Pictures for future reference.

Can still see some German influence in the building styles.

Day 8 begins with Lee waking me up out of a deep slumber as the alarm has been making a noise for the last four minutes. It took her four minutes to get her arm out of bed as it was very cold even within the van. We don't leave the heater on overnight lest it drain the van battery or gas which is used for heating the water as well.

We decide to go back to sleep, as you can do on holiday but only for another hour. We then forgo breakfast so we can begin our trek South since we have done the Champagne region and yearn for warmer climes. 

We are headed for the Burgundy region, don't we seem like wine aficionado's, but that is not the motivator. We have researched this fine land and know that the wine and champagne regions are very pretty and so far that has been the case.

However, it is time to stock the van again with groceries and we choose to use the local supermarket of the Mareuil-sur-Ah since we had the opportunity to use their Aires. It may be of interest that the supermarkets of most countries are much the same in layout but the Brands are different with some common brands like Kellogs, Coke, Pepsi, Perrier, Lindt, many alcohol brands, Lor (coffee), Yoplait (yogurt), McCains, and many more. However, there are many local brands and in each of the supermarket chains their own home brands.

We set our destination and rely again on the vehicle GPS but check the distance calculation against the paper maps we have. Our aim is to get near to Auxerre ( south-east of Paris) a distance of some 180 kms but we are not quite sure what way the GPS will take us. Ah a magical mystery ride is in store.

It does not take us long to realize that the GPS is certainly set for the Country Roads of France as the pictures will attest. Interestingly, the routes provided take us into small townships and occasionally when there are road works and other barriers the re-routing takes us into the BackStreets of France.

At least we get to see the people in the slightly larger townships picking up their children from the local school. This seemed to be at about 2 pm at what we thought was much too early in the day but then maybe the children go to school earlier in the day here. 

As you will note in the pictures and video that we provide today, that in all of the smaller villages, it seems to us, that not much is happening at any time of the day, let alone between noon and 2 pm, when we can only speculate that everyone is off for an afternoon delight. This must be a French thing. 

The many, and I mean many, villages we drove through along our trek today seemed abandoned. Many of the buildings had closed shutters over their windows, the maintenance of many of the buildings was wanting and it was rare to see anyone out. The vineyard workers were still to be seen hand digging the soil about the vines, some hand pruning but only selectively since there were buds on all the vines I saw and occasionally we would see tractors with various attachments doing their thing to the grass and soil. 

I did however, appreciate that most chemist shops were open, in the larger towns supermarkets were open during those times, and of course we should not forget the emergency services (fire and ambulance), medical professionals and police officers that are on duty 24/7 to serve and protect (thank you).

My observation did not lessen the beauty of the countryside and the quaint architecture of some of the houses. The patterns of yellow and green colours of the fields continue but the prevalence of vineyards diminishes as we drive further South, although we expect that to change once we get closer to the Burgundy region.

About half way, so it was time for a break and as you do when in a Camper Van you stop almost any where you like and we chose a flat spot between towns in the middle of the countryside to have lunch. Lee deftly made Croque Monsieur (ham, cheese and bread fried in the pan) with coffee and a we enjoyed a chocolate eclair to top it off.

As we toddled along doing mostly 90 kmh on the roads and slowing to 50 kmh and sometimes 30 kmh in the frequent towns, we were averaging 60 kmh and I could not help but think that it was not much faster than Tour de France riders do and they would ride a longer distance than we were driving today, and do that almost every day for three weeks.

It also seems that some of the roads chosen for our trek are just back roads meant for tractors and local traffic, so the beast takes up almost the full width of the road. Thankfully no vehicles come the other way and we are soon on two lane roads as we get closer to our destination.

Lee has done her homework and knows of an Aries some 5 or so kilometers away. The reports of it are good and there will be power available. Mains power is a big thing when you are traveling since in this world of devices, camera batteries that only charge from mains, and emergency phone batteries, etc. there are lots of rechargeable batteries to manage. We have a cigarette lighter USB charger which is operational as we drive but it requires deft juggling of the devices, appropriate cables and best not played with as you drive when Lee says she does not know what cable goes with what device - whew that was close to the parked car, pole, kerb, etc.

The Aries lives up to its reports and the lovely haltingly English speaking lady at the access control point greets us and says she will visit each van at 6 to work out the cost of the stay. Most Aires do not charge but if there is power involved expect to pay - as it turns out 6.90 Euros (about A$10) for the stay.

Lee excels and creates a Ragout de Boeuf (beef stew) and we have some wine from Burgundy to finish off a relaxing day of travel and the beginning of a new week in France.

Went down a treat even if we don't get to Burgundy.

Organ pipes.

Tempted to make this my cover photo.

Most of what we saw today was like this.

Lunch in the fields.

Lee pushing the 'button' to use the 'GPL' bowser. Who would have guessed.

Organ pipes.

The swans' view of us.

Pretty impressive as well is the town center.

This tree lined road was particularly attractive.

After all our drama the gas cost about A$20.

One of the many country roads. This one is of exceptional quality others not so much.

Impressive doors but the smaller doors are meant for little people.

Not only are the tilling by hand we are told all the grapes are hand picked as well.

The camera diminishes the grandeur of this place.

Our view tonight as I write this instalment.

The boat/ship/vessel at the back called New Holland can be seen. Great name and reference to Australian ownership.

Tractor near Huateville the last resting place of Dom Perignon.

The grand cathedral from the side and still grand looking.

See The World

One of many country towns we passed through.

with BILL'S EYES

Day 9 is a bit frustrating although it begins like most, which is to wake when we do and get the van ready to rumble. We did however desperately need some gas since the heater stopped the previous evening because we had run out of gas. We and a number of our fellow Camper-Vaners (my term since many others would call us Grey Nomads), need to fill and empty at the same time - to which I mean, fill the van with potable water and empty the waste.

While I was doing the necessary, Lee was speaking with the Gurgy Aries attendant, the lovely lady who met us the previous evening, trying to confirm whether the nearby Petrol Station also had an LPG facility. Well who would have thought LPG was hard to describe -petroleum, propane, butane -which translate to petroleum, propane and butane respectively, so that did not help. Lee had a Aires booklet that provided an address and telephone number which the attendant rang and they did not know whether they had it or not and did not speak English. However, since we were desperate in need of gas we thought we would try anyway and the GPS directed us there but that was the easy part.

Remember this is the first time we have had to fill up with gas, so what does the gas dispenser look like, can we use it ourselves or do we need an attendant to assist, where in the heck does it go into the van, and so on. Well after a long wait to get to the bowsers we find what looks like a gas dispenser but it is devoid of clear instructions. Into the station I go and the attendant does not speak English but using sign language indicates that I need to push something to make it work.

I remove the hose and its bulbous connector from the bowser but do not know where to place it on/in the van so it can deliver gas since all I see in the van is a gas bottle with two inlet/outlets and no compatible bulbous receptacle. Then Lee remembers that there are adaptors in the side door pocket of the van and then we also find a socket in the side of the van which accepts one end of an adaptor and the other end fits the bulbous hose connector. All is good except nothing seems to happen when I press the green button which I thought I needed to press. This is becoming an opera with death and consternation featuring big time. 

We note that the adjacent gas bowser has been used and shows a price for the last purchase, so we swap hoses and bulbous connectors and this time we lean on the green button and a whoosh of gas begins to flow into the van, keep leaning and it continues to whoosh. Yippeeeeee. We are doing high fives and feeling very pleased with ourselves. Funny what is normal to others can be a mountain of for others to climb, which is why we should be wary of being critical of others.

With gas and water a plenty we are on our way the 8 kms to Auxerre but our joy is short lived. When we arrive and park in a designated camper van area we notice that water is flowing out of a tube located below the van and that the gas heater is not working. A call using Skype to the Van providers and some fiddling with buttons for the gas and buttons for the water to the heater, fixes the problem and our water heats up and the van heats up as well. Great considering it is 6 degrees today and raining pussy cats and puppy's. 

We know our water then is low but we are desperate for a hot shower and this makes us human again and ready for a walk about the pretty city of Auxerre. There are three very impressive cathedrals, one of which were spent quite some time within in awe of the skill of the designers and workers that conceived and constructed it. The town is quiet but there are shops open after 2 pm, which entertains Lee as she sees and likes a rain coat for Maddy our latest grandchild and lots of other things that I say will not fit in our luggage.

The walk is also a great opportunity to seek out a camera shop as Lee's DSLR camera is making grinding noises when it is turned on and off. A new camera later we are on our way as Lee enjoys taking photographs with something better than her old mobile phone and we have three weeks to go and much to see and capture.

Time for some food at about 3:30 pm as we did not have lunch and when in France crepes is the snack of choice. Raining and cold it was a fortuitous choice to enter a Crepe shop with warmth and tidy clean tables. Even more delightful was the cheerful shop owner who greeted us in French and haltingly asked what we wanted in English. We should have looked on the A3 sized menu in the window before we entered but that was not a problem for this jovial and eager shop owner as he promptly took the A3 sized menu off the shop front window from the inside and presented it to us, as he smiled. We chose the Banana/Nutella and the Grand Marnier crepes and two coffee au lait. The crepe maker promptly made the hundredth crepe for the day, what a crepe job. 

Thus you can see that the day was eventful for all the wrong reasons and stressful as the solutions to our problems were not clearly apparent and yet we survived and we know so much more now than we did.

Also partly to plan and partly due to the events of the day were are parked very close to a friend's river boat which is moored here at Auxerre and we sent him a picture to say all seemed fine and that it was missing him. 

However, almost all of our water is gone and hence no heating and there is nowhere in the immediate vicinity to fill up again, so we have another three dog night (or at least two quilts) ahead of us before we head off in a new direction tomorrow, as we have decided to head West instead of going to the Burgundy region in the East. At least the Chablis was a great soother to the nerves and Lee's meal a Curry Boeff and rice was a very complimentary dish for the wine.