We are finally on the move. After some discussion we decided to head to Vendome in the Loire Valley. It is 200 km’s in the right direction, and had a nice campground we can relax in for a couple of days as the weather is supposed to be poor on Sunday.
We needed to add our first fuel of the trip and just like at home fuel has shot up over here. Today we paid €1.87 per liter for diesel, which is roughly $7.90 per gallon the price is helped by the best exchange rate we have ever had over here between the euro and the dollar.
The drive was uneventful even though I managed to get us lost in the end by punching the gps coordinates for the campground in wrong and we ended up in a nice little village about 15km’s from Vendome. After some figuring I got the right information into the GPS and Gretta Garmin got us to the campground.
One of Ton’s favorite things about driving around France in the spring are the fields of canola everywhere. The bright yellow fields are really pretty and it is always a highlight for her as we are driving. They were at their peak today.
It is shoulder season and we like traveling now because things are less hectic though the weather is a little unpredictable. Today we are at a very nice campground right on the Loire River within walking distance of a nice castle and cathedral and we almost have the place to ourselves. There is only one other RV in a campground with a capacity of 160.
Vendome is a nice little city with the aforementioned castle and cathedral. It is the home of Marshal Rochambeau who was the commander of the French forces that helped George Washington defeat the British at the battle of Yorktown. They are very proud of his role in helping us gain our independence. The French take great pride in the close relationship between our countries whether it is them helping us win our revolution, or our helping them during the world wars. The reality we keep coming across really goes against the stereotype of the ungrateful French.
