The Ham Nomads

9 Jan 2015. <FR> Mouzillon, Loire-Atlantique; Saintes, Charente-Maritime —

Woke up in Mouzillon, behind the church. Rather a gloomy day, good for driving!

France is in an uproar over the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday. We are a bit out of it all, but are still feeling the disgust! We keep seeing little signs saying "Je suis Charlie". The French pride themselves on their principles of free speech, and this stupidity hits them where their heart is!

We bought a baguette at the pâtisserie opposite where we parked. There is nothing of the village, so we drove southwards (and eastwards). The roads are great, the countryside green. Yes, we saw vineyards as we drove near Champagne. We've passed through some tiny villages, mainly because we are this time avoiding toll roads wherever possible — makes it more interesting. We've travelled through the Pays de Loire and the Poitou regions, and will be in Aquitaine, nearing Spain, tomorrow. We are still running the engine in, so our cruising speed is a leisurely 80-90km per hour. The speed limits on the non-toll motorways is usually up to 110km per hour, sometimes 130.)

On the way through Roquefort, we went round a roundabout with an interesting centre-piece — an aeroplane! France is fascinating!

We called off at a McDonald's for the usual internet time. The coffees in France are far better, but smaller! We can get used to that! Warren went out to the van and — guess what — he tried to skate on the wet and slippery tiles outside, and came a cropper — hitting himself (not so badly as before) in exactly the same spot. Not a goose's egg this time, just a sparrow's!

We eventually ended up in Saintes, a fairly large town on our way. There is an aire on the banks of the Charente, but it is closed for the winter. But we (and a couple of other vans) parked without incident in the carpark of the rowing club next door. Tomorrow we will go into the town and have a look around before we set off for points further south!

Distance driven — today, 132 miles ( 212 km ); to date, 10,562 miles ( 16,998 km )