Arras to Meursault (Dijon)

It was a really hot day and we decided to try out the Route Nationale instead of the Peage in the hope we could stand having the windows open at lower speeds, but when we’d done about 3 hours and only managed about 90 miles we realised it was going to be just too slow and Peage it was to be.

Because of the heat we were regularly stopping at the rest area’s, but even so we were now averaging 50 miles per hour and starting to get somewhere. According to the Map we had there were camp-sites in the area south of Dijon which is a fine wine producing area so we headed to the Camping Grappe d’Ore at Meursault directed by the Sat Nav.

Horror.... at the gate hung a sign “Complete” (full) and we were out of luck, or so we thought.

Sitting there trying to decide what to do a nice lady (Juliette as I later found out) walked towards us and said I bet you need somewhere to stay. We agreed we did and before we could ask if she could recommend somewhere else she said they could find us a place to park because they had a rule they always tried to help... Cyclists, VW campers and especially Land Rovers.

We were shown into a wonderful secluded secure courtyard and were able to stay there for the night.

A nice meal with a truly superb Chardonnay white and the day ended very well

In the morning after a nice breakfast Juliette showed me the pictures of her and her friends out in their Land Rovers including her 1980 Series III 109, and we were told we would always be welcome.

They must have known of my prior exploits in Spain because at the gate there hung a sign...

What have we learned so far.

1. I need to do more of the heatproofing of the cab area as we were getting quite hit from the heat coming in from below.
2. We should create some net curtains for the windows and rear door to have insect free maximum ventilation when it's really hot
3. The Sat Nav is good for finding campsites, but we should have called ahead even though in this case it worked out

Damage / Problems so far

1. None