Category Archives: France

Day 7 – Hola España

Second rainy morning on the trip. As it was on the bike, everything is just that bit harder when you are doing it in the wet. It effects the mood as well, and any bad vibe gets supercharged in the echo chamber that is the nuclear family. Somehow, we still manged to get off our camp site just in time to avoid late departure fees. It “helped” that Number 3 decided it was getting up time at about 6:30 am.

Plan of attack for today was to do a bit of light culture at the Dalí theatre museum on our way to get into striking distance of Barcelona. We archived the second part all right, at least. Oh, and we also archived the “no more bodily fluids in the car” milestone. Just a tiny bit apprehensive here …

The road was uneventful. We decided to indulge a little to be in Figueres by lunchtime – have the break, lunch and then tackle the museum. We had lunch atop a little hill next to an old fort. It definitely seemed like everyone and their aunt were out and about on this Easter Sunday.

Europe makes us war and fuzzy inside. Next country …

Same held true about an hour later, when we encountered the enormous line in front of the museum. A handy sign informed us that at that time (1 pm), entry slots around 3 pm were sold. Well, we tried. Since the parking was charged by the minute (odd?), we felt no rush to get back to the car and took at least a little stroll. It was also the first time we took our wrap for a spin since leaving. Felt like a good idea to have Number 3 in a wrap in a museum. Turned out, I kind of missed it – it was a real treat having him cuddle up close for a while.

Early check in and some housekeeping then – which tuned out to be a good idea. That way we got a nice and quiet spot before the park got packed jam full. It’s expensive, but a great platform for a full day in Barcelona tomorrow.

A thought about the housekeeping: I guess that is one of the differences between travel and holiday. A holiday is an indulgence for us – where you shed the responsibilities of everyday life for a couple of days. Traveling is more like everyday life for us. You cook, you wash and tidy the house. But it’s a different life – one where we are just a bit more free. But an attainable and sustainable freedom (apart from the money thing, of course) compared to the beautiful illusion that is a holiday.

Speaking of chores: I whipped up a delicious dinner from fresh asparagus from the market and a bunch of leftovers we still had in our pantry …

Our first glimps at the Pyrenees
Europe makes us war and fuzzy inside. Next country …
quick(ish) lunch break at a fort
So close …
… and yet so far
The little one all wrapped up and close
some installations were set up around the place
There were signs, graffiti and tags for catalan independence everywhere
look number 3, a mommy
cosiest spot on a cramped campground

Day 6 – Rest up (that’s the plan!)

We had booked another night on this camp ground already so today was going to be totally relaxing. That was the plan. And life always goes according to plan. 😉

The camp ground provided us with baguette, croissants and pain au chocolate so we feasted instead of having a normal breakfast. A bit of lounging and some well-deserved hot showers later, we packed up to walk into the “new city” which is actual Carcassonne and not the medieval old town.

This time it wasn’t so much what we could look at than how much we could get a feeling for French life on a Saturday before Easter. Number 3 took his place on his “throne” in the backpack and we walked through greenery and parks to the old bridge to cross over into new town. The first few alleys were rather abandoned but then we came upon a square with a market. So many things to look at, smell and wanting to eat! I ended up buying artisanal chocolate because…just because really. But we also got some fresh produce and things to nibble on.

At noon, we were already hungry. Lonely planet provided us with a suggestion for a place to eat so we sat down in “L’Artichoke”. The waiter was very friendly but he also talked to us super fast and we didn’t understand why. Until it clicked – he was the same waiter from the tapas bar yesterday! Such coincidence! 🙂

Flo asked for a recommendation on which dish to get and went with the first thing that was named: A risotto with roast pork. I chose the vegetarian lasagne and Number 3 was happy to charm people around us and trip up the poor waiters. The food was good, especially Flo’s. He loved it. It must have been all sorts of delightful and delicious. With a crème brulee as a dessert afterwards, I was also happy and full.

We headed back towards the camp ground looking forward to a nap. Baby already napped in the backpack. So by the time we were back, Number 3 was rested and not pleased with us being such lazy spoilsports. I tried for quite a while to get Number 3 back to sleep, but no chance. It was playtime!

By 4pm we headed out to buy groceries for the next couple of days. Easter is coming. Shops will be closed for a day or two. A bit knackered, we hopped in the car for a 5min drive to the hypermarche. This was the point where the satnav decided to play a weird trick on us and get us somewhere into a residential area. Number 3 started to make unhappy noises and I started to stress.

It took us maybe 15min to get to the right place. By that time, the unhappy noises had also stopped. We parked, I turned around and froze. Number 3 had vomited all over himself and the car seat and then fallen asleep. The next 10 min were spent cleaning up a baby in a parking lot…a baby that desperately wants to hug you while being covered in vomit. Then, the car seat had to be cleaned as best as we could. Afterwards, we went shopping in a bit of a frenzy.

By this point, I was very tired and hungry. But then we also had to refuel and then we had to really clean all the dirty gear and then we had to have dinner and then I finally brought Baby into bed. Puh!

Our lovely, relaxed, slow day turned into a bit of a mess. It was still quite a good day. Except for the faint whiff of toddler vomit that hangs in the car …

Carcassonne cité
The old bridge
Planning with a map
Little explorer
Market square
Fresh produce
Cheap oranges
Asparagus for Easter
Flo’s risotto – heaven in a bowl
Driving to the supermarket, we left behind a pile of our stuff
Cleaning up the vomit
Regional wine

Day 5 – Too many meeple on my cité

The night was interesting. Nina definitively had more issues with the wind than I had. The wind kept up at about 40 km/h all night – just about what our tents “ok for” rating was. I think I agree. It was about as loud as to be expected in a tent, but no structural issues or weird out-of-shape-ness.

Number 3 loves them, but Nine seems to be enjoying herself as well ,..

We wrapped up in record time and were on the road by 9:30 am. To have a good half-day in Carcassonne, we allowed the routing via toll roads – which was about 50 km longer but an hour faster. Turned out that the quickest way was a bit roundabout via Toulouse.

Good thing about toll roads are the excellent rest stops though. We could take our lunch on a quiet one just next to the canal du midi and be at the campground first thing it opens for new arrivals. We debated going to the old town first, but the camp was in a premium location apparently within walking distance of the attractions. It definitively had the views. We were all prepared to pay through the nose, but in the off season, prices were reasonable for a prime location. Good thing that we went here first. Soon it was almost filled with Spanish Easter holiday makers fleeing a spell of rain on the costa del sol. We got an excellent spot tucked away from the road but close to the facilities. Judging by the neighbours, an area reserved for families with toddlers!

Given that we had absolutely no plan to even be here a week ago, and mainly went because … well … you know, Carcassonne … gamers … you get the point. Given that, we were pretty chuffed with our first pick for sightseeing. Of course the old city (cité de Carcassonne) is mainly a large tourist attraction. But maybe due to the stubborn occitane spirit it has managed to stay just this side of the “Rüdesheim” point of disneyfication.

It was also a good test for the “kraxe” – the backpack-like baby carrier. It works, and Number 3 wholly approved of both the “throne” mode as well as the easy opportunity to stretch his legs from time to time.

We learned that we have to adjust our biorhythms a bit, though. Trying to find food at 5 pm falls right in the dead zone between the 3 pm end of lunch and the 7 pm start of dinner time. We still managed to scrounge something together – a bar with a super chill garden area near the wall had enough tapas to get us through. We even struck up a bit of a nice conversation with the next table over traveling with toddlers.

By the time we hiked the easy 30 minutes back to the camp, we were set and happy to add a day to recharge and refocus. 5 days straight on the road is quite enough, even without the little one. So we hopped by the reception and checked in for another night – the great little spot and clean facilities more than justified the 20% mark-up over our other campsites so far. Or maybe it was the promise of an actual French meal out, with some more time to plan it right …

First look out the window
and this is what we see
just peaceful pastoral land
two thirds of the family on the beach
strong wind and sort legs make for teary eyes
Number 3 loves them, but Nine seems to be enjoying herself as well ,..
the walk towards the cité
the main fortification – with walls to the inside and out 😉
he loved playing the tourist
bubblegum heist failed
old and new
former Cathedral, now downgraded 😉
why the long face?
he is a bit slow on his short legs … yet
quiet allys are the best for toddler strolls
the “new” city propper
the fortification look a bit farytale-ish
what an approach
silly even with 20 kg load
Beautiful evening light

Day 4 – Not quite in season

We woke up to sunshine on our still lovely, municipal camp ground. It was even warm enough to go for muesli rather than the warm porridge this morning. All in all, it was just a great start.

Our typical morning stop at a bakery yielded apricot croissants this time as well as the usual baguette for lunch. Number 3, who has adjusted to sleeping in a tent now (so much so that mornings start earlier again), was a good sport and fell asleep for about an hour so we could make some distance.

We still didn’t have a grand plan but at least we had a short term one: To make it to Carcassonne on Friday to actually spend some time there and explore the city. Thus, today’s goal was to get a little over halfway there and camp somewhere nice and quiet. Flo and I decided against the Rhone valley as we both had been there in previous holidays, and opted for the hillier and less touristy road towards Carcassonne. Flo’s search on ioverlander showed a lake with a couple of camp grounds which would be lovely for today. However, they were some distance away and it would be a stretch to get there. With Baby sleeping so nicely already, we decided to see how far we would get.

Number 3 woke up shortly before lunch which we used to stretch our legs as well as have food. Surprisingly though, number 3 fell asleep again at about 2pm so it looked like we could make it. We decided to try. As these thinghs tend to do, it didn’t quite work out. After waking up, Number 3 was displeased of still being trapped in a car. In a combined effort with snacks and a book we managed to shush baby for the last bit. The last 10km were pretty bad though.

Happy to finally be at our end destination, we hopped out and….had to hop in again. This camp ground looked abandoned and wasn’t opened for the season. There was no way to get baby back into the car that didn’t involve a lot of screaming and tears.

The next camp ground was just 10min further down the road, we had almost made it! Even though we could park on one of the camping spots,no owner was around and, more importantly, the sanitary facilities were locked. Also closed? Oh man! There were another two camp grounds a bit further and Flo was intended to keep going until we find an open one. I myself, not to speak of Number 3, had had enough though: I actually called the tourism office of the region and tried my horribly rusty French on them to find out which bloody place was open. It turns out that none of the camp grounds were open yet.

The helpful lady directed us towards two different camp grounds on a different lake though so we could see the silver line on the horizon. Another 15 min in the car though. The situation with Number 3 became nightmarish. We stopped one more time on our way there to buy dinner and then arrived. All was well now! Sigh of relief! Wait, why is the barrier down? Wait, what?

This camp ground was also closed and I was close to a screaming fit. One more f***ing try!

Luckily, the final one was literally three minutes down the road and ACTUALLY BLOODY OPEN! And on the lake side. We were still the only guests staying there. While finding a good spot to camp, we realized just how windy it was. Quite windy. With the rooftent, it would be shaky and loud in such a wind.

In the end, we tugged behind one of the cabins for rent (all of them were empty), popped up the tent, had a quick dinner and all went to bed. This day had been long enough and now it also started to get really cold. Number 3 had difficulties falling asleep and was only satisfied when mama AND papa were in the tent and all flaps were shut. I opted for sleep as well while Flo listened to the live stream of his local football team winning to go on to the next round of the europe cup.

one of many picturesque villages we came through in the masif central
I would have loved many of these roads on our bike …
… but they are actually quite fun with the nimble blue george as well
this is more compfortable than before …
Wile he was still in a good mood ….
everybody loves these lunch stops.
A bit off the road, perfect places can be found
Nothing he will not demand to try … liked that one, of course
we were suprised how many of these gilet jaune camps …
… we saw near roundabouts all over the place
very european scene. The bridge lead to a great gorge road
coming down from the pass
quite high up at 1400m
more road, good fun for Flo
Nina is convinced that he will climb all the way by the end of the trip
little green man
Dinner makes you smug
Number 3 gazing longingly out over the windy beach

Day 3 – What do we want?

This is probably the least planned trip we have ever taken. One reason was obviously that we were somewhat busy in the last year or so. The other is that we, frankly, have become pretty road hardened. It just does not worry us to not know what tomorrow will bring like it used to.

The downside to all of this is that we have not had the long planning conversations to alingn our expectations and get exited about places. Neither the long days researching our destinations. So it is day 3 now, and we are getting more and more a hang of our setup. That brings the issue even more into focus. What do we want?

I mean to get to Portugal, first of all. But that is a bit of a useless thing to know. If we just wanted to get there, we could have flown, or taken the train. Good weather and beautiful nature then? Well, why not stop at the first opportunity then, like southern France? Should we push south; rest a bit; go to Spain and start exploring then? Quite frankly, we haven’t figured it out yet.

But we know that today was a good day. Smooth start. The sun came out (but not too hot). We like the campsites we are finding through iOverlander. Traditional sites, but a bit off the beaten track. And empty anyway, so early in the season.

To top it all off, Number 3 slept a lot during our 2.5 hrs of driving. Worth taking the motorway for a bit from Dijon just past Lyon to get to camp nice and early. 4 pm was a perfect time to catch up on the blog, cook dinner and even get a shower for all of us in time.

We will have to figure out what we want from this trip, though. Maybe tomorrow …

Day 2 – A new routine

The night in the tent was nice, cosy and…not too good. Number 3 had some trouble adjusting and also some belly pain. However, since we got about 10 hours in the tent, it just had to be enough.

It was still rather cold though. Temperature had dropped to around 1 degree and with the sun not quite over the tops of the trees, it hadn’t really warmed up. So we dressed and made breakfast to enjoy a hot beverage of choice and warm porridge. 🙂

With this under our belts or rather in our stomachs, we decided to take it slow. This is a holiday after all. With yesterday’s push, we could use a breather. So Number 3 got a bit of playtime and we walked to the lovely little lake of our camp ground.

Packing up was a little rough and tumble – our system is not completely in place yet. Everything fit back in which is the main thing.

Leaving at 10.45am, Number 3 was tired again already and I was quite hungry. I’ve forgotten how it feels like to be outside so much – how hungry you get and how sore my face felt. Despite sunscreen and it only having been a day. With the baby asleep within a couple of minutes, we had a smooth drive until lunchtime, only interrupted by a short stop at a tiny boulangerie to buy baguette and, of course, pain au chocolat. Both were delicious but only one survived until our actual lunch. 😉

Around noon, Number 3 woke up so we considered lunch and bought cheese and sausage before stopping near a bit of forest and having a yummy, filling but still rather cold one. Even a hot tea couldn’t make the coldness go away completely. Cuddled up in our gear and an extra blanket, I still was glad to get back into the car. It had started to rain as well, so surely today was a good day to get some mileage under our tires….wrong. Number 3 was very unhappy in the car so we stopped again after 30 minutes. A big intermarche looked just like the place to pick up groceries and give Baby the chance to walk around a bit more. The store was ridiculously big. There was a whole aisle just filled with yoghurts.

Another long stretch to the camp ground followed. Flo had picked one from ioverlander that looked nice, just as for our first night. This one had a picturesque drive up a hill, overlooking vineyards. But it was closed when we arrived. The camping season obviously starts a little later than mid-April here.

It was still drizzling and we were getting really tired and hungry, at least in my case. The next, definitely open, camp ground was another 30min away, which wasn’t too bad. Setting up camp there took close to no time, especially since Number 3 had another little nap. Because of the rain, we used the tarp which turned out to be enormous and give us a lot of dry space to sit under and cook. Baby was prepared with rain gear and gum boots….and had a lot of fun.

Our new gas stove proved to be quite good in getting hot quickly, Flo made the most delicious and already French-inspired dinner for us including potatoes and the rest of the munster cheese from lunch.

The late afternoon and evening felt a lot like a great holiday again … my mood is very dependant on how well Number 3 is feeling, to be honest.

Any problem over there, sir?
And so it begins …
Playtime at the beach
Roadside lunch stop
Eat, child, eat! ;P
Munster cheese and smoked sausage
No! Tea!
But coffee!
Rainy camp spot
There is no bad weather, only bad gear

Day 1 – Mistakes to learn from

Does it make it better to know that you are going to mess something up the first try? A little bit, I suppose. We are by no means greenhorns when it comes to travelling. Yet, it is inevitable. There will be mistakes. After all, we are trying something new for us. And most importantly of course, this is the very first time number 3 is experiencing anything like this.

First mistake: Our newest crew member has a LOT lower tolerance for chewing kilometres. No iron butt to win on this holiday. It obviously did not help that we allowed him to fall asleep for his mid-day nap while still at home. But look at him. So adorable, who could interrupt su… wrong! Sleep now means no sleep later – and the car seat is the only valid daytime napping place for this trip.

sleeping_linus — Bad mistake – should not let him have his nap before the car

So why did we tarry until lunch time? Well, our pre-packing over the weekend showed a fatal flaw in our overall packing strategy, which meant last minute adjustments and thus an early morning trip to the hardware store. What was the issue? We thought we could keep our sleeping gear in the tent. No chance in hell! With the thicker mattresses, the moisture barrier mats and the inner tent, there is not even enough space left for a sheet. I know, I tried. I think I opened and closed the iKamper Skycamp about 10 times on Sunday trying to somehow make it fit.

So without fully re-doing our luggage and throwing out a substantial amount, I had to find space some other way. I ended up taking out half the rear seats – something I intended to do anyway. But for that, I needed a bloddy T50 torx bit, hence the trip to the hardware store. It still is quite the squeeze. To fit everything in. But everything is secure and the rear view is not obstructed.

That left us with one final goal: Getting going – far enough away that if feels like we have actually gone. That was a bit of a known mistake from the get-go, given the afternoon start. In the end, we made it in a crunch. 340km to a super lovely campsite in the French grand balloon region. A bit too much driving in one go, a bit late on the arrival, but necessary for our minds to feel like we are actually on the trip for real.

Setting up camp was almost as easy as imagined. Even though we arrived at 6pm, we had a full spaghetti-and-home-made-sauce dinner and were all in bed by 9pm. The temperatures at night explained why almost no one else is camping here this time of the year, though. It was about 1° C when we crawled into our plushie-down rooftop cave.