Steve & Rosemary Blasdale

French Camping 2024, Day 26 Saints-Geosmes

Posted on September 16, 2024 by SteveOctober 13, 2024

16th September 2024

Tongue felt a lot better today, so I was ready to travel.

We packed away and headed North, the wind buffeting us as we drove. Before I set off, for some unknown reason, I decided to check my tyre pressures, three were at around 3.3 bar, while the driver’s front tyre was at less than 2 bar. Oops what had happened? A puncture? But I could see no obvious suspects. Pumped up the tyre to 3.3 and we headed off. I stopped at a layby after an hour’s driving to check the pressure. Seemed to be fine.

We continued on, and after a few more hours stopped again for lunch and to check the tyre. It still seemed to be OK.

By the by, when I refer to the van’s willy, I mean the drainpipe from the built-in sink. Not sure what else to call it.

The drive was long, there were some roadwork delays that google at one time put in as 20 minutes, thankfully our short stops and long trip allowed for these delays to disappear as we progressed. Lyons was its usual crapness, especially in the bit where the road goes under several buildings.

We arrived at our destination, Camping de la Croix d’Arles near to Saints-Geosmes, in the late afternoon. Checked in for three nights and found ourselves a plot near where we had camped previously. But, oh no, the loos and showers near us had been closed, so we had to walk more than 240 steps to the open sanitaire block. Luckily the nearby sanitaire had ample washing-up sinks. The restaurant was closed, as was the chip van.

Quite a few Dutch and Germans arrived after us, all staying one night as they were travelling. I presume home.

Ordered bread and croissants for tomorrow.

Supper was cooked, the remainder of the roasted chicken we had a couple of nights before.

The weather was a little breezy, but not too much, allowing us to put up the small awning.

French Camping 2024, Day 25 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 15, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

15th September 2024

Reckon the mice could still be getting in by jumping up and clambering up Morrison’s willy. So, I pushed it up higher. This seems to have cured the problem, as no more mice caught during the day or night.

Today we walked across the saltmarsh. Interestingly the water level was higher, and possibly had been higher in the hours before. Where we had walked on previous days, was now flooded. They must have been letting the Rhone flood into the area. Not much was happening, several groups of horses were trekking around the landscape, catching up on the previous day. Yes, today was still windy, but not as bad as yesterday.

While we were sitting outside the van in the afternoon, drinking beer, I managed to drink down a wasp which had inveigled its way to my beer bottle. It stung me on my tongue, prompting me to spit out the beer all over the vans foot step. R was not impressed. She leapt for the Epipen, but, hey, that’s an injection! Instead, I ate a couple of anti-histamines and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening being really miserable. No supper for me tonight, but i did think a JD & coke would help anaethetize my poor tongue. R said, unhelpfully, that I sounded like a bad imitation of Sean Connery, ie rather shlurry.

French Camping 2024, Day 24 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 14, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

14th September 2024

After our mouse-disturbed night, we did a little investigation, and moved the van away from the hedge, leaving several feet for mice to cross from the hedge. We also removed the plastic bucket from under the van’s willy. The bucket was broken and leaking, and we had put a large plastic bag (13K birdfood size) in the bucket to collect the water. This was touching Morrison’s willy and could potentially allow mice to climb up to the water outlet and through the gap in the floor under the van. This may have been the way the mice were entering.

Walked into town, found a hardware store and purchased two traditional mouse traps. These were baited, one placed on the floor and the other in a cupboard.

We went for a walk on to the beach where we were sandblasted. Not at all pleasant. So, we walked home and there was one mouse trapped on the floor, and another in the cupboard.

These were disposed of and trap reset. Shortly after the trap in the cupboard sprang, we heard a clattering and a squawking mouse, but it escaped.

This is when we then reconfigured the location of the van and discarded the waste bucket. No sign of mice at present. Let’s hope for a peaceful night.

Spent rest of day reading and had a precooked chicken for supper as a salad.

Wind has dropped a bit, we shall wait until tomorrow and decide on what is best to do. Most of France appears to be in the doldrums, other than this strip from the Haut Savoie to us where it is windy.

Looks like the heating at home turned on for a short period of time at home on 13^th. Must be getting cold there.

Still not quiet on the mouse front, one more was caught early in the night, making a total of 5.

French Camping 2024, Day 23 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 13, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

13th September 2024

Another cold, windy day. Sun was about. I was up early and walked out of the campsite to the marshes at 8.00am. Unfortunatley, without a long walk, 8.00am is the earliest you can get out, There are many dog walkers at this time, (frightening the birds) and the sun is already quite high. Quite a few herons and egrets were fishing along the ditch, The ones close to the sea were tame and never moved. The further away you get, the more wary they became, and it was impossible to creep up on them. Out on the lagoon there were some Flamingos close to the shore, but as I approached they moved away. Not a very successful birding drip.

Walking back along the fence, the numerous dragonflies patrolling the fence had been replaced with house martins / swifts / swallows. They were gorging themselves on dragonflies in the lee of the fence.

R was doing the washing and was having difficulties paying, so I rushed back. Then a call she was successful and had paid by contactless, Why does she insist on plugging the card in and tapping the number. It is not more secure. Mind you a washing machine that needs a credit card for payment, is new to us! Later we went back to put the washing into the tumble dryer.

After washing and drying we walked into town, visiting the Friday market. Lots of tat and knives on sale, along with vegetables, salt, chicken, cheeses and meat.

Buying nothing we started a search for a restaurant. Using Google maps we did a compromise on Google ratings, the food type, and whether anyone was eating there today.

We in the end chose the ‘La Cour’ where we had Ricard, pink wine, baked mussels with cheese and a salad. R’s starter salad caused a bit of confusion, it was a main course salad so I also tucked in. Mains I had a bull steak, while Rosemay opted for a more veggie dish, while she muttered about leather handbags being easier to eat than bull. No puddings (no room!), but an espresso and a local Camargue Pastis each.

Back to the campsite, via the small supermarket for the next few days’ food.

Still windy. Noticed some food bags in the van had been chewed. R said this was friction wear in travelling. I was not so sure. We had also started to hear sounds from behind the sink. Tonight I spotted a mouse in one of the cupboards, but it rushed over the top of the back board and disappeared. Later I saw two mice come out from under the fridge. They disappeared quickly underneath again. Not good.

During the night we could hear then scrabbling around. The wind also rose, and eventually we dropped the roof down, so we could get some sleep. The other VW at some time during the night did the same thing. The wind on the Meteo France was gusting at well over 60k.

French Camping 2024, Day 22 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 12, 2024 by SteveOctober 10, 2024

12th September 2024

R said it rained hard during the night. I had slept solidly throughout, so thought the rain had stayed away. We walked into town and wandered around the shops. Decided to go on the ‘train trip’ at 2.30. So bought some sandwiches and watched the gulls. The youngsters being persistent beggars.

At 2.00 the queue for the train trip was already there, we joined and got a place on the ‘train’. It was a 45 minute trip showing some of the town and the surrounding areas. First it took in the East side, showing us the area where the cattle were branded. Then it went to the west, down the road we drove in on. Eventually it cut across to the West, towards the Little Rhone. We passed by the traditional thatched houses. Stopped to pat and stroke the beautiful white Camargue horses. The houses in the area here looked to be quite prosperous, nice looking nearby restaurant.

Back to the town, following the road from the Little Rhone, and past the marina. Yes, it was a tourist trip, but it was interesting and showed us a side of the Camargue we had not known about or seen.

Back to the campsite, where we had supper, and it was very cold and windy.

French Camping 2024, Day 21 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 11, 2024 by SteveOctober 10, 2024

11th September 2024

The wind was still strong from the North, but it was a little cooler today. The sky to the North was shrouded with thin clouds, which stopped at the sea border.

We went for a walk along the beach to the East. The marshes and lagoons were on our left. The lagoons were devoid of avian life, except for the very occasional Egret and a large group of flamingos on the furthest away lagoon.

We headed inwards and were surprised by the amount of glass. We came to the conclusion that much of the land was reclaimed and built up from a rubbish dump, or dumping ground for builders’ waste. The odd circuit board was found along with old concrete.

Walked towards the main lagoon and had our Sad Gits conference call. Only us, Simon and Richard today.

Back then towards the campsite, lots of dragonflies around. Time for lunch.

After lunch went for a swim. Not many other people swimmimg. It was also clouding up. Despite the strong wind, the sea was calm, the wind coming off the land.

Quick walk to the shop to stock up some more beers.

Supper of duck and duck fat chips.

Rain started to spit as we went to bed.

French Camping 2024, Day 20 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 10, 2024 by SteveOctober 10, 2024

10th September 2024

Cool this morning, we are pitched in the morning shade, and the North Easterly wind was chilly. We walked into town, wandered among the shops admiring the items, but not buying anything. Found the new reincarnation of Poets Bar, but it had been done up and did food. So, we gave it a miss.

Walked to the harbour and admired the boats, but we were looking for a drink. Most of the places were setting up for lunch. Arrived back in the middle of the town, headed to near the church. A few lesser class places did drinks without food. We did actualy end up with 4 tapas. Taurau, fish, peppers, mushrooms.

Popped into a shop and bought milk, (actually found fresh milk) on the way back to campsite. It was now getting warm.

Walked to the lagoon, but the flamingos were miles off in the lagoon. Did spot an osprey who was hunting for fish. Not too successfully. Also saw the fish hunting for the dragonflies. Often a big splash as they darted for their food.

At the campsite we relaxed, and then ate supper. Salmon and celeriac remoulade and other salad. As the sun fell, both Venus and Saturn appeared in the sky, and the bats came out to play, chasing the dragonflies. They were so prolific and visible in the still relatively bright evening, along with their food, the dragonflies.

Many of the campers stopped and watched, it was quite a spectacular display the bats put on. The bats were probably pipistrelles (again) from the frequency of their navigation.

French Camping 2024, Day 19 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 9, 2024 by SteveOctober 9, 2024

9th September 2024

The weather did clear up in the evening, and the canopy was dry in the morning, so it could be packed away and potentially left packed away until we got home. There was one problem. I had to leave one of my expensive tent pegs behind. I had nailed it through a thick root in the ground and no matter how hard I pulled, it would not come out. I eventually sacrificed it by nailing it down underground, so hopefully no injury to future campers.

We set off at around 11.00 stopping at a SuperU filling station. This was not associated with any supermarket. This year I have seen quite a few SuperU stations like this. The shop next to the station had a notice saying, that it was not affiliated with the station and that there were no loos. The filling station was totally automatic, and took a wapping 300 euro deposit, for a small 80 euro topup.

We had a lovely trip alongside the lake and across the lake, joined the motorway and blitzed down to Aux-En-Provence, to this huge supermarket to buy a cheap chair. Lunch & chair purchased, we were on our way. Not on the toll road, but on a route we had not taken before. This took us through some industrial areas near Martigues and Port-de-Bouc such as esso refineries and the ports. Pretty fascinating.

Arived at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and checked in for 7 nights. Very soon, a breeze blowing.

Had a walk down to the beach. The only change appears to be that there were many buoys moored at to sea. One of the mud banks in the lagoon seems now to have weed growing on it. The water level of the salt flats was a little higher than last year,

Quite a srong wind from the North West, so the sea was actually quite quiet. There were four swimmers.

French Camping 2024, Day 18 Baratier

Posted on September 8, 2024 by SteveOctober 9, 2024

8th September 2024

Today was a rain day. It started to rain during the night and continued to rain during most of the day, stopping late afternoon. Hopefully, the awning will dry out for packing away. Rosemary was not rained upon during the night, the plastic bin liner over the rear door stop light saved the night.

We had booked a table in the restaurant in a local hotel, Hotel-Restaurant Spa Les Peupliers, which has pretty good food. Well at least it did on our previous visit six years ago. We arrived at our booking time, 12.15 and already there were people already eating Sunday lunch. We had a pre-pranidial drinks, nibbles and amuse bouchées. The starter was a very nice, a mixture of tastes, a parfait egg, with chopped salmon. The main course was veal, and the afters was a chocolate mousse.

We left somewhat poorer.

Back at the campsite we read our books. I made great progress through the second the second book of the Three Body Problem, ‘The Dark Forest’

French Camping 2024, Day 17 Baratier

Posted on September 7, 2024 by SteveOctober 9, 2024

7th September 2024

Another day in paradise. A lovely sunny day, again.

Breakfast, with yesterday’s left-over bread toasted (Ie dry fried in the frying pan). Then a short 4K walk to see some saffron crocuses which we had seen 6 years ago. They were still there but competed out by other weeds. We continued the walk in a circle ending up back in the village and the bar/restaurant. Lunch was being served, but we decided just to have a beer. R had a blonde, while I drank an IPA, brewed not many miles from here. The waiter called it an epah, not I-P-A. Oh well. R laughed at my bewilderment.

A large group of motorcyclists arrived; but they were turned away. We presume the group was too large to serve.

Back at the campsite our German motorcyclists were out. We had the remains of the bread and cheese for lunch.

Spent most of the afternoon reading the second book in the Three Body Problem (on R’s kindle), interrupted by R’s comments on the parenting of two small children by, presumably, their father. The little girl ended up in tears after her bike ran away from her going down a slope, an accident waiting to happen, said R. There was silence for a couple of hours, Did she go to see a doctor?? Though, after their return, they were back at the same antics later. R thought the man was a divorcee having the children for a weekend.

We booked a meal at the local hotel for Sunday. We’d had an excellent meal there once before.

Supper was very good ratatouille with fried pork.

Decided to go our usual spot on the Med for Monday. Will try also to find a shop to buy a cheap camping chair. Sitting on the stool is painful after a few hours.