InvictaMoto's Family Travels

The last full day in France. The plan was to use the A31 and A26 to get up to Épernay as soon as possible. So we left the hotel just after 9am and by noon we were in Chalons en Champagne to get some lunch from the supermarket.  The local foire had started and roads were closed off and Aldi had guards on their carpark and roads were lined with parked cars. Arch in Chalons en Champagne We bought some stuff for lunch and set off for Épernay looking for a picnic site. In the end we made our own on the edge of a village. The rug on the grass. We arrived far to early to check in to Hotel Colbert and so we parked in the huge car park in the town centre and went to look at the champagne houses.  Street sign.... War Memorial at the end of the Avenue de Champagne In the end after a long walk along the Avenue de Champagne, lined by champagne houses like Möet and Perrier-Jouet, to name just two, we arrived at Castellane with its large tower. ...

Another early start after breakfast. Firstly across to the market in Orange and then off northwards on the A7. We had bought some mushroom pizza and apricot flan at the market so we could stop whenever. A coffee stop after about 100 miles in a new services and then towards Lyon and into solid traffic. I re-programmed TomTom and we were then taken on a massive loop via Bourg en Bresse and then through the centre of Chalons sur Saone! Thanks TomTom. The extra 60 miles is one thing but the latter was terrible. On the way we passed a restaurant that might do a lot of chicken! Crossing the Saone near Tournus, a few miles short of Chalons en Champagne. Tournus Vines outside Beaune We eventually arrived in Beaune just before 4pm. Our lunch stop was somewhere east of Lyon. We had time to book in and then walk into town. The Hotel Bellevue is nice but the wifi doesn't work and isn't as near the centre as I had anticipated. The staff h...

Day 4. Sunny. The plan today was to do the Roman theatre and the other roman sites in Orange. So after breakfast we were out just after 9.30am for the short walk round to the theatre. The main wall facade can only be seen in photographs as France 2 TV station has lined the entire wall with portababins to house the crew and entertainers at the many concerts, both opera and musical that take place during the summer. The €9 entry fee gets the free audioguide and entry into the theatre and also to the museum across the road. We spent a good few hours going from one audioguide spot to the next as it took us up rows and rows of steps to the top. The main wall is the original as is the upper where it is built into the hillside, but much of the seating was replaced by the Victorians as it had been looted over the 1500 years since the Roman empire had failed. The job has been done very well as it looked to fit right in. In fast, only the first three rows are Rom...

Superb start to the day. Yesterday's rain continued during the night and into the morning. After breakfast with accompaniment from Take That on cd we squeezed out of the parking garage. It was easier than I thought but the flooring of damp slippery cobbles would have defeated two wheels!  Even four wheels slipped and slid.  Once on the A31 the rain began in earnest, with spray on some sections demonstrating that maybe the French need to change their road surface to something like we have in the north that allows water run off! Our first stop was just north of Lyon for a pee and coffee. And still it rained. It was as we approached the Valence turn off it began to dry up and the sun made it's appearance. Just off the A7 we stopped for petroleum. With about 340 miles since the last fill-up I had to put in 38.86 litres at 39.72mpg. The best yet. Our first main stop was at la Garde-Adhémar, one on the Plus Beaux Villages. It was very scenic perched high...

We were away about 0920 after breakfast in the hotel. This time we took the A26 toll motorway. By 11am we needed a loo break near Chalons en Champagne. Plus it was coffee time! This time only coffee! Next was off at Troyes to get petrol. The exit from the motorway was some ten miles to the north of the city and as is quite common, the N77 was full of slow moving trucks using the N roads to avoid paying the toll charges. We pulled in the Géant hypermarket and filled the tank. The price was about 15 cents a litre less than the service area prices. The first fill up was after a tad over 300 miles and the car had averaged 37.34 to the gallon. We bought lunch in the store, a bread item with chèvre cheese and melted cheese to keep it on and a couple of strawberry tarts. Once we had meandered around to get back on the A26 we found it had finished and the A5 had taken over. Dijon was still around 170kms away so e stopped in the next "aire" and found a picnic b...

Some photos from the grand place in St Quentin.

At Unusually for us we were packed and the  car was loaded well before the "off". The night before I had spent some time checking the route for today and loading all the itinerary files on to the TomTom. As my maps are fully up to date we will use the Rider again. With the optional car kit it works very well. The DFDS ferry is the 1200 from Dover and to avoid hold ups our expected departure time from home was 1000, we arrived Dover and were checked in by 1010! After a Costa Coffee in the quayside building we were loaded and by 1145 ensconced in the forward lounge,with its conservatory windows, so we can watch the sea whizz past on the two hour crossing to Dunkerque. Kindles fully charged to see off the journey!! The crossing went okay and we were off at 1520 local time into France. Judging by the wet in the fields they have had the same rain as us! I planned a slight detour on the way to avoid the toll A26 motorway.  This took us down the A...