SUNDAY 8-09-19

We were lucky enough to get a good night's sleep last night. We had the noise of a continually running engine from an HGV all night but it wasn't a problem as it was far enough away, and a constant noise, rather than an engine which turns on and off all night for their refrigeration units.

We were up and scrubbed in good time and I dumped our grey water while The Chef popped across to the petrol station shop to buy a nice fresh baguette for lunch and we hit the road about 09:30. I think the satnav objected to working on a Sunday as it sent us the long way around the Lyon area, adding about thirty-five miles to the journey. In an attempt to save a bit of money on toll fees we were going to Grenoble and then drive down the mountain road through Sisteron and Grasse to eventually arrive at Cannes where we would travel a short distance on the toll road to make use of a Truckstop for the night, should we get that far.

We have travelled that route two or three times in the past, but I have to say I won't do it again. Saving money is ok, but the journey was really hard work, great views but hard work. We were up and down the sides of mountains twisting and turning round I don't know how many hairpin bends, and going through countless small communities where the speed limits are up and down all the time, 30/50/70/90kph, though 90 kph is now 80kph. The French arbitrarily changed that speed limit overnight from 90kph to 80kph but have yet to get around to change the signs, though the police and their speed cameras are bang up to date when it comes to fining an unsuspecting traveller.

There were to have been a couple of cut-off points before the coast. Firstly Sisteron which has an aire for motorhomes, though is usually full, but may have had a space for us to spend the night in. The second was Castellane which looked in the Camperstop book, to have a large, good aire for six euros a night as opposed to the usual free of charge, but that would have done us admirably.

As it turned out we just kept plodding on, taking a break at lunchtime and one again in the afternoon up in the mountains for a hot drink. It was beginning to look as if we would be able to make it all the way to the Med coast today, which meant that all we had to do was get on the toll road at Cannes and pull in to the Truckstop a short distance eastwards. We would normally expect to travel down that road for about eight miles anyway, so to get a free nights accommodation in to the bargain seemed a good idea.

Sadly though, best laid plans and all that - we missed the toll road entrance and even worst, found ourselves on the Grasse to Nice road up in the hills going through villages. There was no other option but to feed our campsite's GPS co-ordinates in to the satnav (N43.641882º E7.137931º) and try our luck there. Luckily we arrived dead on 18:00 and were able to take the only pitch they had available, small, yes, but available. They do expect that better pitches will become available tomorrow as folk move on, so fingers crossed.

As Freddie Fendt is now ten years old I got the garage to change all of the brake fluid as well as the brake pads on the front end before we came away. I think after today we can safely say they're now bedded in.

So there we are, much against my expectations we made the journey in two days. It's been two days of hard work, today being by far the worst. In future we'll either have to use the toll roads all the way down or try approaching from Italy having travelled through Germany and Switzerland.

Yesterday we travelled about 380 miles from Ypres in Belgium, at an average speed of 58mph at 33.2mpg. Without resetting the trips this evenings figures are total mileage 728 miles at an average speed for the whole journey of 31mph at 31.7mpg, so you can see what a huge difference travelling on mountain roads makes. Incidently fuel prices on the toll roads were

€1.55 to €1.67 per litre and the cheapest was €1.40 at the supermarket fuel stations.

Tomorrow we'll have to hang around a bit to try and sort out a better pitch before setting up shop, so tomorrow I'll start another 'chapter', 'Nice Area', hope to see you there.

SATURDAY 7-09-19

I had a late night last night trying to upload the short video on to Youtube for the blog. I gave up in the end and left it to be done first thing this morning.

We had a few very heavy showers during the night but we don't mind that too much, it does make being tucked up in bed seem even more cosy, provided the noise doesn't get too bad.

We had all the chores done in good time this morning and were on the road by about 09:30 (we always avoid the rush hours, leaving the roads for those with a greater need).

We've made good progress today and now sit on a Truckstop about forty miles north of Lyon having travelled about 380 miles. It's nearly all been toll road which is going to cost us, but it is definitely the quickest and safest way to travel. The route today was very boring, it's been nothing but agricultural land for mile after mile. It does make you appreciate just how big and rural this country is. After lunch I told The Chef I needed some music on as it was getting difficult to concentrate with it being so boring. So on went the MP3 player (remember them?), played through the vehicles radio system. There's nowt like plenty of 60' and 70's music played loudly to keep you going.

As for the journey to the Med, we are compromising on cost and not going right down to the coast and then run all the way along the West-East toll road, that really is an expensive one. Instead we're going to Grenoble and then down the hill on 'A' roads through Sisteron, Digne-les-Bains and Grasse. It's a winding route but at least we'll be going downhill. We're now well positioned for tomorrow's drive. I doubt we'll get it all done tomorrow as we won't be able to drive at anything like the speed we've managed to do today, but we'll see.

This evenings meal has been a creation by The Chef comprising of new potatoes, peas, mince and gravy, all prepared back home so that it just needed heating through, and is exactly what works when holed up on a Truckstop, unless of course you want a salad. I did bring with me the remains of a bottle of red wine I had at home, so I finished it off with the meal, so now I guess I'll have to have a 'Gaviscon' chaser.

Following last night's ceremony at the Menin Gate I was thinking to myself 'What if we'd had access to a faultless Crystal Ball back in 1914. What if we could have looked in to it and seen that fifty or less years later they'd all be the best of friends, and told the Belgians that although we sympathised with their plight, they should grin and bear it because it will all come right in the end, therefore we won't be participating in the Great War.' Think how many lives could have been saved if we had, and with no WW1 there wouldn't have been a WW2, so millions of lives would have been saved, meaning we wouldn't have been short of labour in our factories etc, which means that we wouldn't have had to rely so heavily on immigration.

But then............... think on......... without the two World Wars we wouldn't have had  moving ceremonies at places like the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday - nobody would qualify to attend. Poppy makers would be on the dole, stuck at home watching repeats of 'The Jeremy Kyle Show'. So all things considered maybe we need a war or two to keep things ticking over.

The parade past the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday will, I've no doubt, undergo considerable change over the coming years to reflect today's modern armed forces and society in general. With the emergence of the LGBT movement I can see future parades of veterans headed by folk like Michele (I'd like to be called Frank now) sat in a wheelchair with a crew cut, wearing a suit, tie and piercings, being pushed by the likes of "Nosher" (Call me Shirley) Biggs, sporting a long wig with a beret perched on top, skirt, make up and high heels. It brings a tear to my eye, but Society will continue to evolve.

Well I think I'll have that Gaviscon chaser now, after which I'm going to pop across to the Truckstop shop to enter that national French competition 'Guess the Serial Number of Brigitte Macron's New Bus Pass', followed by a DVD and an early night.

75th anniversary at the Menin Gate