Tag Archives: Cormoranche-sur-Saone

France day 19 – Cormoranche-sur-Saone

Blasdale Home Posted on by

Another sunny day, Rosemary went off to pick up the bread, it was a baguette, small thing, should have ordered a flute.  Just can’t to get to grips with the varied sizes of French bread.  After breakfast walked up to reception to decide on where we could go for some sites.  We were Abbeyed out, so they were off the list.  I got the list down to three places, a Grand Place where there were outcrops of rock and archaeological stuff, a wine pace and some caves. 

Instead we had a quiet day, walked around the lake, watched the birds and studied the numerous fishermen who had set up camp for the day.  We admired the seemingly empty TGV trains on their way to Lyon and beyond.  We would soon have our HS2 passing nearby us.  Yes these are noisy, and where there is a curve there are screeching rails.  At least they seem to disappear for the French lunch, and don’t start until quite late in the morning and are gone quite early in the evening.  (I am writing this at 21.00 and have not heard a TGB for a while now.)  Ate lunch, read books, nosed at the other mobile homes and campers.

Found an intriguing 2006 Landrover Defender with awning and attached tent.  The tent and awning were in Landrover brown and green.  Transpired they had been to the island of Sardinia.

The Brits across the road in a bigger van were on their way possibly to Spain, but were considering apartments as they were almost the same price as a campsite.

We planned the next day as we were going to be on the move again, this time it was going to be towards Reims. Three campsites, one with horrendous reviews, mainly because people had been refused entry as they were too young, and the onsite mobile homes were in poor condition. Also reports of midges, it though was on a lake and recommended for bird watches.  The ACSI site was in a middle of a town, the guide book said it could be noisy in September because of the grape pickers.  It was next to a vinery.  A third site was called Camping Nature, R immediately thought this to be a reserve for nudists.  Looks OK to me and a relatively small site.  This is my next target, I think. 

The weather looks OK for the rest of our holiday!!

France day 18 – Cormoranche-sur-Saone

Blasdale Home Posted on by

Today was meant to be a lovely blue-sky day.  It did not disappoint, despite a slow start as the thin cloud was burnt off.  The morning was quite chilly, and our feet felt it as we wandered around doing our morning tasks.  Another happy camper informed us it had been 5C during the night.

The late morning and early afternoon were spent in a leisurely walk which took us through fields and woods, along the bank of the river Saone.  In one of the fields on the way to the river we saw three grey herons. 

The Saone is a large navigable river, we saw several small boats motor down and up and one large Swiss river cruise liner travelling down.  There were a few people on the top deck, and a few on their balconies looking out.  It did not look very full, maybe everyone else was a lunch.

On the other bank there was a stork’s nest on top of a large dead tree.  There was even a stork standing there peering in.  On the river itself there were numerous grey herons perched on the banks.  In the river we came across a small group of juvenile swans still in their grey colour.

We continued the walk, through silver birch plantations and back to the campsite.  We should have passed through the village, but a slight navigation error caused us to bypass the village of Cormoranche-sur-Saone.

Back at the campsite we ate a late lunch and one-day old French bread which was soft and soggy. Actually, the pain complet does last a little longer than the white pap stuff the French pass off as bread.

I took a walk around the lake, especially to get close to photograph the TGVs as they trundled by.  They did not look that impressive in their speed here, maybe a slow section of line.  I did like the way that where the line divided, they built a bridge so that as one line crossed over the other it was on a bridge and not by crossing lines.  This presumably is to allow faster speeds and easier scheduling of trains.

Back at the tent, we opened a bottle of fizz from Borgognone and then started our burger and “chip” dinner.  Rosemary let herself down big time, the beans she thought must be French were from Rwanda.

Next door a British mobile home moved in, it also had a Silver Screen cover for the front windscreen.  Their’s though seemed not to fit as well and snugly as our’s does.

French pap bread ordered for the morning and a final JD nightcap as I write my blog and continue to read a Sci-Fi book by British author Charles Stross who used to work in IT from the 1980s to 2000.

Tomorrow is our last planned day here, not sure whether we are going to veg, or maybe we will look at the local sights.

France day 17 – Cormoranche-sur-Saone

Blasdale Home Posted on by

Well organised today, woken by the sun streaming into the window of the campervan top.  Out to the showers, showered, bed made and then I was off to the shop to purchase this damn French bread which goes off in an hour and a couple of pain au raisins.  We were soon packed and were off, paying as we left.  Oh the barrier on exit seemed to take a little bash as we left.  Seemed to appear rather sooner than I expected.

We were heading north, though the weather was improving in the south, it was also improving further north, so we were making a stop a third of the way up the country near to Macon.   This time we were paying and taking the A road all the way.  Most of the journey was uneventful, very windy as there were some definite lively moments as we passed trucks.  And oh yes the French experience the same problems as we do on the their two lane A roads where trucks try to overtake for miles and miles.  Traffic was delayed by one Spanish driver who took 10 minutes to overtake one truck.  The saving grace was the overtaken truck was forced to slow down a little later when it caught up with another truck. Five minutes later the carriage way went back to three lanes!!

We arrived in Macon after four hours and found a large Carfour, bought a couple of days food and wine, and replenished the van with fuel. (nearly 100 Euros as was getting empty).  The campsite was only 10 minutes away.  Across the river Saone in a village called Cormoranche-sur-Saone.  The site is called Base De Loisirs Camping du lac.  The campsite has large individual pitches with hedges and trees separating the plots.  There is a café selling bread and meals.  A large lake and swimming pool as part of the lake.   There is a downside,  a TGV rail line nearby which is used on a regular basis with trains passing every 5 minutes or so.  At least at night, I am writing this at 10.15 pm, the trains seemed to have stopped going by.  Hopefully a quiet night.

The evening was cloudless, our first satellite was spotted, and the pond is a haven for bats.  Importantly the mobile phone Internet connection is good. A great improvement on the Camargue!! 

We are booked for three nights, let us see what there is around here.  Google is suggesting some sites of interest nearby.