Burgundy
Having decided to spend a month in France in June 2007 , the next thing we had to do was decide where to go. France is not somewhere with which we were particularly familiar and it seems to have so many delightful attractions it was hard deciding what to do. We could opt for a touring holiday where we saw as much as possible but not spend very long anywhere or we could concentrate on one particular region.The decision was made when we saw an article about Burgundy which said it was a great place for great wine and great food both of which we are rather partial to.
We took the Dover Calais ferry and then headed out; our main guide was the Camping Cheque book which offers a pitch with electricity for £10 a night and our first stop was at the Chateau at Gandspette which is only about 30 minutes or so out of Calais. This was a very nice site and we had dinner in the bar which was warmed by a huge log fire.
This first stop was the start of a learning curve in picking pitches; we were on a slight grassy slope rather than a hardstanding and the next morning we found it difficult to drive off the pitch as we slipped on the wet grass and the wheels began to spin. Fortunately we had picked up some very cheap anti slip mats from the Range and these proved well worth the six quid or so we paid as we did eventually get out without resorting to desperate measures of pushing or digging ourselves out.
After Gandspette we thought that we could perhaps get as far as Dijon the following day but France is an awfully big place and as the afternoon wore on we saw that Dijon was not a possibility if we wanted to pitch in the light so we but as it turned out we got off our pitch pretty easily.
The sites we visited where:
Chateau du Gandspette - convenient first stop, nice bar and restaurant. stopped near Langres at Lac de la Liez before hitting Burgundy on the next leg.
By the time we were on our way home we had been alerted by someone to the municipal site at Troyes as a good half way house. This was ok but a bit pricey ( compared to Camping Cheque prices) and it was grassy and damp so the memory of slipping at the Gandspette site was in our minds
Lac de la Liez - lovely lake nearby, boat hire possible. Pitches a bit hit and miss, all grass and quite a few on the slope.
Eperviere - great bouef bourginnone to take away. Camping in the grounds of a lovely chateau.
Les Sources Santaney - great for the cycle route
Mouline de Collonge - tiny site but in the country and again convenient for Voie Verte.
The municipal site at Cluny - marvellous site, spotless and very convenient for lovely town.
La Grappe d'Or in Mersault - in the heart of wine country and on the cycle route through the vines, convenient for Beaune as well as other famous wine villages.Very nice restaurant here.
All the sites in France offer the chance to order fresh bread and croissants each morning. Most had restaurants too which were cheap popular and served great food.
As for Burgundy the food was good and so was the wine but the wine is not cheap - which I suppose is no surprise as it is probably the top wine growing region in the world so we did not drink too much burgundy when we were there but the shops had plenty of alternatives.
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