Across Northern France to Switzerland

Shortly after leaving Brugge, we went back into France where we spent the next 3 days travelling across to arrive in Switzerland on the 13th June.
I am finding travelling on the roads very very stressful with having a wide vehicle on the opposite side of normal on narrow roads through rural villages as we travel across Northern France. I got close to wanting to just jump out and return to NZ, Bill more than happy to push me in these moments (probably after he has strangled me). At this rate we will be returning home to go separate ways.

Lovely & peaceful Campsite

And then we arrive at these pretty peaceful camps in or close to lovely little villages and the world returns to normal where we walk or bike around, having a drink in local cafes and back to talking to each other once again.


Le Quesnoy Thanks to Gman
A small village,(or commune in Fr) strategically placed, that didn't really grow into notoriety till the middle ages.

Entrance into Old Le Quesnoy

It was designed as a fortified walled village, then restrengthened after a low key take over in the 14th century and now in some decay but as a fortified area is amazing

Lots of moats around Le Quesnoy

with two layers of defencive walls and moats plus the added ability to flood different areas of said moats to quickly dampen any attackers spirits.
But the real connection here, as I didn't know, but sure some will, is the Kiwi  WW1 angle.

The WW1 Memorial to NZ Soldiers

The village had been under a harsh German occupation for 4 years and the Kiwis were given the unenviable task to liberate it which they did, with no loss of civilian life but a nasty fight anyway with the added difficulty of scaling the high walls first. Luckily the flooding bits were no longer working. There will be books written on this & they will flesh out a more accurate story than my brief description, so the village regards us well. We were wandering the quiet streets (its still pre holidays here so there are a few travellers but not many), when a guy just walked up to us and started to tell us in articulated gibberish (could be french) where the memorial to the kiwis is located (presumably) at the point of their unexpected arrival. How he picked us I have no idea, it could've been my Hop Federation Tshirt with Aotearoa on the back, or the stuffed kiwi hats we wear...... I don't know.

Bill & Helen

Several streets are named in honour of the Kiwi effort with Rue Waikato being one of the main thoroughfares and have included a photo specifically for Cousin Kevin to mull on.Yes she is a world known figure that many respect, including Le Quesnoyans! We enjoyed a "blond beer" as a reward for flying the flag in this ancient town in a typical small town French sidewalk cafe.

Not every ride is easy!

We hunted down summer and damn we found it. The Island and coastal temperatures of France have truly been left behind as we entered the Champagne district. The temperature has shot up (guessing) 10 degrees C over the the 120 km we've headed inland, yesterday and then today, this is warm like Europe is warm, should've checked the bloody air con before we left!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Etoges

From Le Quesnoy we drove on down through the Champagne region, beautiful countryside. We visited the town of Etoges, quaint wee village but as it was siesta time the place looked all closed up with no sign of people.

Chateau Etoges

With summer here, the houses have their shutters shut which makes the places look abandoned, but this is how they keep them cool. We saw the lovely Chateau Etoges, but it didn't look like they would appreciate our campervan parked up on their front lawn.
We continued onto Sezanne where we found the camp just outside the town up on a hillside, It was lovely and peaceful and very soothing after another stressful day on the roads.

Paved narrow passages

The next morning we rode down into the town & found an English map at the Information Centre that took us on a walk around the historic town.

Another passage way

After a few misread directions, lost in translation on my part, we eventually got right around the original parts of the town.

Main Street

Bills next building project

 The architecture is amazing, and with some being restored to original, would be very challenging.

All a workshop needs - stones & tiles

Garages are full of quite different materials to what Bill would have at home. We have not had the luxury of time to sample any "Champers" thus far as we still have a way to go, but seeing its reasonably central I am sure the opportunity will be explored at a later time.

Streets of Langres

Continuing on to the Medieval town of Langres, arriving at peak time, added to the stress of trying to find our way into the camp which was up on the hill inside the old city walls. Perfect location for a medieval town, with 7 towers and 7 gates and 3.5 km of ramparts, which was great for walking along.

One of Langres Gates

In the morning we walked the city wall, a total historic immersion with outlooks over the stunning countryside.

Cathedral of Saint Mammes

 The church also was special, very original and with the Gregorian Type chanting just audible as you walked round the unlit cloisters, the history was palpable

Along the ramparts of Langres

From here it was one final step into Switzerland via the town of Basel. We had no knowledge of the area but the motorways, highways & byways all converge in the area including the river Rhine (a flow somewhat larger than Nelsons Maitai). Little did we know that it is a large industrial town,sharing 3 borders and a huge hub of transit. We got into a queue on the motorway then Bam! your in Switzerland, no welcome, just pay your road tax!!!!, which we did, with some confusion as 1, we were over 3.5T and 2, we wanted to stay longer than a few days, so we agreed on a month, this was for road tax, didn't even look at our passports, guessing we can stay as long as....... Sorry for our Hosts here.
So with a little more stress on the motorways we have arrived at our hosts, Sheryl's niece Amanda, Rico, Luna & Caio, where the welcome was warm & friendly. We are parked up in a very pleasant area in the town of Sursee, which all going well will be our base for the next few weeks.