There is a Little Harbour at St Trojan for some nice Boat pictures.

We can Bike from there to the Atlantic Beaches, It keeps me looking fit and Muscular to go with my Golden Hair and Beach Boy Tan. Sue wanted Tambre to stick on Post Cards, we decided to take in the Poste on the way to the beach. A bit out of our way a bit uphill, oh well!

Blow that when we had got the stamps the road that links to the beach road was one way.

We are only going one way I said as we set off on the pavement. At home a lot of the official cycle paths are on the footpath. This is France a hot afternoon there are no pedestrians no traffic. Just the odd car parked on the path which cause us to hit the road to go round it.

Blow that, so that is where the Police station is, on the left as we emerged from the road, its 50 Meters away and a shirt sleeved Officer is standing on the steps chatting to someone in civvies.

Blow that, we need to cross the junction and the next section is also one way, its totally safe didn't see a soul on the first stretch.

About half way down was another car on the pavement and a blue car coming the other way, we dismount and wait for him to pass, the car stopped, a Uniformed arm on the window, he gabbled quite a lot at me I didn't grasp a thing.
"Pardon" I said "I'm English", he looked at Sue, "You English too"? "Oui". A finger pointed to the sign at the end of the road, "The circulation is one way, you must obey the signalment at the end of the road".

"Sorry we will walk OK"? "OK".

I am sure he was despatched from the Station round the one way system in his car to deal with these Law Breakers. I love it, you feel so protected.
Back home our car is parked outside our home. On two consecutive Thursday nights the passenger door lock was damaged and the car broken into. I phoned the Police and got a Civilian each time who gives me two Crime Numbers. "What investigate a crime, who do you think we are"?

Let's have another boat picture.

I like Aldi Supermarkets, particularly when we are on the Continent.

There is no getting away from it, our local store has the reputation as the gathering place for the Unwashed, unfortunate but true.

My Medion Sat Nav came from Aldi, it was an unresearched purchase on a Sunday morning, the night before a friend gave me a print out advertising a 'limited supply offer' typical of Aldi. He had purchased a Medion Sat Nav from Aldi previously, a different model with lots of maps.
They work well he said, and he was right. What I didn't realise was I was buying obsolescence. It is areal shame for a good bit of kit.I suppose lot of them get broken by the kids in a short time, mine looks like new.

Now after my mods it is a Hand Held PC, I knew it could be done but I was wary of stopping it being a mediocre Medion when it was new. I wish had done it a couple of years ago. I complained to Medion recently about their product and had to supply the purchase date, it was May 2006. I couldn't purchase a France map last year so yep 12months and it becomes obsolete. What a poor show.

I won't say it was easy, I admit to some frustration at times, I may even have said knickers once or a hundred times. Now I have installed TomTom with Great Britain map and France Map.

It is good, others who have converted their MD 96800 and installed TomTom have said the same. Take care you frog bloggers we are one step nearer to our annual invasion. In fact several steps. I have cleaned up the 'van, re sealed all the trim strips and yesterday sterilised and pumped several gallons of water through the system.

My Navigator is revolting. Just as she was starting to learn that "No ! none of those exits from the roundabout is the right one" is not an acceptable statement, as we take our third circuit and I start to feel a little dizzy. She has asked, no, demanded full French mapping on our Sat Nav.

In the past we used the Major Roads of Europe supplied with the Medion Navigator 5.1 and had fun with the minor roads. I enjoy looking at maps we will have our Michelin Guide with its many loose pages with us, we may even buy a new one. The search is on for a copy of the Medion Mapping for France.

Medion shows the CD in all its glory on it shopping page on the web. £49.99 expensive but well if it means a peaceful holiday, click on purchase and it says discontinued.

The Medion MD 96800 was sold by Aldi, search the web and you find it has caused quite a stir over the years. The Medion 96800 which also goes by the model, MBPNA 250 T is not such a bargain after all.

TomTom maps are update able, when I bought the Medion I expected at least that facility, you know, just a little product support but no. No updates for the maps you have, when I looked at the France CD shortly after buying the 96800 the mapping was a little old, now it is discontinued.

Search the web and there is a plethora of woe, incompatible maps between models that look the same, maps for 5.1 that do not work on 5.1, the top query, where can I get French mapping. It seems Medions game is to get you to upgrade your model. Would anyone in their right mind upgrade to another Medion?

Look look, it is definitely Navigator 5.1 Software.

Well the thing is only a PNA with Windows Mobile Software. Add some files and make it boot into Windows and you can install TomTom on it. The files are on the web in a chat format, the comment from someone straight after is, "I have tried that, it does not work after step 2 in the instructions" I can confirm it does not work after step 2. There is no more information that I can find, yet it is still offered by the group who say it works.

Sometimes the web provides elegant solutions sometime it is a complete nightmare, the advertising on searches should be regulated, every company comes up with 'Buy Medion France Map for v5.1 here' of course I know that if I enter 'campingcariste in sexy black leather' a whole range of companies will have me on offer.

Does anyone have the France map for this thing? even the original outdated mapping will do, we don't use too many new roads anyway. If I find it I shall offer it to all fellow campers who need it. On free loan of course, no naughty copyright infringements.

It is nice to take our wandering routes across round up and down France to take in the sights and places we may never visit were we to take the shortest route. Give us a reason for a detour and we will take it. If the reason is drinking a glass or two of local wine then try to stop us.
The weather can spoil all places, last years late start to a poor summer meant our trip around the East of Paris taking in Bourges was wet. We made an overnight stop near Sancerre on a farm. Very neat and tidy with ample modern machinery.

They were part of a large wine growing family that went back centuries, they produce White Sancerre wine. Their brother produced Red Sancerre. We sampled both, being fans of red wine we were surprised that we liked the white a lot but the red we found not at all special.
Sancerre town is perched on a hillside overlooking the river.

Heavy showers bugged our views and our lunch down by the river too.

We moved on to Bourges taking a quick look at the town. Being so wet we drove round the rear of the Cathedral to take a look. Here there must be one of the old traffic from the right rules or just mad driver on the loose. A car came from our right at speed straight across our bow and off down the road from where we had come.
There was no danger, I was going too steady, there were no road markings, we were clearly on the major road. These happenings come as a shock in a country where giving way is a matter of 'after you' 'no I insist after you'.

We found an Aire on the main road south of town, puddle hopping we emptied our waste tank and drove on. Days like this are best spent travelling.

It is time again for the annual MOT Test on the Campingcar. The weather has been so cold and miserable that I have not moved the van out for some time, today I started to get things packed away so that I can take it over to the garage that does my MOT's.
The Toilet Cassette was in the shower room, relocating in the side hatch involves moving the van into the road to get access.

I packed away a few loose items and checked all round before reversing out. The Fiat Ducato engine started beautifully, I had given the engine a short stationary run a couple of weeks ago so I thought I should take a run round the block.
Half way round the block we were still puffing white smoke, I decided to go further to warm up the engine and CAT. There are two country lane 'round the block' routes that I can take, reaching the turn for the first shorter trip the temperature gauge had hardly lifted. I continued to the village, turning right here takes you to another village with a through route, turn right and you return home, turn left to the village with the garage I use for MOT's.
May as well continue on and book in the van for the MOT. That is how I happened to be in a garage in a village 5 miles from home in my carpet slippers wearing a pair of old baggy track suit bottoms that Sue says I should not be seen dead in.

Such happenings were the subject of bad dreams when we were younger, when you are retired you can act them out without a care in the world.

Just a little tool to track where the visitors are coming from.

Something dawned this year whilst we were touring France, it was one of those slow realisations as the pieces of the jigsaw fitted together.

We knew that the French like Folk Music, often an evening open air concert will feature a Folk Group.
There was a rather dangerous combination on rather damp evening in July. An Irish Folk Group now resident in France.
The Concert was scheduled to start at 9.00PM. A large audience had gathered, we were standing in the drizzle looking at an empty stage. At 9.15 a girl stepped up and started arranging the Instruments, at 9.25 a lady brandishing a program approached her and pointed out the published start time. The girl gave a nod and headed off across the road to the bar to fetch the rest of the group.
It was worth the wait, some superb Irish, English and French Folk. I had no camera at this gathering unfortunately.

Another Concert featured a group from Brittany. Some superb music again including Irish Folk. So they like Irish music.

Later we stayed on a Deer Farm, a couple joined us in the evening, soon after parking their van music drifted across on the summer air. The Campingcaristes, wife on the accordion husband on an ancient wind instrument, they played Folk.

They came from Brittany, we talked about Folk Music. Irish Folk Music, yes we love love it, they explained, we are Celts, Brittany resembles Ireland, Saint Marlo was founded by Irish settler monks.

We vowed to see more of Brittany in the future, it is an area we have not explored deeply.

I find it very interesting in France to visit the regions that specialise in a particular crop because the climatic conditions suit it.
In 2003 we dropped off the road near the town of Vix to visit a Melon producer North of the Charente a name synonymous with Melons.

The owner was a little taken aback, it was early in the year, the shop near a lake was not set up, the grass was not cut, there was nothing to buy. We stayed the night and departed with a promise to return when the Melons were in season. Three years later we made it.

It is not only Melons that flourish in this region the sales outlet had local grown Potatoes, Fruit and Salad stuff, Onions, Garlic Honey and Preserves. Melon Jam, I had some on toast today is delicious, Dried Flowers and of course local Wine.
Cucumbers were sold by the piece, whoa! I will have that one said Sue, it was young and fresh, no signs of getting too big, they just grow that size because they love the conditions.

The French Melon Seller will select your fruits for you using their skills with ripeness detection, marking them with a felt tip pen, 1 for day 1 consumption, 2, 3, etc.

The weather was glorious. This time we really appreciated the setting by the side of the lake.

Anyone visiting is welcome to picnic, the owners have made a real effort to make the experience enjoyable.

Each year in France, come July the 14th we have headed for a quiet location and stayed put. The camping places have filled up for the event and stayed like it for the rest of the week. One year we had to drive for miles to find a place for the night.
The poor weather of 2007 and a few other factors kept the masses away from Charente Maritime.
Instead of watching some distant fireworks across the bay we were 'in town tonight'. Along with George and Val an English couple who now live in Tasmania and spend the northern hemisphere summers in their campingcar in Europe, we joined the street parade.

In a French parade there is the Marching Band.

A Farmer on a Tractor, an Onion Float, the Pantomime Dame, and the Priest with a Bog Brush.

All this must mean something, can someone explain. We were soon flowing with the crowd. "Bonjour Madame" I said to the dame. He smiled, a smile which said I know, don't I look a fool. The real ladies and the children had bags of confetti, as George walked in front of me a lady quietly filled the top pocket of his shirt with the little circles of paper, "ssh", she said. "As a citizen of the United Kingdom I claim diplomatic immunity from being bombed with that stuff" I joked.
Moments later her son, 9 or 10 years old, ran in front of me and with a little rhyme which ended in "in your bouche" a huge hand full was aimed at my face, inevitably your bouche is a little open and I was spitting bits for some time. "Hee hee Eeenglishman" he said.
No one was immune.

The happy throng flowed along toward the Communal area where a Firework Spectacle was the next attraction.

After the display music was played and on the loose limestone chip surface couples Waltzed and Jived and Boogied until the early hours. Small stalls served snack food, there was no booze on offer, the community spirit was wonderful as young and old joined together in the fun.

The open air market is very popular in France both with the locals and the tourist. Fruit and veg and other food is super from the stalls and the scenes are worth a photograph.

The baguettes in the saddlebag.

Colourful clothing stalls, an unusual shot through the palm trees.

Sometimes quite busy.

Some street markets are held at night too and on Sunday morning the bric a brac, brocant.

This one gave me another humorous police story, more of that later.