberty.

Strasbourg was a disaster as I could not find anywhere to park the van. I gave up in the end and decided to head over towards Nancy as it was going to be my next stop.

Passed through quite a few Tour de France villages when going through Des Vosges region. Full of wineyards on the mountain sides.

Eventually stopped at a village called Etival Clairefountaine SE of Nancy. It’s blisteringly hot here today. Just touched 35deg C.

Theres not a lot to Mulhouse to write home about. Thann where I stayed last night was a better option. But the two things it does have is a train and car museum. First stop was the train museum which was tucked well out of town. The displays ranged from early steam through to gas turbine and modern high speed. Nothing too spectacular apart for the model railway layout near the end of the tour. It would win any competition.

The car museum is the national collection. It was put together by two brothers in their original spinning mill. If you wanna see cars this is the place. If you wanna see Bugatti’s this is the place. Absolutely incredible number all in pristine condition. Right the way back to the origins of cars and specifically Bugatti. Row after row. Quite a few Mercedes and Rolls Royce. There was one section of NEW super cars by Bugatti.  Heaven knows how much they would cost. Brilliant to see though.

Id decided to head up to Colmar as I’d plenty of time and I’d picked a camp site on the marina there. Colmar is famous for its Issenheim alter piece in the museum. On the way up it was very noticeable that all the towns had German sounding names. I walked into town but not to the museum. Only to walk round the old town. A very special experience I must say. Lots of mega old half timbered houses to see. They even have a Little Venice with boat trips to go on. After a very busy day had a vary cold glass of Riesling in the town square.

Relatively quiet day day today with just the one planned visit to Belfort. It’s about a two hour drive from Morteau which was fine.

Its a fine town with a famous citadel which hosts a large carved lion. The Lion of Belfort. This was designed by Frederic Bartholdi to commemorate the 1870 siege. Bartholdi was the guy responsible for the Statue of Liberty!!!!!! The citadel is way up overlooking the town with great views of the old town and surrounding district. Bit of a climb though.

After lunch headed north to Mulhouse but it was just too hot to walk any more so cut my losses and stopped for the night at a little village called Thann. I’m in Alsace. Or nearly.

And I’ve had my hair cut. Not a word spoken but a good job well done. I feel human again rather than an old tramp!!!!!!