Thursday 14th and Friday 15th December 2023
Val Des Vignes
Thursday saw us take the motorway south. A long and tiring day, travelling around 450km to Val Des Vignes, a “Camping Car Park” a few kilometres south of Angouleme. We arrived around dusk, just time to take in the views that our pitch for the night provided.
“Camping Car Parks” is a national network of unstaffed “aires” which are bookable ahead and provide all the required facilities, including electric hook-up, fresh water and waste disposal. This one appears to have been newly refurbished; the facilities were all spot-on.
After a quiet and restful night, we were due to meet up with Jeeves and Michelle (and of course Layla), in Saint Emilion, but first we visited our old neighbour Josette, in Montpon-Ménestérol. We have very little French and she has no English, but we seem to be able to communicate adequately, if sometimes a little awkwardly.
Le Pizou
The local river, “The Isle” had flooded and a large area of Montpon was affected, but we did not see this as our route to Josette’s house avoided any difficulties. When we left to head to Saint Emilion, we passed through the nearby village of Le Pizou where we could cross the river.
The last time we were in this area, there was a shortage of water and the Isle was very low. Not today though:
Apparently the French farmers have a dispute with the government, and they have taken up a novel way of protesting. As we travelled around, we noticed a number of village name-signs were turned upside down. In the photo below, an additional notice has been added, asking people to watch out for “delinquance” in an effort to stop it.
Saint Emilion
We arrived in Saint Emilion around an hour after Jeeves and Michelle, and as they too were feeling poorly with colds, they took the opportunity for a snooze.
When we arrived, we all had a wander around the town which is very picturesque. We have visited many times and now in all seasons.
The vast majority of retailers here are wine merchants. There also some gift shops but these were all closed for the season. We enjoyed a beer, sat outside in the town square. Not balmy, but not too cold to sit out, at least for a while.
There is clearly no shortage of money here, with some hotels/restaurants showing what I consider to be very high prices. One wine seller was advertising that you should buy a bottle of wine as a present, with a vintage matching the birth-year of the recipient. With prices from 78€ up to 14,000€, I was not convinced this was a good plan, even with the 15% reduction for tax on export.
The town is decorated for Christmas, so we decided to return after dark for another wander and see the lights:
"See-u-Later" 