Tour de France

Day 1 – Start of the journey

On the road again, this time we decided to drive a little longer to get some better weather and headed of to France. We set off at 09:30 and with several stops and traffic around Paris we arrived in Cheverny, just outside of Blois, at 18:30. It was still a little cold in the evening but we did manage to eat outside followed by a small walk outside the camping where we found a bicycle route  to the chateau of Cheverny, first decision made.

Day 2 – Chateau de Cheverny

After a still restless night we got up early and Wendy collected our first baguette of the holidays. We enjoyed this very nice breakfast. Got our bikes ready and encouraged Wendy that it would be alright to cycle the 3,3 km to the Chateau de Cheverny. The Chateau was still decorated with Easter decorations but had plenty nice things to see: a nice maze (though Jeroen could see over the top) a statue garden and a section full of hounds. We spent a couple of hours there and cycled another km into the centre of town but nothing seemed to be open, so we decided to find the smallest chateau in the Loire region called Chateau de Troussay. Unfortunately it was closed for visitors so we called it a day. We lunched and dined at the campsite, then enjoyed an evening walk listening to the sounds of nature.

Day 3 – Chateau de Chambord

We were woken at 06:00 by our house alarm going off (on Jeroen’s phone) turned out to be a network outage but sure gave us a fright and probably half of the camping. Today we took a short drive to Chateau de Chambord, the largest chateau in the Loire region. As the weather was nice it was also very busy. We visited the interior and enjoyed the double winding staircase, was much fun. In the afternoon we decided to head off to Chateau de Chenonceau and picked up some local jam from Solagne and local wine of Cheverny. The weather in the meantime had turned so instead of joining the many visitors we purchased our first senior discount tickets ever for 10:00 the next day. We found a nice camping (le Moulin Fort in Francueil) 10 minutes from the chateau on the river Cher. We enjoyed our dinner and a view over the river while watching the rain. 

Day 4 – Chateau de Chenonceau and Chinon

We parked up early so we could visit once again the lovely Chateau de Chenonceau built by (or at least designed by) women. We spent a nice couple of hours there and then drove a scenic route to Chinon famous for it’s wines. We had enough time after booking in the city camping to walk to the fortress. It had far too many stairs and it rained most of the time we were there (we certainly completed our steps for the day). When we walked back we were desperate for a beer so stopped at a little bar on the riverside, which was lots of fun. 

Tomorrow we will head south to La Rochelle, fingers crossed that the rain stays away.

Day 5 – Île de Ré

We took off around 10 taking again the small roads and immediately found a nice place to stop, un unknown abbey where we managed to buy some jam and wine from the monks. 

Jeroen wanted to hunt form more chateaux on the way but we managed to miss them all. The weather turned out be good as we drove south to La Rochelle. It was weekend though so getting a parking place in or near the centre of La Rochelle was more than a challenge. So we decided to drive further on to Île de Ré and look at La Rochelle on the way back. Île de Ré has a lot of camping sites and we managed to find a nice one close to the beach despite the French May holidays. We had time enough for a nice walk along the beach and managed to find a beer there, still sitting in the sun. We dined at the camper and Jeroen managed to watch the Formula 1 with intermittent Internet connection. We booked for 2 nights so fingers crossed the weather is good enough tomorrow.

Day 6 – Saint-Martin de Ré

Weather was supposed to be rainy but ended up perfectly fine. We cycled into the village centre after breakfast to check out the local market which had some good food options. Jeroen liked the look of some food in a big pan from the butchers, so we ordered some. Thinking, by the look of it, contained meat but happened to be definitely fish (squid). After the market we went back to the beach for a brisk walk and enjoyed a leftover lunch when we got back. Jeroen watched the Formula 1 race while Wendy had a snooze in the sun. We then got back on our bicycles again and cycled to Saint-Martin de Re. It was an easy route as the island is covered with many bicycle paths, all to the joy of a brave Wendy. After a couple of photo shoots we headed back straight to the beach, this time to only enjoy a beer.

Day 7 – La Rochelle and Cognac

Labour holiday in France. We had a quick breakfast and made our way back to La Rochelle which was sunny and busy in the old harbour. We took our photos and made our slow way to the next stop which was Cognac, obviously famous for the many Cognac warehouses. We walked down by the waterfront but all were closed due to labour day, not even a supermarket open. Luckily the camping de Cognac was open and we checked in although the facilities were little or even closed. The camping was nicely situated by the river though. We had a prawn curry but also a night without alcohol we couldn’t get any today. So we took a healthy brisk walk along the river. Tomorrow we will head off to Arcachon back on the coast. 

Day 8 – Dune de Pyla

It has only been a week but feels so much longer. We left the campsite as quickly as we could as they were starting to fell the trees around us. Jeroen wanted to call into Cognac again to find some Remi Martin, well we found the establishment but could not buy anything. We tried the local supermarkets but no luck. It appears the French don’t drink Cognac themselves. We gave up and headed off to the west coast of Bordeaux as the weather predictions were good. We arrived at Dune de Pyla, the highest dune in Europe. It was very crowded and a big struggle to climb it but we made it along with hundreds of others. Going down was much easier and faster. We had left it a little too late to find a camping so the first one was already fully booked but a bit further from there we manage to find a camping who let us in after 19:00. We decided to stay for 2 days as the camping was right on the beach.

Day 9 – basin d’Arcachon

A hot day was predicted so after breakfast we walked along the basin d’Arcachon. With the low tide there was no water to see in the near distance and all boats were on the sand. But with high tide the water came all the way in leaving a very small beach and all the boats happily floating. There were some nice stretches of the walk especially in the wooded areas. We stumbled across an area where oyster shacks had simple restaurants so we entered one for a lunch of oysters, prawns and wine, very nice. In the end we walked for 17 km but we made it back to the campsite just when it was high tide. We dined at the beach with beers, wine and pizza, while watching the tide go out again.

Day 10 – Lacanau-Ocean

We then drove up to Lacanau-Ocean on the Atlantic coast, a place Jeroen visited some 35 years ago. The camping we chose was the North beach but still 12 km from Lacanau-Ocean. We drove to town to check what has changed in these years before we went back to the camping and checked in. Before having a small BBQ we walked along the beach to see the surfers active during the sunset. So many summer vibes.

Day 11 – The beach

The weather predictions were great so we booked another night at the camping and after some laundry and breakfast we went out for a walk on the beach. Barefoot we walked for hours to the north not seeing a soul besides an odd couple, Jellyfish and birds. We returned to camp for dinner and back to the beach to see a spectacular sunset this time.

Day 12 – Saint- Emilion

Only an hour and a half drive away we arrived in Saint-Emilion, a nice medieval town and quite touristy but all related to their famous wines. We took lots of photos and then decided to have lunch with half a bottle of Saint-Emilion grand cru wine. The Vineyards around the town were lovely. We found our camping just 12km away in Castillion a camping on the Dordonge. We had a short walk around the town but this place was definitely not on the tourist trail. The camping quickly filled up though with canoeists and surf boarders.

Day 13 – St Jean de Cole

By the time we woke up all the sporty surfers were up and gone. We enjoyed Dutch pancakes for breakfast, packed up and got on the road. We headed off towards St Jean de Cole which followed a lovely road through the French fields of Perigord and Limousin. In St Jean de Cole it was raining but was a lovely picturesque little village. In spite of the weather we made some nice photos. We then continued to a small camping in Rochechouaret which was close enough for a walk into town and a visit to a lovely chateau. Of cause Jeroen managed to watch the F1 race.

Day 14 – Azay- le- Rideau

After a light breakfast we took the road again taking the scenic small roads which were lovely again. We stopped at Chauvigny which was signposted as a medieval town and indeed the centre was very lovely to walk around and photograph. We continued our journey and arrived at Azay- le- Rideau around 15:00, booked into a camping which was next door to the Chateau. The Chateau was in an absolute great state and is known for it’s reflections in the (mirror) lake. Luckily we had dinner and wine for the evening as it was another holiday in France and all supermarkets closed. The camping was nicely situated, plenty of space and next to a little river.

Day 15 – going home

Woke up to awful rainy weather so quickly packed up and headed off on our journey. The rain did not stop at all and the predictions were bad for the coming days so we decided to continue for home. We stopped for a McDonalds for lunch, had traffic around Paris and got stuck in the worst traffic around Antwerp. All in all, besides not the best weather for early May, we had a lovely 14 days. Recover at home and get ready for our next trip was on the cards.