Final coddiwomple through France

Wednesday 6 March 2024

I’m home having left Dave in France. We haven’t fallen out, that was always the plan as he is spending a week snowboarding in the Alps, happy that fresh snow is falling on the slopes.

When we left San Sebastián in Spain we had about 10 days to work our way towards Geneva airport for me to get my flight home. We’ve been caught out before when driving through central France in winter and had to sit out a snow storm, waiting for the roads to be cleared. So we were definitely keeping a watchful eye on the weather as we headed north east on the National Road network.

The drive up the coast to Bordeaux was lovely, the sand dunes there are massive - the Dune du Pilat is said to be the largest in Europe. This dune section, between the sea and the forests, is approx 100 meters high, 500m wide and the ridge extends for 2.7km. Definitely somewhere we’ll return to when it’s not hailing, blowing a gale and the van is being sandblasted!

Heading inland we explored the Dordogne region (the river, the valley and the department). The area is characterised by Chateaus sitting high on hilltops, houses perched on the rivers edge and against rock faces, car-free villages, cobbled streets and bastide towns with their fortress gates, market squares and geometric design. 

Monpazier

Beynac-et-Cazenac

La Roque-Gageac

Sarlat-La-Caneda

It was an interesting area but the weather was wet, cold and dreary so we checked the forecast again and decided to completely change direction, put in some big miles and drove to the south coast. The sun was out down there and the temperature was 10 degrees warmer than it was in the Dordogne area. 

Carro Point

We headed for the Camargue region exploring the coastal towns and sandy plains whilst soaking up the sunshine, before changing course again and heading back north. 

Camargue region

Le Grau-du-Roi

Aigues-Mortes 

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Martigues

So that’s definitely the end of this particular road trip - 3 countries, 6700 miles and 9 wonderful weeks. Just going with the flow, no fixed plan, occasionally doubling back and detouring and quite a bit of ‘coddiwompling’ - travelling in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination. 

‘The path that takes us straight to its destination is a dull one indeed. It carries only the one message and when we have read it, we have read it. The winding road, however, is a continuous story. Each bend is a mystery and rounding it a discovery.’ ~ C.R.Milne.