Tag Archives: France

Day 32 – Mont Saint-Michel

Just another manic Monday. It was so nice to just hang around the campground some more. The sun rose through morning fog, the owner of the campground bought us fresh baguette at the bakery and the kids loved all the opportunities for play they had here.

We didn’t leave before 10am with a long drive to Mont Saint Michel ahead of us. Flo let all of us sleep a bit until we arrived at 11.45am. This is actually our lunch time but we hadn’t stocked up on bread and now we were in the giant parking lot with all these other people streaming towards Mont Saint Michel or the free shuttle buses. I just got caught up in all the commotion and the impressive mountain castle in the middle distance (3km does not look like a lot anymore) so we headed on in without having eaten.

The free shuttle ride was cramped full of people but it’s still a great service that you don’t have to walk the three kilometers with the kids. Plus, Number 3 was excited about another bus ride.

Leaving the bus on the bridge, you have ample opportunity to take in the view (and take pictures) before you actually enter. We arrived at low tide or rather what we thought was low tide but the water retreated even further in the time we spent there.

Going through the gates, you are hit in the face with tourism. Toilets cost 1€ even for the kids, there is overprized food on every corner and quite a lot of people everywhere. Still, the whole thing is impressive. The gate alone is very thick, the wooden doors plated with metal. Followed by layers and layers of fortifications around the hill with an abbey right at the top of it. It gave me quite the Minas Tirith vibe. Climbing up the ramparts, we had great views of the bay and fewer people to deal with. Up and up we went till we were at the steps of the abbey. Thinking it might be good “doing” the abbey before lunch since we were already here now, we bought tickets, audio guides and got in.

The abbey itself is a great structure as well. Many people have added to what was originally there so even here, you have layers upon layers. It is especially visible when you’re on the big west terrace which is also overlooking a lot of the surrounding coast.
Both kids were getting very hungry by now. The Agent had already been nibbling on her pain au chocolat for the past 30 minutes before trying to hand it back to me. A seagull that had previously perched on the low wall as a perfect picture-taking opportunity was suddenly airborn, grabbed the rest of the pain au chocolat, hit Flo in the face with a wing in the process and was off.

The Agent was startled, upset and hungry now. Flo was startled, hungry and hit in the face. At that point, the battery of our camera died. *le sigh* So we decided to get through the many, many rooms of the abbey quicker now to avoid disaster with the kids and only take a few pictures with the iPhone. Pro tip: Only go into the abbey if you have eaten already in order to properly enjoy all of the sights and information. 😉

The Great Hall of the abbey where kings would be entertained

By the time we left the abbey, we were hustling towards the next eatery. Both kids held themselves with surprising grace and reason so we had no reason to tempt fate any further. The next crêperie was ours for sandwiches and galette, the savory version of crêpe.

Now it was time to leave the small lanes of Mont Saint Michel. Taking the bus back to the gigantic parking lot, Flo and I thought about what to do next. The next rustic campground was half an hour away but in the wrong direction, back towards the Bretagne. In the direction convenient for our travels, it was another 1 ½ hours. Still, we opted for the second campground.

Given that there hadn’t been any charge points for our car at Mont Saint Michel, we planned a top up at a Lidl while shopping for dinner. Through a missed exit from the motorway which added another 20 km to our mileage, we were running REALLY low on charge. Then, the charger at Lidl wasn’t as fast as advertised, meaning we had to spend more time at Lidl while getting less mileage out of it than we had thought.

When we finally arrived at the campground, it was late and the car already complained about needing a top up. Pfff, that was a close-ish call but we made it. It added unnecessary tension to an already slightly stressful day. The campground turned out to be lovely though. We got in, plugged in the car, everybody had ice cream for dinner and we got the kids into bed. The fact that you could only pay cash here and we didn’t even have the 25€ for that anymore barely registered with me anymore. In the end, while Flo asked around if we could send anyone money via PayPal and they’d give us some cash, lovely people took pity on him and gave him a 5€ donation.

Day 2 – Cows in fog or find the best pastry in France

After a good night’s sleep, where the temperature dropped to surprisingly low 14 degrees, we were the first ones to get up at the campground. Everything was covered in fog. Our new neighbours on the pasture were hard to spot but their young ones had breakfast at the barn and they delighted our kids.

The calfs get some good hearty vegetarian breakfast too (small bugs not counted)

Even after breakfast, we were the only ones moving around the campground so we tried and failed to get the kids to be quiet. I feel like this is going to be a thing on this trip, especially with the Agent of Entropy. Either she’s going to be asleep, or she will get out as many words as she possibly can. Given that her repertoire is limited…that means a lot of repetitions.

Though we took a bit of time, we hit the road nice and early. Arrival at the Atomium in Brussels was 11am, but we hadn’t booked anything, not for the restaurant or even going up the tower. All the people there plus the queues convinced us to put “Belgium” on the list for a shorter holiday some time else and just look at the Atomium from the outside today.

it will take you more than a few moments to realise that he is not actually looking at any part of the structure

An overpriced grilled sandwich later, we explored the nearby park a little bit while walking back to the car. So far, we’re still in the pre-planned, getting-to-Ireland stage of the holiday and don’t have as much leisure as we’d usually have. Another 2 hour drive was looming for the afternoon to get us as close as possible to Calais as we’d booked the le shuttle through the eurotunnel for tomorrow morning, our best shot to get through the channel quickly.

Number 3 fell asleep in the car but since the Agent had already slept in the morning, she was wide awake and sang “Happy birthday” for about a 100 times.

Shortly after 3pm, we stopped at a cozy little bakery. Flo had googled a nice place for us to get coffee time treats as well as bread and a quick up-and-go breakfast for tomorrow morning. We all opted for pain au chocolate which will still be delicious, even a day old.

The campground this night is called “al la plage” and while I can’t see the beach from here, Flo and the kids have gone to explore how close you can get to the sea.

An hour later, they came back. Dinner was made from things we brought from home and we progressed into the evening routine.

Day 54 – A hell of traffic jams

The last thing of our trip dawned on us: Drive to the Netherlands and visit dear friends of ours for a couple of days before returning to Frankfurt in one go. Thus, today was a driving day. We wanted to get from North-east France through Belgium and into the Netherlands.

The sat nav told us that it’s about 400km which is 50km more than we did on long driving days so far. Better to get going then!

Despite the grey, low hanging clouds, we managed to pack everything dry. We had another hour to go in France which left plenty of opportunity to stop at one more Intermarché and buy some more pain au chocolat. In a combined effort we even got Number 3 to stay awake until we reached the supermarket so he could roam around before passing out in the car. So far, so good.

We made good progress until Number 3 woke up and it was about lunch time anyway so we stopped at a motorway rest. Having our own bread-and-cheese lunch felt slightly odd but it was definitely tastier than the McDonald’s option of the rest stop.

Things started to go slightly wrong from here. Back on the road, the ring road around Antwerp, we were instantly in the first traffic jam. What had been an 8 minute delay because of roadworks before we stopped for lunch was now a full blown jam, probably with an extra accident thrown in just for fun. It took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. For the next 45 minutes, we drove maybe 15 kilometers. The sat nav found other ways for us, off the motorway, but these started to clog up quickly as well and they also had roadworks. Baby was not amused with the whole situation and started screaming on top of all the other stress we already experienced.

Finally, finally, we were through this blockage and back on the road. However, Belgium had two more traffic jams for us and the Netherlands one small one. If you are wondering, why we were in so many of them…yes, traffic around the big cities is usually bad. However, we chose the Friday before a long weekend for our longest driving day so really, we should have known better.

Instead of arriving around 4pm, we met our friends at 5.30pm, dead tired and stressed out. Things got a lot better from here on out. We spent most of the evening at out friends’ flat, meeting their little boy (to be known as Mini van Bartang) and just generally catching up and eating pizza. Back at the camp site, we set up in record time and were in bed by 9pm.

There was a storm warning for this part of the Netherlands for the evening and night. Just in case, we left it to the tent and storm cover, planning to set up full camp tomorrow.

Did we get lost near Hogwards?
welcome to country #2 for today …
Motorway reststop
Yeah, better than McDonalds
nompf
Ah, Europe. Country number #3
Great shop from real adventurers
I think they might get along
Storms? Are they also lost in traffic?

Day 49 – Adios

That was it then – with our lovely riverside camp in the mountains, we felt like we had our fill with Spain for now. A brief debate whether to go for one more round of sightseeing in San Sebastian or take more time on our way back was quickly settled in favour of the latter. Anything but a rush now.

So off we went. Right away, we have to re-learn the doing distance part again. Fuel is a lot cheaper in Spain and the car was in dire need of a bit of a rinse after a bunch of dirt roads had left their dusty mark. So we stopped, before the border, not even 45 minutes in. So far so good, but Number 3 had already fallen asleep and his uncanny butt-sensor detected the stop right away. The rest of the pre-lunch drive portion was therefore a bit less quiet than we had hoped for. Oh, and I fumbled and got the wrong fuel (98 octane), so the whole saving money idea did not work out either. Thus, we left Spain.

So happy when he is allowed behind the wheel

Lunch was a nice change. We stopped in Bayonne and found a good spot near their fortifications not 5 minutes off the main road. We were at that point still on the “avoid toll roads” setting, which lead us through a lot of densely settled areas. But the spot was good, a lot of green for Number 3 to run around and get some pent-up energy out of his system.

After that, we gave up and opted for the 10 € toll to get us to Bordeaux – there is just no good alternative route. We went past and finally turned off to more rural highways to find our camp for the night. Another Rustiek Kamperen site, this was right up there again. It felt more like camping in a park, with trees dotted around a nice lawn and a distinct lack of fencing.

To top the night off, a Canadian overlander turned up on his 1200 GS. He gave me a good reason to open that bottle of Rioja that we picked up in the last Spanish supermarket and have a pleasant bit of shop talk.

The border here as right in the middle of a town so I missed the sign with the European flag
Lunch spot in Bayonne right next to the moat of the castle
Number 3 wandering off on his own to explore
So happy when he is allowed behind the wheel
Our spot for the night
Chance meeting with another long distance traveller

Day 104 – “Global Culture”

When Ted Simon was on his second trip, certain events unfolded durng that September of 2001 that would even impact a traveler, roaming the world on his motorbike. I remember reading about his experience of the events – how simultaneous connected and utterly removed he felt.

As we move about and explore Lombok, events have unfolded in the last week that may have an impact that has the power to break through and even touch us, here, a world removed. In the last week, Daesh has carried out thee terrorist attacks against foreign nations involved in the conflict in Syria, Iraq and Kurdistan. And as always, civilians have paid the price. 46 died in Beirut, 220 on a plane in Egypt and now over 120 in Paris. Through being online for the blog every day, but also just because of who we are and how we live we can’t escape but be touched by these events.

Yet it all is so strange, so far removed and so utterly saddening. Our filter bubble on Facebook shields us a bit from the hatred and the vitriol and the 20^th century nationalism that seems to be the inevitable result of such events, but we know it’s out there. Yet here we are, in the (democratic) country with the largest Muslim population in the world. We hear the muezzins’ calls every day. We eat, we talk, we smile and laugh with the people. We see them react and share the sadness. All sense seems to escape. We will do as feels right: continue on, watch, learn and prepare to come home and spread the world.

Today, as we were walking back to our accommodation from buying a beautiful fresh pineapple in town, Nina got side-lined. Three giggling girls obviously on their way to some kind of sport practice have waited on us to get a “selfie”. They were delighted when I offered to take the picture (clearly the woman was the attraction here). More giggles, honest thanks and smiles and we walked on with a great experience as they got to it sharing the picture on Facebook. … Oh, and they were all wearing the hijab.

We have escaped the “bule” or tourist circus in Senggigi and the traffic and heat of Mataram. Instead, we have arrived at the foot of the mountain once more. The heat is tolerable here, we are surrounded by immaculate rice terraces and gardens. All the noises are water flowing, frogs quacking and the occasional scooter passing by our guest house. Tetebatu is just the place we need to recover from our first encounter with a touristically developed area.

Nina’s input: Those girls were so cute! We passed them on our way down into the village and on the way back, they “ambushed” me with a request for a picture. I just wish we had our own camera with us. Flo took a “selfie” of the bunch of girls and me, cracking up laughing because I was about 50cm taller than them, while I cracked up laughing at Flo, holding out a mobile phone covered in “Hello Kitty” stickers.