Italy is a first time trip for us so we have made some advance bookings. We have decided to amble down through France taking in some areas we have not visited before. This time we leave on a Sunday and will be ferrying to Calais. The journey was totally uneventful, with little traffic.We left home at 8.30 am and arrived at Dover at 12.45 pm. We were soon loaded after a short wait as our french cousins were being extra picky about security.
Nice meal on the boat and we finally arrived at 4.30 pm at Escalles our first stop for the night. We were pleased we had booked the site ( on our last trip) as it was pretty busy. A fairly calm evening, a good meal and "Unforgiven" on the telly. Yes, our satellite TV works in Escalles!
Next morning we are up and raring to go. First stop Guincourt and Camping Au Bord de L'Aisne, a good 4 hour drive. We stocked up at a local supermarket.
A nice site but really only good for a one night stop. Not much going on in the village. We had a steak hache and frites in the campsite snack bar. This is a very busy site mainly with Brits trekking south and reception is open until 22.00 so it's really handy. Toilets and showers clean and tidy.
The covered swimming pool here looked really good, although we didn't try it out.
We left Guincourt fairly early and made for Dijon. Another easy drive mainly on motorways. The campsite was just outside Dijon a 30 minute walk into town. We got a large hedged pitch, there was free Wifi on the terrace. Dijon was very much a municipal site very French, there was an aire by the reception, we thought quite expensive at 12 euros. The toilet facilities were good with hot showers. We walked along the riverside into town and had a drink in the square. We would have liked a bit longer to explore as there was also a nearby lake. Perhaps another time, Dijon is certainly worth a 2 night stay and we could have easily used the bikes.
A nice walk down by the river, looked interesting!
The next morning after a leisurely start we were en route for Annecy. A long very picturesque route through mountains and tunnels. Annecy looked a good place for an explore but off season, it was crammed with day trippers. Our pre-booked site was the other end of the lake near the village of Duingt. We were pleased we had booked as many of the sites we passed had "complete" on the gate. Our site had a few places on the Sunday but by Monday it was thinning out.
The views all around were stunning and the lake was an incredible blue. The water looked inviting but was still cold this late in the year.
We took a very long walk up the mountain side to the Virgin Mary's Grotto. Dedicated to the rosary and Lourdes. Like The Stations of the Cross, the walk up the mountain marked out the decades of the rosary.
A municipal site with a small bar selling bread and frites. The pitches were quite tight we were glad April is only 6.3m ! We were soon settled in and spent a very pleasant two days having a look around. The village was small but had an excellent deli with small supermarket. We wandered around and took in the church, the local grotto and the amazing scenery. This is a great place for a relaxing few days. A bike path skirts the lake. There was also a small lake beach just outside the campsite with crystal clear water and a small bar. It seemed to be a place well used by the locals.
A short dash cam of leaving Annecy.
All too soon and we were ready for our next adventure, our first trip to Italy.
No comments:
Post a Comment