Up L'Herault valley

  Montagnac, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Saturday, May 31, 2008

We meant to stop at a bakery for bread and then head up to Ganges, following the river. While hunting for the boulangerie, we saw signs for the medieval bit and investigated.

Pezenas

  Another hidden gem!  Inside the medieval walls are many interesting buildings and narrow cobbled streets. The neat little shops and cafes may be a tourist trap but their brightly coloured displays liven up the stone buildings.

Pezenas

We browsed the town and stopped for a beer and then set off towards Clermont L'Herault.

There is a lake just outside the town which looked a promising place to take lunch, but an orienteering group had taken over the place and none of the parking was accessible. We continued along L'Herault, hoping to find a nice place beside the river.

At Aniane we found a sign for a picnic area 'au plan de l'eau'. Huge mistake! It started on a normal village road, but this led to a set of road works. We followed more signs through what felt like a building site, with workmen setting
curb stones and digging out paths. We left this and found ourselves on an unmade road, which just kept on going, until finally it plunged down a hill. It was probably near the river at this point, but the track was impassible by a vehicle and Ralph had to reverse up several hundred yards before we could return.

The Gorges of L'Herault

The mood in the Bongo was not good by now. We finally stopped in the car park of a cave at the beginning of the gorge. We enjoyed lunch in the sun, listening to thunder in the distance, in the direction we were headed. After that, we made it up to Ganges, but saw little to make us leave the comfort of the van for the wind and rain outside. We returned to the coast, via Montpelier, entertained by a dramatic storm to the east as we went.

The Gorges of L'Herault

The weather returned to hot sunshine as we approached the town, and we left the main road to follow a quieter road parallel, intending to return to the previous night's camp. As we passed through Montagnac we saw signs for the Camping Municipal. This was not marked on my map or in my book, but we went for a look.

Our pitch

It was just outside the town and we booked for a night (€13.30 with electric). It is a lovely spot and we have an excellent pitch looking over a small valley and onto the town. We are soaking up the last of the evening sun and watching a couple of magpies teach their baby to fly (Ralph is throwing stones at it to help). The one big disappointment - the ladies facilities are closed here, and the only toilets are the hole-in-the-floor variety, which explains why the site isn't in the guides. They are spotlessly clean, though. No internet either, but we weren't really expecting it.

Camping Municipal, Montagnac

We had an entertaining evening watching a german couple with a monster of a campervan, trying to set up for the night. Their van had been parked at the entrance when we arrived and no-one was around. We assume they were doing what we did - walking the campsite to find the best pitch. We found ours, on the edge of the site, near the top of the hill and facing the setting sun. While we were sussing it out, the big camper started up and made slow progress up the hill towards us.

Ralph went back for the van while I waited on the pitch. The germans eventually chose a pitch on the perimeter of the ground about 3 along from us. It was on a bit of a slope, whereas ours was level. We had just set up and settled down with a glass when we heard their engine start up. They moved into the pitch on the opposite side of the road, in the central part, and we thought it was because it was more level.

There are only electric points on the central pitches but we ran our cable across the track to the nearest point. It would seem the Germans decided to do the same, and then reversed back to their original spot. They then spent an hour trying to get it level. The van was too big for the pitch and they started with the front chocks on the edge of the road. As they moved forward, the chocks slipped, with a loud scraping that alerted the whole camp to their difficulties. They then reversed into the hedge and moved the chocks back, but even with these they never managed to be fully level.

Next morning they made an early getaway - but not too early for me to see them drive off with the electric still connected. He did stop in time but he looked majorly teed off.  Methinks there will be a camper van for sale at the end of this break.