Travels in a Campervan: arras

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

France 2024 Tour - First Day

Wednesday 21 August 2024

Nido's parked up on a quiet aire in the village of Catillon-sur-Sambre, in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region. The aire's next to a small apple and plum orchard and a lovely canal walk. Reading the comments on Search for Site, this current aire replaced an older one in the village about four years ago. It's supposed to be €5 per night and also has a servicing point, but it's all covered up so I guess the stay is free (the service point isn't working). It's a very pleasant sunny 23'C with just a few clouds around and a gentle breeze. We're both a bit tired after a day of travelling and an early start this morning, so the rest of the day's being spent chilling out.

We left home yesterday at about 0930 for the long trudge to the Canterbury Park and Ride. With a couple of stops, the journey wasn't too bad until we hit delays on the M25 and M20, so in all it took about 8.5 hours. The Canterbury P&R is £4 per day and the motorhome parking area was rammed, so we joined many others in the overflow area. It's certainly a popular stop with a service point and free bus transfers into Canterbury city if you have the time and inclination. A quick bite to eat, walk the dog and then an early night, with the alarm set for 0300.

It took about half an hour to drive to the Shuttle terminal and we were soon booked in and enjoying a pre-prepared breakfast with a cup of tea. We left on time and were soon popping out of the other end in weak sunshine and onto the A16...drive on the right, drive on the right! I normally switch the satnav to avoid motorways in France, but we used it to get us to our first stop in Arras, to shop in the Le Clerc supermarket and fill up with diesel. There was a boulangerie next door so I popped in for the first of what will be many baguettes! I also visited the Berger Loisirs caravan and motorhome accessories shop across the road; most of their stores are in Germany but there's four in France. It's full of all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that we can't live without! But seriously, they have lots of spares and items for motorhomes and camping, so definitely worth a visit if you need anything. We're on the look out for a couple of replacement chairs so I grabbed a catalogue and we'll measure up to see which ones will fit under the bed, then hopefully return to Arras to see if they have them in stock at the end of this trip.

The drive towards Arras took us through some of the key First World War battle areas, including Vimy Ridge and we passed myriad Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries, each immaculately maintained. After a quick van servicing stop at the free aire in Le Cateau Cambrésis, we arrived here in Catillon-sur-Sambre. Lunch (with the first baguette of the trip!) was eaten sat outside at one of several picnic benches in the small fruit orchard just outside the van. We walked along the canal path away from the village, enjoying the wildflowers and trees and so, so many butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers.

This evening's supper was our standard 'first day in France' meal - whole crevettes with salad and (of course!) a baguette. I also bought some patisserie which we ate later with a cup of tea - much more of that to come during this Tour!

After a busy couple of days travelling and not much sleep last night, I hope we'll both sleep well and wake refreshed, ready to start this trip. The rough plan is to head east following the line of the Belgian border then just below Luxembourg head south through the Lorraine region along the German border, down into the Vosges and Jura mountains, before heading up through Burgundy on the route back up. But with all plans, we'll no doubt change our route and mind as we find other places to explore. That's the beauty of van life!

Monday, 21 August 2023

Start of the 2023 France Trip

Monday 21 August 2023

Nido's parked up with a couple of other vans next to the Canal de la Somme, at Écluse de Sormont. After a warm day it's cooling down nicely and the sun has set. The only downside is it's hunting season here in France, so the peace and quiet is regularly broken with nearby gunfire; Salty hates this and is trying to bury a hole in the bed to hide in!

We left home early on Saturday morning and arrived at our daughter's house in Leighton Buzzard at about midday. Having just returned from living in the USA for six years, she'd just moved back into her house after renting it out and wanted some help to 'fettle' the front garden. Jobs done, we made the most of a shoreside shower before enjoying a delicious Korean meal, cooked by her partner Neal, who's American but with Korean heritage. We were able to park the van directly outside her house so we slept there overnight, our first night away on this six week trip.

After breakfast on Sunday we said our farewells and drove the three hours around the M1, M25 and M2 to spend a few hours at a car park at Farthing Common. Although the nearby road was quite busy, there was a lovely countryside walk over the chalk downs, with the channel in the distance. The Battle of Britain Memorial Museum isn't far away and we watched a couple of Spitfires flying and rolling over the Kent countryside. We arrived at the Shuttle check in at about 6.15pm and were able to get a train an hour earlier than our booking at no extra cost. The crossing was uneventful and the drive to our first stopover in France - in Ardres - took about thirty minutes. We stayed here last year and it's an easy stop with plenty of room, next to a canal and some lakes. We settled down to sleep with a firework party firing off nearby, which freaked Salty out. The hunters then started shooting at about 5am, so it was an interrupted night's sleep!

Today was planned as an admin day, to do some food shopping, fill up with diesel and find somewhere to relax and get into the France routine. We stopped at a huge shopping complex with an Auchan in Arras, but couldn't park there due to height barriers. I parked in the adjacent Leroy Merlin car park as I needed some electric anti-corrosion spray. The previous night the toilet SOG fan had stopped working, quickly followed by the toilet flush giving up. On arrival at Ardres I checked the fuse that's sited in the toilet cassette compartment; it was oxidised and so I replaced this, but the fuse section needed a clean and a spray to reduce corrosion - Leroy Merlin had the stuff I needed! I used this later in the fuse compartment and on the micro-switch that operates the SOG fan. Both now seem to be working OK. As Auchan was a non-starter I drove on to a nearby Le Clerc supermarket, where we topped up with food and diesel. Both were very expensive, which seems the norm now.

The drive to Écluse de Sormont took an hour and we parked up in the shade overlooking the canal, followed by a quick lunch sat under the trees by the water. We had a walk along the canal before crossing the bridge and walking on the other side, with glimpses of the lakes and waterways that make up 80 hectares of wetlands. It was here the hunters have taken to punts and are now blasting away at anything that moves!

There's currently a heatwave in France, mainly in the middle and the south, and it's due to last for a few days. So we'll take a slow meander, heading first for the Champagne region before turning south towards our planned destination of the Auvergne department, to explore this volcanic region. Although we stopped in that area on our first motorhome trip to France in 2013, we only stayed one night. We want to spend some time exploring that area, so long as the climate allows us to enjoy it. But, as always, we may just wander around as the mood take us, checking out different places as we come across them.