2. Tag

At 8:00 AM, we left the Guggl campsite in the tri-border region heading towards Basel. For this day, we hadn't booked a reservation for an overnight stay. I thought to myself, I have no idea how far we would get. It's the off-season, so we should be able to find a spot everywhere. At least, that's what I thought. The day would prove me wrong. However, more on that later. The weather was showing its ugly side. Rain and storm accompanied us until Vienne. I had originally planned to spend the night here. But it was stormy and raining heavily, and it was already 2:00 PM. There was nothing I could do here. We then decided to keep driving to Montpellier. According to the internet, there were 5 campsites here. 3 remained open year-round. So we stepped on the gas and off we went towards Montpellier. The wind rocked the motorhome back and forth. The steering wheel had to be handled with both hands; otherwise, you would have a problem. It was not pleasurable to navigate this drive to our destination today. We arrived in Montpellier around 6:00 PM, aiming for the first campsite. Gate closed - closed until April. Damn…… Now we had to either go 200 meters backward with the trailer on a narrow street or 200 meters down the one-way street. Those who know me know what I chose. Of course, it was the one-way street. Lothar wasn’t keen at first, but he drove through anyway. Then came the horror. Streets so narrow that barely a car could pass through. Lothar drove well and managed everything really nicely. He didn’t even lose his temper. So now we headed for the second campsite. Same story. The internet said it was open year-round. Not a chance, closed since October 15. I then went to the nearby restaurant and asked the two girls for help. They called the last three campsites, but all three said the same thing: “closed.” It was now 8:30 PM and no campsite in sight. Just as I was about to leave, one of the ladies called me back, saying she knew a spot with power connections, about 10 minutes from here. A small ray of hope appeared. Lothar turned the rig around, and we drove towards the camping spot. First, we missed the entrance, then drove about 2 km out of town. Here we could turn around at the roundabout, quickly head back, and find the right entrance. The mood in the motorhome was slightly tense. Lothar was still calm. I, on the other hand, was annoyed. Thank God we found the right entrance. At the gatehouse, I had to hand over my ID, and in the morning, I have to pay to get it back. The gate was only manned by the night guard. I didn’t care about anything else; the main thing was to secure a spot now. The place was very full, but a friendly Frenchman showed us a spot where we could park our motorhome + trailer. We parked, plugged in the electricity, and immediately made a sausage salad. Now a glass of rosé and then off to bed. Didn’t work at all and still totally beat.