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.

Laon Cathedral

Wednesday 21st July 2010
Early pack up and off to the tunnel.  We are in a bit early and squeeze onto an earlier train and after a typically un-eventful crossing, we make it into France and are off. On the way down we take a detour via the medieval city of Laon. As we leave the motorway, we are stunned by the amazing city with its cathedral dominating an outcrop of land. We head up the hill, park up, have a very expensive Croque-Monsieur and investigate the Cathedral. Turns out to be one of the most stunning interiors as the glazing is plain and the cathedral is super-bright. The colours have not been edited, it really did look that weird.

Battle of Britain Memorial

Via the Battle of Britain Memorial (resplendent with fake Spitfire and Hurricane) we drove into a completely dead Folkstone. Really oddly quiet. We spent a couple of hours in the pebbly beach throwing stones into the water under the watchful eye of the opera house, a strange neo-classical palace with an odd 1970’s cantilevered UFO stuck to the side. A fish bar stop sated the appetite and we walked it off with a wander past the unusual house fronts to “Suny Sands”. Apparently the only sandy beach within 1 hours drive of north London! Via a trip to the Sainsburies with no front, we headed for the campsite for a restful night....apart from poor Theo who is still suffering with post MMR temperatures.

Little Santenay

We booked into Little Santenay Campsite just on the outskirts of Folkstone. With a great spot next to the swings, we chatted to the manager who pointed us in the right direction.

Sandbach to Folkstone

Long journey to Folkstone broken up with us taking over the parking on the M1. Check out the alloys!