Merry-sur-Yonne to Orcet

Monday 17th February

It rained quite a bit more during the night.

An unusual scene – slicing a croissant in half ready to make a sandwich for breakfast!

After showers, breakfast and clear up we strapped in and prepared to depart – we found out later that the very level concrete slab on which we were parked was used in former times as a base for a large tent (perhaps school trips to the canal nearby). The concrete base was separated from the gravel road by about 6 feet. We started to move and the motorhome simply sunk into that gap and mud spurted all around. Some friendly Canadian people (over for several months touring France in a camper van) came to help, we put my plastic road under the wheel, my plastic carpet protectors, some branches etc., but it wasn’t moving.

Very kindly, the owners of the site came out to help too. Having tried some boards and a few more tricks they went to get the big guns – a Renault Espace!! – amazingly it dragged a 3.5 tonne motorhome out successfully on it’s first go – thank you, thank you, thank you! Now everything is muddy – the motorhome, the plastic road and both of us!!

Unperturbed by the mess we had made and with a plan to join the concrete slab to the gravel road when they were able, the owners suggested a route across country to pick up the A75/E11 free motorway south. What a wonderful drive – over a slightly less narrow bridge and then alongside the Nivernais Canal, which intertwines with the Yonne river; across glorious French countryside, fields, woods, churches, war memorials, and pretty villages. Slightly winding and a couple of tight village centres, yes, but worth it. We stopped for elevenses and fuel at Magny-Cours services and for lunch in a village aire at Deux-Chaises with our own personal lake.

Later we arrived at Camping Le Clos Auroy in Orcet, where we were supposed to stay for two nights with a view to having a break and visiting the Puy de Dôme volcano. The modern rack railway https://www.panoramiquedesdomes.fr to take you to the summit of the volcano wasn’t open until Wednesday and we didn’t really like the site or the one grumpy French person we met who was on check-in.

There didn’t appear to be a motorhome service point of any sort so we ‘bucketed’ out the grey waste and ‘watering canned’ in the fresh water.

Then we had a go at cleaning up the mud – there was a lot! And finally a clean inside the motorhome. On the official ‘Jobs List’ JW has vacuuming duty ………