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Unfortunately for George, he was taken poorly by an unknown (at the time) infection and it was only Desnée that
watched the Cinéscenie event. So, we shall be back again another time to Puy Du Fou!
After suffering from a high temperature and fever the medicine that we had on board brought things under control and
George was able to drive the next day. We were homeward bound in easy stages.
Our next stop was Camping de la Vee in Bagnoles-sur-L’Orne (8) in Normandy. This campsite was a very pleasant
surprise. Good facilities and generous pitches. The site is well cared for and tidy and has its own restaurant/café and
supplies fresh bread in the morning. It is just a short walk into town for any other shopping needs.
2015 - France / Dordogne
The photo (below) from Internet images unknown copyright - click on the logo (below right) for more information
Camping de la Vee and Bagnoles-sur-L’Orne deserved more time and we shall return to explore the area a little more.
The campsite was also a very reasonable cost, which is always an attraction!
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Honfleur (9) was our next stop over. This is an old favourite of ours and the aire de Camping Cars is just a short walk
from the old town centre and harbour. It is not cheap but you do get electricity (if you are lucky) and there is plenty of
space to park. It was Sunday afternoon when we arrived and the town was buzzing with visitors.
(below) the view from the aire de Camping Car
It was beautifully sunny and ideal for strolling around town. We were intrigued by a huge hotel ship that was moored in the
basin. It must set out from here for the Seine cruises. We were also amused by a lively street band that was very colourful and
playing all types of music.
As ever, the streets of Honfleur are wonderful to explore with delights roundevery corner and the harbour is just the place to
stop at a street café and people watch!
In one shop, there was a collection of wood
carvings of jumbled books, ladders and
librarians. Works of art but of course,
expensive!
Our last, scheduled, overnight stop in France was Arques (10). This is another favourite of ours as you can choose between
campsite or aire and it is just 30 minutes drive from Calais.
The town itself is interesting and was the traditional home of Crystal D’Arques. A short walk from the campsite brings you to
the, now non functioning, Les Fontinettes boat lift which used to lift barges 13 metres. The lift has now been superceeded by a
deep lock. It is interesting industrial archaeology!
(below left) the disused boat lift - note the bow of a barge in the high container. The right hand container is at water level
(below right) Les Fontinettes lock which is in regular use
Next day we set off for Calais but when we approached the A16 autoroute we saw that it was choked with trucks as far as one
could see. We had no idea at the time that MyFerry workers had gone on strike and blockaded Calais and the Eurotunnel and
that the immigrants had taken the opportunity to storm the stationary trucks.
George made an instant decision that there was no way we were going to sit in a traffic queue like that and made the decision to
head for Bruges (11) and spend an extra night in Belgium.
Once we arrived in Bruges we discovered what was going on in Calais. We re-booked our ferry for the next day at 08:30 and
hoped that matters would clear.
We have visited Bruges many times and stopped on the aire by the yacht
basin. This time we decided to try the aire across the road (on the city side).
The pitches are larger but they are under trees so no sunshine and no TV.
The two aires are the same area and you pay at the machine in the coach
park. The overnight fee had gone up to €25.00 which we thought expensive.
If you have never been to Bruges then the fee is probably worthwhile.
However, we will not be going back again at those prices.
Next morning we set off at 06:00 expecting to have to sit in traffic jams to wait for a ferry. As we passed Dunkerque there
were long queues of trucks on the autoroute and on the link roads to the ferry port. We thought this a bad omen but when we
arrived at Calais there were no queues at all - we could not believe it. Calais ferry terminal was almost deserted. We were
offered an earlier ferry and we were home by lunchtime.
We can only assume that the French police had diverted all trucks to Dunkerque to avoid confrontations with immigrants. Good
for us so - thank you.
Summary:
Excellent trip. It was good to go at a slower pace and stop over for 2 nights in places. Forges les Eaux and Les Andeleys are
lovely stops if you don’t wish to travel too far into France. Dordogne is lovely area, good weather and plenty left to explore,
however, a means of transport is important so we should hire a car when we visit.
Puy Du Fou was simply amazing, well worth the journey and good value for money. Both campsites at Bignac and Bagnoles-
sur-L’Orne were good discoveries although Bignac is a long way from anywhere. Honfleur still very enjoyable. Calais is getting
to be a bit of a nightmare so perhaps consider alternative routes in future.
Total Distance: 2152km / 1345miles Average 20.3 m.p.g.
