We didn’t want to wait until 2pm but used the break to check the air filter of our Mercedes-Benz. Occasionally on this and the previous tours the motor had problems accelerating. On the 3rd day of this tour it was worse than ever and we wouldn’t have been able to continue our trip like this
Previously I had checked all oil levels and got the better more expensive fuel but the air filter was something I hadn’t done yet. According the manual there should be a meter notifying us if it has to be replaced or not, but that specific meter didn’t exist in our model. So I found the air filter and took it out. Mercedes obviously believes that a car owner doesn’t do this, so there were no instructions in the manual and it was more difficult than necessary to get the filter out. After cleaning everything as good as possible and putting it all together again, the motor ran smoothly again and didn’t have any more problems for the rest of the trip. What a relief!

Unfortunately the town with just 5322 inhabitants (2006) is a town in decay. Many houses are in a bad condition and on the edge of collapsing. It could be a charming French countryside town. With the Fosse Dionne, the Sankt-Pierre church high above the town (not open to the public), the Hôpital Notre-Dame and some small stores and cafes it could be popular among tourists.

On our way to Tonnerre we drove through the vineyards of the Chablis, the northernmost wine district of the Burgundy region. In April there isn’t much to see yet but it is always nice to see where some products come from.

For the night we stopped in Gurgy, which is a small town north of Auxerre. Here there is a lovely camper park directly next to the Yonne river. We arrived early enough to enjoy the warm weather outside and went for a walk along the river and through the village.

Winter Tour 2008 – Day 13:

The route back to Holland was going through the region of the Loire valley. We have visited this area years ago and were looking forward to see it again.  First we tried the camper park in Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe, directly next to the river. It is a pretty place but everything was closed and turned off, so no floating water or electricity. I tried to use the power convert in the camper to charge my notebook, but every time I turned the converter on it blew a fuse. Without a running notebook to edit photos and watch a movie we didn’t feel like staying there and went back a few kilometers to Briollay. In Briollay it was the same situation – a remote camper park without supplies. In Chenillé-Changé it looked like we were lucky as there was a power outlet next to the camper park which was being used for flickering Christmas lights. I connected the motor home but when I plugged-in the power adapter of my MacBook Pro, it blew this adapter and the main fuse of the motor home. Also the power convert got fried beyond repair. With an empty laptop battery, a broken power adapter and a destroyed power converter,  there wasn’t much left for us to do at night, so after having a good dinner we decided to keep on driving. Two hours and 186 km later we stopped in the village Gacé, which has a simple camper park in front of the town hall.

The enclosed and fortified village was founded around the Romanesque church of St Radegonde in 1284. In the summer this place must be packed with tourists but now we were almost alone walking through the tiny pedestrian-only streets between the small houses.

Unfortunately it stayed foggy all day, so we didn’t many pictures. Just before dark we reached a nice camper park next to the harbor of Mortagne-sur-Gironde.

Here we noticed a camper park sign and decided to give it a try. What we found was a huge parking lot directly behind the dunes with many motor homes, a service station and electricity, all for just EUR 5.50 per night (low season rate). So we stayed and enjoyed the sunny warm weather at the long sandy beach. For most of the time it was warm enough to be outside without a jacket, which is quiet nice for December 29th in this corner of the world.