Departure Campsite: Moulin de Ventre, Niozelles, France (N 43.93348 E 5.86783)
Destination Campsite: Le Plan d'Eau, St Privat, France (N 44.61886 E 4.43212)
Distance: 193 miles/311 km (today) 1700 miles/2736 km (total)
Woke around 07:15 to prepare for moving on while Ali stayed another half an hour in bed. The shower did not seem to get warm until I was nearly finished. The kids went off to the pool while we had a breakfast of scrambled egg on toast. James found a watch while he was down by the pool and was given a croissant in return when he handed it in (it was me that ate it, though). The morning warmed up quickly, and we took a few photographs before leaving the site at around 10:45.
The sky turned cloudy, though it was still hot with a warm wind. As we approached our destination near the Ardeche, the heavens opened up while we were parked up on a garage forecourt having some lunch.
A little further on we found the campsite and checked in to reception, where the lady was very friendly and helpful. She pointed us to a pitch close to the pool and reception and I set about putting the tent up in the thunder and lightning, getting drenched in the process. The temperature had dropped dramatically, perhaps by as much as 20C.
We spent much of the afternoon in an Intermarche supermarket (a couple of miles from the campsite), simply because it was dry in there. We bought lasagne ready meals to try in our little Cadac oven later. After shopping we drove on to Balazuc, an interesting medieval village with lots of interconnected alleyways, some quite hidden. Well worth a visit, even when the weather isn't so good.
We got back to the site quite late for tea, and all sat in the Quechua tent while we cooked the lasagnes in the Cadac oven. We had to leave the tent door wide open for gas ventilation, but we sat with blankets on, and the Cadac generated quite a bit of heat. The Lasagna's weren't great, but the Cadac performed well. The kids finished their meals with hot chocolate and we turned in for the night hoping for better weather tomorrow.
Destination Campsite: Le Plan d'Eau, St Privat, France (N 44.61886 E 4.43212)
Distance: 193 miles/311 km (today) 1700 miles/2736 km (total)
The sky turned cloudy, though it was still hot with a warm wind. As we approached our destination near the Ardeche, the heavens opened up while we were parked up on a garage forecourt having some lunch.
A little further on we found the campsite and checked in to reception, where the lady was very friendly and helpful. She pointed us to a pitch close to the pool and reception and I set about putting the tent up in the thunder and lightning, getting drenched in the process. The temperature had dropped dramatically, perhaps by as much as 20C.
We spent much of the afternoon in an Intermarche supermarket (a couple of miles from the campsite), simply because it was dry in there. We bought lasagne ready meals to try in our little Cadac oven later. After shopping we drove on to Balazuc, an interesting medieval village with lots of interconnected alleyways, some quite hidden. Well worth a visit, even when the weather isn't so good.
We got back to the site quite late for tea, and all sat in the Quechua tent while we cooked the lasagnes in the Cadac oven. We had to leave the tent door wide open for gas ventilation, but we sat with blankets on, and the Cadac generated quite a bit of heat. The Lasagna's weren't great, but the Cadac performed well. The kids finished their meals with hot chocolate and we turned in for the night hoping for better weather tomorrow.
