{"id":1989,"date":"2011-08-23T14:20:15","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T14:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/?page_id=1989"},"modified":"2012-06-16T19:04:34","modified_gmt":"2012-06-16T19:04:34","slug":"autumn-trip","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/?page_id=1989","title":{"rendered":"Autumn Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our autumn trip this year was going to be a combined holiday and working trip as our son and family had moved to the South of France in July and we were keen to see them settled in their new home.\u00a0 With all new homes there is a degree of work needed to make things “homely” – this was to be no different.<\/p>\n

We set off as usual after breakfast with a very loaded camper as we had to carry things for the house, things for the kids birthdays and holidays including a play house, large peddle police car.\u00a0 Amazingly we were still under our maximum weight – well done Niesmann and Bischoff.\u00a0 We arrived at Folkstone and caught the evening train to Calais then driving down to Cleres for the night.\u00a0 Cleres is a free Aire just north of Rouen that includes free services and free EHU.\u00a0 We continued on our way early the following morning and had a good run down to spend the next night at Saint Pourcain-sur-Sioule another super Aire on the banks of the Sioule that is a real credit to the town Marie and inhabitants.\u00a0\u00a0 We have passed by the Pont du Gard several times but never actually visited it so this year we intended to look around.\u00a0\u00a0 Our next night saw us parked in the Aire at Remoulins just a short distance from the Pont du Gard.\u00a0 Remoulins town is not to be missed with its local market and typical streets and cafe’s.<\/p>\n

Pont du Gard<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>It is about a 2km and 30 mins walk to the Pont du Gard and we were really amazed to find so much to see.\u00a0 We spend all day looking around from top to bottom, spending time with lunch at the excellent hotel overlooking the Pont and river.\u00a0 Sadly the walk across the top of the bridge is now closed to the general public but you can walk across the lower road.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pont du Gard day and night<\/h2>\n

There is even a museum recording the building of the Roman aquaduct from the mountains in the west to Nimes in the East – a really fantastic feat of engineering.\u00a0 Our day was made when we discovered that there is a display at night to light up the bridge – this display is a must see and shows the bridge in a completely new light.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a couple of days we headed further south and found the nearest campsite to our family’s new home – Les Bruyers – just 3 miles south of Le Luc.\u00a0 We spent the next\u00a0four weeks helping move furniture, making shelves, re-modelling the kitchen – all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dave and Family new Home\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

This was enhanced by the abundance of chestnut trees outside their new house so each day we took the grand children to help pick a few chestnuts to roast on the BBQ.\u00a0 Les Mayons is a lovely village with some of the most friendly people we have met.\u00a0 They went out of their way to make everyone feel at home and encouraged their new residents to join in all the local festivities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Les Mayons<\/h2>\n

It wasn’t all work and no play and we did take a few days out to visit the Verdon Gorge some 50 miles to the north.\u00a0 We made our base at St Croix du Verdon – a small village at the edge of the Lake.\u00a0 The Aire is high above on the cliffs\u00a0with spectacular views across the lake.\u00a0 Sitting out having dinner with a glass of wine looking out at the mountains and water activities was something special.\u00a0 We decided to move to the far end of the lake to be near the exit to the gorge and stayed at the Aire in Moustier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>St Croix du Verdon<\/h2>\n

Moustier is a very old village with history going back to the Crusades.\u00a0 Indeed there is a star suspended between the mountains either side of the village that was originally hung there by a knight returning from one of the crusades.\u00a0 The village is really special and there is a very long and steep set of steps that take you up to the small church right up and nestling on the side of the path up through the mountain pass.\u00a0 The village square is well worth the visit.<\/p>\n

Moustier\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

We used our bicycles and a trip on Peggy to explore the Gorge.\u00a0 There are also boats and pedalos to hire from near the Gorge exit.\u00a0 We didn’t indulge this trip as we had hired a boat on a previous trip a few years earlier.\u00a0 After a few days touring around we headed back to see if any of the shelves had fallen down, enjoy a BBQ or two with the family and collect a whole sack of chestnuts to take back to UK.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We have wanted to visit Bourge for sometime now but it has always been “off route” so this time we made the detour and spent a couple of days exploring the old city.\u00a0 We have found over the past few years that one of the best ways to get your bearings and be able to maximise your time without wearing you out is to head straight for Le Pitite Train – the tourist trains that take you on a tour of the town to see at a glance all the hot spots on offer.\u00a0 Bourges is no different and so we set off on the train and quickly decided which bits we wanted to further explore and those we could leave for another time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Bourges<\/h2>\n

The Cathedral is a must of course but sadly the tower was closed due to repair work.\u00a0 The tower would be a grat oppurtunity to see out over the city and surrounding area.\u00a0 The old city walls and the military buildings are worth a visit and in summer the cathedral is lit up at night.\u00a0 After a couple of very pleasant days we set off yet again for Calais and home.<\/p>\n

Trip Statistics:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time away: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a041 days\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Distance Travelled \u00a0 2147 miles \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Cost of ferry: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a3144 (courtesy of Tesco)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cost of fuel: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a3441.68 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Cost of LPG: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a324.56\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cost of Tolls: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a374.79 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Cost of campsites \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a3374.04\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fuel cost for Peggy \u00a0 \u00a315.00<\/p>\n

Exchange rate: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a31 = \u20ac1.14<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our autumn trip this year was going to be a combined holiday and working trip as our son and family had moved to the South of France in July and we were keen to see them settled in their new … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":202,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1989","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1989"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3406,"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1989\/revisions\/3406"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vennwood.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}