It’s now well into November, our route north is planned and Beatrix all packed up. We’ve all got that nervous excitement of a trip about to start.
To celebrate the last stage of our Autumn trip, and to properly say goodbye to Bordeaux, we thought it only appropriate that we stop off at one last vineyard. This one was special for us as it appeared to have been named after one of our best friends, Clare.
Chateau Clare was quiet when we arrived. Located in a really rural spot in the Graves region of Bordeaux, the vineyard is in a small clearing in the forest that completely surrounds it. After a busy summer, the owners were clearly not expecting more visitors so late in the year as they’d gone out for the day!
After a peaceful walk through the forest, we were greeted by Fleur, the lady of the house. They have a fantastic little tasting room at Chateau Clare, and we chatted and laughed through Whites, Rosés and Reds. People’s expressions are always interesting when we tell them that our motorhome is, in fact, also ‘La Maison’, but Fleur seemed to think this was perfectly reasonable although she was howling with laughter when we told her we could only manage 80kmh with a following wind.
Fleur explained to us that the Graves region of Bordeaux is so called because of the gravel and pebbles dominate the make-up of the soil here and these help to filter the water and give the terroir its character. Specifically, for those interested, we are in the Sauternes here. The grapes that Thierry and Fleur grow are Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and with our slowly evolving palettes, we found them distinctively different and delicious!
The forest fires of the summer had also got very close to the vineyard here, petering out just behind the treeline, and we got the impression that it had been touch and go whether everything could have been disappeared in the inferno.
Chateau Clare has a great park up for 5 or so motorhomes with a fire pit / BBQ area which looks like a great space to enjoy a summers evening with fellow travellers but as the entrance and terrain was probably a bit much for Beatrix to manage, Fleur kindly let us stay on their driveway for the night.
This is going to be our last French Passion stopover on the trip, and I have to say it is a totally brilliant scheme. The hosts at all Passions we’ve visited have been so welcoming, knowledgeable and happy to share their work and produce. We’ve never felt any pressure to buy but we’ve always found ourselves wanting to. We’re looking forward to trying out similar schemes in Portugal and Spain in the coming years and found ourselves wondering if this sort of approach could work in the UK and might that help to encourage and engage with motorhome travellers. Regardless, we’ll certainly be renewing our membership next year to support the organisation, and we would highly recommend it, if you’ve not tried it already.
Waking the next morning, it was time to put some kilometers under our wheels, so we set off early. The ‘dash’ north took us on a toll road which the interweb unreliably informed us would be €10 but actually worked out to be €30. Pants!
Our first stop was a Camping-Car Park site just north of Poitiers. Without too much research on the surroundings, we’d picked this spot as a good place to give Beatrix a bath. It’s been 7 months since we last washed her so probably past due and she looks much cleaner and more sparkly afterwards which always makes the hard work seem worthwhile.
Next day, as we were going to pass north across the Loire Valley, I picked out a castle at random enroute to stay at and visit called Chateau Ussé.
The castle is an incredible sight; like something straight out of a Disney fairy tale. Indeed, the castle is apparently the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty, written by Charles Perrault after his visit here.
It’s fair to say that they really know how to build castles here.
After our tour, we confirmed with the friendly staff that we could stay over in their carpark and we settled in. The castle closes at 5 and once the staff had quickly hurried out to waiting cars, we were left alone to enjoy the view. Lit up as night fell, the castle and chapel looked even more fantastic. Alas, whilst we waited for darkness to get the perfect shot, all the lights abruptly turned off so no picture for the blog! We really are amateurs at this!
The whole of the Loire valley looks amazing, and I can see why so many people come to visit here. Our friend had recommended that we visit Villandry as we were so close, but unfortunately we didn’t have time this trip. Its easy to imagine a late summer meandering down the valley in Beatrix soaking up the sights and enjoying the food.
Next up is the Aire in Le Mans.
This is a place we’ve been to half a dozen times on motorbikes to watch the MotoGP and the 24 Hours, but in all the times we’ve come here, we’ve never been in to see the historic town centre.
Now, I should let you know that in certain situations when driving Beatrix, I find my brain can suffer from a sort of sensory overload. Best described as like white water rafting down a boiling river that’s filled with hungry crocodiles, the road from the motorway to the town centre was a bit traumatic for us both.
After calming down from the roller coaster journey, we enjoyed a sunny Autumn afternoon wandering the charismatic streets of the old town. It was a really pleasant surprise and I’m glad we took the opportunity to do it.
The next day, we decided to move on to the Aire at Honfleur in Normandy.
A combination of poor planning and poor weather had meant that we had missed out on visiting the port town during our journey south, but we thought we’d take the chance to stop over on our way back. It proved to be an excellent idea.
The journey was really easy driving and apart from being stung for another €20 by an unexpected toll road we made good time. This was until the ‘Sat Nav’, whilst perhaps trying to take revenge for criticism of its performance earlier in the day, unexpectedly tried to take us off the main road down a tiny farm track which was a bit unnerving.
After that however, the main route into the Aire at Honfleur was really easy, even for Beatrix. When we arrived, we found the brand-new looking gates and payment system was out of order and a temporary, free access route had been made to allow motorhomes to come and go. We checked in with Tourist Information and were told that the new system had been vandalised and was out of order, therefore no-one could pay.
We find this is a double-edged sword as whilst we’re always happy to have a free night’s stay, the Aires in France are so reasonably priced and often in such good locations that paying a nominal amount feels like the least we can do to support such places staying open in the future. It’s perhaps a shame that so many places have been out of order on this trip.
Honfleur, it turns out, is fabulous and well worth a visit. For the first time in weeks, we met quite a few British vans here as it’s so close to Le Havre that I guess it makes a great ‘night before departure’ stop over.
After our dash up the country, we decided to spend a couple of days here and although we had a bit of drizzly rain, it was always possible to find a break in the weather and blue skies.
Honfleur has a rich history. The port town is located where the Seine meets the English Channel and as such has been battled over during the Hundred Years War with the English taking control of the town for several decades. The towns wealth derives from maritime trade and exploration with North America and from the Slave Trade. Fishing has also been a core part of life here and this continues today with lots of boats in the busy harbour and fresh fish and seafood markets dotted along the harbour front.
As we’ve already discovered during this trip, this part of Normandy is closely linked with the impressionist painter Claude Monet and he painted several scenes around the port and coast. Honfleur is also where his mentor Eugene Boudin was born.
The town is well prepared for the army of tourists it receives with the usual array of seafood restaurants and bars mingled with art galleries and tat shops but somehow, with the beauty of the setting, it’s able to pull this off and still remains charming.
Whilst we were here, we also successfully dropped into a local vet to get Merlin’s worming tablet administered and her pet passport signed so that she would be allowed back into the UK with us which was a big weight off. (Merlin is now almost officially French but that’s a tale for another time)
We decided that the final leg of our journey would be to head back to where we started, the Stella Plage Aire near Le Touquet, and it felt warmly comfortable to be back in familiar surroundings behind the beach where we’d started our adventure. We arrived at about 4 on Thursday, which is later than we’d usually like for an Aire, but we needn’t have worried as there was plenty of space for us although surprisingly it got really packed over the weekend.
And then, before we know it, the trip is all over as we head out the Eurotunnel at Calais. Soon we’ll be back in England and off to catch up with family and friends.
Thanks for following our France Autumn trip,
Toby, Sally and Merlin.
Links to some of the information we used
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