After leaving the park up near Guedelon I had quite a long drive to my next park up area, near Reims. At this point I was only a couple of days away from my shuttle booking, so had long driving days, with not much opportunity for sightseeing.

I had chosen a stopping point about halfway for lunch, almost at random, as there were some nice lakes and a river. I was planning to stop further on at a wildlife area but then spotted a wonderful medieval gateway, so parked up and had a wander.

I was in the small city of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, a popular area for boating, and water activities, and with some of the most impressive city gates that I have seen. They date from the 13th century, although one was rebuilt in the 16th century, and are set each end of the main road through the city. The city had a long history of being a defensive position for the kings of France in the early medieval period.

It was a beautiful walk along the river Yonne, not only were the gates very impressive, but there was a fortified tower next to the river as well.

As always there were some lovely buildings, with fabulous doors.

I love the detail on this old door, where the plants have grown over it and fallen off, leaving just the residue of their seed heads.

This is what I most enjoy about travel, especially the trips that I have been doing in Europe, so many unexpected lovely things en route. It has been such an adventure, one that I will remember forever.

As usual I had a choice of park ups identified for the night, but chose to go to a paid aire at a small town called Chateau-Thierry, on the banks of the River Marne. You can see the location just at the top of the map below.

It was a beautiful little place, with showers and toilet, as well as a washing up area, for only 8 euros a night. I spent a very peaceful night there, after a walk along the river.

I do so love spending time in Katy, she is looking wonderful now, with her new crochet bunting and new tins. I need to take a photo of my latest tin, and the last one, as I am now completely out of space, but in the pictures above you can see the new one that my friend Linda, in Spain, gave me last year, just below the fabric bunting. She collects vintage tins but passed that one on to me as she thought it was perfect for Katy.

It was so lovely, just sitting in the sun, reading and knitting. I am really enjoying my time here in Spain, but am so excited to get back to travelling in a few weeks, I have so many wonderful places to explore this summer.

Life here has been nice and quiet, with lots of crafting time. I am knitting quite a lot for charity donations, mainly premature baby hats, and in preparation for our Christmas fair for the food bank charity here. I shall be back at the weekend, with the last of the posts from France, of the final days of the trip.

Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

I was lucky enough to learn French from the age of 7 to 16. so my French is actually a lot better than my Spanish. One of the things I remember doing was lots of singing, including the song, ‘ sur le pont d’Avignon’… which means on the bridge at Avignon. I didn’t get to Avignon this trip, but I did get to see a stunning medieval bridge in the town of Cahors.

When I was route planning for this trip I had some fixed points that I needed to be at, but the rest was just looking in the general direction of where I wanted to be. That was how I found Cahors, which is the blue symbol just above Montauban on the map below. As soon as I saw it had an old bridge, and a park up, I added it to the stopovers list and I was really glad that I did, as it was a beautiful place to spend an afternoon.

The town is on the River Lot, in a wooded valley, so the drive in was lovely.

The park up that the town council have created only has three spaces, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to get in there, but there was a car park listed near it. I missed the sign for that the first time, and after a lovely detour up the sides of the valley, and some very steep roads, I spotted the sign on the way down.

This is why I love travelling in France, not only was there a large car park, but also a free bus into town in you wanted it. The park up also came with added chickens, sadly it was a bit wet the morning after so I didn’t get any free eggs for breakfast as they were all hiding.

However, I did meet some very nice fellow van lifers parked up next to me, a French man who had been fossil hunting nearby, the region is famous for pterodactyl fossils, and a French and Lithuanian couple who had just come back from 6 months in Spain. I love meeting people on the road, it is so interesting to hear about everyone’s travels. It is one of the best bits of van life.

The park up was a short walk from the river, so I wandered along the park beside it for a while, then into the town towards the Pont Valentre bridge. It was built in the 1400s, when Cahors was a very important town on the river for trade, and is a World Heritage site.

It is an absolutely stunning construction. There is a weir just beyond it, so boats pass through a lock under the end tower. You can take a boat trip up the river, and there were lots of people enjoying that and the little cafes along the river bank.

After the bridge there was time for a wander around the old town, there were so many gorgeous buildings, some in need of a lot of restoration, in the oldest part, and a beautiful cathedral.

It was a perfect day on the trip home, one that I will always remember. I was enjoying the driving so much, and it was brilliant to be off the motorways, and back on more rural roads. Just perfect van life!

I am back in Spain now, so fingers crossed my internet will stay stable and I can catch up with the many, many posts I have waiting. I have friends arriving on Sunday for a week, the same people I have just spent time with in Scotland and Yorkshire, so that will be brilliant. Before they get here I have to finish a dress and shoes for a fox, as one of them has just had a first grandchild. It is lovely to be back home, I would say chilling, but it is about 25 degrees, so a perfect temperature for relaxing.

I will return soon with more of beautiful rural France, until then, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.