After a good nights sleep I checked the oil & coolant levels while Sarah gave Jess a walk. We then went to the nearby supermarket before heading off to a new site at the top of the lake. Again we found this site on Park4Night site #34089 in Dienville. This site had water & waste facilities – all for free !
We had a quick lunch before cycling 26 miles round the nearby lake & forest. It was an overcast day – the first without sunshine !
After showers we cooked tea & chilled for the evening.
We awoke to a cool but sunny morning. Coffee, yoghurt & fruit for breakfast didn’t quite do it for me so I walked to the local boulangerie for some croissants. I bought two croissants and one filled with stewed pears. The stewed pears one was delish – the two croissants were saved for lunch.
After a lazy start we then walked Jess dog 4 miles along a cycle path by a canal towards Lac d’Orient. A beautiful walk with plenty of wildlife in and around a canal with clean clear water. Jess loved it but her nose is telling her somethings different !
Lunch was the croissants with Comte cheese & tomato followed by some fruit. So European but we failed at the last hurdle by washing it all down with a bug mug of tea.
After lunch we left Jess to have her afternoon snooze & went for a bike ride round the Lake. This was a lovely ride around a really well maintained cycle path. Made us both realise how poor the cycle infrastructure is in the UK.
Sarah then went further towards Troyes while I chilled with Jess in the afternoon sun. Our evening meal was a mix of noodles, beans, peppers, mushrooms & onions. This was washed down down with the last of the Ventoux red & supplemented with some cheap Lidl Pinot Grigio.
Over the last of the wine a plan was formed for tomorrow…
We woke about 8:30am to a warm sunny morning – what a difference a few miles south can make. We’d arrived in darkness so after coffee we went for a walk to see where we’d ended up.
The inscription on the building said “Generator” so I’m presuming its an old electricity generating plant. Google maps didn’t offer any further information so we walked Jess round the nearby river & ponds.
We didn’t fancy another epic driving day so we set off for Troyes with Park4Night showing a quiet parking spot near a canal in the village of Lusigny-Sur-Barse which is on the edge of the Foret d’Orient National Park. The drive down was easy with very little traffic compared with UK motorways. The only down side was the £50 in toll charges – ouch !
When we arrived there was only one other van in the carpark – a British couple from East Anglia on their way back to Blighty. We had a quick walk down the canal before settling in to cook tea & drink wine.
Todays little tipple was a red called Ventoux, which retailed for €2.99. We both agreed it was really good & worth stocking up on for our return to the UK.
We started off from Cumbria about 2pm and drove to Southwell to check Mum’s house & see my aunt. After a quick stop we set off south & arrived in Folkstone just after midnight. Driving through the night was great. The volume of traffic is so much lower that even roadworks don’t slow you up much.
The plan was to use the Chunnel rather than a ferry because Jess hates boats. We checked the prices and availability before we set off & it was ~£200 one way. When we got some miles in and had a better idea of our expected eta in Folkstone we tried to book. Over a few hours the price had gone up by £100. To get the lower price we now had to wait a further day in southern england. That wasn’t going to happen so we forked up for the 2:00am crossing.
I have to say the Chunnel is stress free & we were through in Cockelles without Jess suspecting a thing ! We then drove a further hour to get away from Calais. We used Park4Night app to find a nice little spot just off the A26 in a village called Fersinghem. By now we were knackered & fell asleep instantly…
