Monday, 11 July 2016
It turned out to be a perfect place for a rest day. Although it was all alone on the highway (except for the half-dead hotel next door), the camping ground had everything that we needed.
The day turned out to be every bit as hot as predicted. We congratulated ourselves on having so many spare days in our itinerary, thanks to Keith’s swollen leg.
When we rose at the leisurely hour of
Meanwhile we went to the snack bar and had a full French breakfast at a table overlooking the pool.
We had apple juice, yoghurt, a full baguette, croissants, butter, jam, a pot of strong coffee and a jug of hot milk.
As usual, no plates were provided and we spread crumbs all over the table. The coffee came in a plunger and we drank it in the traditional way from bowls.
We lay about at the pool, then had a rest in the tent.
In the afternoon we took another round of coffee at the snack bar and ate the left-over croissant from breakfast.
A slight amount of rain fell, and when it stopped we did a little reconnaissance walk past the hotel, to check the way for tomorrow. Meanwhile the daily flood of caravans began to arrive.
It was still very hot in the evening, so we sat next to the open window, surrounded as before by hamburger-and-chips eating Dutch families, and had an introductory green salad, followed by pasta with bolognaise sauce, which was small but delicious and plenty for us in our shrunken state, especially with a demi-litre of red wine to help it down.
During the night there were storms, but we remained dry and untroubled in our wonderful tent.
Previous day: Beaurepaire to Clonas-sur-Varèze