Day 7 - Hot and sweaty
Saturday 16th July 2016
As usual we are the only ones up and about early. It seems to be the norm on these campsites. No-one appears before 8am or later. To my mind they are missing the best part of the day.
The sun rises above the mountains that surround this pretty camping ground. We have breakfast at the camp cafe, croissants, bread, jam, coffee and orange juice. Full service has been restored this morning.
It's very quiet as the camp stirs itself into life.
We are on the road soon after 9am with the prospect of a long boring day of autoroute driving ahead. We have to cross the vast plain that separates the Pyrenees from the Alps. With around 350 miles planned for the day I have opted to take the autoroute toll roads
We will travel past Carcassonne, Toulon, Avignon and Marseille before leaving the motorways and heading up into the hills to the western end of the Verdon Gorge.
Traffic problems beset us almost immediately. I guess it is the first day of the French summer holiday season and the roads are choked with traffic. Stop-start for mile after mile. We are lane splitting, sometimes with the cooperation of the car and wagon drivers either side of us, and sometimes not.
It's a long, hot and sweaty day with the temperature rising to mid 30s and not a cloud in the sky. It is particularly aggravating that we are paying tolls for this driving hell. It costs €25 for the day, but because we are swapping autoroutes we have to endure numerous pay stations with their associated kilometre long tailbacks.
After 10 hours of this it is a massive relief to finally leave the autoroute system and climb up into the hills of the Verdon National Park.
We poll up at Camping Saint-Jean in the pretty village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie at 8pm. We are all exhausted.
Mick and I stayed here last year. It's lovely. Very inexpensive, just €24 for the three of us together. There is small shop and cafe and a pizza van that is open in the evenings. There is also the famous 8.6% ale we remember from last year.
As usual we are the only ones up and about early. It seems to be the norm on these campsites. No-one appears before 8am or later. To my mind they are missing the best part of the day.
 |
| Quiet in the early morning |
The sun rises above the mountains that surround this pretty camping ground. We have breakfast at the camp cafe, croissants, bread, jam, coffee and orange juice. Full service has been restored this morning.
It's very quiet as the camp stirs itself into life.
We are on the road soon after 9am with the prospect of a long boring day of autoroute driving ahead. We have to cross the vast plain that separates the Pyrenees from the Alps. With around 350 miles planned for the day I have opted to take the autoroute toll roads
We will travel past Carcassonne, Toulon, Avignon and Marseille before leaving the motorways and heading up into the hills to the western end of the Verdon Gorge.
 |
| Chaos on the autoroute |
Traffic problems beset us almost immediately. I guess it is the first day of the French summer holiday season and the roads are choked with traffic. Stop-start for mile after mile. We are lane splitting, sometimes with the cooperation of the car and wagon drivers either side of us, and sometimes not.
It's a long, hot and sweaty day with the temperature rising to mid 30s and not a cloud in the sky. It is particularly aggravating that we are paying tolls for this driving hell. It costs €25 for the day, but because we are swapping autoroutes we have to endure numerous pay stations with their associated kilometre long tailbacks.
After 10 hours of this it is a massive relief to finally leave the autoroute system and climb up into the hills of the Verdon National Park.
We poll up at Camping Saint-Jean in the pretty village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie at 8pm. We are all exhausted.
 |
| Very relieved to arrive at Camping Saint-Jean |
Mick and I stayed here last year. It's lovely. Very inexpensive, just €24 for the three of us together. There is small shop and cafe and a pizza van that is open in the evenings. There is also the famous 8.6% ale we remember from last year.
 |
| Dreaming of a free Yorkshire |
Comments
Post a Comment