27 August 2023

And so, far too quickly, it was time to say “good-bye” to the family and strike out on our own! From Douelle to St Emilion.

When we finally shook off Nick, Lucy, Annabelle, Adam and Jessie, we set off for our first campsite of the trip near St Emilion. I have to confess, our hearts dropped as we approached the site – this looked, at first glance, like our worst nightmare. Penny said it reminded her of Butlins (not that she’s ever been, mind you). A very well-equipped campsite to be sure but it was decked out with flags and pennants and had a multitude of child-oriented activities. Two swimming pools, a lake with pedal boats and kayaks, evening entertainments, pedal cars, scooters and bikes the kids could borrow and very small pitches. We had booked on the recommendations of various members of a Motorhoming and Camping in Europe group on Facebook which had been very helpful hitherto. Our criteria in seeking recommendations had been dog-friendly and a swimming pool (along with the “usual” facilities of toilets and showers). And several members had recommended this site. To be fair, there are not a lot of campsites near St Emilion and this one was very convenient, only about three miles from the town. It will do for a few nights, we said to ourselves as we proceeded to check in.

The very nice folks at reception directed us to our pitch. When we found it, we discovered that, on one side, there was a substantial tree which meant that the pitch was insufficiently wide to hold the campervan and the drive-away awning. Back to reception to see if they could find us another, slightly larger pitch. They suggested an empty pitch just a few steps away from our original. When we jogged down to inspect it, however, we discovered that it also had a tree, right in the middle of the pitch! At the third time of asking they did find us a pitch which we could just about squeeze on to. And so, we eventually set up camp and settled down with a bottle of wine and some cheese followed by an excellent dinner of some description.

In spite of our reservations, the site was fine. It was just aimed more at families with children rather than the more “mature” camper such as ourselves, particularly old and decrepit campers. We were only sleeping there after all but I did wonder why families with children would be visiting St Emilion anyway – it’s all about the wine – but then I remembered that French children start drinking wine in their infancy!

On the following morning we took ourselves into St Emilion for a bit of an explore. Penny and I had visited St Emilion many, many years ago, on a trip with my folks and you will be astonished to learn that it hasn’t changed all that much, still as beautiful and charming as ever. As we parked up and I was preparing to get some water and a collapsible drinking bowl for Daisy, Penny suggested that we didn’t need to bring any water – everywhere we’d been there were lots of water bowls set out for the canine visitors. Against my better judgement, I agreed and, of course, I was proved right – there were no water bowls anywhere! Thankfully, we soon came across the lavoir, the place where women of the village used to come to wash and rinse their linen. Now, there is a restaurant all around the edges but the pool with its running water is still exactly as it was – cool and clear and very inviting for a thirsty golden retriever. So, Daisy made herself at home in the middle of the pool and helped herself to a long thirst-quenching drink!

St Emilion really is a beautiful little town/village surrounded as far as the eye can see by lovely vineyards and gorgeously substantial chateau. We explored every inch and back alley pausing every so often so that Daisy could be admired by person after person after person. After absorbing all that St Emilion had to offer, we set off back to the campsite in a leisurely, round-about meander through the neighbouring countryside admiring the beauty of the uniform vineyards and the jaw-dropping grandeur of the many chateaux. Gorgeous.

On Day Two of our St Emilion visit we decided to give Daisy a treat – we would take her to the beach. Most everywhere so far she had been constrained to walking on the lead which she is not too wild about. At home she can wander and run restraint-free through the many adjacent fields but in France that was considerably less easy. So, we consulted our friendly Dog Friendly Beaches in Europe Facebook group and found one which sounded perfect only about an hour’s drive away.

That hour’s drive turned into a two and a half hour’s slog as everyone else in France had the same idea and was also headed to the beach! The traffic was horrendous. Eventually, though, we arrived on the coast at the site of the amazing Dune du Pilat. It is the tallest sand dune in Europe at a height of just over 100 m above sea level. It has a volume of about 60,000,000 m³, measuring around 500 m wide from east to west and 2.7 km in length from north to south. The dune is considered a “foredune”, meaning a dune that runs parallel to a shoreline, behind the high tide line of a beach. The dune has been observed to move landward, slowly pushing the forest back to cover houses, roads and portions of the Atlantic Wall. We did see tiny specks of people who were climbing the dune but sadly, it is not dog-friendly so we still had a ways to go.

Another couple of miles down the road we finally found a place to park and then a brisk walk of about a mile brought us out onto a splendid, sandy dog-friendly beach. After the long drive in the van, when she got to the beach Daisy went bonkers, racing around the sand doing handbrake turns and sprinting in one direction and then another. Worth the drive and relentless traffic!

The beach was gorgeous and very spacious and uncrowded – pity all the hordes of people on the beaches we passed along the way. There were a handful of other dogs similarly romping on the beach and enjoying the freedom. There were also a couple of surf school sessions on the go, a handful of folks swimming in the sea and a scattering of sun-worshippers.

The long “wharf” in the photos is a pipeline carrying water/treated sewerage from a treatment plant which has been cleaned and dumping it out in the sea. Not sure this idea will ever catch on – in the UK our water companies simply miss out the purification part of the process and dump the raw sewerage straight into the rivers and sea. Much more efficient and cost-effective leaving plenty of money for the shareholders.

The drive back to the campsite was considerably easier than the outward leg and we arrived “home” in time for another nice glass of wine, more cheese and dinner followed shortly thereafter by a splendid night’s slumber.

Tuesday morning, we were up bright and early to pack up and make our way to our next campsite.

To be continued . . .

As well as mainly trying to “recuperate” from the strenuous activities of our holiday, we’ve enjoyed having my youngest sister, Sarah, here for a few days. She’s off this weekend visiting a friend in Denmark but she’s coming back next week for a few more days. She is such a great houseguest, utterly undemanding and completely at ease enjoying the same things I do – sitting and relaxing!

And finally, Happy Birthday to this young man – yesterday would have been my father’s 100th birthday. It’s staggering to me that 100 years have passed since he was born – how is that possible? Pretty easy to work out when I grudgingly remember that I am 72 years old – how on earth did that happen?

Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, be careful, wear a f**king facemask in crowded places and keep your distance. And keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees.

Lots of love to you all,

Greg