Arrondissement de Béthune

This morning we didn’t wake up until 8am. I got cold in the night and was awake for quite a lot of it and then I got hot so I think that’s why I slept in for so long.
It didn’t really matter what time we got up. We had nowhere to be except or next airè today as all we are doing now is pushing up France towards the ferry and home. All of the tourist destinations are pretty much closed now and there’s a brief rest bite for the towns and villages we have been visiting before the Christmas markets get underway.
At 10:30am we were ready to leave and I set the sat and it said we had a 120 mile journey ahead of us. Stupidly I thought it was nearer. 50 miles but obviously we stayed somewhere I hadn’t planned last night and that threw my mileage out.
We had a good run to our next airè with the first 40 miles being on single carriageway and the rest on duel carriageway and by 1pm we had arrived in Avion.
Our first impressions were that the town looked rundown but the airè backed onto a huge park and seemed nice and as it was empty we decided to go shopping before settling in. We couldn’t get into Lidl to do our last major shop as there was a height barrier but it did have a big csrrefour supermarket so that’s where we went and it was much more expensive. In fact out of all the supermarkets we’ve been to Carrefour seems to be the most expensive.
With the shopping done we headed back to the airè and it was still empty. There airè is layer out with 2 lots of 4 spaces on either side of a tarmac driveway with a turning circle and four parking spots at the far end nearest the park. Currently the 8 parking spaces on either side as we entered are roped off because they are grass pitches and completely waterlogged. That just leaves the 4 spaces at the end of the airè. I reversed in to the parking space furthest over on the right.
Once parked we had lunch of fresh bread and soup and then at 3pm we decided to go exploring. The main high street was just 100 meters away so we ventured there first incase there were some gift shops to browse around but unfortunately it looked like a dying high street from England with hairdressers, coffee shops and pharmacies, there was nothing much to see here.
From the high street we ventured back past Wanda and into le parc du lac’s or the park of lakes and went for a lovely walk. The park is full of lakes, some large and some small and the paths running around the outside are for hiking and biking. They even had a tarmac area made up like a road with roundabouts and road signs so people can take their young children there and teach them how to ride on the roads safely.
As there has been so much rain in the area the tracks around the lakes were really muddy and we had to dodge multiple large puddles but the the ducks and geese were loving it and had been churning up the grass pecking through it looking for worms.
We finally got back to Wanda at 4:30pm and we had been joined by another very large double wheel based Motorhome that had left a space between us and them.
The airè stayed pretty quiet until around 6pm when 2 more motorhomes just a fraction larger than us turned up. Because of the larger Motorhome already here and at the edge of the turning circle they had to use the empty parking space between us and the large Motorhome to turn around. Then they both backed side by side into the turning circle and parked up. This was a busy airè.
Just when we thought the fun and games were over 2 more motorhomes turned up. They were both Wandas size but each had a trailer. Now they had no way to turn around and no where to park.
Next to us is an entrance to a business of some kind but it does have gates that closed at 5pm and the first Motorhome with the trailer had to nose up to the gates and then shunt backwards and forwards with the trailer on into the gap between us and the large Motorhome and do a 180 and then parked across the taped off area. The second Motorhome with the trailer had to do exactly the same with lots of people helping with directions. It took about 20 minutes for each to turn around. It seemed pointless us getting out as we don’t speak French.
With us 4 motorhomes and the 2 with trailers parked in a straight line across the taped off area the place was full except for the space next to us. Then at 7:30pm another Motorhome turned up. He spent 10 minutes turning around and reversing into the space next to us but then decided we were all to close and left.
Considering there is nothing in this town this is a busy little airè and there are other places about as we’ve stayed there in the past. Arras is just down the road and there are numerous places near the memorial sites which are less than 5 miles away so I don’t know why this place is so popular.
At 8pm we had a much nicer dinner of mushrooms and crème freche with chicken so Ellie managed to redeem herself after last nights catastrophic failure. Then we closed the blinds, put our pyjamas on and settled in for the night.Read more