WEEK 2: Popperinge, Belgium to Saint-Julien-du-salt, France – 315 miles
Saturday 16th June 2018 Poperinge, Belgium – Mecquinies, France. 109 miles
After a good night’s sleep we get up to an inclement and cloudy day. Yesterday we planned out some of the trip, so today we are going back into France to a place called Mecquinies and to a France Passion stop. France Passion is simply a farm or vineyard where you can stay free of charge. You don’t have to but it’s a good idea, to buy something from the host you are staying with, so a bottle or two of wine, some cheese, whatever the host specialises in really. Today we are going to a goat farm called Chevrerie de Sabotiers. They specialise in goats and goat’s cheese. Nice.
First stop, beer shopping. We have timed it wrong again and have to wait an hour. We kill time in the coffee shop while the queue forms to buy the beer.
It really is popular. We buy two boxes of their strongest beer, Westvleteren 12 for 46 euros. Pleased with our purchase we go back to the van and start the 109 mile drive to the goat farm, but first we have to stop at an Auchan, a fabulous French supermarket.
On route we did try and see if we could get into anther France Passion stop, a chicken farm, but we couldn’t raise anyone so we move on to the goat farm. We find the farm after overshooting the entrance. It has a very narrow, long entrance so Del has to reverse slowly all the way to our pitch after being greeted by the very friendly farmer.
Like our last stop this is a rustic working farm. There is just stuff scattered all over the place, fam machinery, bales of hay and building with equipment and animals in them.
There is a small town near by, no shops but we still go for a walk. It’s lovely here out in the French countryside. We go back to Jess and sit outside with some of our recently purchased beer and plan some more stops for our trip, always with a view of the goats of course.
It’s a lovely farm. There is a barn where some goats are being milked, so we watch them for a while and fuss them, they are so friendly, clearly used to having people coming to see them every day. We go and see the pigs in another barn who are just as cute, if a little dirty. Thats pigs for you.
We meet the farm collie, ‘Mis’, a lovely friendly dog who comes with us and the farmer’s wife to buy some cheese.
Hayley buys some tarragon cheese which we have with a veggie burger for dinner. Delicious.
We like it here. The farmer is nice and welcoming, with lovely animals and great cheese. We should sleep well tonight.
Sunday 17th June 2018 Mecquinies – Rozay – sur – serre. 149 miles
Today will be another first. Today we are going to stop in what is called an ‘aire‘. These are normally free overnight motorhome stops. The French are really good at this motorhome thing. The free stops sometimes have water and discharge facilities all for free! Today we are going to try one in the town of Rozay – sur – serre to an aire called ‘Aire de Camping car des portes de la Thierache‘. It’s a bit of a long drive today, 159 miles.
After the 1-and-a-half-hour drive, we arrive at this beautifully landscaped aire. There are already a couple of vans here, which we like. It’s good to have company. There is a 4km walk here so we get our walking boots on and go for a good long walk. The walk is not well signposted but is great, lovely countryside here.
Sadly the water here is not working, no matter. We sit at one of the picnic tables with a beer and plan tomorrow’s trip, it’s a lovely sunny afternoon. Dinner tonight was pasta and some of yesterday’s cheese. Just before dinner, we are joined by a flock of hens who just appear and started pecking and wittering their way around the visiting vans. Sweet.
There is a petanque (bowls on a gravel patch) space here, and we have some balls that we had from our boating days, so of course we have a game in the setting sun. Hayley wins…
Monday 18th June 2018 Rozay – sur – serre – Ambonnay. 152 miles (via Chamery)
We slept well last night. As we are waking up we can hear the chickens warbling away outside the van.
It’s grey today but we attempt to have breakfast outside with the hens. It’s trying to rain. We use the limited facilities of the aire and once done we set off for some diesel. Jess needs a drink too!
Today we are stopping at another aire in the town of Ambonney, northeast of Paris, southeast of Reims. There is a town near our destination called “Bouzy” pronounced ‘boozy’. Most apt. We are going to Ambonney via the town of Chamery.
We stopped at the aire in Chamery and after a spot of lunch we take a walk in the town which is very pretty with a church and the town is full of flowers which sits in a valley of premier cru champagne vineyards.
Beautiful. Being Monday everything is closed, we are the only ones, apart from a cat, walking around. The only other sign of life is a small courtyard with some goats and chickens.
After a bit of research, Hayley finds a France Passion, a champagne house called Champagne Dominique Foureur.
After a short discussion we make our way to Ambonnay which is only half an hour away. The champagne house is located in a very tight small courtyard which is very very old, it’s so pretty and welcoming. We have to get the van into the courtyard.
We are welcomed by the host, who is very friendly and forgiving to Hayley for her good attempt at French… We get the last spot behind a german couple in a van who are regulars here.
Del is at the wheel, with Hayley keeping a good eye as Del slowly and carefully reverses Jess into and through the twisty and tight entrance and into the courtyard to our spot.
Very tricky but he does it and as a prize, we are welcomed by the owner’s black cat, Excalibur who is really friendly and hangs around with us as we give him lots of fuss and attention.
No time is wasted as we join a tasting session and soon we are savouring 6 local champagnes. The lady host is very kind to us and speaks perfect English as she shows us around.
We buy two bottles of blancs de blancs, a 2008 vintage and we enjoy a glass of two with a fabulous dinner in our parking spot.
We are joined again later by Excalibur for another couple of minutes of fussing before he leaves us. A great day today. Very enjoyable. We loved it.
Tuesday 19th June 2018 Ambonnay – Verneuil. 40 miles
A great night stay. We are continuing the champagne theme today and we are are going to a champagne house in the small town of Verneuil which is only a short drive. So we take our time this morning and get some lovely croissants for breakfast. We have wound our way out of the tight space dodging the cats and dogs roaming around in the courtyard. We liked it here – nice champagne and we also bought two tiny Champagne glasses. Hopefully, they will make it home without getting broken.
The drive is very picturesque, beautiful. First though we need a wash, or rather Jess does. Her first wash.
The countryside is fabulous. We arrive at Champagne Jacques Copin where they have free overnight parking with all the facilities. You can stay for free but it is customary to buy something, even if it’s just a bottle of the cheapest champers. We are welcomed by a very charming chap who shows us where we can park for the night. We get settled in, plug in some power and very soon we are having a show around.
After an hour or so we go back to the shop and buy two bottles of their traditional brut. Very tasty. It’s been a bit cloudy for most of the day but by dinner time the weather has improved. We have accumulated a pile of red peppers so Hayley knocks up some quesadillas which we enjoy with a glass of the local champagne.
Tonight we watch the BBCs Absolutely Fabulous episode where characters Edina and Patsy go to the champagne region. You can imagine how that went. Very very funny.
Wednesday 20th June 2018 Ambonnay – Dormans. 30 miles
After the last two days of champagne tasting and drinking, we decide to have a day free of alcohol and to find a nice campsite where we can spread ourselves out a little. Today we are going to a municipal campsite in the town of Dormans which is just a short drive away.
We have a lovely breakfast outside in the warm morning sunshine in the grounds of the Copin champagne house with a view of the vineyards. It’s nice here. It’s getting warmer. It’s 10:00 so we set off. Today we need to do some shopping. There is a height restriction at the supermarket so poor Hayley has to carry the shopping up the hill in the heat. Whew! Poor thing. It’s also time to do some laundry, the campsite at Dormans has facilities so we will probably get that done today. It’s hot though.
The campsite in the town of Dormans is very nice and the guy who welcomes us in is very friendly. We buy some laundry tokens, washing is building up. After a few changes of mind we settle into a nice shady pitch, settle and spread ourselves out.
We take turns doing the laundry and it all drying on the line on our pitch. We are now proper campers! We like it here very much so we decide to stay for another night. Lunch was outside of cheese and apples with a glass of white wine spritzer. Going well the alcohol reduction. It’s so nice though in the shade sitting lazing about in our chairs under the awning. Smashing.
The peace and tranquillity is soon broken by a bunch of guys, probably 10 of them taking turns shaving each other’s hair with clippers. The noise, whilst not loud, is annoying, but really annoying! After about an hour and a half, but what felt more like 7 hours they stop… Ah, peace again at last.
Thursday 21st June 2018 Dormans – Montmirail. 22 miles
The weather is quite different from yesterday. It’s cloudy, windy and raining. At least we have clean fresh laundry. Our plan was to cycle along the river Marne and to have a BBQ, but it looks like now that won’t happen, not here anyway, so we decide to move on. Hayley finds us another champagne house to stay and visit and it’s only 22 miles away.
Again there is free overnight parking at Champagne Champion in the small town of Montmirail. It’s a very small town, rustic and the surrounding countryside is amazing. Miles of rolling hills are just vineyards for as far as the eye can see. It’s quite a view. This family run champagne house produces 20,000 bottles a year.
We are welcomed by a lovely elderly lady, with a limp, who directs us to the back of the house to park up. There is only enough space for three vans but the view is absolutely stunning. It has been Hayley’s wish to sit in her van and sip the champagne from vineyard that we are staying at, well today she gets her wish. We are right next to the vineyard, we can’t get any closer.
For 14 euros we buy a bottle of the local pinot noir champagne and we can stay for free. We need some exercise so we get the bikes down from the back of Jess and cycle around the beautiful countryside. The sun is shining and it’s just lovely. We have a quick look at the deserted town of Montmirail.
Back at the van we have a fantastic dinner and crack open the champagne that we bought and gently sip it as we look at the vineyards where the grapes came from that are right next to our van. Splendid. It’s the longest day today as we sip our champagne in the evening sunshine while wandering around the vineyard. It doesn’t get better than this.
The toilet’s getting full. Not great if you are drinking champagne, Where is that lady? Where can we empty it?
Friday 22nd June 2018 Montmirail – St. Julien du Sault. 73 miles
We wake up today to a beautiful day today, a clear blue sky and sunshine. We are moving out of the champagne region today, for a while. We stock up with more of the local champagne, 4 bottles of reserve and 2 traditional. The lady here is very nice and we say goodbye to her and her lovely dog, June.
Today is a special day, well it’s special to us. Today we are driving to the small town of St. Julian du Sault. It’s one of those free French aires. Our first experience of a motorhome was here in France when we hired a motorhome. It was that trip that we decided to change from having a boat to having a motorhome and it was this stop that we stopped at first, so we have a special fondness of this town. It’s a typical French town, just charming.
Hayley’s at the wheel today and we have a lovely drive through the countryside. After a tight squeeze with a truck at the entrance of St. Julien du Sault, we are in the aire. The French have some strange rules, one of which is priority to the right. Quite simply it’s a bit scary. If you are on the main road sometimes a vehicle can just join from the right and you have to give way! Terrifying sometimes. Hayley was good as usual and there was no incident, we just jumped a little when a car just pulls out in front of us… Whew!
Soon we are in the aire and we park in the exact same spot as we did with our hired van last year. Fantastic.
The aire is almost full of other French campers and a few Germans. We like it here. After we top up we take a walk into the small pretty town. It’s a market town, with lovely little shops and a very smart town hall. French town halls in the main are very nice, called a “Marie” they are quite splendid, dressed with colourful flags and flowers.
We like it here. It’s just how we remember it when we first came.
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