Two nights in Val-et-Châtillon

Thursday 29 August 2024

Nido's parked up at on an aire in the small village of Val-et-Châtillon.  There's not much here except for a sawmill, a textiles museum (think northern England cotton mill) and a bus stop.  Sadly, like many villages - not just in France - there's nothing to keep young people and families here, so they move away and the shops and schools close.

  

We had a very peaceful night in Walschied and the drive here yesterday was not too long, through forests and hairpin roads.  I was surprised to see only one van here as it's such a lovely aire. It's free with the service point costing €3.50.  The five pitches are large, flat and bordered with hedges giving plenty of privacy.  I reversed into a pitch that gave us plenty of tree shade, yet enough sunshine to charge up the leisure battery from the solar panel.  After a quick cup of tea, we headed off on a marked walk that took us past the textiles museum and sawmill and into the cool forest.  Although not a long walk, it was interesting as it took in a lake at the end of the village and back along a clear, babbling stream to a small waterfall.  Both Salty and Cathy had a quick cooling dip before we returned to spend the afternoon sat outside in the shade reading.  I cooked some sausages and Cathy had earlier made a lovely tomato, onion, garlic and chilli salad (chillies from our greenhouse), eaten with a baguette we bought on the way in.  In the still heat of the evening, we took a walk around the village, saying "Bonsoir" to the locals as they chatted outside; a lovely atmosphere here.

It was a hot night be gradually cooled down and was lovely when I took Salty out for his morning walk.  I'd set my alarm for 0700 as the bread van visits the village - parking outside the Marie - between 0730 and 0745 and I didn't want to miss it!  Armed with a 'tradition' baguette and two croissants as big as my head I breakfasted and prepared for a bike ride.  Pedalling off at 0900 it was quite cool as I cycled up the hills through the forest towards Saint Saveur.  Out the other side, I was on the ridge and in full sunshine, so was already feeling the heat of the day.  My route took me through forests and fields, past villages and farms, a total of 2 hours.  I'd hopped to find a café but the only one on Google Maps was closed!  I did manage to find an ATM though, but it spat out a €50 note which, for anyone who visits the EU knows, shops are reluctant to accept.  Maybe the supermarkets will take it?  Back at the van the temperature was rising and it peaked at 33'C later in the afternoon, so we went for a very cooling dip in the stream - it was wonderful!

It almost takes as long to get the bike back on the rack, secured and covered as it does to ride it!

Good news - I've fixed the Cadac BBQ!  After my bike ride I took out the Cadac to try and measure what size grub screw I needed to look for in the local DIY shops.  When I picked the main body I heard something rattle; a few minutes with a tiny screwdriver and tweezers and I'd extracted the grub screw and refitted it.  So the Cadac was used to cook tonight's supper, keeping the heat outside the van.

It's another calm but warm evening. The sun has set behind the trees and we're sat outside making the most of the cooler air.