World Wide Webbs

2024 Our French Autumn Foray

Friday 6th September : to Col de Tredudon

We loaded the van and then had a message from Brittany Ferries that the 1.30pm. sailing was delayed so we walked the block and having met Candy, who had been swimming, Graham went off for a swim in a ‘silky sea’ and I pottered.

We eventually left and arrived at a very busy Plymouth port at 1.30pm. Here we waited eventually embarking and setting sail around 3.15pm. Fortunately the delay was a plus for us as we could drive straight up to Col Tredudon and settle for the night at around 11pm. There were two other vans already parked up and settled. Apart from the noise from the road during the small hours it was fine.

Saturday 7th September : Col de Tredudon to St Avé

We got on our way quickly and stopped in Carhaix Plouguer where we wandered around the just-opening market. We went down towards the station where we had a coffee and croissant before going back to the market to buy some flowers for Sophie, our Breton host, from an English grower from Torquay who had lived here in France since the nineties.

From Carhaix we headed south east towards St Ave in the northern suburbs of Vannes , near the airport, where we found Sophie and Olivier’s house. It was lovely seeing them and Servane and Anton again.

We had a pasta dish for lunch, cheese and then a rich chocolate dessert that Anton had made.

After a look around the garden where Sophie was disappointed in the lack of fruit, vegetables and flowers, in her garden following a cold wet summer.

They drove us to a big inland sea called the Golfe du Mobinhan. We had no idea it existed and were amazed at how big it was and the number of small islands there were.

Olivier had a small boat on the bay which they used to visit the numerous small islands that could be explored. After walking around on the small walls, that edged the bay here, we were taken into the centre of Vannes. Here Sophie took us on tour of this amazing old port which had a lively mediaeval town enclosed by largely intact city walls.

Olivier commented that the lack of a strategic significance for this largely fishing and coastal trading port in a shallow basin, meant that it never got caught up in any of the 20th century wars and thus much of its bult fabric had survived. We were really impressed and regretted never having explored here before.

We ended up sitting outside of the arts/graffiti centre, where Sophie had been involved in events, drinking beer, a perfect end to a delightful tour. Back to their house for a bit of a chill out time before Veronique and Gildas arrived around to join us all for a meal.

It was lovely to see them and their daughter Romain. The meal was delicious and even though we didn’t understand a lot of their conversations, we had a good enough understanding to take part in a lot of it, and they were careful to include us.

Sunday 8th September : St Avé to Issoire

We all awoke later than expected after a late night. Olivier and Sophie prepared us a lovely breakfast and presented us with some Breton honey and butter cakes for our journey. We left them around ten to go off for a family run around their local forest and we set off towards Nantes determined not to use auto routes. From Nantes we passed through Cholet, Parthenay, Poitiers, Bellac, Aubusson and Clermont Ferrand to the municipal camp site at Issoire.

As we had travelled south east we had had sunshine and heavy showers throughout the day but felt we had done well bearing in mind the weather forecast of storms and strong winds. We were heading towards Provence the only part of France that was dry and sunny for the next few days.

By the time we got to Issoire it was raining lightly. We were given a plot on the wet grass by the toilets close to a light but as we were only stopping over the one night it was OK. We made some tea, cooked rice and tinned veg and sorted the van out for the night.

The rain stopped as it got dark and we walked into the deserted old town, forty minutes away along a cycle path. It was good to have some exercise and he we got into town the cathedral lit up making it something special.

Quiet on a Sunday night there was nothing to keep us so we returned to the camp site and settled down for the night.

Monday 9th September : Issoire to Villes sur Auzon

We left a wet camp site around nine picking up some bread from a boulangerie before heading south and then south east crossing through the volcanic hills of the Central Massif. The rain cleared and the cloud began to break up as we got further south, the autoroute south of Issoire was free, and all was right with the world.

We skirted the Cevennes and crossed through the Monts d’Ardeche which was stunning scenery, and a lot of twisting and turning, as we headed down to Aubenas.

We had been here years before and had forgotten the dramatic skyline silhouette of the cathedral and castle.

From here we cross another range of hills and find ourselves a cup of coffee in a busy roadside hotel before dropping down into the oh-so-wide Rhone valley. We criss-crossed our way avoiding toll roads across the broad valley and made our way to Carpentras.

The van started flashing warning lights about ABS and Front Assist which we thought we had had fixed before we came away and so a bit disgruntled we left Carpentras we made our way to the village of Villes sur Auzon where two possible camp sites were.

In Villes sur Auzon we found the up-market up-itself Camping les Verguettes, a camp site with a pool, cafe and bar. This thankfully was complète, as we didn’t like it.

So after reading negative reviews about the municipal site we did not hold up much hope, but on arrival the openness and airiness of this simple site appealed. We managed to secure a corner emplacement before it too filled up and became complète itself. We had not expected the area to be so busy and were quite relieved that we had arrived early enough (half past four) to have got a place with a glimpse of Mont Ventoux and the sun was shining.

We shopped in the fascinating mediaeval bastide village and ate on our plot watching the sun set.

Tuesday 10th September : The Break of the Day

It is not as hot as we had hoped and it took some jigging about to find a bit of sun shining through the trees for breakfast. We had noticed last night that it was windy and this was the same today, the Mistral we thought, the infamous Provence wind that rages around in the early Autumn.

After breakfast we set off on our bikes the five kilometres uphill towards the village of Flassan at the foot of Mont Ventoux.

Here we leave our bikes and walked along the GR91 north west along the flank of the mountain on stony paths through mainly scrub and young trees. Here butterflies flitted and cicadas hopped along the path.

We had gone a couple of kilometres close to the village of St Estève when Janet stumbled trying to right herself, twisted and landed on her right wrist.

She immediately knew she had done something to her wrist and felt terrible because of the repercussions, the pain and not being able to move any of her fingers. Nothing else was hurt so after a time we walked carefully back to the village and hoped it would feel better, but it didn’t!

Graham cycled back to the camp site and left me and my bike sitting in the sun to the site to pack up and bring the van to pick Janet and her bike up before we drove the fifteen kilometres to the ‘Urgencies’ at the hospital in Carpentras.

Like any UK A&E we waited about three hours before Janet was triaged, X-rayed and seen by a doctor. He said she had broken my radius and the bones were misaligned so she would have to have surgery to have them pinned. This could happen as soon as the next day and we had to be back at eight o clock in the morning. He bandaged the wrist and put it in a brace before prescribing some pain killers for us to collect from the pharmacy.

Whilst Janet waited in A&E Graham walked into the centre of Carpentras to pay a rapid visit of the city centre and a coffee shop.

On the way back to Villes sur Auzon and the camp site we passed the pharmacy in Mazan and collected the painkillers. The good news was that the warning lights had stopped flashing in the van.

Janet’s arm was now swelling with bruising and very uncomfortable because of the misalignment. Luckily with painkillers she managed to sleep downstairs and Graham got some sleep upstairs.

Wednesday 11th September : Carpentras

We got up at 6.15 and arrived at the hospital at 7.45 and signed in and sent up stairs to a bleak 2 bed room where we were soon joined by a Belgian Lady. She like Janet couldn’t speak French! The nurse told us to have a shower before our ops at 3 and 4 and gave us iodine liquid and clothes to scrub ourselves, then shower and put on surgical gowns.

Graham waited and around ten o clock we went down to see the anaesthetist who fortunately did speak some English. We were told Janet could drink black coffee so we bought some from the machine. The Belgian Lady and Janet had their showers and put their robes on. She was really kind helping Janet take her clothes off and scrubbing and showering her very efficiently, which felt a bit strange but was very kind of her. The Belgian Lady went down to the operating theatre at three o clock and Janet followed at four o clock.

In the meantime Graham went off to spend the intervening four hours in Mazan, an interesting bastide town before having a plat de jour lunch at the Casino Bar.

He then spent an hour walking around the vineyards outside of the town, looking out towards Mount Ventoux, where the thousands of snails climbing up into the scrubby plants took his attention.

We now know that the town was overshadowed by a particular nasty court case where a husband had drugged his wife repeatedly over a period of four years and encouraged men to come and rape here whilst he filmed them. The strange looks Graham got, as a single male walking around the town, where not all the local rapists had been identified, were understandable.

After registering, Janet had a drip fitted and her right arm anaesthetised in a rather muddled room full of old files and equipment. She wondered what she had let myself in for. Eventually Janet got to the theatre and it was clean. The procedure took about twenty five minutes, then into the recovery room and back up to the room where Graham was waiting. Janet’s arm now looked the right shape but we have little knowledge what the wound is like. After some tea and crackers a brief feedback from the surgeon, we were soon back at the campsite.

Several of the people on the camp site had earlier expressed concern to Graham about Janet’s disappearance and were pleased to see her back albeit somewhat damaged.

Graham made some scrambled eggs for tea and after taking her painkillers, he made up the bed downstairs for Janet to sleep on and slept upstairs in the roof.

Thursday 12th September Villes sur Auzon

After a late breakfast Janet arranged through the campsite reception for a nurse to come and dress the wound at the campsite on Saturday.

We then went out for a lovely walk in the hills following the GR route 91 through a gorge past some climbers scaling the rocks on the Gorge sides.

The path came and out onto the main road by a great rough camping spot before following the GR towards Flassan where we stopped on a rocky outcrop overlook the plain and Mount Ventoux ever-present rising above us, for our traditional bread and tinned fish lunch.

The wind was very strong and quite cool as we returned on a side path that took us directly into the village by the Church. The Church, on the outside, was inscribed with the words libertè ègalitè fraternitè and Republique Francaise as were all public buildings in France in the twentieth century.

We walked back through the square having a cup of tea which challenged the two guys in the café when Janet asked for tea with milk in the end not knowing whether to bring hot or cold milk and a slice of lemon. Graham opted for a beer.

We went back to a sunny, but chilly, camp site to sit out for a bit before tea which we had in the van. We went out to see the setting sun before putting up the bed downstairs again and enjoying a cosy night in the van.

Friday 13th September : Villes sur Auzon

It was very cold when we started the day hunting for the sunshine to have breakfast in. Janet had warmed up a bit walking into town to get some bread and rather disappointing croissants.

We made a picnic and set off on the GR91, south this time, uphill on a rough stony track amongst scrubby olive groves to join the main road which we followed to the top of a ridge. Here we turned left on a track which led to a smaller path, contouring down above the upper parts of the Gorges de Nesque.

The path was very rocky but had amazing views of the gorge below. As we descended there were various information boards. We were reading these from end to beginning and as we progressed the story of how marks on the rocks on the other side of the gorge looked like the eyes of the devil soon emerged.

A bell by one of the boards was supposed to be rung to bring a mysterious shepherd boy present to tell you how to avoid the devil’s eyes.

The investigation of a murder, the bringing of a body down the valley for burial and a beautiful girl who was sacrificed to the devil all gave opportunities for story telling. The storyboards then become information boards about the coal mines that were in the area and the lives of people occupying the beehive huts recreated along the track. The coal mines were worked heavily during and between the world wars when Germany prevented the French from accessing the coal from mines further to the north.

The use of stone in walls and buildings, old maps of the coal mines, field systems and how hard life was., m is well interpreted and presented. All this and a wonderful Praying Mantis on the path add interest and as we walked up into Methamis a village built on a promontory above the gorge.

There were few people around as we walked in a strong wind up to the church at the highest point. On the way back down we find a sheltered picnic table and ate our lunch. We make our way our of the gorge onto a plain that leads back to Villes sur Auzon.

Following quiet lanes where there were small bands of people picking the numerous bunches of ripe red grapes. We arrive back in Villes sur Auzon from yet another direction and enjoy the different views of the village it affords.

When we get back to the camp site it is disappointingly too cold to sit out and enjoy a quiet drink and a rest. We visit the village to get some food for tea and spend the evening reading in the van.

Saturday 14th September – Villes sur Auzon

We pottered around on the camp site where the wind had dropped and the sun makes it comfortably warm as we await the nurse who comes straight to our plot.

We sit in the van and see the wound from Janet’s operation, for the first time, and thankfully it looked good. The nurse put a large plaster over the wound on it, a crepe bandage and reaffixed the splint. He said it would not have to be dressed again until we got home. His charge 9€ 45c, was a ludicrously small amount! He was a nice guy and between us we understood each other and received a lot of reassurance. It was a great relief that we didn’t have to find another nurse on the way home.

We celebrated by walking around the west of the town before lunch and booked an evening meal, at the Bistro Canaille, a small restaurant on the edge of town.

After lunch we did a reverse loop of the climbing gorge walk, which was pleasant as it was warm and sunny. The wind had finally gone and we looked forward to sitting outside the van. We are told about a wine and oil festival n the town tomorrow. The nurse had mentioned it as well but we’ll be well on our way by then.

Janet manages to shower and wash her hair independently which is great for how she feels. We go out to the restaurant at seven o clock and enjoy a lovely meal in a wonderful atmosphere surrounded by groups of local people.

Sunday 15th September : Villes sur Auzon to Beaulieu sur Dordogne

When Janet collects a baguette at around eight the town is already buzzing with stalls being erected and the roads closed. There is a oil and wine festival but unfortunately we have to go.

We eventually leave at nine and travel west to Carpentras within sight of the Dentelles de Montmirali.

On past Avignon and Ales, we are travelling off toll roads again, so have a fascinating journey over hills and valleys before stopping for coffee in Le Collet de Dede south of Mende.

From there we continue on through stunning scenery into the national park and stop for lunch at Quezac, by the side of the Rover Tarn. We park up near to an amazing bridge over the Tarn.

Quezac is a centre for walking with lots of paths, in the valley to Ispagnac and down the Gorges du Tarn or up to the Causses on top of the escarpments.

We continued to the south of Mende and joined the free auto route to Saint Flour and then west to Aurillac and the Dordogne.

We are heading for an area near Beaulieu sur Dordogne. we check out a few camp sites but they are shut. In the town we find Camping Huttopia a large posh site with large pitches beside the river. We eventually chose one have something to eat before wandering around the beautiful old mediaeval town.

The site is pitch black apart the bridge lights and the sound of rushing water. Heaven!

Monday 16th September : Beaulieu sur Dordogne

Unfortunately our plot did not see the early morning sun we had expected which is almost as unfortunate as the bread we collect from the site office.

We visit the tourist office and have a closer look at this fascinating old town centre. It is yet another bastide with the huge abbey church dominating the centre of the town encircled by mediaeval buildings that still bear there austere appearance and detailed timber exteriors. The Romanesque Abbey is a simple open barn of a building with a large arched entrance on one side leading down into it.

The detailing on the arch and the effect of looking out of the dark building into the sunlit town centre are quite species.

We leave the town passing the Church of Penitents another fascinating building alongside many medieval houses and close to a footbridge across the barrage that holds back the waters of the River Dordogne in a large pool that provides a picturesque setting for the town.

We walk up the valley on the other side of the river through apparently prosperous farmed area with small farm settlements unable to find a satisfactory path to follow the river.

We eventually give up and circle back around on the low hills of past more interesting settlements stopping in the sun in an olive grove to have lunch before returning to the camp site.

On return to our plot we realised that there was still no sun and the next plot was a better bet. Whilst Janet negotiated at the site office to change plots Graham moved the van to the adjacent plot which was larger and well lit by the afternoon sun.

We immediately felt better about things and went and shopped for tea.

It was so nice here by the river and we watch the Kingfisher on the opposite bank of the river. very relaxing, so after eating, we wander into the town again before settling down for the night.

Tuesday 17th September : Beaulieu sur Dordogne

Janet had found some walking routes in the site office and we decide to take a walk up into the hills on a circular walk.

We start out looking again at the fascinating church doorway where sculptures of Jewish-looking men reveal themselves to prove the lack of circumcision and grotesque figures appear.

We follow a similar route to yesterday but then climb up into the hills leisurely rising up past Le Chateau du Doux.

The weather is perfect sunny but not too hot as we follow lovely paths, quiet roads and take in amazing views up and down the valley. We stop for lunch in the sunshine looking over Beaulieu in the valley below us.

We popped into town for fruit and cheese before sitting by the river eating a simple omelette, drinking champagne and watching the ducks, Heron and Kingfisher on the river, as dusk fell.

Wednesday 18th September : Beaulieu sur Dordogne to Hennebont

We walked into town and bought some Bread, Pains aux Raisin and Croissants We had the croissants, orange juice and coffee for breakfast before leaving the site just before nine o clock.

We travelled north to Tulle and then NW to Limoges, Bellac, Poitiers, Parthenay. Just after Parthenay we turned off the road and ate our lunch in the van overlooking some fields.

Onwards to Nantes and north west to Hennebont where we arrived just as predicted around five o clock.

We booked into the camp site and then wondered along a full tidal river to the town where we managed to get some lovely, crepes and cider in the Creperie St Geron.

Janet had discovered the creperie on line and reviews showed that you needed to be there as soon after seven as possible to be sure of a table. We were there by a quarter past seven and sure enough by half past seven the place was full.

Thursday 19th September : Hennebont to Home

We ate a leisurely breakfast nearly in the sun beside the estuary. On the way out of Hennebont we shopped at the Intermarche doing a weeks shop for home. We then drove to the Col de Tredudon and walked nearly to the mast before eating lunch in the van.

Returned to Roscoff and caught the ferry at four o clock and had a slightly choppy crossing. Arrived home at ten o clock and Graham watched football and Janet pottered. We both agreed it hadn’t been a very satisfying holiday. But we had made the best of it but hadn’t really relaxed and had definitely not had our fix in the Pyrenees!