Cap d'Agde and the largest naturist village in Europe

We arrived here last Saturday via Sete, a port on the south coast famous for the seafood, and enjoyed a wonderful plate of oysters and langoustines while watching the ferries come and go. We turned up in Cap d’Agde at teatime, not a good time to arrive, with every other holidaymaker trying to book into the village at the same time in pouring rain and a howling gale. Apparently the wind is the infamous French Mistral which blows down from the mountains. It had been alright in Sete, but suddenly the weather turned. Couple that with typical French inefficiency at the reception area and you can imagine how depressing it became! The Naturist Village here is the largest in Europe and is infamous for attracting, shall we say, the more exotic and maybe bizarre side of naturism. The village certainly caters for everyone, with a mix of apartments, chalets and pitches for tourers next to the amazing beach. The village is enormous with plenty to entertain including boutiques, supermarkets, restaurants of all types, oyster bars (some with pools and all showing the football), hairdressers, nightclubs and the odd ‘specialist’ club just in case you are into that sort of thing! Some of the people here delight in dressing to shock and we have certainly seen a few sights! But in the main it is a holiday resort offering the best beaches on the Mediterranean, within 30 minutes walk of the Marina town of Cap d’Agde. We have spent a lot of time relaxing around our van, setting up the awning, taking it down again when the wind got up, and then putting it up again two nights ago when the weather finally settled down into the consistent hot sunny days we have been waiting for. On Tuesday we walked into the town and had a lovely time exploring the local farmer’s market, eating a panache of sea snails for lunch (honestly, they were delicious!), and admiring the many yachts and cruisers in the bay, some clearly owned by millionaire types! Mind you, Roma, our boat we sold to finance this trip, would not have looked out of place there. We have been on the beach although I am not too keen on sand in the towels, and watched a number of World Cup matches with a carafe of rose amongst a mixture of nationalities. And we are through – unlike the French – we were so relieved. More of the same until Sunday morning, when we will shut up shop here and head for a visit to the walled city of Carcassone before moving west to our next campsite of choice, Chateau Giton which is south-east of Bordeaux. We are still finding it quite difficult to get on line, and we do not know what facilities the next site will have, so bear with us and we will be back in touch as soon as possible. We will keep the flag flying for the boys!

No floods for us, just floods of French tears!

We believe some of our friends and family have been concerned by press reports at home of the terrible flooding in parts of southern France earlier this week. Although we did experience mixed weather, including black skies, heavy rain and even some cloudbursts, we are far to the west of where the real problems were, and we have no intention of travelling that far east. So, all is well and we are approaching the end of our week at the first resort, Serignan Plage. There may be some readers who are not aware that we will be visiting Naturist resorts in the main, a lifestyle we adopted some four years ago when we first visited France in the summer. I do not intend publishing any naturism photos which will be a great relief to most, but I cannot help but refer to it, so if this is a problem, switch off now! No, seriously, this is very common on the continent with particularly the French, Germans and Dutch being very keen on this very relaxing and simple approach to holidays! There are naturist sites of all types all over France and we will experience sites of all types and sizes during our time here. So far this week, despite mixed weather, we have been in the spa pool area twice, loving the bubbly spa bath and massage walk (!), taken our new windbreak down to the beach and paddled in the Med, watched some football, including France losing – that should put the dampers on the mood round here – and had a lovely third wedding anniversary meal in the campsite restaurant. Yesterday (Thursday) we took our new bikes out for their first big trip – a two hour round trip into the nearby town of Serignan. The little town was delightful with a very typical French central square covered in restaurant tables and chairs. We picked up some delicious local vegetables and fruit on our ride back. It is 35 years since either of us rode a bike for any distance - we limped back exhausted with our knees shouting in complaint! We still managed to prepare a superb BBQ dinner before watching the France vs Mexico match on our TV in the van. Thank goodness we did not join the droves of French in the cafe TV room as originally intended – it would have been most depressing! On Saturday we move on to Cap d’Agde just up the coast to a much bigger more commercial site. Should be interesting!

Saturday and it must be Serignan

Big drive today in better weather although we did have some rain. This final stretch took us through the Massife Centrale, the huge mountain range through the middle of France. Up hill and down dale – really scary at times, exhilarating at others. The highlight was crossing the new bridge over the Millau Gorge. It has seven towers and Victor dubbed it ‘The Seven Pillars of Millau’. We stopped there for a bite of lunch and to take photos along with all the other tourists! Onward for another couple of hours until we could tell we were approaching the coast. With the help of our lady Sat Nav we found our first resort – Serignan Plage – just down from Beziers – where we will spend seven nights on our pitch along with French, Dutch and Germans. We dipped our toes in the Mediterranean and watched the first England match on a huge screen in the bar – what was that about! Oh, and the sun is coming out!

L'escargot as far as the eye can see!

Friday brought more driving south. I don’t what I like least – the rattling as a huge lorry passes us, the runaway train syndrome as we rush down steep hills and up the other side, or me sitting on the wrong side of the van as Victor overtakes the mad Frenchmen! But I am getting more used to it, and am loving the picnic lunches at the lovely Aires on the motorway. Late afternoon and we reached Massiac, south of Clermont Ferrand. This stopover was at a Snail Farm which was perched on the top of a hill overlooking the little town in the Valley below. The owners were charming and the son described to us how they breed thousands of snails in their fields, all trapped in by small electric fences – although we did see some escapees! As he did not speak alot of English, it was quite complex trying to get a grasp of the details he was giving us! That evening their chef in their tiny restaurant cooked snails for us in about six different ways – all equally delicious. The family had a big Labrador so Victor was happy! We ate and drank well that night.

Travelling south adventures

Canoes are Us!
Our night stop on Wednesday was a mystery tour into a small town en route, down a rough track, almost to the river’s edge where there is a Canoe Centre for youngsters to go to learn to canoe over a weekend or during the summer. This was the first of a number of sites offered by an organisation called French Passion, where farmers, vineyard owners and the like, offer a free night stop specific ally for motorhomes. The huge rundown field was full of equipment and BBQs and the toilet was an environmentally friendly bucket with a lid! We used our own facilities. When we arrived we found another British van with a couple who turned out to have many bottles of wine and many stories to tell. Once we were joined by another van with a Scottish couple, the party really started! The other delight of the evening was visit by a very young French black kitten who was most playful, but who also wanted to snuggle on my knee! I wanted to take him home but Victor would not let me!

Moving South and more rain!
So far the weather had been disappointing to be honest with heavy showers and black skies inbetween sunny spells. Our third day of driving was no different, but our French Passion stopover that evening made up for it. We settled down at the back of a small Vineyard in the middle of nowhere, having tasted their delicious wines, bought some bottles, and toured the cellars. The views were beautiful fields and woods beyond and so peaceful. We watched a DVD that evening on our own telly. Very cosy!

In the Brush strokes of Monet!

Wednesday 9th June was our second day in France and we began by driving an hour to Giverny to visit Monet’s home and garden – particularly the water garden. It did not disappoint and by the signage on the way it was like visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace or maybe Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage. As it was an overcast day and early in the season it was not overcrowded and we were very impressed with the roses, the mixed borders and, of course, the waterlillies. His house was an unexpected delight, very French rustic but with a huge collection of Japanese prints. We bought the obligatory fridge magnet in the very overpriced gift shop and got back on the road.

And finally, La Belle France

We left the Kent campsite early this morning, and caught the earlier Ferry. P&O have really upped their game since I last crossed the Channel and the ship was very smart. We stopped for lunch at City Europe Shopping Mall and enjoyed Mussels in White wine - a great start to the holiday. The 3 hour drive to our nightstop near Rouen was dogged with heavy showers and dark skies but the van performed well and despite the Sat Nav losing us a bit at the end, we got here and it is very pretty with plenty of trees and birdsong. Tomorrow is Monet's Garden before we continue our journey south. Bon Nuit everyone.
Phyllida and Victor

We can almost smell the sea!

Here we are at the Black Horse Caravan Park about thirty minutes out of Dover. The van made it down without incident from Norwich to Surrey on Saturday after a busy morning packing her up. She is pretty full! That night we stayed with Victor’s daughter and family in a real house (!) On Sunday our good friends Sandie and Richard hosted a Bon Voyage BBQ in their beautiful garden with some of our dearest friends. We could feel ourselves winding down and getting into holiday mood. Today I drove the final leg towards Dover and here we are in light rain, enjoying a stir fry on our last evening in Blighty before crossing La Manche tomorrow lunchtime. There seem to be loads of motor homes and caravans here, all with the same idea in mind!
Have tried to upload a photo but tonight in the campsite the signal is poor and it will not upload! Apologies. Will try again in a few days when we can get access. Take care everyone.
Phyllida and Victor

She's back in good shape!

We went over to Yarmouth yesterday and collected our baby from the workshop. She has been patched up quite well for now, and today we will fill her up with all our goodies! I was very nervous all Tuesday when she was down for all her repairs, feeling as if a close friend was having open heart surgery!! Victor drove her back and I followed in the car watching her every shake and wobble! All was well and we are so thrilled to be back on schedule.
We have learnt that it is not so easy to get hold of dongles in France, and that they are very expensive to use, so future postings to this blog will be dependant on us finding internet cafes or places with wi fi!!! Bear with us!
Enjoy the sun.
Phyllida and Victor