Enjoying Down Time in Rural France, Charroux
Zagan the motorhome has been very spoiled these last few days. He has been living it up in free aires in some beautiful villages across France. Tonight he’s enjoying the hospitality of Charroux (N46.14301, E0.40662), a small village on the D148, about an hour and a half south of Poitiers. We’ve deviated off the N10, much used by motorhomers because it’s free, to visit friends about an hour south of here.
During our evening in Arnage we tested another feature on our new TV: playing something from a USB stick. Of course it worked fine, so I’ve loaded one of our 8GB USB sticks with TV shows and movies. These will help pass the hours, as it gets dark around 5pm these days. While watching TV, we were also entertained by a couple of French motorhomes. On turning up to find the two spaces for camping cars full of Brits, Monsieur jumped out and swung open the car park height barrier. Now, why would the council go to the expense of putting in a height barrier on this small dead-end street? I can only think it would be for cheeky motorhomers who don’t think two spaces are enough.
The next morning after a 10 km jog around a local lake, and a hearty breakfast, we set off south for Chalais. We’re using our Camperstop book, and Park4night database to find free places in small towns and villages, with not much to see. This way we don’t feel guilty for not venturing out into the cold and grey, because we aren’t missing anything. Chalais (N46.95860,E0.10449) turned out to be the ultimate, nothing to see place. It is an Aire de Repos (rest stop), sort of like parking up behind a Little Chef on the A1. However in France, of course, they treat their motorhomes/camping cars much better than we do in the UK. The motorhome parking area had a service point, hedge-lined bays and free electricity.
Sadly the service point was out of action, but the water and electricity were still flowing in Chalais
We plugged in, giving our new batteries their first proper charge, then set about doing some jobs. Three weeks in the UK wasn’t long enough to get everything done, so a list came away with us. Just little maintenance and cleaning things, but as we have plenty of spare time they are now getting done. No longer do we have to hold up the door to the coffee and tea cupboard with our heads. The nasty sticking out screws in the shower are now covered to save us from scratches. Under bench storage has been sorted, and stuff we had shoved in there that we don’t want has been thrown away. Finally Zagan got a big hoover out, filling the vacuum cleaner several times with pooch fur, and Jay had a long-overdue beard trim.
This morning we carried on south through more grey mist and rain. The long straight roads cut across rural France, halted only by small villages which cause us to slow down or wiggle around the houses or church in the centre. The streets are quiet, the air heavy with the smell of wood burning on fires, keeping the locals warm in their homes.
We spotted a few fellas out hunting in a wooded area beside the road. I have no idea what they were hunting, but I did notice a new fashion trend hitting the wood and fields. A camouflage outfit with a high vis vest is no longer the thing to be seen in when you’re out with a gun. The trend setters these days wear a waterproof high vis coat (a bit like you would see on a building site) with a camouflage pattern printed on it. I’m sure there is an explanation as to why it’s worth wearing camouflage if you are only going to add high vis to it, but it is beyond me.
Driving past I can still see you in your hunting gear, surely the animals can too!
We all felt sorry for the dogs on their way to the hunt, sliding around in the trailer behind the car.
The village of Charroux is just as quiet as those we drove through, but we’ll nip out for a look around and to give Charlie chance to stretch his legs. As I type this Jay has his head under the dashboard. Armed with a torch, he’s trying to work out why the radio cuts out when we turn the steering wheel (answers on a postcard please!).
Tomorrow we’ll pop over and see Larry and Lorraine who we first met last year on our way south for a month or so in Spain. They had got in touch with us through this blog and offered us a meal (we’re easily bought!), and as we were passing we thought -why not? We had a great night with them, learning about life as an ex-pat and fellow motorhomer in France, so as we were passing by again, we’re stopping off once more.
Door of the day here in Charroux
Ju x
Apparently the animals only see in black and white ( too mean to fork out for the colour licence) So the camo works by breaking up the shape of us humans, as the animals know we ARE to be avoided :-)
Thanks so much Richard, it was doing our heads in! Cheers, Jay
Probably hunting wild boar & the high viz.is essential if you don’t want to get shot!
We are planning the NC500 trip next year and wondered how much time away from services you reckon to get away with. Personally off grid I’m thinking 3 days before the black stuff needs emptying. We are planning to put one (or two) 100W solar panels on Hilma’s roof and just wondered what your experience is with solar power?
Ian & Janette
Hi Ian & Janette
If by off grid you mean not using a service point, we’ve stretched it out to a week before. It just depends on how often you want to shower and how many places you are at with a public loo or trees for hiding behind!
As for the solar panels, we have one 100w panel which charges two leisure batteries, that’s plenty for what we need – although obviously it depends on where you are. You’ll get more of a charge in Southern Spain than you would in Scotland! But as the batteries also charge while you drive, they should stay topped up easily.
Ju x
Hiya, just a quick comment backing up what Andy said. Yes they’re after boar and deer but the reason for the high viz., is in fact to do with the amount of shooting accidents/fatalities they used to have in the past. The hunters that is.They still get them but not in such great numbers. We’re fairly certain that the high viz thing is a legal requirement now.
Re. Off Grid. We recently managed 5 days in our 2008 Hymer B544. The toilet cassette needs emptying every couple of days really but the fresh water is good for 5 days if you are careful with the shower (ie. Get wet, turn water off, shampoo, rinse, turn water off).
We have a 150W panel into 2x80A leisure batteries. A sunny day will top them up but, in the very dull November days this week it would struggle to top the right up, so there would be a gradual daily loss of power. Should still be fine for 5 November days though. No issues once Spring arrives.
We have a Gas-it installation (2x11kg) which should be fine for a couple of weeks between fills.
In fact much of our set-up is a copy of Jay & Jules’s. We figured if if worked for them then it would work for us.
Note. The grey waste can get a bit smelly after 5 warm days we found. Smell seems to come up through the kitchen plug hole. We now add a bit of bleach. We use A-road “P” Laybys to dump grey waste whenever we are on the move, just park over a grid. It’s only shower water and washing-up water.
Lee at http://www.gohumberto.com