Friday 25th October, 2019

By 9am our quiet little aire in Pont-Sainte-Maxence began filling up with cars as people started to go about their Friday business. When a coach full of school kids arrived and queued outside our window we decided it was time to get up and hit the road.

Today would be a long drive through France heading South until we were bored and decide to stop. The first toll of the trip last night charged us Class 3 and was nearly £40 so today we thought we’d try non-toll roads. We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our scenic route often on motorways but also often through towns and villages.

We briefly stopped for a lunch break en-route in a little village then drove on with scenery getting better the further south we went. It also was getting warmer and sunnier.

We finally had enough of driving so decided to stop as it was approaching 4pm. Now more than halfway through France we certainly felt in holiday mode.

The city of Vichy would be home for the night. Neil had researched a lovely site on the edge of a campsite which if we’d listened to satnav we would never had found but as we’d read reviews we knew not to follow it along a cycle path.

Tonight’s stop was only €10 with full services and plenty of space.

Neil took the tour guide role on our walk to Vichy and told us all about the history. We’ve learnt that Vichy was France’s capital during WW2 and wasn’t bombed as it was friendly with the Germans.

We found a giant indoor market and loads of statues and old buildings. We finally stubbled on an Irish pub where we purchased Neil a 10% wolf beer.

Thankfully we opted to go back to the van to watch football, it could have been quite embarrassing watching Saints lose 9 nil in public. We drowned our sorrows in the van to blur out the defeat.

Overnight Location: Vichy, France

Overnight Coordinates: 46.11548°N 3.43014°E