The realization of what was, I suppose, a relatively minor ambition – a six week trip in France starting on June 1st. We began by wanting to travel down the east to pastures new but the weather and a desire to revisit some old haunts ended up sending us down the west. We wondered if we might make it through to Spain but, as things transpired, that didn’t happen. The major thing that transpired was that the car broke down at the end of our first week and spent five days at a garage in Le Mans being fixed. If a breakdown can ever be described as lucky, this one could – we were very comfortably installed on a great campsite in Luché-Pringé and simply had to stay on longer than originally planned. As it turned out, we spent a leisurely six weeks covering a route that we would normally have covered in two weeks. (Trip on Google Maps)
We were not particularly ready to return but eventually did on July 13th, because:
- our much-needed breakdown insurance was about to expire;
- the place was beginning to be invaded by rugrats;
- our livers needed outrageously high English booze prices to be given time to recuperate!
After six weeks of reasonably unstressful driving in France, the normally 2½ hour trip back from Dover took 4½ hours – arghhh!
| Luché-Pringé on Le Loir (not La Loire – how confusing) | ||||
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| Damvix and the Marais Poitevin (a.k.a. La Venise Verte) | ||||
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| Fanjeaux and the Aude | ||||
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| Millau and its Stunning Viaduct | ||||
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| Everything Else! | ||||
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