Friday 23 August 2024
Nido's parked up on an aire on the outskirts of the village of Raucourt-et-Flaba. At first sight, it doesn't seem a great spot - five concrete pitches next to the council depot and the déchetterie (recycling centre). The aire's free as are the services - so merci à la commune! It's in very quiet countryside, the village is friendly and it's right next to the Voie Verte cycle path. The Voie Vertes are found throughout France and are specifically reserved for bicycles, pedestrians and sometimes horses. They're often built on the towpaths of canals and rivers, old disused railway lines or forest roads. They often join up with the Euro Velo routes, a network of cycle paths stretching throughout Europe - real grown up planning. For cyclists used to the chaos of and anger on the UK roads, it's a dream.
After a great sleep we left Catillon-sur-Sambre and drove to the fortified village of Rocroi. The aire's right next to the outside fortifications. Again another free aire with payment services (I'd already serviced the van at a free aire on the way). There was plenty of room, with grassy areas and a few picnic tables around the outside, so we were able to eat lunch in the sunshine. The weather was perfect - warm and sunny with a breeze. We took Salty for a good walk around the outside fortifications before returning to the van for a snooze and something to eat. Leaving Salty in the van for some 'me time' we enjoyed an evening walk inside the fortified walls of the village. It's not very touristy (which suits us) with a couple of bars and boulangeries and a few shops, but not much else. The usual pizza van was parked up by the covered market area - if only I'd known before making dinner!
A bit about Rocroi:
On the border of France and Belgium, it dates back to 1198 when Lord Nicolas IV of Rumigny had a cross erected at the crossroads of two paths leading to Hainaut and Meuse. A little later he added a chapel which he named after the patron saint that shares his name. The place then called 'Raul's Cross' became Raulcroix. The Lord built some huts for the foresters, then a strong house which grew into a fortified village. It was only in 1546 that the village was chosen by King Francois as a stronghold because of its difficult access, surrounded by swamps. So began its fortification according to its star-shaped plan inspired by the Italian military architecture. The Citadelle was built by Henri II in 1555 to counter the threat of Charlemont fort in Givet, occupied by the Spaniards. Rocroi (King's Rock) changed its name to Roc Libre (free rock) during the Revolution, before reverting to its original name.
We woke this morning to cloudy skies and a stiff breeze. I walked into the village to buy some bread and by the time we'd breakfasted and packed up, it was drizzling with light rain. I had a few stops pinned along the Meuse Valley - the route is known as the 'Méandres de la Meuse' and flows along the bottom of the ridge known as the Hauts de Meuse. Most of the towns we passed through had old, large factory buildings; the area was a stronghold of metal works, starting with nail making in the fifteenth century, through nuts and bolts and on to larger parts for power stations. Most of the heavy industry stopped along with the barges that carried the goods away to market when road and rail became a cheaper transport alternative, although most of the factories seem to have been taken over by modern businesses, which must help with the local economy and keeping people in work close to their homes.
The first at La Route de Laifour was only about 10 minutes away, so we stopped anyway to take a look but decided it was too soon to stop for the day. It was a basic parking area right next to the river and would have been ideal on a sunny day to sit and watch the boats pass by. We followed the road as it meandered alongside the river to Monthermé; the aire was busy with quite small parking areas, so we moved on. Next came Bogny-sur-Meuse which was a big aire right next to the river and Voie Verte. Again, had the weather been better we'd probably have stayed. All were nice park ups with views of the river and the steep-sided, rocky valley sides.
This brought us to Raucourt-et-Flaba, by which time the drizzle was gone. We had lunch then followed a route I'd found on the Outdoor Active app, with a circular walk that took us through the village and up one side of the valley, on to a chalk ridge lined with arable fields and wind turbines. The route took us down through deciduous forest and into the village of Haraucourt, where we followed the Voie Verte back to the van. Cathy (and Salty!) had a nap and I did a bit of research for the direction of travel for the next couple of days. Tomorrow will include a food top-up, particularly as most supermarkets in France are closed on Sundays. It was feeling warm and quite humid as we ate outside and tomorrow afternoon or evening threatens a thunder storm on what's forecast to be a hot and humid day. But the temperature's comfortable at the moment, so we're enjoying the extended summer.