Last night's storm had gone by bedtime and we woke this morning to clear blue sky again. We didn't need to leave our pitch till noon, so we spent the morning walking the mile or so into the small town of Vizille and having a good look round. There was a small market in one of the squares and we went to look for a geocache close by. We did the usual feeling under the benches(!) - no luck - but the hint "depagne" didn't mean anything to us. John googled pagne and it came up with "loin-cloth" - that really didn't seem right! Eventually he found it meant distribution box - and there by the wall was a big box with electric sockets all being used by the stall-holders. If we'd looked there sooner, we'd have noticed the word "depagne" on the top of the box! Yes, the cache was there, slid in a groove of the box.
We knew the chateau wouldn't be open today but we could see the outside and also see various army jeeps and tanks equipped for mountain work - we assumed there for a VE day ceremony later. (Didn't dare take photos - the army-boys had machine guns!)
Our journey later on, took us around Grenoble and Lyon into Beaujolais country. This is our first night, this holiday, at a 'France Passion' (vineyards, farms, etc. offering space for motorhomes overnight for free) close to the tiny village of St. Etienne La Varenne. Ludovic Emmetiere very kindly showed us where we could park on a gravelled patch of his land beside his tractors and we soon made friends with his 2 children and their sheepdog.
The sun has been very warm today, but we wanted to see the village (uphill) so set off to enjoy the beautiful views of the vineyards and back to our home for the night.
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| Spot our van behind the tree! |
...and we ate our meal with all the windows closed while the storm raged for a while.
Wednesday 9th May
A bit more travelling north again today, into Burgundy, and to one of our favourite campsites in France. This is our third visit and each time we come, the boys have done more work to make the site a real gem. It's what was the old municipal site in Merry-sur-Yonne by the Canal du Nivernais, south of Auxerre. Two English chaps took it on after 8 years of neglect. We are just enjoying being here again, but did walk across the field to the river/canal.
Now we are listening to the birdsong and watching the sun go down.
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