Where's Bertie? He's at an Aire in the small town (/village?) of Cavignac, to the north of Bordeaux. It's free to stay here, but there are no services. (Exact location: 45.10030, -0.39213)
Weather: Mainly sunny. -3 degrees as we set off this morning, +7 on arrival.
That may seem like an odd photo with which to start today's blog post. It was taken at bedtime last night, when I realised that my gum shield (essentially a small, transparent plastic device) was missing and that, having carelessly left it loose on my bedside table (which is above head height), it had possibly fallen down a heating vent behind one of the lounge chairs. The photo happily confirmed that it hadn't, without me having to start unscrewing panels to check. It was eventually located on the floor some distance from its starting point. Phew!
When I'd briefly ventured outside, just before this drama, it was apparent that it was going to be a cold night. The coldness can also be judged by what time the heating first kicks in, and last night it was early - at just 1am (I may have mentioned before: the heating in Bertie is really quiet once it's running, but for about half a second as it fires up it sounds like there's a jet engine igniting).
It was certainly crisp - and slippery underfoot - as I ventured out for a quick walk at first light. That walk took me past the Boulangerie, and it would have been rude not to nip in for a couple of croissants, as the town had been so kind as to give us free motorhome parking.
Sunrise over the frosty fields
The old washhouse, which was decomissioned in the late 1960s. You may also spot Bertie and a couple of chums.
Much driving, with stops for elevenses, lunch and a change of driver, occurred between 0930 and 1515. It was just after that final driver-change stop (from me to Mick) that I started investigating the somewhat odd direction being given to us by the Garmin SatNav. Much head-scratching ensued until I finally realised that we'd crossed over the Greenwich Meridian today, but that I'd programmed both SatNavs with an easterly longitude coordinate, when it should have been a westerly. Thank goodness we didn't just blindly follow the devices or we would have had quite a surprise at the end of the day! Happily the correction cut 40 minutes off our expected journey time.
We both remembered the Aire where we're staying tonight (graveyard one side of us, grapevines on another), but somehow its slopiness had evaded our memories. The flattest corner was already taken, so we popped Bertie in the next best spot and nipped out for a walk. On our return we found the flattest spot now vacant, and Bertie was soon settled into his new abode. What a blow that must have been for the original occupant, when they returned from (presumably) the shops five minutes later. They retaliated by parking *right* next to us in what is a fairly large car park containing only 3 vans.
(Notes mainly for my own future reference: We took the A10 around Tours today from J19 to J24.1 (having always had navigational issues around Tours, it seemed like the easiest and quickest option). It cost €3.50, was 9km shorter, was more fuel efficient and saved a good chunk of time. Definitely worth the money. We also took the A10 from J29 to J30 around Poitiers. That cost €2.10 and quite probably wasn't worthwhile. It might have been worth nipping onto the A10 from J26 to J27 around Chatellerault, but we should try the road to the E first, as today we took the road to the W.)
Weather: Mainly sunny. -3 degrees as we set off this morning, +7 on arrival.
That may seem like an odd photo with which to start today's blog post. It was taken at bedtime last night, when I realised that my gum shield (essentially a small, transparent plastic device) was missing and that, having carelessly left it loose on my bedside table (which is above head height), it had possibly fallen down a heating vent behind one of the lounge chairs. The photo happily confirmed that it hadn't, without me having to start unscrewing panels to check. It was eventually located on the floor some distance from its starting point. Phew!
When I'd briefly ventured outside, just before this drama, it was apparent that it was going to be a cold night. The coldness can also be judged by what time the heating first kicks in, and last night it was early - at just 1am (I may have mentioned before: the heating in Bertie is really quiet once it's running, but for about half a second as it fires up it sounds like there's a jet engine igniting).
It was certainly crisp - and slippery underfoot - as I ventured out for a quick walk at first light. That walk took me past the Boulangerie, and it would have been rude not to nip in for a couple of croissants, as the town had been so kind as to give us free motorhome parking.
Sunrise over the frosty fields
The old washhouse, which was decomissioned in the late 1960s. You may also spot Bertie and a couple of chums.
Much driving, with stops for elevenses, lunch and a change of driver, occurred between 0930 and 1515. It was just after that final driver-change stop (from me to Mick) that I started investigating the somewhat odd direction being given to us by the Garmin SatNav. Much head-scratching ensued until I finally realised that we'd crossed over the Greenwich Meridian today, but that I'd programmed both SatNavs with an easterly longitude coordinate, when it should have been a westerly. Thank goodness we didn't just blindly follow the devices or we would have had quite a surprise at the end of the day! Happily the correction cut 40 minutes off our expected journey time.
We both remembered the Aire where we're staying tonight (graveyard one side of us, grapevines on another), but somehow its slopiness had evaded our memories. The flattest corner was already taken, so we popped Bertie in the next best spot and nipped out for a walk. On our return we found the flattest spot now vacant, and Bertie was soon settled into his new abode. What a blow that must have been for the original occupant, when they returned from (presumably) the shops five minutes later. They retaliated by parking *right* next to us in what is a fairly large car park containing only 3 vans.
(Notes mainly for my own future reference: We took the A10 around Tours today from J19 to J24.1 (having always had navigational issues around Tours, it seemed like the easiest and quickest option). It cost €3.50, was 9km shorter, was more fuel efficient and saved a good chunk of time. Definitely worth the money. We also took the A10 from J29 to J30 around Poitiers. That cost €2.10 and quite probably wasn't worthwhile. It might have been worth nipping onto the A10 from J26 to J27 around Chatellerault, but we should try the road to the E first, as today we took the road to the W.)
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