France Part 10 - Die, Check It Out!

Die, it doesn’t sound great, does it, however, we see it on a map? But in France it is pronounced ‘Dee,’ and the town itself is very nice and definitely on the recommended list for places to see. In fact, we were staying for two nights, but now it’s three. It’s Saturday morning, 6th June, and four weeks today since we set off from Shropshire. We are still trying to work out where those four weeks have gone; they have flown past

Doesn’t look great - does it?

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But back to Dee as you can see from the photos below it is a lovely town with beautiful streets, and one of the reasons for stopping another night is because today is market day, and the sun is shining and skies are blue, so why not just relax and take it all in.

We went into town quite early yesterday afternoon for a spot of lunch and ended up staying till late afternoon, walking the lovely streets and taking in a couple of local wines along the way, and nice they were too. The area we are in is well known for sparkling wine, not quite my favourite tipple but still nice enough to try.

Yesterday it was quite a quiet town, dare I say sleepy, but this morning it was a bustling, vibrant little market town, and street shops that were shut yesterday were open this morning to go with the market; it made for a lovely, lively place to be.

We even made it up the very steep hill to see the Roman walls, supposedly dating back to the second century, which is worth a visit if you like your history. The view wasn’t spoiled by the man squatting in a field with his loo roll; there wasn’t too much on display, but enough to know what he was doing! But without him the view at the top was still amazing.

But something else that I have noticed is the amount of graffiti on the town walls and pretty much anywhere. I find it strange because personally I think it spoils the town, and when you visit, you will think it is the type of town that local residents would want to keep clean and tidy for their visitors; maybe it adds to the character of the town. Who knows? Again, we all have opinions. Because mine is it watchspoils the streets and therefore the town, but judge for yourself!

How many of us are people watchers, because I am. I can sit anywhere, my local town pub, or even in the town square, a city centre, a canal pub, maybe with a beer, actually definitely with a beer in hand, and I can just watching people go about their business and daily routines, and I am quite happy seeing what they do, how they dress, and what quirky habits they have, if in fact any at all.

If that is you, you must come to Die (Dee,) because you will not be disappointed. Dare I say you will be in people-watching utopia? I certainly was, to the extent I wonder why the town draws so many people of different idealisms. I can only assume there is a hippie community here or nearby, and sometimes I wonder what that life must be like, but possibly the drugs aside (if you believe the research.)

But there is so much more, or should I say, so many more? Being older, I could just straight talk and get to the point, but I am sure someone somewhere might be offended, and I don’t want to do that. So being diplomatic, pop over to Die and have a look for yourself. With a population of around 5k, you just might be surprised, as I certainly was. And the square by the cathedral is great for the people-watching experience.

But let’s finish with motor homing, and I wonder if we will ever learn! We were initially moving on today and had already decided to wild camp somewhere up towards Grenoble. Anyway, we decided to stay a third night, but even before we decided on that change, we had walked into town yesterday and had seen free parking with no facilities, definitely not the best, just a side street parallel to the busy main road, but with other signs showing ‘parking’ areas. But what did we do? Out of ease and maybe comfort, we just booked another night on the campsite! Already pitched up and hooked up, so why move?

But here’s one: why didn’t we pack up, drive to the other areas, have a look, and see what they had to offer? It's not so much the cost, but we might have found one of those nice little parking areas, maybe free, maybe just nicer, definitely different, but we took the easy option, and that’s not really out there motorhoming, is it? Worst-case scenario, just come back to the site we were on and just tell them we liked it so much we wanted to come back for another night; they would never know! But something to remember, and something we are doing tomorrow night, so watch this space!

And to end, just to let you know most of the pitches we have been on in France have been grass and totally different from the UK, where most of our pitches have been on gravel, but the main thing is they all work just fine. Though remember, the one thing we forgot was some wheel boards with grip, just in case it gets too wet and you get stuck in the mud. Well, so you know, in my opinion it would have to be an awful lot of rain over a few days. In the summer and decent weather, you should be okay. But don’t take my word for it – be prepared

Thanks for reading.

DJ