Today we had a walk around the town of Rauzan itself. Rather a quiet place. A little ambling around the place, stopping to look at the estate agents and the boulangeries. There may at one time have been three boulangeries, but today the two. The third was now a barber. We visited one as well as a small Lidl/Aldi where a bottle was purchased.
We visited the castle ruin. Three girls on duty and just us two touring the castle. By the time we had left there were plenty more tourists including a group of very loud Italians. Climbed to the top of the tower., 109 steps, plus at least another 20 from ground level. Good views, including the local cemetery. I was to view the cemetery from close up on my afternoon walk.
Back to the van for lunch. I then went on a 5 mile walk through the vineyards. Very few roses are now grown at the end of the vineyard rows. I did find 5 examples. The grapes looked very ripe; it must be getting towards grape picking season.
All went well with the walk until the route took me down a path through a wood. The path did not appear to exist, this was definitely jungle country with thick bamboo to fight through. Made it out near the exit point with a leap over the ditch.
Back at the campsite I took a swim to cool down and remove the grime from the walk. The van floor had proved so hot, that R had dug out the indoor slip-ons normally used when the floor is cold!
Supper tonight was rice, prawns and vegetables.
We had a chat with the Scottish couple behind us, they had already visited St Emillion where we were hoping to go tomorrow.
There were also a few Irish people in the campsite, they were here for the rugby world cup.
Showers, breakfast and off to see the Château de Château-l’Évêque on the way to our next stop outside of Bordeaux. We followed Jen and Bev, but there were some odd navigation decisions, and so we went our own way. We eventually arrived at the Château de Château-l’Évêque, sometime before Jen and Bev. We parked and went on a search for the Château. It was closed, closed for the week. A small handwritten note on the gate was all that told us it was closed. Why had they not updated their Google maps business listing with the closure dates, or their website? Both of these had been checked by us. We had a coffee in the village and bought some sandwiches. Rosemary handed over our spare CD-player mobile-phone mount, hoping this would help to raise the phone up higher in their car to use Google Maps. We all said our goodbyes.
We continued our journey to Rauzan, stopping for our sandwich lunch at Montpon-Ménestérol, R discovered it wasn’t easy to dispose of the wrappings from the sandwiches. One large bin required a special card to be used. We’d heard about these; they entitle residents to use their local tip 20 odd times a year. Stopped at a supermarket at Castillon-la-Bataille. Arrived in Chateaux de Rauzan in the searing heat. Booked into a pitch for 4 nights. I went for a swim to cool off. Steak for supper with potatoes, and fennel. Cooling a little after dusk.
Our reason for visiting here was the site is located in posh wine country. We would visit Saint Emillion and hopefully Bordeaux. The campsite sounded nice with the mention of nearby Caves, walks in the countryside and the chateaux,
After breakfast we headed out to ‘Le Vieux Moulin’, in Chabanais for lunch. It’s a smart French restaurant where we had the plat de jour. I went for the meat option, Rosemary, Bev and Jen went for vegetarian. Despite it being a Monday, there were a few other diners. We had an excellent meal, and some nice beers to go with it.
On the way back to Jen and Bev we stopped at another reservoir, called Lac de Saint_Mathieu. We had seen this before when it was empty. It had had a leak, been emptied and now fixed and was full. We order a coffee from the café ‘La Grande du Lac’, a British run café. This part of France is quite full of British, and British owned businesses. There is a campsite here, so could be a place to stay in the future.
Morning was bright & promising. Showered & breakfasted by 8.00. Rosemary went to a car boot sale with Linda and purchased another two flat irons. She uses them as book ends. We set off to Jen and Bev before midday, stopping off to purchase some wine before the supermarkets closed at 12.30, and arrived at Puymoroux in the afternoon. The van was parked in the drive and connected to the electricity. (Not strictly required, the battery should keep the fridge running for at least 4 days, but good to have.) We sat in the garden under the shade of a tree and chatted, while playing with the dogs. Supper was an excellent BBQ cooked by the man of the house, with numerous vegetable sides prepared by Jen.
There was no damage from the heavy rain. Even the ground appeared surprisingly dry. It turned out to be a hot sunny day.
We were given a tour of their son’s barn, which is next to their house. Some excellent renovations with plenty of style.
Preparing for supper
Linda drove to the nearby town of Coulon to purchase some ‘pork spiders’, or Araignée de Porc, also known as ‘pope’s eye steak’ (!) for the BBQ in the evening. Sausages and some bread were also acquired.
My Boggie Tel eSIM
I had been receiving text messages from Boggie Tell suggesting that I was going to be cut off, unless I phoned them on some premium number and confirmed my ID. This sounded like a scam, but with the aid of Google, this appeared to be true. I phoned the number, but there was a rush of French telling me to press some number. With the aid of Linda, we navigated this menu. For future reference, it was 1, then 1.
We then were talking to a call center operator; they do speak both English and French. They wanted my passport number and name. This apparently is the French law. Anyway, it all worked out, I was not cut off on my 30-day SIM, and I had no idea how they were going to charge me on the premium rate number, because they did not have my payment details.
One other positive aspect of the Boogie Tell eSim is it allows roaming throughout the EU, and also free roaming in the UK. In fact, I downloaded the eSIM and activated it in the UK before I left for France, using both data and making phone calls.
The Afternoon
Lunch was bread and cheese. I went for a five mile walk in the afternoon. Crossed the river using the ferry. This is a small ferry and operated by chain. You haul yourself across the river. Linda was surprised it was still in operation. There had been trouble with the ferry, vandals sinking it on occasion. The town mayor was considering removing the crossing. I then headed back along the river towards Damvix. I did not reach Damvix, time was short, and crossed the river at the locks and headed back up the road.
The evening was wine and a BBQ of the ‘pork spiders’, and sausages. There were glow worms about, which proved very difficult to photograph. There was a lovely clear night and I saw a trail of satellites which must have been launched this very day by musky boy.
It had rained during the night at Le Bec Hellouin, so it was a damp start to pack away the van. We set off to the Eatons in Arcais in the rain, using departmental roads. The Google route was bizarre, at one time taking us down at least 20K of single-track road. As we drove south the weather improved and the sun came out
We stopped off at a supermarket for lunch and topped up with 1.75 diesel. Very warm, stripped off our outer layers. We also stopped at the Aldi in Niort to buy some wine.
Arriving in Arçais
Arrived at the Eatons around 4.00. Had tea. Supper was a lovely veggie Lasagne with Aubergine, made by Madame. The house martins and swallows were sitting on the TV aerial making a freak display. A couple of starlings joined them. Mike mentioned the number of birds was a lot less than last year. Very few bats out tonight. We did not see any, but the bat detector did hear them a couple of times.
After dark, I took some pictures of the stars and the van. There was tremendous thunder and lightning storm over night.
Today it started to drizzle in the morning. Breakfast in the van. Lunch in the van – Camembert cheese and some excellent brown, sliced, French bread. I went for a short walk down to the village, and along the cycle path that passes through here. The path is metalled, and could take a small car down it. The surface is absolutely perfect, nothing like a Buckinghamshire road. This metalled path is part of a cycle track built on an old rail line. I walked back on a path, across the river and back up the road. The Abbey tower was always in view.
We left home early at 5:30 am to go to the Channel Tunnel. We got to the terminal at 8:10, which was well before our scheduled 9:23 Tunnel departure. Surprisingly, they offered us an earlier crossing, but we decided to stick with our original reservation. Looking back, we realized our timing calculations were a little off, and we could have taken the earlier crossing. While we were at the terminal, we explored the duty-free shop not buying anything., but planning for our return trip to make the most of the “world beating” duty-free allowances introduced by Johnson.
While we were at the terminal, I had a great conversation with a woman who was demonstrating the features of the Ford Mustang electric car. It caught my interest because, three years ago, I had been thinking about getting a Mustang EV. However, I ended up choosing a Polestar 2 because it could be delivered faster. The woman knew about the Polestar, and we had a nice chat about electric cars.
Getting on the train was a bit different from normal. Loading the cars seemed to have some issues, so we had to wait for a while. Eventually, we got on the train, and interestingly, we were the last to get on and off. We departed about 15 minutes later than scheduled.
We took our usual toll-free route to the pretty village of Le Bec Hellouin. We arrived at the Camping Saint Nicolas campsite at 3:44 pm. Before we got there, we made a quick stop at a small supermarket in the nearby village of Grand Bourgtheroulde to get food for the first few days of our stay. Since Brexit, there are strict rules about what food can be taken into France.
The weather was a bit chilly, but we decided to eat outside and enjoy the setting moon. To start our evening, we opened a bottle of Vouvray from the supermarket, as is our tradition for fizzy wine on the first night. With our meal, we had a glass of Abbey beer, which is a rather strong 10% beer. Dinner was pan-fried pork fillets with a side dish that was like ratatouille, all cooked in one pan.
Strangely, there were very few bats out tonight, maybe because it was cold. The weather forecast for the next few days didn’t look great.
My eSim, with 30GB of data from Bouygues Telecom, worked well. I just had to be careful not to accidentally use data on my physical SIM card, which I really wanted to avoid. Meanwhile, Rosemary still has her old EE contract, which allows her to use her phone in Europe. It came in handy when my reception wasn’t great. I started calling Bouygues Telecom “Boogie Tell” as a nickname from that point on.
While we were sitting outside eating lunch, we became aware of some paragliders flying over us. In total there must have been around eight. Some were high, and a few were quite low. I was expecting these to land in fields around us. They recovered and found some lift and were soon very high.
They were moving in a north easterly direction being blown along by the south westerly wind. Where had they come from and where were they going? I had heard of previous flights from Combe Gibbet and Milk Hill and landing somewhere in Norfolk. I read a report about a flight on the 26th of July from Milk Hill to Kings Lynn but have not seen any reports of this August flight.
Despite the gloomy drizzle that cast a grey Sunday morning over the scene, a small but dedicated crowd braved the elements to catch Dead Label’s early set. Armed with warm breakfasts and raincoats, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, transforming a patch of muddy ground into a makeshift mosh pit that pulsed with the band’s raw energy. Though the weather and early hour kept the numbers down, the hardy fans who turned out were treated to a raucous performance that defied the damp setting.
Dead Label, a rising rock band known for their gritty riffs and electrifying live shows, tore through their set with infectious enthusiasm. The rain may have dampened the ground, but it couldn’t dampen the band’s fire, or the spirit of the devoted fans who skied and moshed in the muddy pit, their cheers echoing through the air. The band’s music, a potent blend of punk-infused rock and roll, resonated with the crowd, creating a sense of shared defiance against the dreary weather. Even the rain-streaked faces couldn’t hide the grins of the fans as they thrashed along to Dead Label’s anthems, proving that sometimes, the most memorable gigs are the ones played in the most unlikely of conditions.
Uuhai
Amidst the drizzle that painted the festival a moody grey, Mongolian rock band UUHAI emerged as a fiery bolt of sunshine. They stormed the stage with their unique blend of traditional instruments and pulsating rock rhythms, setting the crowd ablaze with energy. Standing front and center, the band’s electrifying performance left us mesmerized. The deep throat-singing vocals, twanging morin khuur melodies, and pounding drums wove a spellbinding tapestry that resonated deep within. So spellbound, in fact, that I couldn’t resist snagging a UUHAI t-shirt, a souvenir to forever etch this electrifying afternoon into memory. Later, as the clouds finally parted, a serendipitous encounter allowed me to capture a treasured photo of Selina and the band themselves, forever documenting this highlight of the Serpents Layer experience.
Tribulation
Swedish metal outfit Tribulation took the stage under clear skies, their music electrifying the atmosphere. The band’s signature blend of dark riffs and heavy grooves resonated with the crowd, a stark contrast to the earlier threat of rain. This welcome break in the weather seemed to further amplify the band’s intensity, their set pulsating with raw energy.
Decapitated
After an exhilarating encounter with Mongolian rock band UUHAI in the Serpents Layer, the day continued with a return to the main stage for the final set of Polish death metal veterans Decapitated. While not my initial draw for the festival, their technical prowess and relentless energy earned them a “pretty good” rating in my mental festival scorecard. The band’s complex guitar work and punishing rhythms provided a fittingly intense finale to what had been a day saturated with diverse musical energy.
Ugly Kid Joe
Taking to the Ronnie James Dio Stage next were veteran rockers Ugly Kid Joe. The band, known for their blend of hard rock, funk, and pop metal, brought a lively energy to the festival. Their accessible and often humorous lyrics (“easily sing along” is an apt description) quickly engaged the crowd, prompting enthusiastic singalongs throughout the set. While not strictly in the realm of heavy metal, Ugly Kid Joe’s undeniable stage presence and catchy tunes earned them a well-deserved spot on the main stage. Their performance resonated with a cross-section of the festival’s audience, proving their enduring appeal and versatility.
Sepultura
Brazilian thrash metal titans Sepultura took the Ronnie James Dio Stage next, delivering a potent set laced with both sonic fury and environmental activism. Their signature blend of aggressive riffs and tribal rhythms resonated with the crowd, while frontman Derrick Green’s impassioned pleas for Amazonian preservation resonated on a deeper level. The urgency of their message hit home, echoing a vital global concern.
For some in the audience, like myself, the performance rekindled memories of Sepultura’s electrifying 1999 Milton Keynes Bowl gig. My vintage T-shirt from that show became a silent companion during their set, a tangible thread connecting present and past. Sepultura’s enduring power and relevance were on full display, proving that thrash metal can be both headbangingly exhilarating and thought-provokingly urgent.
KK’s Priest
Taking the Ronnie James Dio Stage by storm on Wednesday night were heavy metal legends KK’s Priest. Formed in 2015 by former Judas Priest co-founder and guitarist Ken “K.K.” Downing, the band delivers a potent blend of classic heavy metal anthems and fresh musical fury. Downing, joined by vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, bassist James Rivera, and drummer Sean Elg, brought decades of experience and electrifying stage presence to the festival.
KK’s Priest kicked off their set with a roar, launching into a searing rendition of “One Shot at Glory.” The band expertly navigated their arsenal of classics, from the thunderous “Living After Midnight” to the soaring power ballad “You’re All Welcome.” Owens’ powerful vocals and Downing’s iconic riffs ignited the crowd, creating a sea of headbangers and fist-pumpers throughout the Dio Stage.
But KK’s Priest isn’t content to simply rest on their laurels. Tracks from their latest album, “Sermons of the Sinner,” showcased the band’s continued creative fire. The driving rhythms of “Hellfire Warriors” and the anthemic chorus of “Sacrifice” proved that KK’s Priest still packs a punch in the studio and on stage. The band’s performance was a masterclass in heavy metal, a potent mix of nostalgia and fresh energy that left the crowd wanting more.
KK’s Priest’s return to the festival stage was a triumphant one, reminding everyone why they stand among the true giants of metal. Their unwavering commitment to classic sounds infused with modern edge resonated with fans across generations, ensuring their place as a vital force in the heavy metal landscape.
Megadeth
Prior to Megadeth’s highly anticipated set, the festival grounds offered a welcome respite with a diverse culinary selection. From smoky BBQ meats to delectable vegan options, there was something to tantalize every taste bud. Selina and I parted ways to explore the culinary offerings before reconvening for the thrash metal titans.
Unfortunately, Megadeth’s performance fell short of expectations. Navigating the crowded back section wasn’t the easiest feat, leaving us with a less-than-ideal vantage point. Further compounding the issue were the band’s characteristically long pauses between songs, testing the audience’s patience. To add to the confusion, the conclusion of the set wasn’t readily apparent, leaving some unsure if the final notes had truly rung out.
While undeniably skilled musicians, Megadeth’s on-stage energy on this evening didn’t quite match their usual intensity. The extended gaps between songs hampered the momentum, resulting in a disjointed feel to the set. This, coupled with the less-than-optimal viewing position, led to a somewhat underwhelming experience for some fans.
However, it’s worth noting that Megadeth’s dedicated following remained enthusiastic throughout, chanting along to familiar tracks and erupting in applause at the conclusion of each song. Ultimately, while the performance might not have soared to its full potential, it nonetheless served as a testament to the band’s enduring legacy and the unwavering devotion of their fans.
This revised version adopts a journalistic style while acknowledging both the logistical challenges and the mixed audience reception:
The End
The next day we packed away, managing to deconstruct the tent onto its ground sheet with out getting it all muddy.
