Certainly looks like you had good weather
Cant wait for next bit!

PART 2

We had a tremendous storm one evening at Nazelles-Negron and it last ages with very loud thunder and extreme lightning flashes so we just sat under Baza's blind and really enjoyed the show accompanied by copious amounts of Vin rouge,

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our route across the bridge down to Ambiose
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enjoying a deserved drink at the contest in Amboise

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It was at Nazelles that Baza, Mark and me went on our 1st fishing trip and what a disaster that ended up, we had not been fishing a couple of minutes when Baza caught a lovely 3 to 4lb Carp, unfortunately he had not tightened the clutch and the fish was zooming around the lake at a great rate of knots and thats when while I was assisting Baza the fish got Baza's line and mine tangled and by this time we also had Marks line tangled as well, it was turning into a comedy of errors when we finally got the fish to the bank, but in our panic I had not extended the landing net handle and could not quite reach the fish down the steep bank and that is when the fish looked up at us and    then    unhooked itself and was free for a proper fisherman to catch it. That was the start of a unhappy fishing trip  

We decided to stay an extra day as it was a bank holiday on our proposed leaving day and that you mean heavy traffic and full Aires, so a day relaxing was on the cards. We left Jan and Bazza their as they wanted to see some more of the area

We left on the Tuesday after a very nice stay in Nazelles-Negron and headed for Saumur to an Aire that was once a campsite but now it was closed, so the local council let you stay there for €5p.n. with fresh water, grey/black dump and fresh bread each morning, a pleasant spot for visiting the Camembert caves and Vin caves which are all around the site.

The intrepid pair Baza n Mark decided to try their hand once again with the fishing but alas to no avail (do not think we are cut out for fishing as further details will show) We only stayed the one night as we wanted to go to Bouchemaine Aire so the following morning we set of for that place with a lovely drive alongside the Loire river bank for much of the way.

After crossing the bridge we turned into the Aire to find that you needed a degree in technology just to get in, getting back out later was worse   
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Parked up a stones throw from the river, a heavenly spot, and so handy for fishing again but at least we had one, well Mark did, I did not of course.   
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It was here that I cooked my lovely Barbara a stunning meal to say thank you for all her hard work (there will be comments I am sure) all while Rina was sunning herself   
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We went for a smashing Italian meal whilst here a short walk along the riverbank, and the food was excellent so good in fact the French were queuing to get in, a real great meal at a very reasonable cost.
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We had a lovely few days here before Jan and Bazza left heading for the Brittany region and they are still enjoying that wonderful area still.
We left and headed for La Fleche camping (not the Aire as its too noisy and close to main road) and there we met "French Frank" and there was a reason he was called this as when we mention our "Frank" he thought it was him, so we had "French Frank and Scouse Frank" problem solved   Lots of stuff for this part so more tomorrow as it's "Ten Past"  

Part 3

We got settled down at La Fleche on pitches alongside the river and the path into town which is only a 15min slow walk to the centre [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The town centre is very nice and has the proverbial square with many nice restaurants/cafes and bars as well as all the local shops/banks and tabacs in main street and we picked out a nice place for a meal later on.
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We are accosted by some funnily dressed people in the main Square, handing out leaflets, there was Batman and Robin and some others that I cannot remember but we thought aye-aye we are going to get a show, so a beer was on the cards, not long after Baza had gotten the leaflet translated and it was for giving blood at the local school, do not think my blood would pass any H&S test as the vino content is probably higher that the blood count.   but as least the clown was slightly amusing,
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Baza, Mark and myself decided we would go find a place to buy our 1st fishing licence (  ) so we got on from the Camp Bar which is not actually on the campsite but on the way into town, so we €10 for 1 days fishing and then we needed bait, so after much discussion we eventually got an address for a shop a couple of miles out of town, so of we set on our trusty steeds, but as the translation was not perfect  we got from "french Frank" we could not at first find it, so after searching for a while we got the exact details from a nice lady in the garden centre so of we scootered and got our bait, and some floats, money well spent you would think, not a chance as we spent most of the next day catching nothing, just feeding fish, do not think this fishing is for us.

Absolutely loved La Fleche site, we had great company and could even have a bit of a giggle with French Frank, we even found a guy and his wife that had the Reg. No. 25 (that's all) so as we are discussing this reg. number between Mark and me I decide to go and ask him.
Apparently it was a company vehicle reg. No. on Guernsey and when the company decide it was no longer required for promotional work they gave it to this chap, it's now worth in excess of a staggering £100,000  and will be handing it down to his son when he stops driving.

It was here that Mark had a nasty accident whilst cooking some lovely lemon sole goujons, Mark and Baza are happily supplying us with the goujons when all of a sudden the locker door Mark was using as a table and has used many times before, collapsed under the intense heat of not only the heat from the cooker but the sun did not help as it was scorching, he had very hot Oil running down his leg and quick thinking by the ladies getting the cold water and later some Aloe Vera from the lady from Guernsey, he has now fully recovered thank goodness.  

So after a few days in La Fleche it was time for Julie and Mark to head of for Mont St Michel and then home for them, sad to see them go but worked beckoned Julie so off they went, we decided to move on as well so we picked an Aire at Sainte-Jean-Sur-Mayanne and a pretty site it is, excellent facilities with EHU if required, toilets/showers and hand washing sinks all set in well maintained grounds and even a river for fishing at the end of the site, perfic.

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A very pleasant afternoon and evening followed a nice hot shower and a nice meal, then a few vin rouge in the hot evening sunshine, chilling and relaxing, will deffo return here for a chillout.

Next morning after a lazy start and good breakfast we headed for Pont-d'Ouilly which on paper look very attractive, it was probably was once upon a time but it looked like the council have cut down on the site maintenance as the was very long grass growing on some pitches and the hedges separating each pitch were badly in need of a trim, so much so it was quite a while before Baza found the free EHU buried in the hedges.
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Gettin out of Pont-d'Ouilly was a wee on the tight side for me Baza and me as we both have m/h over 8mts and it was only a small exit area so be careful if you have a big one. So now we plan some seaside sites and our 1st one will be Etretat next morning, so now thats it for now have to go look at cakes for a certain lady.

Great blog Bob  

I am enjoying your blog Bob and noting sites as I intend having my first trip over the water soon.

Just to add another photo of the famous lemon sole goujons we cooked up.
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Nice one Mark, gotta get down to finishing the rest of the blog, just feel to tired at the mo.   

These are some pictures from the La Fleche part that I have just received so I am putting them in here before continuing with the blog   

Waiting for the "permis de peche"
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Just a swift one before our meal in a restaurant around the corner (main square in La Fleche)
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OK fish here we come   
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Paella day, yummie
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Part 4

I did not feel to good at Pont-d'Ouilly and spent most of the time in the m/h but Baza got some fishing in and I recovered enough to have a wee slurp in the evening (well it is compulsory). We left morning but getting out with long m/hs is not easy as there is a small roundabout near the exit and it is difficult not to run over it.

Well now for some seaside and of we toddle to Etretat to a smart municipal at very reasonable costs and only 5 min bike ride/15 min walk to town centre and then the lovely beach with stunning view in all direction, its my 1st visit here but will not be the last.

Campsite is shut for 3hr lunch  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Good size pitches with ehu 5A/6A extra[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Facilities are via a keypad gate and are well equipped, there is a childrens play area and a boules pitch
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The town centre is beautiful with many restaurants and shops and meules everywhere   [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

yummie meules [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The views from the beach are truly beautiful (well some of them   )
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Well some of them are   [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Really did enjoy our few days here and Baza actually rode his bike up to the church (well apart from the last 50mts) as it is a very steep climb so well done Bradley    So our next port of call is Honfleur to the huge Aire very near the town centre and is definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. This section should have been before Etretat so please forgive my mistake as my dementia has set in earlier than Barb thought, not changing it all now "sorry"
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The lovely Rina [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The good looking Bob having a lovely meal relaxing in the sun with a glass of vin rouge   [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Down by the river watching the container ship heading out to sea[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And this is Buffy heading over the Pont de Normandie, thanks for the pic Rina   
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Well after a lovely time in Etretat ("sorry again") it is time to be heading northwards a little more so after a wee chat we are heading for Le Crotoy Aire.
Don't think Le Crotoy was the right decision for us as it was very full, very windy, very dusty and very very "hot" so we stayed but 1 night and moved onto Fort Mahon Aire, it was quite full here with school buses and m/hs but we got parked up eventually and headed for the town and beach and a pretty place it is with a lovely wide boulevard with many shops and bars/restaurants, and a beautiful long sandy beach with safe swimming and good sun bathing, ooh lala.
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Well after a ride around then the hunt for patisseries was on for Rina the cake queen of France, and it was then that I did a Rina, Baza and Barb and fell of my trusty steed and landed up base over apex (or as Eddie Waring said on TV arse over tit) it was my fault as I was looking for a watering hole (thats a establishment for alcoholic beverages for the less informed   ) and completely missed the raised curb, damn those frenchies.

Well I survived much to Barbs dismay, and after and wee beer we headed back to the Aire to discuss our next move, which had to be getting into the Calais area so we could stock up on the essentials before we left these sainted shores.

Next the plan was to head for Calais to get some vino from Carrefour   then go and park up for the night at Calais Plage which we did then had our final restaurant meal in the one directly outside the Aire, the food was spectacular, the steak was the finest I have ever eaten anywhere in Europe but at €15 for a bottle of house wine that we decline and paid €5 for a bottle of water, but it was a perfect end (nearly) to this wonderful trip.
as you can see it was not quite as hot here in Calais.
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Next morning we went to Pidou's for the rest of our supplies and after that we went to Cite Europe to spend the night before catching the train next morning, that after we found out we are a day early   so it cost me €5 to change the ticket, think they charged Baza €8 not sure why, we did try and park up at the dog check area but we were not welcome without a hound, I did ask Rina to hide in the bathroom and bark if anyone came near us but she refused   

Whilst at the cite europe aire we encountered a couple of lets say "neer do wells" who were obviously up to no good and keeping an eye on then for some time we noticed some rather strange and alarming action from them, they suddenly jump up and strolled over to the coach park area when they immediately started climbing under two parked coaches, I was keeping a beady eye one them and when they finally disappeared into one coach, someone called the police    and after a good few minutes they arrived.
It took them quite a while to locate them and they put them in the cars, had a chat smacked the hands and let them go, what else could they really do but it a strong reminder that "Cite Europe" is not a safe refuge for the night unless you have a good alarm and are aware of what can happen, you need company lots of it on there.

Next morning we arrived at the terminal and started to get loaded almost immediately, and some lovely pics again from Rina.
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Well after a coffee with Baza and Rina in Buffy while we speed through the tunnel it was our last chance to say Thanks to two lovely people whose company we so enjoyed the whole trip, also we thank Julie, Mark, Jan and Bazza for their company on the trip as well, everyone I think enjoyed it as we did, so leaving the train we set off to meet the family at Conkers, parting company with Baza n Rina at the M11/M25 junction, so with a wave we go our separate ways for a short while hopefully, Thanks again everyone.   

Barb n Bob

THE END

Excellent Bob , really good summary of a great trip , thanks to you and Barb , Mark n Julie and  Jan n Bazza for all the good times we had .

Rina has just read it all for the first time ,she must have enjoyed it she  was so excited I had to throw her a bone  

well done bob,great photos and a well told blog.and most of all you all had a good time. 

Nice to read your final part after we parted company, looks like you found a couple of nice places on the coast which we will visit next year sometime enroute.
Look forward to seeing you all soon.
Mark & Julie x

Thanks for your comments, we really did enjoy the trip and we will deffo be returning to some of the places.

Thanks for the blog Bob..
Nice to read about our travels and what you got up to after we left you....
Seems so long ago..

We enjoyed the blog Bob, interesting to see where you stayed and what you thought of all the places and glad you had a good time.  Hope to see you both before too long, give up on the fishing!!

Enjoyed the blog Bob and it almost looks like it was missing Wilsthorpe for     

Great Bob thanks   
I'm heading for the Mosel next Saturday  

We did Etretat
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And Fort Mahon
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In May

Looks like a Rapido meet Andy!    nice to see you online mate.

Cheers Mark yes we did come across a lot of Rapido but nearly all lightweights lol.
Still get lots of onlookers with having left hand drive with UK plates in German plate holders