2018-04-10 Northern Italy and Southern France Mende to Flower Camping de Mars

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Northern Italy and Southern France Mende to Flower Camping de Mars

Northern Italy and Southern France by Hymer Motorhome

Mende to Flower Camping de Mars

It is 3°C when we wake here in Mende, it feels cool after the warmth of the south. We are up early (having set the alarm!) and leave car park/campsite by 9.30am. There is an event on in the village as the car park next to us is packed and they begin to spill into the area reserved fir motor homes.

We take the N88, the national route, north towards St Etienne (a distance of 100km). At first, we follow the Valle du Lot, alongside the river, but then begin a serious climb up to 1250m, over the montagne. At Pradelle we are at the snow line and there is snow lying in the fields, it feels very cold… it is 1°C! We stop and fill up with diesel and a little further a Charcuterie of mostly pork products (but also goat and cow) with lovely jamon… we buy some, also pork liver terrine, a course pork paté and two pieces of ham to take home.

We find a lay-by nearby and stop for lunch, here we have great views of snow covered mountains. It seems such a contrast between 1°C here and 20°C of Provence only a day or two ago. Back on the N88 all the way to St Etienne, dropping down into the valley and following a much more agricultural route with Charolais cattle (much prized for the quality and taste of the beef) in the fields.

St Etienne is a large city, much bigger than we imagined, with a ring road (not dissimilar to the M60), it is busy and everyone knows just where they are going! We continue north on the N88 and then A72 to Veache where we turn onto the D1062 towards Feurs where we look for the campsite. It turns out to be a motor home car park behind a motor home salesroom. We do not stop but continue on to Baligny where we take the D56 and follow the Loire river for about another 35Km. It is a pleasant road running alongside the river with great views across. We find Flowers Camping de Mars, what you might call a ‘real’ campsite with large grass pitches divided by hedges.

After our rather cramped style accommodation on some of the Aires, this feels palatial! It is low season and there are only four of us here, so we can choose almost anywhere. This is one of the rare occasions that we used our ACSI discount card, it gives discount at campsites except during the high season. I’m not sure it’s really worth us subscribing because we don’t stop at ‘proper’ campsites, we like the aires and type of locations that they provide.

We park on pitch 15, a corner pitch overlooking the Loire river and quite near the shower and toilet block. It is quiet, peaceful and just what we need. We open a bottle of Voignier white wine, as we sit and watch, red kites glide over the valley… lots to watch too. I make meatballs (with the Charolais minced beef) and stir them into a chilli sauce… yum!

There is a canoe club on the river bank with jetty and pontoons (it is closed, not yet open for the season) but we sit on one of the benches and watch the purple sky darken to indigo as the sun sets. An owl hoots somewhere in the trees and the fish jump. The stars start to come out and it gets cold. It is quite a pull up the hill to the camp site but it was worth sitting down by the river, even in the cold.

Our Hymer motorhome trip to Northern Italy and Southern France

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Summary of motorhome journey – Mende to Flower Camping de Mars