What to do on a scorching hot day

Friday 28 June 2019

Another night on the aire at Les Salles-sur-Verdon.   The temperature’s broken records in France today - 45’C not far from us in Carpentras - that almost 112’F!  It was about 43’C here and the air felt like someone had opened a hot fan oven door.  It reminded us of being in Karachi, where there’s always a sea breeze, but never a cool one.  Tomorrow could be hotter but thankfully after that it should reduce slightly.  So we’ve been taking it really easy, spending most of the day around the pool of the adjacent hotel, reading, drinking plenty of water and snoozing on the sun-loungers in the shade.

So today I thought I’d give you a walk around the aire and the village of Les Salles-sur-Verdon.  The day started with a baguette and a couple of croissants from the small shop a few metres away (run by the owner of the aire).  With it being so hot, ‘Wishy-Washy’ put a load of laundry to soak in our purple bucket overnight.  The purple bucket has multiple uses - a catcher of the grey water, washing bucket (like today), feet soaking bucket (after a day’s walking), holder of wet swimming shoes, washing-up bowl, even a ‘bird-bath’ if the need arises!  This was pummelled (at a stainless steel sink, not at the village lavoir!), rinsed and hung out to dry on a line rigged around the awning.

This aire is a bit untypical of the norm.  Most have a ‘dalek-like’ contraption for emptying the WC cassette (not a great job in a heatwave), emptying grey water (washing up and showers) and filling up with fresh water (I have a variety of different tap fittings and gadgets depending on the dalek).  You can see from the photo there’s a stainless steel sink with a cold tap (luke warm in this weather).  To the left of that there’s a longer hose and tap for topping up the van’s fresh water and to the left of that the sump for emptying the loo and a separate hose for flushing the cassette.  Some aires don’t have a separate hose for the WC and on a number of occasions I’ve seen people poking the fresh water hose down into their WC cassette - be warned!  In this case, I fill up our 10L water container and use that to pour water into our cassette.  Again, unusually for an aire, there’s one shower and two toilets here; most aires don’t have these.  There are electric hook-up sockets dotted around the aire. On this one you need a two-pin adaptor (European plug) that plugs into the EHU socket and with a male adaptor on the other end to plug your mains cable in to.  These 2-pin EU adaptors are widely available in shops and supermarkets in France.  This particular aire appears to have been adopted by the hotel and petrol station/shop, hence our free use of their pool, for which at the moment we’re eternally grateful!

Although the petrol station shop has some basic items we needed more, so I walked into the village.  It’s a village aimed at the tourist trade and reminded me of some of the villages on L’Ile de Re.  I used the ATM again and sat down at a restaurant for a restorative pression (draught lager) to cool down and watch the world go by, before popping into the Huit a Huit store with my shopping list.  Although they sell themselves as being open from 8(am) to 8(pm), they do actually close for a 2 hour lunch break!!

With the afternoon spent trying to keep cool at the pool, it was too hot to cook in the van, so the pizza parlour next to the petrol station was welcomed.  So that’s pretty much our day.  I suspect tomorrow will be similar, only with much less spent on groceries and eating out!  There’s another load of washing soaking in the purple bucket.

Dhoby Day!

Trying all ways to keep the van cool

Aire service point

The Marie's office 

Well it was hot.....even at 10am!

Steak bar and restaurant

The word 'Mon' caught my eye, particularly as we live on Anglesey (Ynys Mon)

Kayaking in the Verdon Gorge

Thursday 27 June 2019

Nido’s parked back on the aire at Les Salles-sur-Verdon.  There’s still only us and the two Belgian vans that were here when we arrived yesterday.  I think they’ve put down roots; one of the old chaps seems to have injured his leg and is in a wheelchair so perhaps that’s why they’re staying.  I have to say that for €12 a day, it’s a good deal with unlimited electricity, fresh water, shower and toilets and free use of the adjacent hotel’s swimming pool.  The aire owner runs the Total fuel station in front, which also has a shop selling food and drink items, local produce, wines and beers.  Plus the aire has shade…..aagh….. shade!  It’s been very hot today as we’re in the centre of the heatwave plume coming up from Africa - high 30s, maybe even into the 40s today, and getting hotter over the next couple of days.  Having spent the afternoon in the pool and snoozing on the loungers in the shade of the trees, it’s this that’s keeping us here until at least Sunday.  It’s just too hot to be on the road, hoping to find an aire or wild camping spot that’s in the shade, like hundreds of other motorhome owners.  Coupled with the French schools being closed due to the heat, there’s a public holiday feel about the place, with families swimming in the lake and filling the bars and restaurants.  Where we are reminds us a little of Greece, plus we’ve not experienced heat like this since we lived in Pakistan, when the temperature regularly hit the 50s.  Over the last couple of days we’ve even used the van’s cab air conditioning, so it must be hot!  So I’ve booked us in for the next three nights, then we’ll see what Sunday’s like.

It took a long time to get to sleep last night in the hot van - 38’C in the bedroom when we retired.  It did slowly cool and was quite pleasant when we woke at 0700 this morning. I’d set the alarm so we could get on the lake early.  A quick breakfast and we drove into the village as I needed some cash and La Poste Banque had an ATM.  There was a small market in the village square and most of the cafes and restaurants were open serving breakfast.  Les Salles-sur-Verdon is a lovely little village and reminds me of similar places on L’Ile de Re - some quirky bars, affordable bistros and expensive restaurants.  We drove to the large car park we used yesterday and walked down to the guys at Canoe Verdon, where we hired a two person kayak for two hours.  It was only 0900 so we were one of the first on the water and almost had Verdon Gorge to ourselves as we slowly paddled in, looking high up to the grand-canyon-like sides, watching the birds, butterflies and moths and seeing the odd fish plop out in front of us.  We paddled along, in and out of the shade afforded by the high gorge sides, occasionally drifting to take in the sights and reached the return point in the gorge, where we stepped out on the small, muddy beach and had a walk about, before starting the return journey.  By now more people in kayaks and pedalos were making their way up the gorge.  There was a waterfall at one point and, despite Cathy trying to paddle us away, I won out and she enjoyed a cool shower underneath it!  Passing back under the road bridge, we had about 10 minutes remaining on the main lake before returning the kayak.  We loved this boat trip and I would highly recommend it, but go early and beat the crowds.

We stayed by the lake for lunch and found some shade, but it was really hot, so we decided to return to last night’s aire, settle down for a few days on electricity, with the awning out and make the most of the free swimming pool.  It’s really not safe to be out in this weather and there’s no guarantee we’d find somewhere to park up that had shade and allowed us to even sit outside.  We were the only ones at the pool for at least a couple of hours; it was bliss as we swam and snoozed the afternoon away.  Back at the van, it was really hot both in and outside, so after preparing supper, we returned to the pool for another dip and relax under the trees.  Now sat outside at nearly 11pm, it’s still about 28’C; there’s no wind and feels like a night in the tropics.  Cathy’s washed up and put some clothes into soak for rinsing and hanging out tomorrow.  I’ve not even thought about where we’ll head next - I’ll leave it another day before thinking about that.  Tomorrow I may take a walk into the village to buy some groceries, but apart from that I suspect we’ll be around the pool with a good book, snoring the day away!

Small beach at the turnaround point

If you need us over the next few days, we'll be here

The air (and aire) is hot!

Wednesday 26 June 2019

Nido’s parked up on a basic aire, but it has all we need - some shade thanks to a large willow tree, unlimited fresh water and even a shower to allow for more than a ‘submariner’s dhoby’ in the van.  The aire is in Les Salles-sur-Verdon, close to the shore of Lac de St Croix in Provence, close to the Verdon Gorge.  It’s run by the owners of a small supermarket (which has been shut all the time we’ve been here) and has a pizzeria next door (also shut today!) and a hotel just above us of which, apparently, we have use of their pool.  It’s mega-hot - in the high 30s today - and still in the 30s at 2000, so we’re grateful for the shade and a little bit of evening breeze; the cicadas have started up their sounds and a few butterflies (and the usual annoying house flies) are flying around us.  The original plan was to head for some wild-swimming spots along the Verdon Gorge, but when I read about the long, tortuous road with hairpin bends and sheer drops of 100s of metres to get to the swimming spot, I had flashbacks to yesterday and decided to give it a miss!

The journey from our last stop was easy, on wide roads with no sheer drops today!  As we dropped down we drove into the lavender fields Provence is famous for, although it’s not in full bloom - give it a couple of weeks and it’ll be amazing.  We didn’t get the opportunity to pull over and take any photos, but we did stop at a roadside shop to buy some lavender products as presents for our lovely next door neighbours.  The oils are very powerful and are already filling the van with a lovely scent.  We’ve definitely moved into the Mediterranean area; we can tell by the honey-coloured buildings with their clay tiled roofs, dry fields and olive trees.

Looking down on the electric blue of Lac de St Croix as we drove down, we pulled into a large car park and headed for the beach. The water was clear and deliciously cool, soothing some of the insect bites we’ve suffered over the past few hot nights.  I popped back to the van to make some lunch enjoyed sat on our beach chairs, with some fruit and more water.  We spent a couple of hours swimming and sunbathing.  I checked out one of the companies hiring kayaks to paddle into the Verdon Gorge and we’ll be there at 0900 tomorrow to hire one and enjoy the cooler part of the day on the water, when most people are still having breakfast.

There was a sign for an aire opposite the parking area, run by the adjacent municipal campsite - Le Galletas.  We drove up to get in but were told it’s still closed - in the 3rd week of June!  We tried the campsite but a combination of a rude receptionist and hot, sloping pitches put us off, so it was back to the original plan for this aire at Les Salles-sur-Verdon.  There were three large vans here already and I was surprised that nobody had bagged the shady spot in the corner - that’s now ours!  Supper was eaten outside in the hot air - I think it’ll be a difficult sleep tonight unless it cools down in the early hours.  Still - it beats working! 

Breathe in and don't look down!

Tuesday 25 June 2019

Nido’s parked up at another free aire in the village of Malijai, on a grassy area adjacent to the 30 pétanque courts (yes - 30!), with the old castle walls on one side and the river Bleone on the other.  It’s still very hot at 2130 and, despite a few swims today, we’re feeling a bit sticky.  Nido’s also nursing a few scratches and bruises after an encounter with a huge cable laying machine on a very narrow mountain road, but his pride’s hurt more and nothing that can’t easily be mended when we get home - more of that later.

The wild camp at Lac de Serre-Poncon last night was very quiet and gradually cool enough to sleep.  Our first stop was in the village of Seyne to do some food shopping. The village has an interesting past, with the name of the village dating back to 1147.  We wandered up the narrow streets and steps to the old citadel with a view over the village and the surrounding countryside and mountains.  The village market was on, so we bought some very fresh fruit and veg, some bread at the boulangerie and finally the Carrefour express supermarket.  It took a while for Cathy to squirrel it all away but, as always, she managed it.

Our route out of Seyne took us up and over a mountain on the narrow and mostly single lane D7, with only a few passing places.  There was a sign about roadworks, but nothing prepared us for when we found the road blocked by heavy plant machinery.  We were heading downhill with a steep ravine to our right and no barrier.  The caterpillar blocked the road, so I parked and walked down. Beyond this was another digger and a huge tracked vehicle with a massive roll of cable on the rear, all blocking the narrow road with an edge that crumbled into the ravine below; there was absolutely no way to turn around or even reverse back up the mountain.  I spoke to the gaffer who walked up with me and moved the caterpillar over towards my left, meaning I had to drive around it - you can see where I had to pass it from where I’m standing in the photo!  Once successfully passed that (with inches to spare on the driver side between the crumbling road and the ravine), the large plant was next; the workmen slowly called me forward, checking left and right for clearance and that my driver side wheels stayed on the road and not the ravine!  The trouble was there were too many in charge and the left didn’t know what the right was waving.  Half way through it finally became obvious to them that Nido wouldn’t fit through, so I had to reverse up a little until they moved the plant forward 6 inches, which allowed me to finally to pass through.  We made our way slowly down the rest of the D7 to the relative safety of the road at the valley bottom and pulled over to recover with a brew and allow Nido’s brakes to cool.  We discovered the scratch high up along his passenger side, which must have happened when they realised we wouldn’t fit; it’s about a foot long but thankfully not deep and has only scrapped off the paintwork, which can easily be fixed at home.   I really think they should have closed the road at the top of the mountain - we were lucky.

Our next stop was to check out the aire in Digne-les-Bains, but it was a concrete wasteland area close to a busy road and with no shade, so a no-go.  By then we were feeling pretty hot and tired.  But luckily I spotted a sign for a ‘Plan d’Eau’ a few hundred metres away.  These are community swimming pools, provided free of charge for all to use - what a great idea!  We parked up, changed and walked down.  The pool was huge and is supplied from natural springs, with grass all around and a bar and restaurant.  Lots of young people were enjoying the hot sun and the pool and we were soon joining them - that cool, clear water was amazing!  We stayed for about an hour and had a couple of cooling swims before returning to the van.  I’d spotted the Malijair aire with free services, so we were happy to see the other vans were parked in a grassy area with shade from some large trees and not in actual aire, which was full of cars anyway.  Cathy took a wander down to the river and found and lovely wild swimming spot, with a stretch of deeper water between the shallower rapids.  Again, it was time for a swim!  The water was really warm and it was great fun drifting down with the current.

Back at the van, we ate supper outside, under the awning in the hot, humid evening air, listening to the swifts calling above us, and the cicadas (les cigales) in the trees.  Later on we took a wander around the village - not much to see but there were some nice narrow streets to walk around.  One interesting note was that Napoleon stayed for a night in the chateau (which is just above us) on his return from Elbe on 4 March 1815.  We also took a walk along the river stones, spotting a couple of ammonite fossils.  Some of the locals were also swimming and some playing pétanque on the courts in front of us, which are now floodlit.  Hopefully it’ll will quieten down and cool down later so we can get some sleep.  Tomorrow, a slight change of plan will see us move further south into deep Provence in search of more cooling swimming spots.  I hope there aren’t any narrow mountain roads!

See where I'm stood? I had pass the machinery by driving there!

Seyne streets

Cow bells

Market day in Seyne

The Plan d'Eau in Dignes-les-Bains - a life saver!

Wishy-Washy hanging out the dhobying!

Nice little spot in Malijai

Wild swim in the Bleone river

Chateau and petanque courts

Saint Crepin and Lac de Serre-Poncon

Monday 24 June 2019

Nido’s wild camping overlooking Lac de Serre-Poncon, a very long and beautiful turquoise reservoir, with tree covered mountains all around.  It’s been a very hot day and the thermometer is only set to rise this week, forecast to peak at about 40’C on Thursday.  Today it’s said it’s 30’C, but it’s felt a lot hotter, hence a couple of long and cooling swims in the lake.

Yesterday morning we were both awake very early and watched the sun rise over the mountains at Col du Lautaret.  Showered and a breakfast of bacon and eggs (it was Sunday!), we were on the road by 0830 to an aire about 15km away to empty the black and grey tanks and top up with fresh water.  It was then a short hop to Briancon, the nearest place to top up with LPG.  The plan was to park in the Briancon aire and walk to the old town, but the aire was run down with a few vans that looked like they’d been there for several months, plus a large group of travellers and caravans in a car park across the way, so we decided not to stay.

We tried a couple of the wild swimming spots mentioned in the book, but they weren’t really wild in our view - small swimming lakes next to a busy road.  So instead we decided to stay on the aire in Saint Crepin.  It’s run by the municipal campsite across the road and was a lovely spot, with large grass pitches.  We were the only ones there and bagged a shady pitch under a pine tree.  We were the only ones here until the evening and spent the day just chilling out, watching the gliders being towed aloft from the next door aerodrome and then soar over the mountains for several hours.  There was also a hoopoe nest in a hole in a tree close to our pitch, with both parents flying to and fro all day to feed what we think were two chicks.  So it was a bit of a lazy Sunday, but it meant we avoided the crowds of cars and motorcycles and just relaxed  reading, surrounding by nature and a farmer turning the cut hay.

We slept really well and enjoyed a breakfast of beans on toast (!) sat outside, watching the hoopoes again going through the tiring motions of feeding their chicks - it’s about time they fledged and gave their poor parents a break!  I drove over the river bridge to the service point between the fast flowing river (the snows are still melting) and the aerodrome, topping up fresh and emptying the loo - in this heat a task best done daily!

The journey here was only about an hour, along easy roads. I’d plugged co-ordinates into the sat-nav for a wild swimming spot, but there was a height barrier so Plan B came into force, which actually was the better option.  A couple of vans were already parked up here, but we managed to manoeuvre into a nice spot overlooking the lake, with some hawthorn bushes and pine trees alongside us, to provide some shade later in the day.  As soon as we were parked up, we were changed and legging it down the track to the lake side.  The water was on the warm side of cool and very, very refreshing.  After twenty minutes cooling off and drip-dry in the sun, we wandered back up to the van.The awning came out to give us (and the fridge vents) some well-needed shade and we enjoyed a small lunch, before moving into a shaded area under the pine trees, with a gentle and very welcome breeze working its way up the hillside from the lake.  

Cathy prepped part of our supper before we went down for another swim at about 1800.  Our post-swim showers were most welcome, as was the salad nicoise Cathy made, with some garlic croutons I fried with the last of the large loaf I bought a few days ago.  Sat outside in the warm evening, enjoying our supper with a bottle of local rose, we watched the sun set and the lake turn into a glassy reflection of the hills opposite.  Flies are a bit of a problem in this heat; we have fly-grilles on all the skylights and windows, but not the cab and sliding doors, so of course they still get into the van.  A fly swat and a citronella candle seem to do the trick and later in the evening they disappear to roost for the night.  Now sat outside with a cup of tea in the darkening evening, the air warm, still and perfumed by the pine trees, listening to the birdsong and crickets, it’s a lovely end to the day.  

Tomorrow we continue south into Provence, searching out more wild swimming spots, quite a nice way to plan our trip.  I’m now using the Wild Swimming France book as a guide; once we’re in the area it’s easy to follow our noses and find somewhere good to park and take a dip.  I did a bit more research this afternoon, so our route will take us west towards Mt Ventoux (another famous TdF climb), then south-east back into Provence, before heading for the Mediterranean coast and the Camargue, then up into Languedoc, Corbieres and Rousillon followed by the Cevennes region, before starting to make our way slowly north again.  That’s the rough plan, but of course it will probably change as we move along and discover new sights and places.   I have a few apps on my phone to help find interesting places to stay, the best being Search for Sites and Park4Night.  Campercontact is OK, with Camperstop coming in a poor fourth, although I also have their book, which is good.

Saint-Crepin aire - all to ourselves

Hoopoe chick waiting for more food

And here comes the food!

Finding shade wherever we can

Lac de Serre-Poncon

This was so refreshing!