2008, Day Twenty Two, Berny-Rivière

Day twenty-two 22nd June

Last day for Mick and Bren and we set of to visit another Château, but this time to one we knew was there. On the way also a nice quiet country road, we stopped to take photos of a bridge over a canal and also some long shots of the Château.

The castle was bigger than I thought I was going to be, we drove up the hill and in through the castle gates and followed the signs to the car park. There was a village inside the castle with bars and shops etc, we decided we would try and walk around the castle walls, then make our way back to the village main square for a drink.

It was very hot and it took about an hour to walk around the castle walls, quite a big castle, a lot of it has been restored recently and it looks good.

We made a friend on the way round, a young goat followed us for about half the walk, if we hadn't come to a gate, I am sure the goat would still be with us.

At the end of the walk we were very, very hot, it was just after 12:00, the bar in the square was open, so we had to have a beer (Pelforth blond) to cool down. After the beer we had another quick look around the village, found an Aire but I am not sure we could get the van through the entrance into the village. Then it was a rush back to the site the watch the French F1GP from Magny-Cours in the van.

Sunbathing all afternoon, we had a BBQ for supper, Mick had his horse meat and we all had to have a bit, it was just like beef. Spent the rest of our last night with a few beers by the van.

2008, Day Twenty One, Berny-Rivière

Day twenty-one 21st June

Three weeks into the holiday and loving it, are we homesick, no we are not, I struggle to understand the people who go on holiday and are then glad to be going home.

The plan was to move on to Belgium today but as the weather was good and the area interesting, we would stay on there until Mick and Bren had to leave for home in two days time.

So today we checked out where there was a proper market, in a big town and set off to Soissons, we took the back road from the campsite rather than going back out onto the N31. This was a much quieter drive with plenty of nice photo opportunities along the way.

Once there we found a parking place and set off towards what looked like a cathedral, hoping the town centre and market would be close by.

For once we were not disappointed and found the market straightaway, we did pop into the cathedral on the way passed, to listen to some fantastic organ music that was streaming from the huge front doors. Outside the cathedral a stage being set up for some sort of concert and we made a note to find out what was going on.

In the market we split up into two couples and arranged to meet back up in an hour, Dot and I soon wandered away from the market and looked around some of the larger department stores.

I also needed the toilet (must be my age) and we couldn't find one. By the time we got back together the market was just about finished and we all set off to find the river and somewhere for a sit and drink. Mick had bought some stuffed olives and got a free bottle of beer with them, strange though, it was a Sagres from Portugal.

As the market was being cleared away, workmen moved it to setup yet another stage. We headed downhill, usually this works when looking for the river and it did this time, we also found a nice friendly bar (with toilet). Stages were also being set up here by the river and there were barriers for closing the roads. After a couple of Hoegaardens we set off to find the tourist information office, to see what was going on.

It was in the square where the market had been and the stages were for a music festival that night, with all types of music from classical to rock. It would have been a good I idea to come back and join in but we could not find out about busses and a taxi was very expensive. So we just went back to the site for a night by the van (it was the next morning when we realised we could have taken the van back to Soissons and slept in it there).

In the supermarket on the way back to the site, Mick eventually got some horse meat, I was not even keen on having it in our fridge.

2008, Day Twenty, Berny-Rivière

Day twenty 20th June.

Today we checked out where there was a local market and set off towards Pierrefonds, about eleven miles away. We used my GPS and it took us all over the place to get there, it didn't help that me and Mick would stop to take photos along the way. When we did eventually arrive it was a small village and there was no sign of a market anywhere, in fact the whole place looked deserted. We drove round looking and eventually decided we would drive on to find somewhere else and then, round the corner as we were leaving the village we came across this

and headed back into the village to have a look. We parked up next to the castle and at its base we found the village centre and a very small market, he market wasn't worth visiting but the castle (Château de Pierrefonds) certainly was. We took two minutes to look round the market stalls and then had a walk around the rest of the village, a very pretty place, we took loads of photos.

Couldn't decide what to have for dinner, do we get something from the shop to eat in the square or do we try a cafe or restaurant. While we were thinking about it we passed a place with an outdoor seating area in a garden with a BBQ going, it smelt great, so we went in. We had a very nice lunch in the sun with great views and a couple of beers (Kronenbourg (Mick the driver, had cola)).

 

After lunch we though we would have a walk up to the castle and if if didn't cost too much to get in, have a look round. The main entrance was closed and we were directed up a steep hill to the side entrance we almost didn't bother but the girls wanted to go see. When we got there there was no price list but we asked some people coming out and it was free entry, so we went in.

There were signs dotted about, all mentioning Merlin, then there was a notice to say filming was in progress for the TV series Merlin, we assumed it was French, so it wasn't until we returned home and looked it up on IMDB, that we found out it was for the BBC.

What a fantastic castle, of course it looks so good as it has been rebuilt, the first castle was built in the 12th century, in the 15th century it was rebuilt and then demolition was started in the 17th Century. Demolition was too difficult, so not a lot was done, it was then it was acquired by Napoleon and finally restored during 19th century.

We spent ages wandering around the castle, most of the big rooms are open to the public and there were a couple of art displays to see but eventually we got tired and headed back to the car. Not a bad trip out, considering we had no idea this castle even existed, what a great find, we would recommend it to everyone.

It is a big shame that next year, this place will be overrun with new tourists from the UK, all wanting to see Merlin, it looks like it is popular in the summer anyway. I am glad that we got to see this beautiful, peaceful village and magnificent castle before that happens, it will not be the same again.

Back at the site Dot and I ventured over to the pool, the outside pools were closed and the indoor pools were very full and noisy, also not very warm. So we didn't stop in the water very long and headed back to the van where we had a pleasant evening in the sun with a few beers.

2008, Day Nineteen, Berny-Rivière

Day nineteen19th June

So instead of Paris (and we were all up early anyway) we set of to see what there was locally. We walked from the site along the road to Vic-sur-Aisne and then down to the river Aisne.  Mick was on the lookout for a butchers that sold horse meat, he really wants to try some but he didn't see one. We took photos of bridges, the river, locks, barges, a Château, and had a very nice relaxing walk in the hot sun.

   

We then moved away from the river and had a look around the village before inevitably ending up at a bar for a rest and refreshments. Mick and Bren had red wine, Dot had white wine and I had a beer (Jupiler), we sat outside the bar, with a fantastic view of the, Donjon et Château (Keep and Castle) de Vic-sur-Aisne. As usual we didn't just have the one we had two.

Big storm clouds appeared in the sky so we headed back to the site but the way back we thought we would pop into the supermarket but it was closed and not open for another hour (I will never understand this closing for a couple of hours on the afternoon).

It did rain for a short while but it soon stopped, although it did cool down quite a bit, so it was on with the cardigans. We had a walk around the lakes, fed the ducks and then, for tea we popped over to the cafe and had a couple of beers there, before watching yet another beautiful sunset from outside the van.

2008, Day Eighteen, Berny-Rivière

Day eighteen18th June

Up early and set off to the next site, inland away from the coast, the campsite where we where trying to book a bus trip to Paris from. The toilets close to us were open this morning and they were worse than the others but at least we didn't have the difficult trek to get to them.

Mick needed fuel so first stop was to be a petrol station so I set one into the sat nav, fist I took a wrong turn and had to do a detour down a very narrow street to gat back on track. Next the swing bridge across the river was open and we had to wait ages for that to close and then when we did come to a petrol station, it wasn't the one we were aiming for. We did not need fuel so we parked to wait for Mick to fill up but then decided as we were here why not fill up, after all it is better to be full when the scooter is on the back. So I pulled in next to Mick, filled up and paid, then things started to go wrong as I pulled away the was a bump. On investigation one of the small bollards on the exit was catching under the van, this was because of the angle I had to turn to get out and the back end had swung round. Eventually after much edging back and forth I managed to get out but on swinging round to get from the petrol station exit to the main road there was a loud bang and the bathroom window was ripped clean off the van by an advertising hoarding. Dot managed to get most of the broken bits off the road before they were run over and Mick and I managed to fix it back in place, using lots of sticky tape.

The Sat Navs want us to go on a very long route, along the motorways (180 miles) but there is a much shorter way to get there (160 mils), so we decide that when we turn of the motorway the GPS will just reroute us the way we want to go. Good plan if you actually turn off onto the right road, we didn't, let me explain. We left Fécamp on the D962 to the A29 north and we planned to turn on at junction 10 and head east on the D915. What I had not accounted for was this junction 10, was after the A29 changes to the A28 and we took junction 10 on the A29, one turning too early. It took quit a long time to figure out what had gone wrong and that we were now heading back south on the A28. So we took the D919 to head over to the road we should have been on, anyway because of some new roads that were not on our maps I think it ended as a shortcut. We got on the D915 heading for the N31 and Beauvais then its the N31 to Berny-Rivière, there were also more new bypasses not on the maps. We stopped for lunch at a Mcdonalds along the way, something I would not normally think of but you do these thing on holiday. One more problem at Compiègne where the road signs are better than the GPS and another note the N31 is a very busy road.

BERNY RIVIERE

La Croix Du Vieux Pont

Rue de la Fabrique - 02290 Berny-Rivière

Web Site

La Croix Du Vieux Pont is a very Large, holiday camp style campsite, many mobile homes, gites, log cabins, and tour company tents. We were booked in by a mad Frenchman and led to a large pitch, one of the biggest I have ever seen and fully serviced, there was room for the motorhome, the tent, the car and then room to fit the same again. We were close to a new, very well finished toilet block, in fact it was two identical blocks joined by the gites above them. Strange thing was that they were unisex, when it would have been so easy to have one block for each sex??? We where however a long walk from the main site facilities, shops, restaurant, cafe, swimming pools, bars, etc.

Once the tent was up and we got settled in, we set off to look around the site, we only got to the lakeside bar before we had to stop for a drink. It was Mick's round and he nearly gagged when he got the bill, this was going to be our most expensive beers (also it was Amstel larger something I would not normally even look at, never mind drink).

 Luckily the bar closed before I could get my round in. After discussion we decided to give the Paris trip a miss as we had just had a full day travelling and did not fancy getting up too early, so me and Dot set off to reception to let them know. In the meantime someone from reception had been over to the van to see if we were going to Paris. So much for not booking on the phone, they had tickets ready for us but they were very good about us not going.