Greys Court

The doona was used for the first time in months last night!  The weather has changed and we are much happier with the new conditions. Even the oaks and the chestnut trees are showing signs of an early autumn. 

After a late night at the Dashwood Arms, we were a little slow getting going this morning. We decided to spend the day at  Greys Court, a National Trust property not too far away.  We are glad that we hadn’t planned anything else because the rain came with a vengeance. 

We refused to get out in it like many of the hardier Brits were doing. By early afternoon the skies had cleared and we were able to stroll around Greys Court garden and house. 

Crocheted afternoon tea!
Greys Court goes back to 1066 when the King, William the Conqueror (formerly, William the Bastard!), wanted to reward loyal noblemen by granting huge parcels of land. Initially, a fortified castle was built, only later being partially pulled down and the materials used in the building of the existing property. 

The Great Tower is a relic of the early fortifications. In fact, the 900 year old wall has just recently been destroyed - it literally collapsed after 900 years - due to age and the weather. 

Greys Court’s Donkey Wheel is an interesting survivor from the 16th century, being the oldest of only 2 surviving in the country. From the 12th century, the well was used to provide  water from the 200 feet deep well (all dug by hand!). It kept the house in water, from the 16th century until 1914 the donkey wheel did the raising of the water. The water was raised by the donkey walking in the wheel which lifted the water buckets. 

The rain held off for the rest of the afternoon. Our drive back towards London took us through the scenic town of Henley-on-Thames. 

After a visit to the supermarket we returned to Englefield Green for the evening. 

High Wycombe

Our overnight stop at Englefield Green is always a good stopover. Although it is on the flight path of Heathrow we were not disturbed by the flights at all. The early morning flights all seemed to be landing from the other approach to the airport, so there was only a very faint rumble from that direction.

Today was the day that we had to commence the process of showing Hilton to prospective new owners! A bitter sweet day for he has been such a great home for us for the past seven European Summers. 

We spent most of the morning decluttering and just generally cleaning and tidying the van. Whilst doing this we had a call from James who suggested he dropped around with some coffees, which he duly did. We had planned to wash the van but with the rain still falling it became a pointless exercise. 

By mid afternoon we were back on the road to High Wycombe to meet Toni and Andrew, who had expressed a very positive response to our add.  We had a very warm reception from them and their daughter, Charmaine. After much discussion over a coffee and cake Hilton was on the cusp of having new owners. 

We left Toni and Andrew’s home just as the rain started to fall heavily. We spoke with Madeleine and James before we drove on to our overnight stop - still pouring with rain. 

We believe Hilton will be going to very caring new owners. 

Back to Blighty

As the rain commenced in Esquelbecq, we packed up the van and drove on to Dunkirk to do a  final shop, before catching the ferry at Calais. By the time we reached Dunkirk, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining through again.  

Interestingly, a French guy warned us about itinerants wandering around the large parking lot, and advised us to be very careful with our things. As it turned out, there was no threat, or apparent threat, of any kind. 

We had our dinner here before we drove on to Calais - it was raining again. We turned off the motorway to the port about 6km from the actual port, and for the whole 6km there was double fences with razor wire on the top of each fence, and between the fences, attempting to ensure that truck or cars cannot be interfered with. All along the motorway electronic warnings were flashing notices to motorist to be aware that objects may be thrown onto the highway in order to stop the traffic. At no stage did we see any evidence of this. 

The UK Border Security gave our passports the most thorough check that we had ever had! It held us up for about ten minutes while they did their probe. Normally it is about one minute to pass through this part of the port. At the next stage we were given a good search by the French Police looking for any unauthorised person that may be concealed in, or on, the van. 

The passage to Dover was about an hour and a quarter, where we disembarked, drove to the harbour esplanade where we spent the night, along with other motorhomes. 

Anyone passing through the system of the Calais-Dover crossing could not but shake their heads at the Brexit cretans who believe that a hard Brexit is the answer! 16,000 lorries pass through this port on a daily basis - get real!

We woke this morning to a cooler Dover morning, took a long walk along the waterfront and just soaked in the view. (Last evening the lights of France were quite clear.) 

Later we tackled the M20 and the M25 motorways, we were doing okay until we got around near the M3 intersection and then the notorious traffic jams kicked in!  

James had followed our journey and decided to meet us for lunch, which was very pleasant to catch up with him after a few months away. 

We later stayed at Englefield Green for our overnight stop. 

Esquelbecq

Another hot one today! We decided to stay in Esquelbecq where there was shade for most of the day, and it is a very pleasant village and surrounds.  

Our daily pattern has changed with an early morning walk before we have breakfast taking advantage of the cooler conditions.The village of Esquelbecq provided a very pleasant early morning setting for our walk - have to keep the steps up!  In the centre of the village is a large paved square mostly surrounded by attractive brick houses, (adorned with colourful plants) in the 17th century style traditional of the Flanders region. 

Esquelbecq is like an oasis in the  dry northern plains of the Pas de Calais department. The village is adjacent to the moated Château d’ Esquelbecq which has been on this site since the 9th century, with the current building dating from the 13th century, and windows being added in the 17th century after a rebuild.   

In the middle of the village is the 16th century Church of Saint-Folquin, although its origins are believed to date from the 10th century. The church has three naves of equal size, an unusual design typical of the Flanders region. The church was substantially rebuilt in 1978 after a fire destroyed most of the building.

Before and after the fire!

Many of the chard remains of wooden sculptures have been rehoused and displayed in the church. 

Esquelbecq is know as a 'town of books' (there are several of these across Europe) and is a regional centre for the selling of old and new books, through bookshops and regular markets. The book markets in Esquelbecq are held on the third Sunday of each month,  and attracts buyers and sellers from all across Belgium and France.

The attractive village is not high profile, it must be one of the hidden gems of northern France. Very relaxing with the park being part of the original 18th century garden of the Château, with many old oak trees providing the relief from the summer sun. 

Later in the afternoon the sound of thunder was a joy to most people’s hearing. We now await for the main orchestra to appear! 

The first rain clouds for months!

Méteren

We were slow leaving the shade of Grenay today, delaying our departure by finding things to do before we left. We walk to the neighbouring village of Bully-Les-Mines and did some shopping. On our return we proceeded with other housekeeping which needed to be done.   

Late morning we set out for the large supermarket in Lille, and for the first time a large supermarket had a 2m height barrier preventing vans from entering! Initially frustrating, but we did find an adjacent business that allowed vans of our height to park. We eventually did our shopping before leaving for Méteren. 

At Méteren we visited the grave of my grandfather, William Samuel Sayer, who was killed fighting to capture the village in 1918. This is the centenary of his death (d. 23 April 1918), and so it fitting that we pay our respects to him for having sacrifice so much. He was 41 on his death, leaving a wife and three small children at home in Wynyard, Tasmania - one of these being my mother. 

The small village of Méteren was totally destroyed in 1918 from the bombardment and fighting that took place around this area. Prior to the war it had been a thriving market town for a basically rural area. 

Having paid our respects, and having reflected on the motivation of men like William Sayer, we drove onto Esquelbecq for our overnight stop. We were joined by five other motorhomes - all Belgiums. Flemish was the language across the aire during the evening. 

Lazy Day in Grenay

Our decision to spend a lazy day in Grenay was very profound!  Nothing like a fine, sunny Sunday to spend relaxing in a very peaceful environment. Spent some time chatting with a Spainish family, who were on their way to Corsica - too hot for us! They had some interesting views on Brexit.

We took an early morning walk around the village, noticing the remains of the highly industrial period of this town. Many old tailing-hills surround the landscape, the leftovers from 60 years of coal mining in the town. 

This area was also at the front line of the trench warfare along the western front in 1914-1918. The war cemeteries in the area are a sad testament to this conflict. 

We are very tempted, at this stage, to spend another day here - it is such a relaxing place! And, the friterie man comes back from holidays tomorrow!

Bavay-Grenay

A great nights sleep - in fact we slept a little later than we had planned. The sun was up early but another cool breeze kept the heat at bay for a while. 

We had breakfast and set out on a walk to the Grand Place (market place) in Bavay where we found the usual Saturday morning activity taking place. A block away from the centre of the village lay the unearthed Roman forum, part of the large Roman city that existed here over 2000 years ago. We followed the signs  to this intriguing archeological site, where we were surprised that we could walk around the site. 

The forum, from  the 1st century,  was uncovered by the 1940 bombing that destroyed the buildings covering it. Several hot bath structures (hypocausts) had been found under the church, and under some houses, signifying important baths - perhaps public baths. 

The Romans built the largest forum outside Italy right here in the town - it was a gigantic public building, 200 metres long by120 metres wide. Archaeologists found the complete foundations of a basilica - the Roman "town hall", an underground gallery, and porticos of other buildings - making it one of the best finds of Roman remains in France.

Bavay was an important administrative town for the Romans once Caesar had gained control of the area. It was a centre where Roman roads connecting the seaport of Boulonge-sur-Mer with the German province in Trier. The large Roman town was built around this crossroad. 

An artists impression of what it may have looked like gives you a glimpse of the magnitude and the importance of the site. 

We later walked back through the Grande-Place where the 17th century column of Brunehaut dominates square. 

We later returned to the van where we had parked just under the old medieval town’s defensive perimeter wall.  

We left for our next stop in Grenay, a town we had visited at the beginning of our travels in Europe. It is a very pleasant park with great opportunity for shade - and relaxation. Perhaps we could spend a couple of days here! 

Boussois -Bavay

Another lovely view across La Meuse when we opened the curtains this morning. A cool breeze was making things very pleasant.  

Many of our neighbours for the night were still fast asleep, or taking in the ambience of the setting too!

We slowly got ourselves together and headed in the direction of Erquelinnes where we did some shopping. We weren’t sure if we were in France or Belgium! So much for being seasoned travellers! In this neck of the woods you are in and out of countries all the time without realising it.

We did end up in France at a lovely aire de camping at Boussois- and plenty of shade too!  

We decided to stay here for most of the day and just relax, just like the like-minded French couple and a Dutch family. Always very interesting to chat with different nationals to get their views of the world. 

At the end of the day we all had to leave because the aire was being closed due to a fair in the area on Sunday.  We all parted late in the afternoon for different locations. 

We drove onto Bavay where we stopped for the night at the aire. Bavay has a great deal of Roman historical connection but we have not had the chance to explore this yet!

Our drive took us past more agricultural land which seemed to be under some stress. The sugar beet crop particularly in some sort of trouble. 

Too hot to cook in the van so an outside cook was on the cards. 

Givet

Our journey today took us from Belgium to France. The temperatures, though, were of a similar kind - not surprising, as we only travelled 20km! Again, the Belgium roads left a lot to be desired.  

Leaving Dinant we passed the Rocher Bayard but not through the narrow side on this occasion - much to the relief of the onboard navigator! 

We followed the Meuse River towards Givet, which is just across the border in France. Some of the views across the water at this time of day were well worth photographing.

A scenic lookout over the Meuse Valley gave us a good view of Château de Freÿr on the other side of the river.  A beautiful renaissance Château on a forested  bend in the Meuse with narrow cliffs jutting from the river.  The Château has been in the one family for the past 20 generations- since 1410! Over time some very important treaties have been negotiated here - including the boundary treaty when France took over the administration in 1772. A very impressive Château and garden. 

Harvest was well underway giving us a picturesque view of rural Belgium. 

And we passed the first of the Napoleon tree-lined roads we knew we crossed into France - just to give his soldiers shade while marching off to war (so the story goes!). 

Our arrival in Givet coincided with the dramatic increase in the temperature. The town immediately struck us as a “beau village” with the ancient Charlemont Citadel dominating the river and the town... 

... and Hilton! The building of the citadel was commenced in 1555 and altered consistently over the next 450 years until its bombardment in 1914. The Germans occupied the town in 1940 until the Americans retook the town in September 1944, accommodating 11,000 troops in the citadel before the Battle of the Ardennes in that year. 

Many motorhomes were parked up along the Meuse in full sunshine- this wasn’t going to be our plan at this stage so a shaded area was found around the corner! From here we could explore the surrounds. 

Later we did move position to be on the banks of the Meuse with the other vans 21 of them - and a slight breeze off the water helped to keep things cool...ish -  34deg.

We delayed our town walk until after our evening meal when the sun had set behind the old town. Many others had left it to this time of the day to stretch their legs too.

Our neighbours!

Centre Ville

Being another town stretched along the riverfront every sound travels its full length- the incessant trail bikes buzzed the town well into the night.  Where were the Gendarme when you need them! 

As the sun set the lights of the town were switched on and made quite a picture from our position from across the river. I can understand now why this is a very popular town for motorhomers to visit. The sight across the river is quite mesmerising. We sat out well after sunset to see the changing colours of the town opposite.