I have been back home for a week now, but I am only just getting around to posting about my latest trip away in my pod. I can’t believe how busy I have been since getting home! Still, all good things come to those who wait.

My latest adventure was to the Cevennes, a beautiful mountainous region in south-central France. Being a good distance away, I decided to break the journey and have a night en-route. As with a lot of my campsites, I do a fair bit of research in advance, and even if it is for one night, I still want it to be a good experience. There is always some ‘back-of-the-mind’ anxiety when arriving somewhere new, and never actually knowing what the site will be like. On the surface it looked like a nice peaceful place, virtually nobody in sight and set in the beautiful Cantal countryside. After checking in, the owner said that seeing as it was empty, I could take my pick of where to pitch. The places lower down by the river were very dark and hidden away under trees, and there were swarms of bugs flying around, so that was out for sure! I headed up to the next level that was more open and away from the hoardes of nasty biting mozzies and flies. Monsieur cames running up the hill waving his arms around, (I don’t think he was trying to waft away the bugs)! “NON! Eet iz not pozzible to park ‘ere”. Well, he DID say I could pitch where I liked, but obviously it didn’t include this particular spot. We discussed it and had a few words…and I ended up staying where I was. Honestly, the place was empty.

It was only as I was setting up that I realised that the ground was squelchy and if there had been a lot of traffic, it would very quickly have become a muddy patch. As you can see from the picture, there isn’t much grass, and by the next morning, it was just a mess. Having had a good look around, all of the pitches were in this state, so I don’t know if it is naturally damp and there was some run-off from the hill, but it hadn’t rained in weeks and it had been really hot. As you can see from the photo, my car is beside the pod, but the rules are that you have to park your car on the other side of the river at the main entrance! Well, that wasn’t going to happen, I can tell you! Once again, Monsieur wasn’t too happy about it and after another discussion he agreed that as it was SO quiet, I could leave the car … there just this once!

The night passed OK and the place was very quiet and peaceful. At least it was tidy and the facilities were modern and spotlessly clean. I was booked in to stay here for one night on my return home but cancelled that after my experience. Let’s hope the next site will be better.

A Bientot!