De vine

SUNDAY 8-6-25

Yesterday evening's entertainment was to watch the final episode of 'Endeavour series 4'. That's all I bought with us and so we'll have to watch the remaining four series when we get home.

This morning we were to make our way thirty minutes up the road to Ribeauville. Another place we've been to before but oddly enough The Chef doesn't remember us visiting. I will have to try and find it on the blog as proof.

We tried to time our arrival between yesterdays campers leaving and today's arrivals. I think we timed it well as there were quite a few spaces when we arrived at about 10:30. Of our three options we settled for the local Aire  (N48.190782° E7.329578°) which is well located and reasonably priced at €15.55 a day and that includes electricity, though we do have to pay for water at two Euros for 12 minutes tap running time.

The weather forecast was guessing the morning would be a bit wet with cloud and sunshine, and this afternoon, sunshine for the rest of the day. With that in mind we relaxed before lunch and then headed down the road to Ribeauville 'High Street' because that's about all there is to it for visitors. There are a few side streets but they soon come to a dead end.

Yes, you're right - it was just more of the same. Same sort of houses, same German language being spoken, more so than French, so much so I expected Indiana Jones to come storming down the High Street on a motorbike and sidecar, and the same tourist prices for everything. It's a good thing we've only allowed one night here before moving on. We got stung back at Colmar having paid for three nights and couldn't wait to move on after two of them. In fact if anybody was thinking of using that Camping Car Park then I would recommend parking in one of the marked parking spaces outside the complex and stay for free. There are two dump stations in a layby outside the Car Park for passing campers and they could be used as you leave the area.

So having wandered up the High Street and almost back again we treated ourselves to an ice cream and a sit down. Well, until it began to rain that is. It was light at first but then became much heavier. Luckily close by was an undercover area where we were able to shelter along with a number of other folk. Yet another inaccurate weather forecast which has spooked The Chef as she is looking forward to the predicted sunshine and high temperatures later in the week.

I shall close this chapter and start a new one tomorrow. Not just the last chapter on this trip, but the last chapter ever, this being our last trip.

Little Venice

SATURDAY 7-6-25

Well it was a peaceful night here in Gotham City. As yet they've not had a cent out of us other than the parking fee. Having said that we've been carrying around three tokens we purchased back in the mists of time and may just try them in the machines just to see if we can get any water or electricity, not that we need either really, but after this trip the tokens will be of  no use to us.

We were in no hurry to get up because we were confident we could do Colmar in less than a day, and besides, the weather forecast was for one spot rain and a breeze this morning followed by cloud and sunshine in the afternoon, but still with that breeze.

By the time we were in a position to throw open the habitation door to welcome a new day, the young couple with the campervan had gone, presumably having had to use doggy pooh bags during their stay and gone thirsty.

We set off at about 11:20 a little bit apprehensive about not only the route in to town, but finding our way back again. We needn't have worried, and soon after leaving we discovered a bus stop and established that the 'A' service stopped close by and ended its journey at the train station on the southern side of the town, so if we were in any doubt we could have caught the bus back.

Oddly enough neither of us could clearly remember our last visit to Colmar as it was a long time ago, but as we wandered around certain parts rang a bell. The old centre is a delight but the whole place is totally geared to visiting tourists. I don't recall there being any shops owned by national chains, instead they were privately owned and offering delightful goods.

What was very noticeable was just how many Germans were in town. I'm sure we heard more German being spoken than French. I suppose the sign pointing down the road to 'Panzer Parking' should have been a clue.

Lunch was bought in a shop offering filled baguettes and tasty cakes and coffee with the bonus that there was limited inside seating. The very efficient lady who served us guessed what we intended doing when we ordered just one baguette and so cut it in half and served it to us in two separate bags. It's done, not as a money-saving exercise but because The Chef can't eat a whole one on her own, so why buy two? The lady was so good I gave her a decent tip as we left, which was very much appreciated. So that was lunch done, and all for €12.50.

Eventually we weakened and decided to have a long sit down on seats right outside the covered market entrance to people watch. Although we felt we'd seen it all, it was still far too early to go back 'home'.

When we noticed the small hope of a clearer sky with some sunshine was short lived we decided to bite the bullet and start making our way back, and to our pleasant surprise our homing instincts came to the fore and it the route back proved quite easy, made even easier by the fact that in the latter stages we had a huge, tall communications mast to home in on.

On our return we discovered numerous new neighbours and now find ourselves surrounded by Germans, so as well as our having to steel ourselves for the smell of boiling cabbage to go wif der tasty Frankfurters, I think I shall spend the night with one eye open.

We've decided to forgo the third night we've paid for here and will move on tomorrow heading for the Aire at Ribeauville to hopefully have a nice look round and spend a night there before moving on again, the theory being that by then we'll have shaken off the weekenders from der Farderland and spaces are more likely to be available.

We expect to recieve a good WiFi signal.

Colmar 'Port' just across the road.

Home sweet home

The Truckstop's dump station

FRIDAY 6-6-25

Today was a busy day at the office. We needed to be up at a reasonable time in order to get away in a reasonable time. We knew we'd have to forego a shower due to our lack of water, but we knew Mr Dump Station would make everything right for tomorrow morning.

After preparing the vehicle for the off I drove to the Aire's dump station. It's all done with a machine and a bankcard. Although we could dump the grey and black waste for free, but if we wanted water or electricity we had to pay for it. Who the hell wants to pay good money for fifty minutes of electricity whilst parked on a dump station? Although thinking about it number of times we've been stuck in a queue for a dump station behind old farts who seem to treat the experience as the highlight of their day, I think  a number of them would just hold everybody else up for the full fifty minutes. No, we were going for the cheaper option - 10 minutes of water for five whole Euros. The Chef began to do battle with the dump station pay machine, whilst I stood in the starting blocks armed with the watering can. But oh dear, the machine was having none of it, so in the end we gave up and set off for the Super 'U' supermarket up the road on our way out of the rather scruffy looking village of  Sennecey le Grand.

When we arrived at the supermarket I was surprised by just how many geriatrics were in there. Not one young family. It must surely have been 'Grab a Granny Hour' or other such offer on. We didn't need very much and were soon on our way.

So off we went heading for Colmar in France, though close to both der Farderland unt der Sviss borders. It was four hours of fairly speedy driving that's why I wanted to get away in good time, so that I could do half the journey in the morning and the other half in the afternoon after lunch.

Freddy Fendt certainly enjoyed not having one hundred litres of water in the front tank under the sofa. He was up on the balls of his feet and fair sprinting away. That all came to an end at lunchtime when we pulled in to a Truckstop offering a dump station, and better still it was all free. One day greedy campsites and Aires will offer the same service. Many do, but not all. I used the supplied built-in hose reel to deliver the water in to the tank rather than using the watering can which would have taken longer. The instructions said to tug on the hose reel in order to get it to roll up. I tell you, the spring action to rewind the hosepipe was so strong that if I'd had it wrapped around my leg it would have dragged me into the machine itself.

We then parked with the HGV's for lunch before slipping back down to  the toll road for the final two hours of work.

When we finally arrived at the Aire (or car park as they're cleverly calling it) (N48.080595 E7.272392) in Colmar which is by the canal or whatever they call it. I have to say it looks a whole lot better from the air on Google Maps. Once again The Chef had to do battle with the pay machine at the entrance. What a game, in the end the barrier lifted and we were in. We'd paid €51.90 for three nights stay. "Were that fer everythin?" "Nay, nay, lad, it were only fa privilege a parkin on gravel 'n weed-ridden parking space". "Ya  mean wutta 'n lecky were extra?"  "Aye lad it were. Three Yurra fa three hours a' lecky or f**k knows how much fa twenty minutes a' wutta".

What a bargain - not.

After setting up we went for a little walk just to stretch our legs. My word what a shithole the immediate local area is. It's so scruffy it's crying out for a few graffiti artists (the luvvies term for vandals)  to decorate the place. Anything would be an improvement. Having now read reviews of this location I'm fearful not only will we leave here suffering from dehydration due to lack of water, but also malaria due to the mosquitoes.

I do so look forward to reviewing this location after we leave.

So we're here, like it or not. I know I could interrogate the blog for the one and only last visit here, but that would be cheating, right now I have no idea what the hell we're doing here. Hopefully a stroll in to town and a good look round will give me the answer.

Remember my comment about if I were to give the motorhome my own nickname it would be 'Turd' because, like a turd attracting flies, so we attract fellow campers? Well when we arrive here we parked at the back of the site all on our own but now we are surrounded by fellow campers including fellow Brits next door who arrived in a campervan. So unless they pay through the nose for a token to buy water, and have something to put it in they're up shit creek plus they have no toilet ( aye up, did are furgit ta mention ther are na toilets or showa's?). All for something like sixty to seventy thousand to buy. What a bargain.I think I'll go out and buy one.

Currently, due to a rather late call by The Chef, we currently have sausages defrosting on the bonnet of the vehicle from whence the heat of today's journey still lingers. I've a feeling we may be eating a bit later than usual.

The kit of 1SAS Padre James Fraser McLuskey

THURSDAY 5-6-25

Amongst the selection of DVD's we'd bought along for evening entertainment if needed was the BBC television series 'SAS Warriors' written and presented by Ben McIntyre. It told the story of the early days of the SAS and included interviews filmed in 1984 of leading members of the original SAS. It is in three parts and last night we watched the first two. One of those original troopers who fought from day one with 1SAS in North Africa was Reg Seekings. Reg was born and grew up in Quanea Drove on the edge of Ely, Cambridgeshire. After the war he returned to run a local pub 'The Riflemans Arms' which was close to where we live, so I suppose he's a local hero. An author from the area Tony Rushmer recently published a book about Reg's life, and it makes interesting reading None of this is to be confused with 'SAS Rogue Heroes', a book which became a recent television drama series.

So today we were to visit the SAS Museum, the only one in Europe, and as we were passing this way I felt that if I didn't get to see it now, then I never would.

The first task this morning was for me to stagger out of bed and put the vehicle up on the levelling ramps as we weren't nose-down sufficiently to ensure  the shower water would drain away properly. I could have adjusted the air assisted suspension at the back but this late in to the trip I didn't want to risk changing the handling characteristics of the vehicle.

After scrubbing up and breakfast we wandered down the road to buy a baguette for lunch before making our way to the Tourist Information Office who hold the key to the museum. So having handed over my driving licence as ID, I walked off with the key to our very own museum. I was also given the English translation to much of the signage, which, naturally enough are all in French.

The building isn't big from the outside, and inside it's not Dr Who's Tardis - it's small inside as well, but very nicely presented with the centrepiece being an SAS Willy's jeep, the trademark SAS battlewagon.

As I recall there were five SAS regiments formed. The original, 1 SAS created by David Sterling and after his capture, lead by Paddy Mayne and later, 2SAS, both British regiments. Later in the war three more were formed, 3 & 4 SAS consisting of Frenchmen who had fled France and made their way to the UK through North Africa, and 5SAS who were Belgians. They were all trained in the UK before being sent to the front line, or come to that, behind the front line.

Great play seems to be made here of an incident in the village which happened on 4th September 1944.

French elements of 3SAS working with members of the local Resistance caused a lot of damage on two major roads by ambushing the Germans. On September 3rd they were informed that an important column was to be formed overnight in Sennecey le Grand and would depart at Dawn on the 4th. With the help of the Resistance they decided to attack the convoy. Unfortunately the Resistance did not get there in time so the jeeps carried out the raid unaided. They raced in to the village and along the line of trucks full of soldiers, machine gunned them and set them on fire. The escape route they had planned proved to be blocked. They were compelled to make a U turn and were annihilated. Only one jeep survived, bullet ridden it ended up in the cemetery. The wounded were rescued by courageous local village men.

After walking around the displays we watched a video presentation in a separate room. That was interesting and copies were available at the Tourist Information Office for a very reasonable eight Euros, and so I bought a copy when I returned the key in exchange for my driving license.

Then it was back 'home' for lunch before a wander around the village. It's a bit of a one-horse town in that there is a very busy road passing right through it. Looking at the road atlas I can see that it runs parallel with the toll road, so I guess many motorists, including HGV's use this road to avoid toll fees.

This evening we'll watch the final episode of 'SAS Rogue Warriors' before readying ourselves to get back on the road again heading to the Alsace region which is Rosina's choice, which is only fair as I've just enjoyed mine.

A very poor picture taken of Monsieur Thickasshit through a very dirty windscreen

Never before have we seen a dog toilet.

TUESDAY 3-6-26

It was a nice peaceful night on the Aire in Sisteron (there are others but this is the best). Well until about 05:00 when the odd train came through and being so close to the railway lies it sounded as if they were coming right through the vehicle.

We decided to forgo a shower this morning because although there is a dump station here we have to pay extra for it, and having paid seven Euros to park for twenty-four hours I didn't feel like paying them any more money. Having said that if we'd have needed to use it then of course we would have paid.

Because of the wet weather yesterday and our deciding not to go out for a wander it was an outstanding task after breakfast, although I must confess, we didn't hurry. The reason being we were only a couple of hours or so from Grenoble where we were to spend the night on a rather busy and noisy supermarket car park. We've used it once before and although it's convenient it wasn't a good experience.

It didn't take too long to walk around Sisteron. The Old Town looked very historical with a labyrinth of narrow side streets.  The most exciting thing happening in town was the arrival of the funfair which arrived overnight and was being set up in various places in the town depending on the available space.

After buying a baguette we made our way back for lunch. Whilst sat there we got to witness the latest antics of France's most stupid driver, Monsieur Thickasshit. This man arrived in his glorified minibus, I don't know what you call them, and proceeded to park it in just about the last space in the car park. He was parked between two good-sized saloon cars, so there wasn't very much space between them. Then amazingly the side sliding door came open and he then began the task of getting a full-sized bike out of the door. We sat in disbelief as he struggled so as not to scratch any paintwork especially on the car next to him whilst doing so. Honestly, all he had to do was reverse out of his parking space a few feet and he could have got the bike out no problem.

After lunch we hit the road. Our parking space was being eagerly awaited by a Dutch couple who wanted it because the reckoned it would be more shielded from the sun. I didn't quite get it, but that didn't matter to us, once we'd vacated it anybody could have had it.

We didn't have far to go to begin with, just to the Hyper U supermarket out of town. It used to be a really good shop but we weren't too impressed on this occasion, but at least it had everything we needed on the shopping list. Then it was a top up of the fuel tank and away, heading towards Grenoble.

The journey is delightful, if a trifle taxing given the number of twists and turns, and if you're not coping with them it's the villages with their speed humps, traffic lights and narrow throughroads.

We had a bit of luck soon after setting off as we went through a village which displayed a sign for a motorhome dump station, so we were soon in there, in fact it was part of an Aire, nicely tucked away. After using the dump station we took comfort in knowing we had enough of everything onboard to see us through the next few days if needs be.

Whilst travelling along enjoying the views we discussed our options and in the end decided to find a picnic area before Grenoble and spend the night there before setting off again tomorrow for a few hours driving before reaching our next destination. So here we are (N44.78828° E5.63836°), not so very far past one of our favourite views, in fact when we first saw it we vowed to return and go down in to the village of Lalley and spend a couple of days at the campsite.

We've managed to bag a spot under the trees and out of the sun which is rather nice. Behind the vehicle is a view of the mountains. Evenings like this are what it's all about.

MONDAY 2-6-25

By the end of yesterday we had found ourselves sharing the campsite with too many Italian campers. It's the beginning of June and the start of the campsite's busy period and as Italy is only a short drive away I suppose they like to come to France and enjoy the cuisine here, like snails, frogs legs, pizza and McDonalds. We were glad to be going.

This morning was the day of rebellion. For two weeks now we've been obeying the rule about taking shoes off before entering the shower area, though for The Chef and I they were replaced by flip-flops carried under the arm. But today We walked up to the shower block and then straight in. My thunder was stolen as I had the whole section to myself and Reception who were within view hadn't yet opened.

After scrubbing up we set about preparing the vehicle for the road before popping down the road for some shopping. Whilst there, I took a look at the filling station. In the past the forecourt has been designed with lots of tight bends and narrowing deliberately making it difficult for larger vehicles such as motorhomes from using it. But thankfully all had changed and it was now possible for us to use it.

Once back at the campsite with our booty we finalised our leaving and away we went. Our extraction from the pitch was made easier because Harry & Meghan had left earlier which meant I could use some of their pitch to manoeuvre the vehicle. Then it was down to the supermarket filling station for a top-up before heading north.

There were two options. Firstly use the toll roads going via Aix-en-Provence to get to Sisteron, and the second was to do it the hard way (our speciality). This involved climbing through the mountains on the  6085 road through Grasse, Castellane and Digne-les-Bains. On reflection the toll road route would have been far, far easier, but where's the fun in that? we've made this crazy trip before. It does offer amazing views but it is very hard work and the driver is continually up and down the gearbox and concentrating on navigating the nasty hairpin bends, or switchbacks, which are negotiated whilst also climbing steeply. I have to say, the vehicle was faultless. Sadly there are no pictures from the journey as The Chef isn't a fan of heights and I didn't want to give her the responsibility of taking the pictures looking downwards.

We reached today's objective which is the Aire at Sisteron (N44.191344 E5.945802). Unfortunately as we left the Cote d' Azur in lovely warm sunshine and blue skies, so we have arrived to rain showers and thunder.

So now we're holed up at the Aire for the afternoon. Tomorrow is forecast sunshine and so we'll have a look around the town before visiting the Hyper U Supermarket before continuing north.

When researching and planning each trip I used to try and find out a little about the places we visit, mainly thanks to Wikipedia, but because I hadn't planned on continuing the blog on this trip, rather to let it expire in May, I find myself wanting. So as I found myself twiddling my thumbs this afternoon I've compiles a bit about Sisteron.

Sisteron is situated on the banks of the river Durance. It is sometimes called the "Gateway to Provence" because it is in a narrow gap between two long mountain ridges. Despite its relatively small population, it serves as a long-distance navigation reference point, routinely signed as far away as Grenoble.

Sisteron has been inhabited for 4,000 years. The Romans used the route through Sisteron as can be shown by a Latin inscription in the rocks near the road to Authon. It escaped the barbarian invasions after the fall of Rome, but was ravaged by the Saracens. It was first fortified by the Counts of Forcalquier in the 11th century and later was the northern boundary of the domain of the Counts of Provence. In 1483 during the reign of Louis XI, Sisteron re-joined the kingdom of France. Around this time there were seven plagues that killed two thirds of the population. Between 1562 and 1594 the town and its citadel was fought over by Protestants and Catholics including two sieges. During this time the walls of the town were built. The plague returned in 1630, and typhus in 1744, killing many of the town's population.

During the French Revolution the town remained Royalist. Consequently, when Napoleon arrived on his march north after his escape from Elba in 1815, the town ignored him and let him through.

On 15 August 1944 French B-26 Marauder bombers and American B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 42nd Bomber Wing tried to destroy the railway bridge and the road bridge which span the Durance. The weather was unfavourable and the bridges were not destroyed. A bomber during a manoeuvre to avoid a collision accidentally dropped several bombs on the town, including a full church, causing about 100 fatalities and seriously damaging the citadel. On 17 August the French aircraft returned and destroyed the bridge.

The Aire is getting pretty busy now, as tired campers arrive to rest their heads for the night. Pays to get here early Matey's, pays to get here early.