France Tour. September 2016. Part 2.

September 6th.

Really hot morning, we decided to stay another day and have a look round town. As seen yesterday, there are many old tudorish buildings. There was a great fire in 1524 ( long before the Fire of London) which destroyed much of the city, but many buildings in the centre survived, dating back to that time.

Nice that they did as it gives the city a unique character.

We had a look round the old streets then into the centre for lunch. We had lovely ham and cheese crepes in the cafe we'd had beer yesterday. Had a browse in the shops before returning to Eevie. 4pm it was still hot so I had a swim in the pool, the water was really cold, but refreshing. Then a quiet evening before moving on in the morning.

September 7th.

Left Troyes 1000hrs, heading for the Loire. Leisurely drive and plenty stops before arriving "Giens" 1450hrs. Checked into site "Touristique du Giens". And set up.

After a cuppa, we rode our bikes across the bridge and along the river to a Carrefour for some supplies. Still hot so on the return run a refreshment stop was in order.

The buildings you can see opposite is the campsite. Returned to Eevie, freshened up. Rounded off the day with a lovely salad.

Moving on tomorrow.

September 8th.

Left Gien 1030hrs, slow drive along the river to Jargeau, arriving 1150hrs. On arriving at the site, L'isle aux Moulins we realised we'd been here in 2013, but got fed up waiting for reception to open and moved on, it was raining at the time. No such problem this time, checked straight in and it was still hot.

Then off on the bikes for a look round. 

Very small centre, with the usual cafes shops etc. Cycling on one residential road we saw a garage sale, so stopped for a look. Big mistake, the little old lady was on our case big time, sadly it was mostly a pile of junk. Stopped on the way back for a beer.

It was only when checking the photos later I noticed the out of place feature. I'll let you work it out, but, no prizes I'm afraid. Then back to Eevie. In the evening we cooked a nice BBQ on the Cobb.

It's days like these that make it all worthwhile.

Going to head North tomorrow.

France Tour. September 2016. Part 1.

September 4th.

Having decide on a short 10 day tour we set off for France. Left storage 0800hrs for the 0925 P&O Dover/Calais. On board headed straight to the Brasserie for breakfast, bit dearer but more relaxed. Lots of people had the same idea, it was quite busy. Enjoyed our meal, then the on board shop for my rum. Soon after that we arrived in Calais. Straight to Adinkirke for my tobacco, then toll free to "Port Plaissance" in Peronne. Pleasant drive, though weather was damp, arrived 1600hrs and booked in for 1 night.

It began to rain for real, so we just chilled out in Eevie.

September 5th.

Left at 0900hrs. This date is the anniversary of our first date, so needed a fair sized town for our traditional evening restaurant meal. Monday's can be tricky for this in the villages etc. Decided to head for Troyes. Arrived "Camping de Troyes" at 1300hrs. Booked in for 2 nights, and set up.

The sun was now out, and it became quite hot. After a cuppa and a rest we walked into town. About a mile and a half. There are many old buildings, similar to our Tudor style.

On arriving at the main square, we found it quite stunning.

Many beautiful buildings and an abundance of cafes and restaurants. We had a  couple of beers then strolled around. Some nice shops, of course we had to check them out, at least Hazel did. Most of them are in streets off of the square. Around 18800hrs we started to check menus in the restaurants for our meal. Eventually settling on this one,

beneath the XXl sign on the right. Chose a table outside and ordered our meal and a nice bottle of Merlot. We were not disappointed, a superb meal.

I had Escargots followed by fillet steak, Hazel salad followed by pizza. My steak was the largest I'd ever had in a restaurant. About 2100 we made our way wearily back to Eevie and a nightcap. Moving on tomorrow.