Tag: France
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Brittany and Decompressing in Damgan, Stepping into the Past in St. Malo

Brittany extends a relaxed welcome to us as we appear in Damgan, positioned in the Gulf of Morbihan natural park. Camping Célimène squeezes us in for three days, even though we have to move pitch each day, one bijoux pitch next to the recycling and one on top of the children’s playground. But so many…
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Gascony’s Aire-sur-L’Adour to Charente Maritime’s Fouras-les-Bains

Weaving down through the Pyrenees from the Somport Tunnel is stunning, under cliffs and through gorges, vultures swooping above and the rushing River Gave d’Aspe. When the mountains give way to rolling hills and fertile fields, the vineyards appear. We stop in Aire-sur-L’Adour’s Camping Les Ombrage de L’Adour, beside the lazy, green river, the ancient…
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Arnes –Catalonia’s Els Ports National Park – Biblical Thunder Storms, Gorges and Rushing Rivers
We drive beside the Ebro Valley’s green waters from Tortosa, but sheer drama builds as we climb up into the Alta Terra, the Els Ports National Park, on the border between Catalonia and Aragón. Rust-coloured cliffs are sculpted by the elements into obelisks, cones, and mysterious giant creatures. As we near Arnes, the mountain crags…
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Why it’s impossible to zoom through France – From Dieppe to the Med’s Béziers
The plan is to bomb through France to Catalonia for our Spring tour. The minute we park up in Dieppe at Aire Camping-car Dieppe, there’s the usual magic, with the lights from the narrow restaurants reflected in the port’s waters, the masts of the sailing boats, the ghostly chalk cliffs, and Notre-Dame de Bonsecours looking…
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The Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean Sea at Collioure – home of the Fauvists and the iconic Hôtel des Templiers
From the minute we hit the D81, the sinuous coastal road to Collioure, memories assail us. We had many happy holidays here with our teenage children and a collection of various friends. But there’s more to celebrate here than memories, the Pyrenees undulate down to the postcard blue sea, the vines cling to the hillsides.…
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Dieppe Again and the Start of Our February Campervan Therapy We fail to dodge the pelting rain at home as we pack the van up. But the Channel from Newhaven to Dieppe is calm today, providing just a gentle rock to my dozing. Notre-Dame de Bonsecours stands sentinel on the chalk cliff, guarding Dieppe’s port,…