Yesterday, Friday, we left the genteel and very comfortable Camping Neptune at Graude Agde saying au revoir to Simon and Bev, a motorhoming couple who have been going to Neptune for 20years. They were very knowledgable and imparted lots of useful information. They are are not Funsters but do read the forum. I suggested that they join but they’ve been motor homing for years and possibly don’t see the need to join the forum.
Two hours of pleasant motoring, avoiding the A75, we passed Beziers and pitched up at Le Cerissieres, near St Pons de Thomières. It was 32° and the site was empty apart from us and one group we didn’t see who were in a chalet. The site is beautifully laid out with generous, shaded pitches. If we wanted to stay beyond Monday, we could but we’d need to move to a luxury pitch with its own facilities. Or we could stay on a standard pitch until Sunday. The reason is they are closing the sanitation block on Monday so standard pitches, which need the sanitaires, should sling their hooks. It transpired, after further questioning, that so long as we left before noon on Monday, we could stay Sunday night on the standard pitch until Monday.
We had the exclusive use of the pool which is lovely. On Sunday, they will close the pool as the heating costs tariff increases on the 1st October. There is a stretch of river that you can swim in and we did swim there this afternoon.
When checking in yesterday, they told us that the snackbar/restaurant remained open and that we could register for a paella meal that evening as a group was arriving for the meal. We decided to have the paella and we were told it was a 19:30 kick off.
At 19:35 (fashionably late
) we sallied down and found that the group was a party of school kids with their teachers. About 40 of them. They were billeted in the chalets. The kids were very well behaved and for a largish group of 14 year olds (estimated) there was a disappointing lack of boisterous behaviour for us to whinge about ‘the youth of today!’. The 19:30 start time was notional and as we waited for the food, we had a beer and glass of wine respectively. We were beginning to think that we’d made a bad choice in opting for the paella, as the bar was also serving the standard fayre of burgers and pizzas to the few additional motorhomers who had arrived since we did and who had not opted for the paella meal. The meal was €19 per head which included a large glass of alcoholic punch, the paella and a dessert.
Just as we were beginning to think we’d better abandon the paella meal (the kids were starting to be served and we were anxious that there’d be little left after the teenagers had their portions) the chef came to our table with two humungous plates of paella. And what a paella! Each plate had two huge prawns, many regular sized prawns, mussels, strips of what we think was squid, amd a few baby octopuses. The latter are not to Mrs Ingwe’s liking but they were so soft and tender that you’d think it was just some sort of fishie thing. There was also chicken on the bone that just fell off the bone just looking at it. And there were also large chunks of spicy chorizo. Although the portions were huge, we both finished the plates leaving nary a grain of well cooked rice. To finish, we were served warm apple pie with a large dollop of ice cream. We retired to the van replete, slightly sozzled and tired. It was a balmy evening and the pretty full moon shone down brightly.
There are now two other UK vans here, a French and a Dutch van (our neighbours). The latter are very pleasant and chatty. We are staying to Monday morning and will then head slightly north but still avoiding the A75. Destination to be decided. If you’re still awake, here are some photos.
Camping Le Cerissieres
The pool
The school group and teachers
The paella
The pool and moon.
Swimming in the river
Two hours of pleasant motoring, avoiding the A75, we passed Beziers and pitched up at Le Cerissieres, near St Pons de Thomières. It was 32° and the site was empty apart from us and one group we didn’t see who were in a chalet. The site is beautifully laid out with generous, shaded pitches. If we wanted to stay beyond Monday, we could but we’d need to move to a luxury pitch with its own facilities. Or we could stay on a standard pitch until Sunday. The reason is they are closing the sanitation block on Monday so standard pitches, which need the sanitaires, should sling their hooks. It transpired, after further questioning, that so long as we left before noon on Monday, we could stay Sunday night on the standard pitch until Monday.
We had the exclusive use of the pool which is lovely. On Sunday, they will close the pool as the heating costs tariff increases on the 1st October. There is a stretch of river that you can swim in and we did swim there this afternoon.
When checking in yesterday, they told us that the snackbar/restaurant remained open and that we could register for a paella meal that evening as a group was arriving for the meal. We decided to have the paella and we were told it was a 19:30 kick off.
At 19:35 (fashionably late
) we sallied down and found that the group was a party of school kids with their teachers. About 40 of them. They were billeted in the chalets. The kids were very well behaved and for a largish group of 14 year olds (estimated) there was a disappointing lack of boisterous behaviour for us to whinge about ‘the youth of today!’. The 19:30 start time was notional and as we waited for the food, we had a beer and glass of wine respectively. We were beginning to think that we’d made a bad choice in opting for the paella, as the bar was also serving the standard fayre of burgers and pizzas to the few additional motorhomers who had arrived since we did and who had not opted for the paella meal. The meal was €19 per head which included a large glass of alcoholic punch, the paella and a dessert.Just as we were beginning to think we’d better abandon the paella meal (the kids were starting to be served and we were anxious that there’d be little left after the teenagers had their portions) the chef came to our table with two humungous plates of paella. And what a paella! Each plate had two huge prawns, many regular sized prawns, mussels, strips of what we think was squid, amd a few baby octopuses. The latter are not to Mrs Ingwe’s liking but they were so soft and tender that you’d think it was just some sort of fishie thing. There was also chicken on the bone that just fell off the bone just looking at it. And there were also large chunks of spicy chorizo. Although the portions were huge, we both finished the plates leaving nary a grain of well cooked rice. To finish, we were served warm apple pie with a large dollop of ice cream. We retired to the van replete, slightly sozzled and tired. It was a balmy evening and the pretty full moon shone down brightly.
There are now two other UK vans here, a French and a Dutch van (our neighbours). The latter are very pleasant and chatty. We are staying to Monday morning and will then head slightly north but still avoiding the A75. Destination to be decided. If you’re still awake, here are some photos.
Camping Le Cerissieres
The pool
The school group and teachers
The paella
The pool and moon.
Swimming in the river
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