Motor Home France 2012

Day 1

 We picked up our van at about 3pm and after returning our hire car to the middle of Lyon we headed off on our trip. Guess what?  Peak hour traffic!!!. It was very nerve racking for Russel.  We decided to go on the motor ways to get out of town quickly, however we hit the traffic that was going no where. Perhaps there was an accident further down but we got a bit frustrated as we were very tired. We had driven from Pont D’Ouche ( 4 hours) and then it had been very hot. I asked Tom Tom where there was a campsite.- over 200 klm away (really). I then tried yacht club and it said 30 klm. So off the motor way and headed to the club. We went high into the mountains and then down down on these tiny narrow windy roads. I was a nervous wreck and Russel was getting quite fed up with me breaking. We finally came to the Rhone River. It looked gorgeous, but no where to camp!!! Finally we drove along a road close to the club and saw a concrete pad. This will do we said lets pull out the bottle of hot wine!!! 

We sat by the Rhone relaxing. We were watching another motor home doing the same wandering around that we had done. Finally he turned and came towards us. Oh no we thought. The van stopped and a male voice said “ Do you speak English”

It was an Australian couple with a little girl who had also picked up their van that day.

They joined us. They were so relieved to stop and have someone tell them that they could.

The picture below shows us both on our little concrete pad.

                                                            The Motorway!!!

Day 2

The next day ( after using all power to the van over night) we headed back to the motorway ( not up the windy hilly though) and kept on the freeway so we could get down to the Dordogne area which we thought might be interesting.  If we stayed off the motor ways and go through every little town we would be still going a year later and would be complete nervous wrecks. The roads through these little towns are narrow and the motor home is quite wide. It would be different in a car.

Our main problem each night was to find a camping spot. We had no books and were hoping for signs to camp sites. Not so. Going through Tulle I spotted a tourist bureau so Russel pulled over ( one seems to stop anyway here) and I raced in and asked for a camp site. We ended up a great little spot by the river run by an English couple.

Below shows our camp site for Night 2

Day 3

Next day we headed for our gorgeous little town called Montignac.

We visited this area as we wanted to visit Grotte de Lascaux.  This cave contains prehistoric paintings that apparently go back some 15 thousand years. They were very impressive with lots of colour. They were far more detailed than the aboriginal art we have seen in Australia. We were not allowed to take pictures so I can’t show you. They have actually closed the original caves as the continual visits were causing the paintings to deteriorate so they made an exact replica of.

 It was a very hot humid day so we spent the afternoon in the swimming pool. Next morning we woke to pouring rain.

Below is our campsite in Night 3

                                                                Montignac

Day 4

We were slow to leave due to the rain but this was a very interesting day. We were driving along heading for a cave we wanted to look over and saw all these people in a rock formation so we drove in and saw an amazing sight. This was la Roche Saint Christophe. It was a very large rock face that people had lived on. There were holes and cuttings in the rock face.

                                                          A Cave

                                                   This is what we saw so went to invesigate

                                                            They built houses into the rock

                                                This shows the view from the rock face.

we had to pass this car on the narrow road

We then headed off to see the Grotte Cave – Grand Roc. The cave is a mineral forest made of unrivalled variety and density of crystallization. I have never seen such gorgeous ice formation. It was mind blowing.

This is also the area called Perigord. This is where the ducks are raised for the famous Foie Gras de Canard and the Canard de Confit. I notice a farm as we drove toward Bergerac and asked Russel to stop so I could take a photo. The smell was dreadful when I opened the window to take the photo. I am not sure how the farmer could cope.

                                                        The Duck farm

We decided to leave the area and head to Bergerac a wine growing region. At about 5pm we arrived and still couldn’t see any signs for camping grounds. Russel decided to go over a large bridge and get off the main road. Voila!! We followed a sign to the river and we had a lovely site under the trees by the Dordogne River.

Day 5

Next day we headed to Bordeaux but decided at the last minute to continue through to the Atlantic coast. We thought that we could catch the train to Bordeaux if we wished.

However this area has so much to offer that we have decided to stay here for 2 days.

We are in the Bay of Arcachon and not far from the Atlantic Ocean. We went for a long ride along the beaches and port of Arcachon. The beaches are all not white sand like ours but a light yellow colour and look inviting. There were plenty of sun bathers, (topless) restaurants and shops. It is a real beach resort and in July when the holidays start it will be very crowded.

Day 6

The next day we drove out to Dune de plat. This colossal sand dune is already the largest in Europe – 3klm in length. It is spreading at the rate of 4.5 meters a year and has already swallowed up trees, a road junction and even a hotel.

One of the reasons we went to this area was to taste the oysters and see the oyster farms. We then headed to the other side of the bay to the oyster ports where we had lunch – Russel sampling the oyster – me the prawns – with bread and a glass of vino!!

Day 7 and 8

The next day we drove to Francescar (near Nerac) to see our friends Nicky and Alan. They have been coming to this area for a number of years fro their holidays. We stayed for two days. It was great to catch up with friends and they showed us around their little neck of the woods.

Below is their house and local streets. It is a very quiet town. We went out for dinner the second night and had great food.!!!

The garden in Nicky and Allan's house

                                                           The Front door

                                                A view down their very quiet village

Day 9

The next morning we all went to a town near by called Lecture where there was a local market on. It was great to wander around. We brought some local cheeses which we had for lunch.

                                                 
                                                              Market Day

We said our goodbyes to Nicky and Alan and head toward Toulouse. To our surprise the Mella’s arrive also so we had a few drinks and caught up on all the news of Australia.

Day 10

We decided to ride into Toulouse along the Canal Garonne and then turn into the Canal De Midi. This is the reason we came down this way.—to see this canal. We followed it into the port and then continued through the city.  We rode for a few hours and then headed home to the caravan park for lunch.  In the afternoon we headed out for a tour of the Airbus A380 production plant. We learnt heaps. It is here that the A380 is assembled of components manufactured in the UK, Spain, Germany and France.

I can’t show any photos as we weren’t allowed to take our cameras.

Day 11

We left Toulouse and headed to Carcassonne. We spent most of the day looking over the old city. Bruno and Steph hit the shops.   It was a fascinating old city.

 We then headed toward Narbonne where we are camped on a bay off the Mediterranean. It is blowing a gale but the view is gorgeous.  We have the Pyrenees in the background - that is Spain not far away.

We are free camping tonight with a gorgeous view beside a bay that leads to the Mediterranean ocean.  We sat outside until the wind blew up. It blew all night.

                                         Our camp over looking the Med!!

Day 12

We headed to Sete which is on the Mediterranean Sea. This is Frances largest fishing port on the Med. It was a very busy town with narrow and many one way streets. We somehow got separated from the Melia’s and it took ages to get back together. Whilst we were lost we found a place to park the van right beside the water.

                                            A view of Sete

We went for a ride and watched the boats come in and sort their fish.

That night we went out for a seafood meal. It was great.

Day 13

We were headed to Monpellier to spend the day. We worked out that we could park the car in a parking lot that we had on the map and then walk in to explore. It didn’t quite happen like that at all. The Tom Tom took us to the street but we couldn’t see the parking lot. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a driveway that headed for a park that we couldn’t fit under. We had to back all the way back and it wasn’t much fun. Once we managed to get out of this bad situation, we stopped at a roadside spot to work out what to do.

The Melia’s mutineerd!!! Steph had had enough of trying to get these vans into big towns and wanted to head for the mountains. They did. We just had a call from them and they are still in the mountains but at last enjoying the trip.

We consulted our lonely planet at what to do. We knew the next day we wanted to go to Avignon but needed a campsite with washing machines and electricity that night.

I read that Pont Du Gard was a great site so off we went. We found a fabulous camp site in the forrest and spent the afternoon looking over the Pont Du Gard. It was fabulous.

Day14

Today we headed for Avignon, parked the car easily and rode our bikes into the walled city. We did a train trip which took us around the city and gave us an explanation in English. We had a great traditional lunch – quiche and salad and Crogue monsier and salad then headed off to find the Rhone.

                                        me on our little bus

                                            View from the top overlooking the Rhone

We came down this area so that we could see the midi and the Rhone River. On reflection we are glad we did as the Rhone looked very angry and the midi busy.

We stopped over night in Viviers in front of all the canal boats. There were four travelling together. The Rhone was flowing so fast that they were hardly making headway down the river. We spoke to a New Zealander who said it wasn’t worth going all the way down. He seemed quite disgruntled and would be glad to be back to the canals further north.

                                          Us Motor homers overlooking the marina

Viviers was a great little town. We rode right up to the top and visited the church.

Day 15

We spent the day following the Rhone and ended up in Condrieu  just out of Vienne where we once again met up with the Melia’s. They had had a fabulous trip flying around the mountains. They did 200 klm in one week – we did 2000 in two weeks. They must like driving.

I am sitting in the van outside waiting for Russel to return with a car so we can return to our boat. I will be very glad to be on our boat relaxing. Bruno and Steph are coming too.

Personally I didn’t enjoy the van  - it was very hard to park and the narrow streets were nerve racking.  I have put my dream of doing America and Canada in a motor home away.

                                               The Rhone

                             The Rhone Again

Morocco 2012

Today I leave for Morocco with my two friends Zoe and Lynley for a 15 day tour. Below shows a map of our tour.

The trip over was great. I had a good sleep on the second leg and only watched a couple of movies. We arrived in London and bumped into Zoë whilst we were booking our luggage in to British Midland. We decided to celebrate this adventure with a glass of champagne. At about 9 in the morning we had our first drink.!!!!

 Our first night we went to the big square and had dinner. “ Chicken tajine with olives and lemons. It was delicious!

The picture below shows us sitting at the restaurant above the markets. We walked through the markets but were harassed by all the vendors wanting us to eat and their table. It was appealing, so we found a restaurant.

The next day after breakfast ( typical Moroccan breakfast consisting of a glass of orange juice, bread, butter and apricot jam followed by a coffee)  we headed to the souks  and we spent the day spending our money.

The souks went on and on. I can’t understand how they make their money with so much competition.  I am glad I didn’t take every durum I had and I probably would have spent it.  There was leather products, pottery, jewellery, spices, dried fruits etc. it just went on and on. The people are friendly but we noticed the men getting angry when we didn’t buy.

  We visited the Ben Youssef Madrassa. Founded in the 14^th century , this religious school was rebuilt in Andalusion style by the Saadians in the 16^th century.

Below is a picture within the walls.

                                             Lynley in the Souks

Day 1

At about 6pm we went down to the foyer to meet our guide and the rest of the people joining our trip.

Our guide is a Moroccan from the Atlas Mountain region and is just gorgeous. We have nine of us all up – all girls.!!! – Two Americans, one Canadian, one English and the rest of us are Australian. Of course we are the three elderly ladies and the rest of them are in there twenties.  They are great fun and we have all fitted in well.

That night we had a typical Moroccan feast consisting of soup, tajine and fruit.

                                                 Ibraham showing the Tajine

Day 2

We had a long drive to Casablanca to see the Hassan II Mosque.

This is one of the few mosque that non muslins are allowed in and is the third largest(Meca and Medina being the other two both in Saudi Arabia) holding 25000 people and took only 6 years to build. It was built from 1987 to 1993 and had 2500 workers and 10000 crafts men. It was truly magnificent.

We then drove a couple of hours to Rabat. Rabat is a very large town and being a Sunday it was filled with lots of people and plenty of cars. It was real mayhem.

After dinner we walked through the old part. The shop keepers were all closing up after their long day of trading. I have only seen as much rubbish once before and that was in Ghent after a night of the festival.

Day 3

We were escorted through the town of Rabat by a local guide. He was full of knowledge and was very passionate about his town.

We were shown the real Rabat and we all fell in love with it.

Morocco has their own King and he married a commoner and they have two children. He is much loved by his people. We were shown over the grounds of the palace.

                                      Roman Ruins – every country seem to have some

Rabat city

Lynley and I over looking the port of Rabat

We then drove to Meknes where I decided not to be a tourist but stayed in our room and had a few drinks.

Day 4

We left Meknes early to visit the Roman of Volubilis. These were very impressive Roman ruins. It is a listed UNESCO site and dates back to AD40. Below are a few of my favourite shots of Volubilis.

A Stork with his nest on a Roman column

Zoe looking at some very impressive Mosaic Flooring

The Tour Group

We then headed high up in the Rif mountains to Chefchaouen. What a fabulous place. Settle in between two mountain peaks is the village. It boasts beautiful blue door and white walled medina and was originally a Berber post. We went for a walk around on our own and took some lovely photos of the area.

Our First sighting of Chefchaouen                                      

Its all very Blue

Shopping!!!

The Wash House

It is still quite primitive in the mountains. They go to these wash houses to do their washing. There is a natural spring that flows all year.

We went for a walk around the village and this is our descent.

Day 5

We had a lazy morning whilst the young ones went for a hike in the mountains.

After lunch we drove to Fez. It was a long drive and we were all a little bus sick due to the windy roads.

They climbed passed the Mosque you can see high in the hills.

                                                                       A market day

Our leader Ibraham

We finally arrived in Fez and visited the large super market where we all bought a baget and cheeses and ate dinner in our room washed down with a glass of red wine.

Day 6

 We were picked up at 9 am by the local guide and spent until 6pm seeing Fez. We were all exhausted and once again ate in our rooms.

I will describe our day just by introducing the pictures.

                                      

A Jewish Cemetery

                          
                                          Zoe and I overlooking Fez

Fez is famous for their Pottery
I couldn't helps myself - more coffee mugs

The butchers shops were great

Plenty of dates

                                         Plenty of Olives on sale in the Souks

Lynley purchased a hand made rug

We visited the tannery - it was quite smelly so they gave us a sprig of mint to smell while we were visiting.

Some of the finished products

The donkeys were racing through the small alley ways. The owners were shouting "Attention attention" in other words get out of the way.

Israham bought some camel in the souks and they made mince patties for us for lunch.
I am afraid i couldn't make myself try!!!

Day 7

We travelled over the Moyen Atlas mountains to a town called Midelt.

The highlight of the day was lunch. We stopped in a town that had heaps of butchers shops attached to cafes that cooked the lamb chops you bought. They were very delicious.   Below are some photos showing our experience

The butcher cutting our meat for lunch

Our meat cooking!!!

                                     They display the meat head and all!!!

Day 8

This day was the highlight of the trip!!! – a camel trek in the Sahara Desert to a Berber camp. We stayed over one night and experienced a Nomad existence. 

We arrived at the base camp with a sand storm so we had to get Israham to put on our head gear ready for our ride over the sand dunes to the Berber camp.

Preparing the head gear for the sand storm

  Ready for my camel ride

Us trekking through the sand dunes to our camp

                                     Our tents in the back ground - It did get very cold.

                            In the Berber tent waiting for dinner

                                we watched the sun go down

We woke next morning at 5 pm and the skies were clear and we rode back to the base camp for breakfast. It was truly a fabulous experience.

                            Our camels waiting for us the next morning

Zoe and I on our camels at 5 in the morning

                                       Breakfast in the Desert


Day 9

After breakfast we went onto Todra Gorge. This 1000foot gorge is hemmed in on all sides by vertical limestone cliffs and is also called Morocco’s Grand Canyon.

We went for a walk and ended up  at a house that sold rugs and we had a mint tea demonstration. I have enjoyed the mint tea very much.

                                  Our Mint Tea demostration

                                                Todra Gorge

Day 10

A long day of travelling through the Atlas mountains and into a town called Ait Benhaddou.

Below are a few photos showing the different landscape that we see as we are travelling through the mountains.

.

Market we stopped at - pile of red onions

Day 11 and 12

Another long day of travelling through the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic sea at a town called Essaouira. This is a colourful old city and fishing village.  We are here for two days. Rest at last!!!

Atlantic Ocean

                                  Sardines on sale

The Fleet

We did spend a little time looking at the sardines coming on the fishing boats. Zoe and Lynley had sardines from lunch. Sardines are exported from Morocco.

We spent the day shopping until we drop!!!

He dressed me up as a Berber women, gave the three of us Mint tea and then tried very hard to sell us heaps. It didn't work!!!

Our final meal together

Day 13 and 14

We travel back to Marrakech for more shopping in the souks.

I have really enjoyed this and would highly recommend On the Go Tours.  The hotels were of a great standard and the places we were taken to shows lots of thought. We were looked after by Israham really well. We enjoyed lots of laugh and plenty of jokes.