Swallows

Whilst we missed the swallows back in England, they clearly do exist in France. They probably saw the weather forecast and thought better of it.

Beaune Market

Saturday 24th July 2010
Beaume Saturday morning market draws us in the van for some exploration. With Chris in the back in a camping chair, we head through some lovely villages (Bligny and Lusigny sur Ouche with their nice looking campsites before rolling into Beaume. A signpost diverts us via a reminiscing trip to Sauvigny Les Baeune and we show the young ones the village and vinyards of the Henri de Villamont estate. Baeune is very pleasant and we pick up some lunch at the market, spot the original Lazy Fish and take in the architecture (mainly the “gratuit” places).

Kath and Chris Arrive.

Friday 23rd July 2010
A couple of days behind us, Katherine and Chris drive down today. We pack up in reasonably good time (11am)and think we are on for a short hop south.  By the time we get going, queue around Reims, (even the motorway is dug up!) and make it down via the back road it takes us 6 hours of driving. We did however see some nice places like Montbard and Semur-en-Auxois (according to K&C, “Sem-en Analysis – doctors for you) to visit later. We pitch up at Arnay Le Duc and before long, K&C roll up after their monster trip.

Bath time

Just had to include this one of Theo and his daily bath.

Reims

Reims will be great when it is finished given some of the stunning architecture. When we turned up it was ALL being dug up. Everywhere!!! Highlights proved to be the Cathedral (a bit more austere and not as nice as Laon), the little independent Champagne seller (very nice), the fountain and the ice cream (no not a Mr Whippy).

Train to Reims

Thursday 22nd July 2010
We take a lovely train into Reims.  The station's a blast from the past with separate troop platforms and civilian platforms, much of which appears not to have been used since 1945.

Guigincourt

The campsite in Guigincourt is nice and empty, perfect for bike riding and as it turns out, grazing horses. We are only here for a couple of nights as it is more of a stop over and a chance to see Reims.