Verdun to The Vosges
Week 2 – 11th to 17th June
Verdun
A brief stop in Verdun, which was surprisingly pleasant; expected the town to be a little non descript but actually it had a nice feel to it with an attractive Cathedral and plenty of cafes along the river. We drove across what were the battlefields and as such are home to many memorials and old forts. The main memorial contains in its vaults the bones of thousands of unidentified soldiers that you can actually see through windows in the base of the building, which is a little unsettling. We went into Fort de Vaux, which was an interesting experience and certainly does help you appreciate the terrible circumstances these men existed in.
Nancy
Camp sites are short around Nancy so we stayed about 20km outside in a little village called Villey de Sec which was situated in beautiful countryside on the river.
The outskirts, like most cities are pretty ugly but Nancy itself is a delightful town and its ‘Place Stanislas’ most certainly lives up to its reputation; a big open square home to the Opera House, Hotel de Ville and a select few restaurants, enclosed by stunning gates and pretty fountains, with Mr Stanislas (its inspirer) standing proudly in the centre. Pretty, old streets & buildings, an attractive Cathedral and the pleasant Parc de la Pepiniere to lounge in make for a very enjoyable town to spend a day in.
Mr Cheesbrough cooked our first BBQ which was very good and the envy of all other campers we are quite sure!
The Vosges – Le Tholly
Making our way through the South Vosges region we begin to see some truly lovely countryside and sweet little villages as we climb into the mountains. We stay at Le Tholly and don’t do too much here to be honest, other than take it easy, enjoy the countryside and relax in the sun and by the pool. Well for one day at least as the next day it chucks it down all day, but interestingly we discover we are quite happy in our new home, playing scrabble and reading – whoever would have thought it!
The Vosges – Routes de Cretes/Longemar Lake
We spend a day driving through the Vosges region; it is pretty high mountainous area and the best scenery so far, despite the weather being a little haphazard. The cows had bells on, in true Heidi style, and it was all I could do to stop Andrew cavorting down the mountain in his own special rendition of Goat Peter. There is skiing here in the winter and its weird to imagine the contrast in scenery.
The day is completed perfectly by a sunny afternoon and chancing across the loveliest campsite so far. Its busy but for some reason people haven’t taken the special motor home pitches right in front of the lake. It is quiet, tranquil and beautiful. We even almost made it up for sunrise over the lake, well actually not at all but 7.30 which is a good effort since our natural waking time seems to be 8.30!
Would have been tempted to stay on here but having already been in France a week longer than we thought, Germany was beckoning.
Verdun
A brief stop in Verdun, which was surprisingly pleasant; expected the town to be a little non descript but actually it had a nice feel to it with an attractive Cathedral and plenty of cafes along the river. We drove across what were the battlefields and as such are home to many memorials and old forts. The main memorial contains in its vaults the bones of thousands of unidentified soldiers that you can actually see through windows in the base of the building, which is a little unsettling. We went into Fort de Vaux, which was an interesting experience and certainly does help you appreciate the terrible circumstances these men existed in.
Nancy
Camp sites are short around Nancy so we stayed about 20km outside in a little village called Villey de Sec which was situated in beautiful countryside on the river.
The outskirts, like most cities are pretty ugly but Nancy itself is a delightful town and its ‘Place Stanislas’ most certainly lives up to its reputation; a big open square home to the Opera House, Hotel de Ville and a select few restaurants, enclosed by stunning gates and pretty fountains, with Mr Stanislas (its inspirer) standing proudly in the centre. Pretty, old streets & buildings, an attractive Cathedral and the pleasant Parc de la Pepiniere to lounge in make for a very enjoyable town to spend a day in.
Mr Cheesbrough cooked our first BBQ which was very good and the envy of all other campers we are quite sure!
The Vosges – Le Tholly
Making our way through the South Vosges region we begin to see some truly lovely countryside and sweet little villages as we climb into the mountains. We stay at Le Tholly and don’t do too much here to be honest, other than take it easy, enjoy the countryside and relax in the sun and by the pool. Well for one day at least as the next day it chucks it down all day, but interestingly we discover we are quite happy in our new home, playing scrabble and reading – whoever would have thought it!
The Vosges – Routes de Cretes/Longemar Lake
We spend a day driving through the Vosges region; it is pretty high mountainous area and the best scenery so far, despite the weather being a little haphazard. The cows had bells on, in true Heidi style, and it was all I could do to stop Andrew cavorting down the mountain in his own special rendition of Goat Peter. There is skiing here in the winter and its weird to imagine the contrast in scenery.
The day is completed perfectly by a sunny afternoon and chancing across the loveliest campsite so far. Its busy but for some reason people haven’t taken the special motor home pitches right in front of the lake. It is quiet, tranquil and beautiful. We even almost made it up for sunrise over the lake, well actually not at all but 7.30 which is a good effort since our natural waking time seems to be 8.30!
Would have been tempted to stay on here but having already been in France a week longer than we thought, Germany was beckoning.
posted by Andrew and Zoe @ 06:43
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