Two things happen when you tell pub landlords in France that you’re from Wales. They shout ‘Ahhh Rugby!’ and then there’s a lock-in. So here I am in the passenger seat of a Citroen Bellingo, hungover as hell on the road to Switzerland.
We’ve just
spent 3 brilliant days in France as part of a road trip to various destinations
in Europe which are by now whittled down to 3 countries as we only have 2 weeks
and really don’t want to rush things.
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| Wamin, Frnace |
As a couple,
we have roles on this trip. Sally is the designated driver and in charge of
camping gear and I’m in charge of cooking, locations and destinations in
general. So my first job was to decide where to stay for the night and punch
the address into the Sat Nav. Easy.
Not easy. No
one told me that there’s more than one Saint Quentin in France so an hour into
the journey we realise we have driven a whole hour in the wrong direction and
end up in a little village called Wamin right in the countryside of France
which really is rather beautiful. Getting lost has never been so much fun and
here I discover that Sally’s French is brilliant and we manage to
buy all the essentials; Fuel, wine and cheese.
Back on
track we drive for 3 hours south to Saint Quentin where we pull in for the
night in one of France’s many municipal camping sites. These are dotted all
over France, well sign posted and are absolutely brilliant if you’re travelling
through the country. They provide a cheap place to pitch up (this one was only
€8) with fantastic facilities such as hot showers, toilets and an indoor space
in case it rains so you can take your food over and sit under cover. All of the
facilities are spotlessly clean and a far cry from some of the campsites at
home, especially the festival variety! Many of them also have outdoor or indoor
pools. The French really know how to look after mobile holidaymakers. If this
were the UK, these sites would have been sold off to private developers long
ago and the beautiful parks now the site for ugly, generic apartments.
The
following morning we head towards our first ‘proper’ destination on the trip.
Geraudot is
in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, and as the name suggests, there’s
plenty of the stuff around.
Driving
towards the town of Geraudot, you know you’re in a really special place as the
land opens to rolling countryside, forests, lakes, farmland and smallholdings
producing cider, honey and champagne every few miles.
Pitching up
at L'Epine Aux Monies campsite opposite the lake, again we realise how well the French
do campsites.
Excited, we
dismantle the bikes from the rack and go for a spin around the lake. You can
see why it’s referred to as a beach, with its soft, grassy shores and pure,
clean water.
The
following morning we cycle around the huge local reservoir and marshland, which
is a national park full of protected wildlife where storks roam freely with
swans and herons play happily by the water on the little islands dotted around
the lake.
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| Cycling by the lake, Geraudot |
A 30k drive
down the road took us to Ville Arc, one of the many villages on the champagne
trail in the Ardennes region. We pass
miles upon miles of vineyards, stunning chateaux and quaint villages. Driving
through the maze of narrow streets, hidden courtyards, and intimate houses cut
from stone, we pass scores of champagne makers and can almost taste the grapes
in the air.
Yet getting
your hands on the stuff is quite difficult. We didn’t realise you have to book
an appointment to get a tour of one of the vineyards and they are so exclusive
that I guess you’d have to roll in with a lot of cash to buy cases , not just a few bottles like we were looking for.
Lucky for us
we couldn’t be bothered to cook at camp that evening and so walked to a local
pub/restaurant up the road called Bar Les Templiers.
Walking into
the bar we realised it was more of a working man’s pub than a restaurant where
no one spoke English but the beer was flowing. Perfect.
Making the
effort to speak French, no matter how bad it is, really does gain you a little
respect from the locals. Noticing the landlady was drinking some of the local
champagne from a bottle encased in ice, we jumped at the chance to try a glass.
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| Ville Arc, the champagne village |
Before long
we were on our 2nd bottle, perched at the bar with the landlord and
his wife, Sylvie. The bubbles had had
their desired effect and Sally’s French was in full swing, even my very limited
French seemed to improve! The party had definitely started, so Sylvie locked
the pub and put her favourite French crooner on full blast, while her husband
got out his French rugby gear and started blowing on a horn.
Now THIS is
how you should drink champagne in France! Aware that we actually needed to be
able to walk back to camp, we tried leaving, but Sylvie would have none of it
and insisted on more champagne (on the house) and dancing. Her husband asks us
to write down our date of birth then disappears to a back room behind the bar.
He comes back with a book each for us to keep as souvenirs on our travels. Both
books were printed on our respective years of birth containing the town’s
general news and statistics from that year. This is quite possibly the most
bizarre but wonderful parting gift we’ve ever been given and we promise to
treasure and look after them.
It really is
time to leave now while our legs still work but the
landlord insists giving us a lift back to the campsite.The welcome and hospitality they showed us at this bar was second to none so if you are ever in this area, do drop in and make the effort to speak to them.
landlord insists giving us a lift back to the campsite.The welcome and hospitality they showed us at this bar was second to none so if you are ever in this area, do drop in and make the effort to speak to them.
The
following morning we wake up in the tent with the biggest champagne hangovers
ever known to man. We take hot showers, down black coffee and painkillers and
set off for Lake Geneva…
Camping L'Epine Aux Monies €30.20 for 2 nights (price includes 1 tent pitch, 1 car +
2 adults).
Facilities:
Showers, toilets, laundrette, electricity, bike hire, restaurant + bar.
To see our
camping food recipes just click here.
