Campervan Therapy

Souillac The swimming pool is sardine-packed in Souillac’s Camping Les Ondines – and it’s 40C – at first glance it’s not a promising prospect. But it borders the Dordogne and the restaurant has cheerful red and white chequered table cloths on long trestle tables. Under fairy lights on a mellow evening it’s French enough to…

I choose Camping du Lac de Mondon, in Haute-Vienne’s Cromac, from the ACSI book, merely because it’s 14 kilometres from the free A20 motorway. But first we’re stopping off at Domain de Candé in Monts, as the nice young man in Azay-le-Rideau’s tourist office recommended it. Domain de Candé – Monts This is a generous,…

The Château A visit to the Azay’s château beside Camping Le Sabot is a must. The limestone glares so much it hurts my eyes. The vine-stuccoed loggia tricks me into thinking I’m in Italy. To be fair, the Renaissance took hold here in the Loire Valley, beauty becoming a goal in itself. Leonardo da Vinci…

The Local Auction Seán’s mother, Betty, reads in The Wicklow People that there’s an auction in Clara Vale. We take her so that she can catch up with old friends. As we cross the arched stone bridge, SS Patrick and Killian’s white church nestles under an escarpment, roses riot over a cottage door. A man…

Glendasan River The textures of schist, shale, pink veined marble are clear in Glendasan River’s waters. The sudden silver of Galena shines from the river bed as I leap across the stepping stones. Water boatmen scud across the water, and circles radiate out from small fish surfacing. St. Kevin’s Way St. Kevin’s Way takes us…

Himself groans as I shout ‘Follow that brown sign.’ But he slings the van up the winding military road, over the purple heather-clad mountain, from Laragh to Glenmalure as if he’s in a Hollywood car chase.   Shekina Sculpture Garden The only sign that we may be at the Shekina Sculpture Garden is a granite…