Jane & Rog’s Balkans Tour

[Jane And Rog]

Today’s maps. Close up:

Zoomed out - vet bottom right.

 

[Jane And Rog]

love the cap..

There hasn’t been enough hat discussion in this thread. This is my second purchase this trip.
R

 

[Jane And Rog]

We’ve had a bit of a downer on France for a while. It’s too expensive, too busy, the food isn’t as good as they think it is, etc. today if felt a bit like France had realised that, put on its best pants and tried to seduce us.

We decided to have a final stopover in Champagne. Apparently they have a local wine that’s very similar - and nearly as good - as the wines of Kent and Sussex. But first a picnic on the way. Turns out that France is really good at dotting every road with nice, clean picnic spots.

We were the first of three to arrive at Champagne Bouquet (///tracers.uninvited.nasal). Swiftly followed by some Swedes who needed Jane’s help to speako-le-frenchie and then some French people who didn’t. Bouquet is a small winery which allows people to camp for free overlooking their vines. The views are stunning. Sadly they weren’t open for tasting on Sunday evening.

As we looked over the protochampagne, we cooked razor clams followed by Charolais steak.

Châtillon-sur-Marne was the birthplace of Pope Urban II and, in the centre of the village is a massive statue of him. It’s not clear if Urban is facing Rome, Jerusalem or just at the nice view. We think Jerusalem is most likely: in 1095 Urban promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the holy land from Muslims and free the eastern churches. I.e. the Crusades were his idea.

Whoever his political legacy, the views from his statue over the vineyards as the sun set were amazing.

In the morning I took Flynn for a walk through the Pinot Noir vines as the sun burnt the haze out of the valleys. It was lovely.

We set off early and made very good time to Pas de Calais. Such good time that we decided to bring the tunnel booking forward and return to England today.

 

[3DOM]

Thanks for taking us along with you.
Most enjoyable

 

[Go_buddy_go_]

Thanks for taking us along with you.
Most enjoyable

ditto

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[Bolti]

Excellent blog been reading with interest.

 

[scousebird]

Looking forward to your next trip already. When & where?

 

[Norfolk Nige]

Really enjoyed your journey. Given me plenty of ideas for the future. Thank you

 

[PxJ]

Well the end to another fantastic trip for you (I hope) & an excellent trip for us. I said it before all your posts are always so well written & the pictures fantastic & of course only outdone by the excellent little section by

 

[PxJ]

Denby, clever little so & so

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[Jane And Rog]

Looking forward to your next trip already. When & where?

The pub and the curry house ASAP

 

[rolosroller]

to the next

 

[Jane And Rog]

Looking forward to your next trip already. When & where?

Maybe be Wales walking!

 

[Jane And Rog]

Denby, clever little so & so

Adria Twins, new with added ChatGPT.

 

[Chasnam]

Great trip blog really enjoyed it keep up the good work
Chasnam

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[Grianan]

Very much appreciated your blog on this trip. Albania will definitely be ‘on the list’ for when we retire.

 

[Jane And Rog]

One final map - Champagne Bpuquet, definitely worth a stop and 3-4 hours from Calais.

 

[Mikey RV]

Thanks for the pics and blog. Really enjoyed it.

 

[Poms_from_Adelaide]

Kind of sad that this trip has come to an end! Has been my first online check each morning to see what you’ve been up to! Thanks hugely for taking the time to post and share your trip, it’s been a blast!

 

[The Boofles]

A big thank you from us too
Another really interesting read from start to finish with tons of useful information.

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[Riverbankannie]

Great reading - thanks for taking us along

 

[dryad]

loved every moment, thank you..

.

 

[Lenny HB]

However, our trip there was beset by difficulties. First, what I had thought was an easy road winding up beside the river turned into a narrow mountain road with steep drops and a dreadful, broken road surface. I was in tears of fear after an hour of this - it was awful.

Here is Rog’s video

Looks like a nice wide but I'm an expert at ending up on silly roads.

 

[Deadloss]

Thanks for the wonderful blog, photos and maps - very entertaining (and useful)!

 

[bobandjanie]

Another brilliant blog Jane and Rog, It was interesting your thoughts on Croatia, ours were exactly the same we turned around at Split, far to many tourists and tour guides, once you turned into the less discovered countries loved it, thanks for sharing. Bob.

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[Gingernuts]

Hi loved your blog and photos thank you

 

[paddymcc]

Thanks for sharing your blog, looking forward to the next one.

 

[MaidinDevon]

Very entertaining and lovely photos. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I forget to comment regularly, but have read each instalment wirh interest. Flynn is gorgeous.
Will definitely follow your adventures in Wales too, if you do a thread. Would love some suggestions for somewhere closer to home.

Safe travels home.

Karen

 

[AG 2602]

Works been getting in the way recently but I've just caught up!!
Looking forward to the next trip and I'll try to check in more regularly!
I'm sure that beer was in a small glass,its just that Rog has a tiny head!!

 

[Orinoco]

Thanks for writing your blog Jane and Rog and especially thank you for recommending the camper park at Bernau am chiemsee which we remembered as we were stuck in endless traffic heading for Salzburg today. I saw the sign for Bernau and remembered you mentioning it and we decided to leave the motorway and stay here for a couple of nights. Cheers !

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