Heavy, heavy rain again in the night at Le Thillot but it is fine when we get up with very low cloud all around us covering the tops of the forest and mountains. After breakfast we service Hymer, filling with water, emptying the grey water and the toilet cassette, all full after four days here. We call for diesel at the Total Energies filling station in Le Thillot and GPL a little further along the road. We finally get on our way and onto N66 about 10.30.

At Remiremont we continue on another very good road: A57 which follows the loops of the River Moselle towards Épinal. We decide to stop and make coffee at Aire de Peuxy (the notice said the next Aire was 40km). Unfortunately it was just a filling station and truck stop, small and not very nice, we reflect that this is just part of our journey and our experience so have coffee and move on. I take over the driving for the next 70km. Irritatingly, we pass a lovely Aire about 8km along the road, large, grassy, under the trees and with picnic tables! In fact they are about every 10km along this section of the A57 (but no filling stations). At Épinal we continue on A57/E23 all the way to Nancy to call in U-Express for more of their excellent wine selection (as at Urbes).

The A330 takes us right into the city, we had forgotten how congested the cities are and the narrowness of the roads and roundabouts for a motorhome. We join the city traffic and find U-Express only to find it is a city-branch, small with a tiny car park (but no height barrier)!! That means no parking for us and therefore no stopping. We retrace our steps remembering that city shopping is not for motorhomes! It is always worth looking at Google Street View and we’ll keep that in mind. We turn west on A31 to Toul and then N4 where we follow navy blue clouds all the way to Saint Dizier and Intermarché.

As we approach Saint Dizier we are accompanied by two Rafale military jets, flying their manoeuvres from the nearby Base Aérienne de Saint Dizier at Moëslains. These amazing jets fly in pairs, low and fast, they are aptly named Gust of Wind and Burst of Fire and we enjoy their aerobatic displays. Parking at Intermarché we shop for wine, jambon, cheese, fruit and vegetables and also top up with diesel as the price is good. Finally on D384A to Eclaron and D24 past the road to Lac du Der (and the lovely old mill) to the small Aire at Sainte Livière: Aire camping-cars des Caillotes.

We are surprised to find it is empty, although three of us arrive at the same time and all check in at the automated pillar one after another. We each choose our space, we park on the same one next to the picnic table as in July 2019 (on that occasion the person in the motorhome on the adjacent pitch might have been Mr Grumpy from the children’s book). It is late afternoon, sunny and warm and I spend about 15 minutes collecting fabulous large round and shiny conkers from the horse chestnut tree under which we are parked.

Later the German from the next van (Grandpa too I would say) collects a whole bucket full! We laugh (no language in common) but the meaning between us is quite clear. It is cool, the temperature dropped to about 15°C, so we sit inside and enjoy Crémant d’Alsace with crevette purchased at Intermarché. Both are delicious and complement each other perfectly. We watch as another two motorhomes and one campervan arrive and park up. The six of us spend a pleasant evening, watching the sunset behind the trees, as we eat stir-fry made with the last of the ham we cook at Le Thillot and fresh vegetables from Saint Dizier.

Day 2 at Sainte-Livière

It is cold when we wake at Ste Livière, 14°C inside and 9°C outside, the coldest yet. Coffee and sunrise soon raise the temperature inside and we have breakfast and catch up with email and communications as there is excellent, fast internet here. All but one campervan leave, we go for a walk through Ste Livière.

First we visit the old mill, still empty as it was at our previous visit, still beautiful in its setting but, like us, looking a little older. We cross the canal and walk along the forest road but it is cold, about 14°C so do not walk to the lake. We see four inquisitive goats, a llama, buzzard, kestrel and many blackcaps. As we approach the village we see a building next to a small river and go to investigate. It turns out to be the old laundry facility, a long trough of water, like a small swimming pool, fed with water from the river, we think about the generations of people – mostly women we think – who washed clothes here before the advent of domestic washing machines. All the gossip would have been exchanged and no doubt there would have been grievances aired and harsh words at times tempered by most joyful occasions centred around marriages and other social occasions. Life was harder but without the pressures of modern living.

Back at the aire de camping cars in Sainte-Livière two more campervans arrive, including a German rental who parks across two spaces… tut-tut, it’s just not done! We spend the afternoon reading/proof reading my family history and the afternoon passes very pleasantly.