Day 2: St Marie du Lac Nuisement

Happy birthday James! Sent an early message to Jim this morning,and messages continued throughout the day and into the late evening. 

Another day of late 30s temperatures! Cope very well. We stayed a second day here at St Marie du Lac because there was plenty of shade and cold water to ease the heat of the day - and we had good company to share the day. 

 

Jim's party at du Lac! It continued well after sundown.  He was sending pics of his dinner in London. 

For the past two days we have had a constant flyovers from the French Airforce fighter jets. It started early this morning and continued all day. In a peaceful place like du Lac the roar of the flyover is quite daunting - imagine what it would be like if you were actually in a war zone - horrendous!

 The Hilton standing proud at the front of the line! 

There were comings and goings with the motorhome contingent today with a lovely French couple pulling in besides us and a Weksh couple a little further along. All interesting folk in their own way. 

Today was the last day with Dirk and Brigitte.  It has been a fantastic five days with them through this Champagne district. They are heading east tomorrow while we are heading in a southerly direction towards Troyes. It will be sad to say goodbye, but we will meet up again in future travels. 

We had an evening meal together and then many liquors before it became too dark for any more. A cold shower again and then to bed to write is blog. 

 View from the Hilton towards the lake. 

St Marie du Lac Nuisement

Left this morning with plans to meet up with Brigitte and Dirk in St Marie du Lac but we were not sure what would be installed for us in purchasing a new tyre for the van. Very often places don't carry tyres of our requirements. 

Our decent from Mutigny to Epenay was like a tourist route through the Moët and Chandos vineyards thanks to TomTom taking us through the narrow back roads - but I must say, very scenic. 

 The Moët and Chandos vineyard as seen from Mutigny. 

We were pleasantly surprised this morning at the Euromaster (tyre place) garage with the friendly and prompt service. It all seemed too easy - especially when noneone spoke English and our French is very limited.! Job done and discovered that they had put twin new tyres on the van! So, in the heat, the chap turned around and replaced our old good tyre on the spare-tyre rim. All still very friendly, we paid and then left with our one new tyre. 

We left Epenay late morning and traveled southeast along the Marne River. As soon as we were out of Epenay, the home of Moët, the vineyards ceased and the landscape was that of mixed agricultural land. 

 Marne Canal boat. 

 Mixed farming along this area. 

We arrived at St Marie du Lac early afternoon with the temperature at 37 degrees. We took up a position in a shaded area on grass but was told that this had caused a problem for some Belgiums last week with the police being called - very un-French like! So, we joined the line.

 ... in one straight line ... 

We enjoyed the afternoon relaxing in the shade of the trees around the lake - a cooling breeze to make it all bearable. 

The sun setting over the lake. 

Day 2: Mutigny

After the excitement of yesterday today has been a day of rest and relaxation. Coupled with the fact that it was going to be climbing into the mid-30s today, we took the opportunity to seek shade and relax. Mutigny is an elevated village and so it seems to catch a cooling breeze often to keep the temperature bearable. 

 The Hilton seeking the shade of the poplar trees. 

We had last evenings crowd - five motorhomes - leave early this morning but a new lot - 4 vans - started to arrive after 3 pm - all seeking shade too!  

After dinner this evening we went for a long walk around the village. Families enjoying an evening meal outside in many of the homes. Again, the village is very neat and clean with three or four cellar door vineyards dotted around the village. 

Not a lot else to write about today!

 

   

Mutigny

Always excitement on our journeys around France! Today was no exception. Started the day cruising in Coucy-Le-Chateau and finished the day in the delightful Champage village of Mutigny. 

 

 Relaxed Helene at the beginning of the day.

 

The view from our overnight stop in Mutigny - perfect vista as far as the eye can see. 

 

Another view of our overnight stop. 

We left Dirk and Brigitte at Coucy planning to meet up again at Mutigny in the Champagne region in an hour and a half. It was over three hours later when we all finally arrived at Mutigny. 

 

The picture tells the story! 

Happily travelling along through the beautiful Champagne region when we felt and heard a loud banging sound coming from the rear. We stopped twice to check tyres and anything else that may have been hanging underneath and causing the problems. Finally found a rubber support to the exhaust pipe had broken - great,  problem solved so we thought. 

We were near an aire (parking area) so we stopped there and were immediately helped by lovely French people celebrating Fathers Day. They helped getting some wire to replace the broken rubber support. 

 

Our great French helpers. We left a bottle of red and a small koala as thanks. Then they thrust upon us a bottle Bertrand Champagne - "When in Champagne you drink champagne!" a loose translation from their gesticulations and French. 

 So, on our way again, waving goodbye when the noise started again - bugger! Problem not fixed and it was not the muffler exhaust. We looked again for the problem but we're unable to locate it. Still being 40 minutes away from Mutigny we decided to travel at 25 km per hour for the rest of the trip. It seemed to get worse as we neared Mutigny. We limped into the delightful over night stop overlooking these very famous vineyards. Then we could see the extent of the problem. Wow! Lucky to arrive with the tyre still fully inflated. 

 

Busy boys! 

More help emerged from the pack in the form of an English guy, David, who was quick to get out his jack and wheel-wrench to get the tyre off. But first we had to unload the undercarriage of the van to get the spare out - first time in six years we had set eyes in it! It, fortunately, was in good condition. Tyre changed and all was well. 

But, where were Dirk and Brigitte? They ought to have arrived long before us! It was another 15 minutes before they arrived with their own stories of delay. A broken draw in their kitchen area while travelling causing  damage. Their GPS also sent them along a route that had a low overhead bridge preventing them to arrive at the overnight spot - thus causing an extra 12 km to retrace their travels. But all arrived safely in the end. 

Earlier in the day happily picked blackcurrants to make some jam on the road. The Coucy aire also provided some herbs to dry for later use. 

 

Blackcurrant pickers. 

In the evening we all sat around to share a meal and some drinks and reflected on the day's happenings. Went to bed late. 

 

Enjoying a pleasant evening in Champagne. 

  Very sad - a German and British military cemetery next to each other in Marfaux. 

 The French villages, Fismes, Tranent, Germaine and Savigny -sur-Ardres in the Champagne region change rather dramatically. They have manicured look and kept in a pristine showcase way.  All part of the image!