A Joint Frenchure Rally

July - August 2007
 

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French "Thank You"

Marshals Jan, Paul, Sandie and Phil from "A Joint Frenchure" holiday rally in Sarlat would like to thank all ralliers for their generosity in presenting each of them with a gift at flagpole of a hamper full of French delights from the Perigord region. It was a wonderful surprise and very much appreciated.
 

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More Blog from a Frenchure Rallier...

Summer holidays were drawing close so we along with 24 vans joined in with the Joint  Frenchure  Holiday organised by Paul & Jan Fitch assisted by Phil & Sandie Hegarty of the South Essex Centre.

The rally ran from the 28^th July until 11^th August 2007, so in order to arrive on the beautiful site of Le Moulin De Roch near Sarlat in the Dordogne area of France on time. The Berry family and us met up at a small site near Folkestone on the evening of  Thursday 27thJuly. Our plan was to catch a ferry next morning at 7.40am. Then drive to a booked site close to Limoges in the Dordogne. Then to continue the journey Saturday morning hopefully arriving at Sarlat at 12 noon. We boarded the ferry as planned had a good fried breakfast, then spent the rest of the crossing on the port side of the ferry getting lots of fresh air as I was feeling rather seasick. We left the ferry and were driving on French soil by 11am French time. We headed off arriving at Paris at about 1.30pm going through Paris was a breeze with Val as the navigator and Nigel and Kim staying close behind, I think that we were the only caravans that went around the peripherique it’s a bit like the M25 but all French. A short journey out of Paris saw us in rather heavy traffic. Eventually it cleared and we roared off into the sunset with many stops for diesel ,it was cheaper than the UK £50.00 to fill up rather than £70.00. I was using more diesel than expected as the diesel pump had developed a major leak We stopped at Chateau de Leychoisier at 7.30pm  had some food and a beer then to bed. We awoke to lovely sunshine and after breakfast had a wander around what a lovely site it was, booked by Nigel ( thanks Nigel ). Off we set for what we thought was to be a 2 hour journey Oh no !  we were soon at a standstill for what seemed an age due to an accident blocking the road. Eventually all was cleared and off we went.  Passing through the paeage  I saw a fellow rallier parked up for a break a quick wave ensured all was well. Leaving the motorway we spent the next hour travelling along twisty little roads but what wonderful scenery. We arrived to be greeted by smiling marshals who assisted us on to our pitches. But not  before a cold beer for the men and coffee for the ladies. Thank you Paul Jan Sandie and Phil for the welcome. We were given a super welcome pack containing wine water bread, pate and other items which was very good.

The following morning we awoke to brilliant sunshine and at the opening flagpole we met all our fellow ralliers. The marshals had compiled a list of things to do during the holiday these consisted of a games night, a try before you buy ( wines and food ) a cocktail night, quiz, and a  farewell dinner to name but a few. The canoe trip along the River Dordogne was brilliant, lots of us took part in this we used 2 or 3 man canoes, it took some hours for us to paddle along passing through some of the most beautiful scenery one can imagine. One day it was so hot that we spent most of the day under Nic and Kevin's gazebo drinking, during which we had an impromptu water fight Paul Butler looked somewhat surprised when a water container was empted down the front of his shorts. The whole rally was full of fun and frolics and most enjoyable but all good things come to an end and Friday saw most leave to break up the journey back to Calais for a Sunday ferry. Val and I left the site on Saturday morning with Gill and Nigel Emeny at 7am.We followed Nigel for some 4 hours until he pulled of for a break, we continued on and stopped just outside Paris for half an hour . We arrived at our overnight stop 30mins from Calais at 5pm ,the whole journey took 10 hours.

Arriving at Calais the next day on board the ferry we saw lots of ralliers who had been on   the rally after our farewells we set tyres on to English soil and travelled homeward, to unload the van and reload for 10 days at Thorpeness on Friday 17^th.

Many thanks to all the marshals who worked so hard for us to enjoy our holiday it was wonderful.

Teatotal Tim

Pictures courtesy of Denis Mattocks