Cathy posting;
Friday 30th March – Good Friday
So it’s confession time, Dave has realised that his Sat Naff has 2 settings one is DMS -degrees, minutes and seconds and the other one is DD- Decimal Degrees! It was pure luck that we ended up at our first Aire in Ypres at all! Apologies to the Aires book you were right, our bad! (please see yesterdays post!)
So last night, Thursday we were parked up at the edge of the canal at Landrecies, it’s a small Aire for just 4 vans, there are no services but it’s a pleasant spot and it’s free! 3 other vans arrived later in the evening so all spaces were full.
Next morning, Good Friday we noticed there had been a resurrection! All the other vans had gone, and we were up quite early… after healthy breakfast of porridge we had a nice walk along the canal about 9.30 am for 2.5 miles, I’m planning on keeping a track of miles walked on this whole trip and just need to download a walking app.
We set off about 11am to head for Rozoy Sur Serre in Hautes de France – Northern France (N50°07.668′, E003°41.452) The site is lovely just 4 spaces again but this time fresh water and waste disposal, extremely quiet and landscaped, it seems quite new too and there is only us here for now.
The Aire is near a little village Parfondeval, listed in UNESCO heritage as one of many beautiful villages, we parked up and had some French bread and coffee.
We decided to walk to the village 4.5 kms away, even though it seemed to be alongside the road, however it started to rain quite heavily so we decided to drive, I get a bit stressed about driving into small villages with a big van but I need not have worried as it was empty like a ghost town not a soul about, no patisserie, no boulangerie in fact nothing at all, no winter flowers, it was described as incredibly beautiful well apart from a couple of nice cottages and a particularly old timber framed one I’m afraid I wasn’t impressed, maybe the heavy rain didn’t help but I won’t be coming back, sorry UNESCO.
We went back to the Aire and as it didn’t stop raining we settled in for the afternoon, I am reading a book called In Europe by Geert Mak, it’s a sort of biography and travel journal, he set off from his home of Amsterdam in 1999 to criss cross Europe tracing 20th century history as it slipped into the 21st, I’m only a few chapters in but I’m enjoying his style already.
It is time for tea now, chicken a la grecque we bought yesterday and tinned potatoes, well guess what we left at home? you guessed it, yes the tin opener! never mind Dave to the rescue.
Dave has been making a note of all the places that we’ve been to and as we go he will record them for future reference and fellow travellers, whilst also keeping a copy of all our spending daily, weekly and monthly to make sure we stay on budget.
Off to bed early as were up early for Champagne region tomorrow.
Cathy
Just finished reading your blogs and now up to date. Very good! I hope you settle into your experience very quickly and enjoy as much as you can. You must be seeing some lovely scenery on your travels.
Looking forward to reading more.
Take care xxx
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Hi Ellen & Mark,
we are glad you like the blog, we remember fondly the El Marco night! All our love D & C x x
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Hi D&C, Very interesting as long as its only the tin opener (senior moment?)
Found you on Google Earth and placed you on my map.You were near St.Quentin which is Twinned with Rotherham!!! We were at the Twinning Ceremony several years ago with Carol& Mel and several others.
If you pass near Laon that is where the Classic Car Rally was,lookout for the Cathedral on the hill!
Enjoy the Champagne area,are you going anywhere near Epernay?
Lousy weather here, the River Don has flooded quite badly near the Boat Inn.
Like the pics.
Take Care ,Love Dad&Mum xxxx
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Hi Dad & Mum,
We were near Mutigny which is east of Epernay,at a beautiful place in the hills. We drove past Laon on the way to Verdun.
Love D & C x x
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Hi D&C, I know its a bit late,but Happy Easter.F&G xxxx
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Hi Dad & Mum,
A Happy Easter to you both!
Love D & C x x
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#leatherman – would expect nothing less of Dave 🙂
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Degs, you know me so well, lol! Dave
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Hi
I’m a bit late catching up. When you refer to Parfondeval as a UNESCO site I think it is not a UNESCO site but rather what the French refer to as a Beau Village. From what I can gather the French government or tourist board has come up with the list of Beau Villages, but I don’t think UNESCO has anything to do with it. The UNESCO sites are all deemed to be of international importance and usually, although not always, worth a visit. The Beau Villages are a bit variable in quality, but some are stunningly pretty. Enjoying your blog so far.
Tim (alifeintheslowlane.com)
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Thanks for the info Tim, I had read about Beau villages but I confused the two! You are of course correct in that this village had nothing to do with UNESCO and I agree on the variable quality, hope all is well with you both and safe journey home
Thanks
Cathy
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