Basil’s view for the night

Today was intended to be a day of driving. Getting a few miles under our belt on our way to Italy. Unfortunately it did not turn out entirely as planned.

We set off in heavy mist and a temperature of about 4ºC. As we headed south towards St. Etienne, the weather began to feel more like the southern Europe. At one point the thermometer reached 21º, and my fleece came off for the first time.

As we approached St. Etienne and a lunch break, Sarah developed a migraine. She used to suffer from migraines regularly, but this was the first for 18 months. They seemed to stop when she started taking vitamin D for a deficiency. There is literature on a connection between low vitamin D and migraine and so we thought that might be the end of them. Evidently not.

I pulled in at a roadside picnic spot and Sarah headed for a rest. Two hours later and feeling little better, we decided we should find a spot for the night.

I had been studying the options while Sarah rested and chanced upon a free aire at St. Victor sur Loire. When we arrived it lived up to expectations (45.448055, 4.256134). We had a lovely view over a reservoir formed by the damming of the River Loire in the 1950s.

Gorges de la Loire

My French geography is so poor, that I always associated the river Loire, with the Loire Valley near Tours in the north of France, with all the famous chateaux. But here we are in the South of France, more than 500 miles from where the Loire enters the sea. However, having just googled it, I find that the Loire is over 600 miles long and the longest river in France. Who knew. Well not me, obviously.

Tomorrow the plan is to head for a campsite break (well we have been 5 nights for free so far) in Avignon, but we will have to see how Sarah is in the morning.