Finally,
we leave La Fleche. We had planned to leave on Thursday, but the monsoon hit
and we decided to stay put. The rain was so bad parts of the campsite would
have been easier to access via inflatable. We notice the elderly couple
opposite emerge from their camper every time the rain stops and re clean their
entire van. This must happen close to half a dozen times. OCD is alive and well
in the camper community it seems. Now where’s that spirit level for the Chocks?
Rain forest La Fleche - watch out for crocodiles!
As
has been mentioned before La Fleche is a wonderful place. Even more so because
of our engagement, (it still hasn’t quite sunk in!). It will always hold a very
special place in our hearts. On Thursday night we treated ourselves to a
farewell meal. The Restaurant Relais was our choice and excellent it was. If
you pass this way be sure to give this one a whirl. It’s located just on the
banks of the river and is classy in an understated way, the food was superb and
it was very reasonably priced. C’est magnifique.
Thankfully
Friday morning is the polar opposite of the last few days. Bright Autumn
sunshine with a slight breeze (finally some or our clothes may finally dry
after being washed!). We plan to follow the Loir and head for Vendome or
Chateaudun.
As
soon as we started out you cannot help to be inspired with the views around
here. Every town and village we pass through has the very picturesque Loir
flowing through and there are Chateaus everywhere. Small places like Lude and Chateau
sur Loir are utterly charming. As with so many small French towns though there
is no one about. Shutters closed, empty streets. Why is this?
Chateau sur Loir, more pretty mills and weirs and things
No matter how beautiful your house is, or how rich you are, everyone always needs a man with a van at some point!
Our
first choice is to stay in Vendome. The book of occasional fiction assures it that
all manner of historic delights await. Apparently it is also one of the key
places in France for the manufacture of gloves and electrical goods. You can
see how the two go hand in hand – non?
We
get there and let’s just say the outskirts reflect the industriousness of
manufacturing. The glimpse of pretty spires and lovely things buried in the
middle somewhere are not enough to tempt us and we decide to push on through.
Probably a slightly rash decision if the book of occasional fiction is telling
the truth, but the delights of Chateaudun are just up the road and it’s a sunny
afternoon that can’t be wasted trawling through a large city trying to find a
place to park for the night that doesn’t involve a view of tenement buildings.
We
arrive at Chateaudun and it is as pretty and historical as we’d hoped it would
be. Unfortunately we don’t see signs for the campsite that we’ve ear marked so
we hightail it to the tourist office for some assistance. This does not go
well. Rude sow bag tourist office woman looks at Noush like she’s from another planet
when she asks for directions for said campsite and upon asking for a map she points
out the campsite (which is in fact the wrong one) and then informs us that it is
closed. Noush reiterates the name of the right campsite only to be met with
stony French silence. Slightly taken aback and a bit defeated we ask her if
there are any other campsites, she says no, so we ask about aires for camping
cars, she points them out on the map and then basically turns her back on us.
Charming. Talk about being in the wrong job. However, we have at least scored a
map. We adjourn to the bar to discuss what to do. Closer scrutiny of the map
reveals two other campsites that she has neglected to mention, one of them
being the one that we enquired about originally. What is it with people and
their fictional directions or their simple bare faced lying? It’s weird. We set
out for the campsite, but it’s a little further out of town than we had hoped
so we end up staying in the aire anyway. It’s perfect. Right at the foot of the
chateau and by the river, impossibly pretty and quiet...and very atmospheric at night!
Quick
bite of lunch and we go for a mooch. The town really is charming, medieval bits
everywhere and enormous edifices of stone around every corner, including the
ruins of a church that goes right back to the 6th century. We have a
very enjoyable stroll in the afternoon sunshine.
Tomorrow
we plan to move on to Chartres and then re try the belated day trip to Paris on
Sunday. Best laid plans un’all!!