This past week has been all about the view, the sunsets and the mixed weather at our final naturist camp, near Autun in the east of France. Victor and I stayed at this very campsite some four summers ago, but at that time we rented one of the posh chalets on the hill, so this was to be quite different. We arrived during the afternoon last Wednesday in the pouring rain and a heavy heart – as you can imagine, naturist camps are all about worshipping the sun and when there isn’t any, they can be particularly miserable places! We were offered the remaining one of only four pitches reserved for motor homes (on hard standing), and we were uncertain immediately about its suitability for an eight night stay. It was the furthest from the edge of the hillside with the amazing view we remembered so well, but worse than that, there was very limited flat land around the van to set up our awning and flooring. The young lady who was showing us around the camp (Dutch, what else?), assured us that the huge A Class motor home currently perched on the edge with the amazing view and loads of flat grass, was due to leave on Friday morning, and if we wanted she could reserve that space for us for Friday onwards. As they say, we tore her arm off! It is generally accepted that this pitch has the best view on the campsite (see photo).
We lived for two nights on the less than perfect space, without our flooring and having to set our table up on the grassy slope behind the van so as to catch some of the view. The weather did improve on day two and it was that evening when we experienced our first, and in retrospect, probably best sunset. The valley view is directly west so the setting sun is right in front of us (see photo). Everyone on camp gets their camera out at around 8.30 pm when the sky turns pink before our eyes, and the sun becomes a huge glowing ball. It really was a spectacle, and we looked forward to moving our van on the Friday morning. This was duly achieved with a deal of organisation and forward planning much to the amusement of our Dutch neighbours! That evening we invited three of the few other British visitors (the rest made up of Dutch and a few French), to a British sunset party outside our van, overlooking the valley. They accepted! A lovely couple from Carlisle, and a single man, who had been travelling around Europe since April, turned up with bottles of wine and their lounger chairs at around 8.00 and we waited for the sun to do its stuff. We were not disappointed and more fabulous photos were taken! We enjoyed their company (and a bottle of wine or four), for two or three hours more, before we realised that everyone else had gone to bed and we should break it up!
Saturday was fabulous (despite the hangovers). We took full advantage of our pole position, eating outside, sunbathing, playing table tennis (badly), swimming and generally loving it! Thank goodness we did, for Sunday turned out to be gloomy and windy. It was now that we discovered the downside to changing our position, as the strong westerly blows hard up the valley, directly into the side of our van, threatening to demolish the awning, and at one point actually bending one of the poles we use to hold the curtains on the awning. It took two strong men and me to hold it down while Victor wound it up. That evening we shared wine and nibbles outside the caravan of our new friends, but as we did so we heard the ominous rumbles of thunder in the distance, and sure enough, it chucked it down all night! Heavy rain is extremely noisy on this roof and we did not sleep at all well that night.
Sunday and Monday proved cool and cloudy with intermittent showers, with Sunday night bringing on another storm (and another restless night). There is little to do but sit around in the van during these bad spells, reading, listening to the odd CD, watching a DVD, writing postcards, playing with the computer. At least these spells of bad weather have been infrequent over the past three months, and here we can always gaze out of the window, never failing to be uplifted by the spectacular view of rolling hills, cow pastures, tiny traffic silently driving to and fro on the distant road, thick mysterious fir forests and swirling white clouds in an ever changing sky.
One highlight was yesterday’s lunch when we invited our neighbour to share an amazing Boeuf Bourguignon, inspired by a book we bought in Cluny called simply ‘Recipes from Burgundy’. We bought the beef at the Autun market and the wine was en vrac Bourgogne rouge, and frankly, it was delicious! Cooked up on one electric ring in a motor caravan! Wait until I try it at home....
This morning, we escaped with a welcome lift into Autun for some shopping and a coffee. As I write this it is mid-afternoon, and the sun is desperately trying to break through the cloud base, but the cold wind is putting paid to much naturism! The camp is very quiet; it is definitely end of season stuff, with many families leaving last weekend to return to work or school. The forecast is better for tomorrow, our last full day, so hopefully we will catch some rays. We plan to leave here on Thursday morning, collect our 2009 wine from St Leger, and work our way north through Champagne to the coast, for Monday’s ferry to Dover. It may be that we shall complete this blog from home next week with the final chapter of French Adventure 2010. Fingers crossed for a gentle crossing (and a bit of sun)!
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