Not much to report today.
We set off from the yard at the back of the garage for Avignon after some breakfast and coffee/tea, at about 8:30.
The concept of using a back yard to house camper and with a minimal toilet and shower setup was quite appealing. We were right in the centre of things yet we felt we and the van were safe.
We filled up with diesel in Lucca and headed for the autostrada. We had 603km to munch before Avignon.
Avignon is actually a few hundred km out of our way. Ideally we should be going home through Switzerland. But Sue really wants to see Avignon and this may be our only chance to do it in the relatively low heat of October 🤷♂️
Not much to report on the route though. Satnav took us on a bit of a detour around xxx as we came off the motorway and took the coast path. We guessed that nav thought it was quicker that way but the traffic was still really slow around Vado Ligure, south west of Savona, as there was a “swim the island” event going on on the beach. Perhaps the nav had got as bored as we were and took us to see the swimming!
The rest of the day was pretty much as yesterday, 4 chinks of 150-ish Km with the two of us taking turns.
Sue called the Aquadis Loisirs campsite a couple of times to put a deposit down on an electric pitch, but I think there were probably a few spaces anyway.
The campsite is one of a chain that we’d visited before, last year. So when Sue said what her surname was, they already had her details, which freaked us out a bit. Then we realized it was a chain of sites and we relaxed a bit!
Here’s some pictures of the rather boring blast…
We must have gone through 30 tunnels today. And I suspect getting close to €100 in paege fees!
And by about 5pm we landed in Avignon, which was the best site we could find on Park4Night. It’s almost directly across the river from the Papal Palace but that tomorrow means we have a bit of a walk / ride to the nearest bridge and through the old city walls into the city. Even so, we’re right next to the city and it’s probably only a 10 minute cycle into the heart of the town.
I think we thought the same of the sister to this campsite in the chain. Tired. So far it’s all been very clean, and the reception staff weee ultra friendly. But there are loo doors that have clearly been fixed many times and the Formica coverings on various loo and wash panels are faded and tatty. It’s fine, but feels like it’s was designed in an age where camping wasn’t touring 🤷♂️
We have a 10 am entry to the palace booked for the morning, so no need for an early start. However, it’s forecast to rain for most of tomorrow, so we’ll have to see exactly how much of that we are prepared to put up with before retreating to the van again.
We’re both very much ready for home now. But we’re in two minds (maybe even three) on how to get home. We’ve had enough of epic views and fantastic history, but we’re also both feeling, for want of a better term, sea sick, when we stop driving. We’re both getting out of the van after a few hours driving and finding we’re quite unstable on our feet. So, long hours in the saddle is probably not a good idea.
Our options are:
- Blast back in one day (that’s about 12 hours of driving and the Chunnel, so about 18 hours elapsed). Do-able, but neither of us are up for that sort of commitment.
- One overnight stop somewhere around Lyon.
- Or two overnight stops that we can’t decide upon.
We’ll have to see how we feel after “doing Avignon” tomorrow.
Unlike almost every other campsite on the trip, this one is almost pitch black at night. It’s a relief to not have lamps blaring all night. But I suspect the owners are doing it to save money! However there is a plentiful supply of hot water, great for washing up. The loos are clean and have loo paper, but no seat or soap. Well you can’t have everything.
There’s 3492 miles on the odometer this evening. And 1350km to home on the Nav.
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