Mobile Librarians

The Loire was lovely, very civilised, ordered and somehow, more French than the south. We stayed at a very nice campsite near Blois called Le Parc du Val de Loire, www.valduparcdeloire.com , where we watched the World Cup unfold in the bar with some very excitable Frenchmen. We visited the chateaux, of course, we did Amboise, Cheverney and Chambord, and somehow managed to visit Blois, but missed the chateau! After four nights we headed for the ferry and home. Did we enjoy the experience? Like the curate's egg - good in parts. It did seem sometimes like a litany of disasters. Did I tell you about catching my foot on the ground sheet in the tent, falling backwards, bashing my head on the metal tent pole and nearly putting my head through the tent wall? Or about my electric window in the car becoming stuck in the down position with half of the rubber flapping about on the motorway? The window had become trapped the wrong side of the rubber and would not move. Cue husband attacking it...

Friday arrived, our last day in the Cevennes. We planned to move on in the morning, head for the Loire region and stay for four nights there. A quiet, restful day was planned before the long day of travel. Ha, ha, ha! During the afternoon a live band could be heard tuning up and trying out it's sound equipment from the direction of the field by the river. Groan, we thought we were in for a disco that night and hoped it would stop about midnight, they usually do. About 8.00 p.m. it started, heavy metal, head banging music plus vocals at earsplitting decibels. Sleep would be impossible until it stopped. About 11.00 p.m. we lay down hoping for peace soon, my earplugs were in but it made little difference. 12.00 came and went, 1.00 came and went, and so it went on, they played ALL NIGHT! My non-violent husband was fit to kill someone by the morning and was uttering some very choice language. He decided we would have to stay another day as he was in no fit state to drive all day. After ...

For our next trip I was persuaded the it would be nice to escape the heat by going down a cave. How foolish was that! We headed for the Grotte de La Cocaliere, said to be one of the three most beautiful caves in France. www.grotte-cocaliere.com . There weren't many people there and we had to wait for a guide. Eventually an extremely saturnine Frenchman appeared and beckoned us to follow him. He unlocked a door in the rock and motioned us inside. This is where I started to have second thoughts as extremely steep steps disappeared down into the bowels of the earth as far as one could see. There was room to stand up but it was very claustophobic, dark and steep and the first thing the guide did was lock the door behind us. Dim lights lit the stairs as we went down, down, down for what felt like half a mile and was definately hundreds and hundreds of steps. I felt I was entering the realm of the dwarves from Lord of the Rings. When we reached the bottom my legs were shaking and trembl...

One of the main reasons for the trip was to visit the Pont du Gard, the famous Roman aquaduct near Nimes. This was built in AD 38, taking over 1,000 men 14 years, to supply water to the town of Nimes. We have wanted to see this for a long time but have never been quite near enough. www.pontdugard.fr . The day we chose was very hot again, the temperature was 40 degrees C, thank goodness the car has air conditioning or we might have expired. There is quite a big visitor's centre at the entrance with a snack bar etc., but we went straight on to the bridge. What an impressive sight, how they built it all those years ago is unbelievable. Out came the camera of course, just like all the other tourists present. We strolled across the bridge admiring the views, heading for a lunch break at the restaurant on the other bank. At this point we became aware of lots of activity and noise. Yes, we had struck lucky again (not!), the entire place was swarming with all the emergency services of the...

Well here we are pitched up in the Cevennes. What's it like? Well as a librarian I suggest you read Robert Louis Stevenson's book "Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes", an account of his 12 day journey through the Cevennes with a stubborn donkey called Modestine. I don't think it's essentially changed very much. Here on the campsite it is very quiet apart from the wildlife. All day long until about 10.00 p.m. the cicadas belt out a noise equivilent to a pneumatic drill, just as they shut up and we are preparing to go to bed up starts the "Chorus Of A Thousand Frogs" (we are next to a river), then as the sun rises, from the field next door, so our very own version of Modestine salutes the dawn with much mighty braying. You can't beat rural peace can you! This is for my female friends, men just don't understand. What is a girl's best friend on a holiday like this? Her hairdryer of course, and what did I forget to pack? You've got it! ...

Our first little outing, a ride on a steam train, Le Train a Vapeur des Cevennes, from Anduze to Saint Jean du Gard, about 13 kilometres, www.trainavapeur.com . Out we go in the midday sun (mad dogs etc.!) and the temperature is now 38 degrees C. Lots of people on the platform, make our way into a carriage and collapse on a rickety wooden seat. Off we go to the sound of lots of wild hooting from the engine, into quite a long tunnel. This is where we realise that the old carriages have no glass in the windows. Lots of soots and debris swirling around the carriage, into eyes and up noses. We emerge to lots of coughs, sneezes and shaking of clothes and what am I wearing? My new white t-shirt! The journey takes us past some spectacular scenery including a man swimming in the nude. There seems to be a lot of noise from within the carriage, I pay a bit more attention to the inhabitants. Yes, thats right, we have got the carriage with the class full of 'special needs' kids on a day t...

Here we go again then. Up early in the morning, pack everything away and on the road south heading for the Massif Central region. It's Sunday morning and most shops are closed. We spot a village patisserie and stop to buy some Quiche Lorraine for lunch. Back on the motorway its very hot again. Midday we stop at a service station/picnic area, buy some pre-packed salad and eat it with our quiche. As we near the Massif Central the clouds start building and we decide to stay in an hotel if we spot one. Just outside Moulins we book into a Mercure hotel for the night. The thunder started almost immediately and it was continuous, then there was the gale force winds and torrential rain, a real Big Daddy of a storm. This region is known as the thunder capital of France and is packed with extinct volcanoes. Shortly afterwards I started to feel ill, I think it must have been the quiche I ate. I haven't been that ill for years, I spent almost the entire night in the loo with s&d. Next ...

We travelled from our home in Devon to Dover ferry port towing our trailer behind us, a long, hot journey. It was a Saturday, so the M25 wasn't as bad as on a weekday. We arrived early and decamped to the Duke of York pub for a nice meal. So far so good. On arival at the port we were instructed to join the Speedferries check in line (there are about 6 double lines for various car ferries). Speedferries is the last line on the right, with a chain barrier next to it. Felt rather smug as we watched people getting in the wrong line and trying to reverse back etc. But as we approached the check-in cabin we appeared to be heading to the wrong one. I leapt out and asked some cars in front if they were going on Speedferries, NO , we were in the queue for Norfolk Line! Panic! We couldn't cross to the right one because of the chain barrier and we couldn't reverse because of the trailer. Out I leap again, vault the chain barrier, death defying dashs between moving cars, elbow my way t...