Campsites,France # 5of16

We had driven almost non-stop from Spain and found three campsites near Cannes that were closed, then one where there was no one to stop us from parking and hooking up to their electricity. Later someone came and collected the money. During another visit to Cannes, the family in the next camper were from Holland, and were traveling in a van that contained items normally found in a camper. Some law in Holland would make it very expensive if they made the vehicle into an actual camper, so they must “haul” the items as freight.

From Monaco we drove toward Italy and found a campsite on the side of a hill, at Menton, France, right at the border with Italy. Campsites are terraced into narrow small parking places, but with no electricity. We didn’t feel like looking around for a site with electricity, so stayed put, but we sure got cold. One year we visited Cousins Josef and Ida at their friends, Eric and Cornelia, who live further up this very same Menton street.

There were several campsites open in the area near Chamonix, and there was a lot of snow on the ground and in the surrounding mountains. The 2000W setting on the heater took care of the heating problem. On our next visit we found two campsites were full, the one where we had stayed previously was crowded, but had a space or two. We rode the cable car to near the top of Aiguille du Midi, facing Mt. Blanc, then rode an the rest of the way to the top and saw the most spectacular mountain panorama we have ever seen. These Alps are very sharp and pointy.

In Ribeauville we paid a “lot” of money for electricity we didn’t need or use. They charged for the size of the circuit breaker we thought we needed, but since we didn’t use the heater after all, we could have paid less than the $5, a high price for electricity and a campsite, in France, in 1980.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Limoges, and we found a lovely campsite with no one to collect the money. We were not alone, we communicated a little with a French couple nearby, but not much. We had heard about the enameled porcelain pictures made in Limoges. We now have one on our bedroom wall, and saw two items of French Limoges enamelware, made in the 1100s, displayed in Agrigento, Italy.