The view of the mountain opposite the campsite
I’ve decided to stay at least one extra night here. I would like to get to know Francious and her boyfriend Andreas a little better.
The bugs
Camping in a tent which is open to the ground at the back is not for the bug-shy. Back at the last campsite I was sharing with two large cockroaches. They were quite friendly ones. A long skinny black one and a tiny round beige coloured one. I explained to them that I was happy for them to use the back bit but not to come into the bedroom... and not to walk on the plates and stuff. ‘Oui dacours!’, their little tentacles nodded in agreement.
Yesterday I found two dancing bugs. One on each light, one upstairs and one downstairs. They were fully dancing around the same spot on the light. I think they wanted me to put the stereo on. They are le punk rock bugs!
What the ...!
There are loads of earwigs, daddy long legs, two ‘siamese’ bugs that seemed to be joined in the middle and the other day I saw something, I don’t know what it was, but it was huge – It looked like a very large honey bee but over 2 inches long and fat, well over half an inch wide. It had tiny wings but made a very loud buzzing noise. I think it might have been a drone sent by the aliens to report on the unusual camper technology. Thankfully this one didn’t want to come inside. It probably had x-ray vision and didn’t need to come inside.
However apart from twice being bitten by something in the grass while I’ve been sitting there barefoot, me and the bugs seem to be getting on great.
Le-Rozier village – just 2 minutes walk up the road
Today I walked into the tiny village of ‘Le Rozier’ and took my laptop with me in order to check my mail and update the blog. Reception in the valley is very poor. It also means I can replenish my supplies at the little spar shop around the corner. I sat in a cafe drinking coffee and after ages managed to get a single day uploaded. After that I gave up and went to look for bread and wine.
When I got back to camp Francious was talking to her Swiss friend Mirella. Mirella was even more beautiful than her name suggests. Definitely worth staying another night I thought. Mirella was there with her father and her very cute 2 year old daughter. Her father was a friend of Andreas’s. I believe they used to share a house together. I fetched my wine and distributed it amongst whoever was present.
Biscuit packet extraordinaire
Now it says 12 biscuits on the packet. Indeed there are 12 biscuits inside so I am not complaining, but 4 goes into 12 exactly 3 times right? So why not make the tray and the box exactly the height of 3 biscuits and save on the packaging? Now I know what you’re thinking and I checked the box, they were made in St. Etiene, not the Auvergne!
I discovered that this campsite as well as being the most beautiful, cheapest and by far the friendliest, Francious and Andreas also allow the guests free use of their Wifi. The trouble is over by the river where my camper was the signal was very week, so I took the laptop over to the little snack area they had made near the entrance. They have a little snack van there too offering everything from croque monsuir to grilled trout. Then of course it’s a race to get my pages and pictures uploaded before my laptop battery died, which was already well depleted from this morning’s use in the cafe, at the same time as talking to everyone. I’m also off grid and so cannot charge my batteries without running the car engine!
Francious and Andreas bought this incredible place in the middle of the gorge for just 150,000 euros. They got it cheap on account of the fact that the river floods each winter. The campsite is closed in the winter, but then my mind went into engineer mode. In Holland they make houses that float for when the sea comes in. They can’t float away because they are anchored to the ground by large posts. They simply float up and down the posts. When the water goes, you re-open the site, with no damage done. I suggested this to Andreas and Francious but I think they are short of the funds to implement such an idea.
That night I sat around with Francious, Andreas, Mirella and Mirellas father; Chock. Dinking wine and watching the football on a laptop the rigged up outside. A Dutch couple were also there who had bought a house in the next valley. At 9.30, well after it got dark in the valley the Dutch lady started shouting, “come look, come look at this... quickly”. We all ran over. The sun which had disappeared almost 2 hours ago was illuminating the top of the mountain behind us. It was literally glowing in the dark. Apparently it only happens 3 days a year around the solstice.
I seem to be getting on really well with Mirella and her father. She is very sweet. Very young though I think. Without asking I was trying to figure it out. Did high school and college, went to Mexico, got pregnant, now daughter is two... hmmm I figured 24? Now most people think I’m much younger than I actually am. I put my youthful looks down to my diet (yep, sausage is good for you) and lack of stress. I have a policy of not tolerating stress for prolonged periods, I believe its not healthy. She probably has no idea I’m 42 – nearer to her Dads age than hers for sure. They are leaving day after tomorrow so this probably won’t go anywhere anyway. She put her daughter to bed but then didn’t emerge herself. Most people seemed to be drifting off so I went back to the camper and lit the fire. I didn’t want to be cold tonight.
All that afternoon and that night the camper was exposed to the full force of the 'Mistral' – the name they give the wind that blows south down to the Mediterranean. The camper was magnificent! It flapped around a bit but the aluminium structure held solid. The fire kept me a toasty 20 degrees inside till early next morning. Mirella, you don’t know what you’re missing!! ;-) I got the munchies too about 11pm so I heated up my dinner from earlier on the top of the log burner which I can alo use as a hot plate. In fact this is the first time I have used it like this and it worked well.
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