Tour de France 2013

29th June 2013. It was with a great sense of excitement and noticeably less anxiety than on our first trip in March that we set off for the Eurotunnel. Our plan was to spend 2 weeks in France with the aim of seeing 2 stages of the Tour De France, one in the Pyrenees on the 7th July and the stage in Tours on the 10th July.  We would spend the first week working our way slowly down to the south of France and had decided to spend the first night near Mont St Michel as it was on my list of 'must see' places however as we approached Rouen we came to a standstill and could see miles of stationary traffic ahead. We were adjacent to a slip road and as we were reluctant to waste too much time and without the benefit of knowing the cause of the delay we decided to take it. This was the beauty of motorhoming, just being able to change our plans to fit the moment. We headed south and came to a beautiful little village called Nonancourt. There was a free Aire next to a park so we decided to stop for the night and explore.

 The village was very pretty with some beautiful Tudor buildings and  flower displays decorating the lovely little bridges where the river forked in to 2 and flowed through the heart of the village. There was a medieval festival with a firework display being advertised for that night  in the park next to us so after we had explored the area we decided to head back and have dinner so that we could go and watch the show. The medieval re-enactment proved popular with the locals and every seat was taken with many more standing.

 We were enjoying the display but fatigue was starting to kick in after all the travelling so we decided to head back and relax with a glass of wine while we waited to watch the fireworks from the comfort of our motorhome. As the first firework illuminated the sky I fell in to a deep sleep and managed to miss the entire display in spite of the fact that the loud explosions were almost overhead.                                          

30th June 2013. Our next planned stop was Longeville Sur Mer as Glynn loves the sea and was keen to be as close to the coast as possible. We set off with Glynn still teasing me about sleeping through the noise of the firework display and after an uneventful journey through some lovely countryside we arrived at our chosen campsite late afternoon.

 It was only 5 minutes to the beach through a small woodland opposite the camp so we headed to the beach and were delighted to find a beautiful wide expanse of sand. Both the campsite and the surrounding area were lovely so we decided to spend 3 days here. We spent the next 2 mornings cycling to La Tranche sur Mer and Jard sur Mer, exploring the local farmer's market and visiting the nearby beaches and in the afternoons we lay by the pool and relaxed as our excitement gradually mounted at the thought of seeing the upcoming stage of the Tour in the Pyrenees.

3rd July 2013. In order to ensure we reached the Pyrenees by the 6th July we knew we would need to start heading further south so we set off bright and early after making a mental note to return to the area another day. We drove through some beautiful scenic countryside and eventually arrived at our next destination which was a lovely little campsite just outside Sarlat la Canéda in an area called Proissans. We booked for 2 nights and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun ready for what we knew was going to be a testing ride the following day.

4th July 2013. The area around Sarlat is hilly and unfortunately for us the campsite was on high ground which meant an easy ride out but a much more taxing return. We cycled in to Sarlat and were delighted to discover a myriad of walkways and alleys flanked by beautiful medieval architecture.  Many of the buildings had long since been converted in to shops and galleries but the exteriors retained all the beauty of a bygone age.

 It was a delight to wander the streets admiring not only the buildings but the variety of shops and galleries both modern and antique offering everything from touristy souvenirs to local produce. After a café stop for coffee and cake we set off again to explore the surrounding area. We cycled to Cháteau  de Puymartin which involved some very hilly terrain. At one point we were going down such a steep hill that I was exceeding 30mph with my brakes on which was pretty scary. Unfortunately for every steep hill going down you know there is going to be an equally steep climb the other side and so it was that I was soon struggling up a steep incline barely reaching 8mph trying to keep Glynn within my sights and questioning my insane decision to choose cycling as my leisure activity of choice!! In spite of the challenging terrain we had an amazing day's cycling and eventually arrived back at the campsite feeling tired but exhilarated.

5th July 2013. After a leisurely breakfast sitting out in the sun we packed up and headed for Toulouse. We had chosen a campsite that was easily reached from the motorway and would give us easy access to the city centre via a cycle path along the edge of the Canal de Garonne. The site was a bit of a disappointment with stony gravelled bays and a lot of residential units. The only plus side was the amazing toilet/shower block which was one of the best of the trip so far. We went for a walk to explore the local area and discovered a gypsy camp next door and the whole area was scruffy and uninviting.  We decided to head back and wiled away the afternoon chatting to some fellow campers and relaxing in the sun before settling down to watch a DVD and have an early night.

6th July 2013. We set off bright and early and cycled in to Toulouse. I can't say it inspired us to want to visit

 again but to be fair we had limited time to explore so there was probably a lot more of interest that we didn't get to see. We are not really a fan of big cities other than for the architecture and we did see a few buildings that warranted getting the camera out.  We agreed that we would probably come back on a future visit when we had more time to explore and decided to cycle back to the campsite. With mounting excitement we packed up and set off for the Pyrenees. The scenery en route was amazing with beautiful valleys that stretched out as far as the eye could see and the snow capped peaks of the Pyrenees visible on the horizon. Our plan was to

park as close as possible to the Col de Mente but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men! We passed through some beautiful villages as we neared the foot of the mountains and when we reached Saint-Béat we took the D44 towards Boutx. The road started to climb more steeply and as the gradient increased so our speed decreased. Glynn dropped down to 4th gear and then 3rd gear. We made it just past Boutx but by then we were down to 2nd gear. Now you know it's time to pull over when a cyclist overtakes you!! Just kidding, although I am not convinced that a cyclist wouldn't have overtaken us if there had been one on the road at that time. With the engine temperature rising and a very real fear of the clutch burning out we decided to pull over on the side of the road. We admitted defeat and accepted that this was as high as we were going to get in the Pyrenees. There was a wide area suitable for parking so we levelled the motorhome on the ramps before making dinner. We sat outside enjoying the last rays of the sun, watching with envy as a variety of motorhomes sailed past with apparent ease, waving and pipping their horns at us.

7th July 2013. We were woken at 5am by the sound of car horns and people shouting and cheering as they drove past, probably heading to the very spot we had hoped to reach. We gave up any hope of getting more sleep and decided to embrace the atmosphere. We were so excited at the thought of actually being in a position to watch the Tour de France in the flesh as opposed to on the television.

We sat outside and watched the

changing shadows as the sun rose over the mountains. It was incredibly beautiful. Much to our surprise there were 4 other motorhomes parked alongside us that had arrived during the night. After breakfast we wandered up the road to see if there was a more suitable place to watch the race as we knew the cyclists would come past our current position at such high speed we would be lucky to get any decent photos. Luckily for us there was a double bend just half a mile further on which would hopefully help to slow them down a tiny bit. There was a safety barrier right on the second bend which would afford us some protection so we decided to go back and get our chairs and a packed lunch.

Prior to the actual race a caravan of advertising vehicles shower freebies on the waiting crowd and build up the excitement levels to fever pitch. The caravan took about an hour and a half to pass and during this time we were inundated with gifts from baseball caps and keyrings to cake bars and sweets being thrown from the passing vehicles. Then the race itself appeared and our excitement was immeasurable. I had my camera on rapid fire but sadly at the crucial moment it froze which meant I missed getting a lot of the pictures I had hoped for. However my disappointment was somewhat alleviated when I later checked my camera card and I had a picture of Chris Froome as he passed.

Even with the double bend the race passed us at an incredible speed  and all too soon the last cyclist had passed and the caravan of support vehicles appeared. Once the last vehicle had passed we gathered our bags of goodies (minus all the ones we had eaten!) and headed back to the motorhome. Once we had loaded everything we set of for Biarritz which was the next destination on our agenda. We arrived late afternoon at a lovely Aire adjacent to a fabulous beach at Anglet just north of Biarritz and we were lucky to get a space just as another vehicle was leaving. After a brief exploration of the beach we chilled with a salad and a glass of wine while we checked the photos of the race. It had been an incredible day and we were delighted to be able to cross that one of our bucket list. Unsurprisingly we were shattered after our early awakening and the excitement of the day so it was no surprise when we opted for an early night.

8th July 2013. We decided to spend the morning chilling and headed to the beach for a spot of sunbathing. It was a beautiful sunny day and we lay on the beach and read our books. At lunchtime we headed back for a bite to eat and then with some reluctance we decided we should leave as we had planned on spending the night on a vineyard near Blanquefort and we were keen to avoid rush hour traffic around Bordeaux.

 With only a minor delay around the ring-road because of roadworks we soon arrived at the vineyard which was set in the grounds of a château. We were delighted to accept the host's invitation to a wine tasting at their shop selling lots of local produce and we spent a very pleasant hour and a few euros trying their own wines and we wandered back to our motorhome clutching our purchases which included some very nice wine as well as a locally produced paté. We had discovered the vineyard in the France Passion book which meant, as members, we could stay for free. The area for motorhomes was in a beautiful setting adjacent to the vineyard and the horse paddocks and we spent a wonderful evening relaxing in the setting sun enjoying a glass of the local wine.

9th July 2013.   We awoke later than normal, a good sign of how relaxed we were. It was a beautiful sunny morning so we sat outside to eat our breakfast while we discussed our plans for the day. We were going to stop in Tours for the next 3 nights and we were spoilt for choice with campsites so decided to pick one that looked a nice cycle ride to the centre for the race. We set off after breakfast and had a nice easy journey to Tours. It was a beautiful hot day and we were keen to get to our destination so we could relax and sunbathe. We found a lovely little campsite with a nice pool and paid for 1 night initially. Thank god we did as it turned out to have the dirtiest shower facilities we had ever seen. Even wearing flip flops in the shower I still felt uncomfortable. On the plus side it was still a gorgeous sunny day and we laid by the pool reading for the afternoon  before walking to the local supermarket for more supplies. It transpired that the road from the campsite to the centre was not considered particularly safe for cyclists so even without the terrible state of the shower block we still would have left the next day!

10th July 2013. We set off early for the short journey to our next chosen stop and it turned out to be a lovely site with excellent facilities. It was an easy cycle friendly route to the race area so once we had parked up we decided to cycle in to Tours to check out where we would need to go the following day. After a lovely ride in to the centre to check out the location of the race finish we went back to the camp to catch some of that days racing on the television in the bar. It was a beautiful sunny day and we sat in the sun with a cold beer to watch the end of the race joined by some fellow cyclists of varying nationalities united by our mutual love of cycling.

11th July 2013. We set off bright and early, keen to get a good spot in which to watch the end of the race. When we got to the finish line it was only around 10am so there were still several hours to go but already there were thousands of people everywhere. It was apparent that we would not be getting a space anywhere near the finish line so we followed the route out and after only 400 yards there was a sharp bend leading to the home straight which would afford me a fantastic opportunity for photographs.  We hung our Union Jack from the railings and settled down to enjoy the day.

Chris Boardman was being filmed by a man on a Segway while he gave a narrative about the cycling and he was getting frustrated by the crowd spoiling the filming by shouting comments. They went backwards and forwards about a dozen times before it was finally "in the can".  There was a steady stream of people arriving all day and it wasn't long before the crowds were becoming 2 or 3 deep trying to get a good spot to view the race.

 As with the other stages the caravan of advertising vehicles came past showering the crowd with freebies and everyone was trying to grab everything they could. We were lucky that we had been inundated with gifts when we'd chosen the lovely secluded area in the Pyrenees. I had chosen my spot for this race carefully and I was rewarded with some fantastic pictures as the race finally arrived at the last bend before the finish line.

After the race had finished we went over to where the race vehicles were parked and I managed to get  pictures of Dave Brailsford and Mark Cavendish. The atmosphere throughout the day had been amazing and we'd had another really special day. We cycled back to the campsite with some fellow cyclists and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the last of the sunshine with a glass of wine and a pasta salad. 

12th July 2013. We decided against cycling back in to Tours to watch the start of that day's race and thought we would get a head start on the day by heading to Chartres before the traffic got too heavy.  We parked up about a mile away from the centre and cycled in. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours exploring the centre and enjoyed a lovely lunch before heading back to the motorhome. 

Chartres Cathedral

Our next planned stop was Dieppe so we set off as Glynn didn't want to negotiate Rouen in rush-hour traffic. The campsite for the penultimate night of this holiday was nice and clean but way too overcrowded for our taste and we almost felt squashed in like sardines. We decided against getting our bikes out again and instead opted for a quick walk over to the nearby supermarket to stock up on a few more supplies before spending a quiet evening reading. The proximity of fellow campers meant that it was also quite noisy and we were woken on and off until almost 2am by a noisy group of campers. 

13th July 2013. We decided to leave early as we wanted to cross over to Belgium briefly for some duty free goods before spending our last night on a lovely Aire at Grand Fort Philippe. The Aire was on the edge

of the river looking out to sea and it was a beautiful location. We cycled round to Houplines and followed the river down the other side to the beautiful sandy beach. There were a lot of people everywhere and there appeared to have been some kind of event that was now coming to an end and there was a real party atmosphere. After exploring we stopped at a boulangerie and bought 2 of the biggest cream cakes to take back with us. We spent a lovely evening sat on the river edge looking out to sea reminiscing over our holiday and cementing our plans to make this a reality for us every day rather than just for 2 weeks on holiday. It seemed a fitting end to our holiday when there was a big firework display from across the river and it reminded us of how our holiday had started that first night in Nonacourt when the medieval display had been followed by fireworks. At least I managed to stay awake to see them this time!! 

14th July 2013. We were awoken at 5.30am by lots of noise outside and looked out to discover that we had parked right next to where the Sunday boot sale sets up. It was soon obvious we were not going to get any more sleep so with good humour we decided to get up and have breakfast. After a brief examination of the goods for sale we quickly decided that there was nothing even remotely of interest to buy and we set off to a nearby service area to dump our grey water and toilet waste before heading to the Eurotunnel. Glynn noticed that our brakes didn't seem as effective and when he checked the brake fluid was low. After topping it up and watching it drain away in front of our eyes it was clear there was a problem. We phoned our recovery service for advice only to discover that as we hadn't phoned them before travelling to give the exact dates we would be abroad that we weren't covered outside the UK!! It was with some trepidation that we took a slow and steady drive to the tunnel. We managed to get an earlier train and it was with great relief that we arrived back in the UK. Glynn decided to carry on driving and would see how the brakes seemed as they were clearly working but just didn't feel right. Traffic was light and it was an easy journey back so it was with great relief that we arrived home and parked on the drive. We had enjoyed an amazing holiday and we considered ourselves very lucky that the problem with the brakes hadn't occurred when we were trying to climb the Pyrenees as that could have put a real damper on the holiday. We had also learnt a valuable lesson about making sure we read the small print on all policies in future!! Our first job the next day would be to get the motorhome booked in for a service!! It later transpired that the problem was something to do with the rear brake regulator thingy (too technical for me!!) and the motorhome was soon fixed and back on the road.