Lorries, Lorries Everywhere

I am happy to report that we have safely completed our 400 mile journey from the Drome and are now sitting happily in our gypsy wagon waiting for the start of the Great British Bake Off.  Yes we do have the comfort of satellite tv with us as we wander around the highways and byways of Europe and are able to keep up with the most important things happening back in the UK, most importantly the Bake Off and Who Do You Think You Are?  Scottish independence refererendum?? What's that???

The journey up here has re-emphasised to me just how big the haulage industry is across the continent as we spend virtually the whole of every trip overtaking heavy goods vehicles.  It can be quite wearing but fascinating at the same time as we note the vast number of nationalities represented including Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Transylvania and Portugal to name just a few.  Virtually every service area is full of wagons often making it difficult for us to find a space but to date we have been lucky.  Mind you it's not easy to get much sleep when you are parked up for the night alongside a refrigerated vehicle!

So here we are in the Champagnes-Ardennes region and today has been incredibly hot and humid.  We are paying the price now as a storm rumbles around but we don't mind that overnight and we did enjoy a lovely bbq in the late evening sunshine.  We also managed a 12 mile bike ride and as Linda's training programme intensifies, I am starting to struggle at keeping up with her average speed over that distance of 15mph.  I am having to have two beers at the end of the ride to get liquid back into my system.

The photos attached tonight are both of Lac D'Orient, only one was taken in 2011 when we were last in this area and one taken today.  Quite a contrast and we don't know if this is down to drought or other factors.  I intend to find out but in a way hope it is drought and that it lasts for a few days more.