(N)owhere in Champagne

The flies that were hanging in abundance on our ceiling in the motorhome yesterday morning were all gone today. Not pleasant, but we were glad that we didn't stay at this place for 2 nights as planned. Late in the morning, we continued our journey to the east. There were many roundabouts and only one toll today, but we drove on the highway for a large part of the route. The last half an hour, the navigation system took us through the beautiful countryside of Champagne on country roads. According to André, that was his sightseeing of the day: vast fields of sunflowers, corn, or wine. Occasionally, there were small forests and then fields again as far as the eye could see. Above, blue sky with white clouds, fantastic! Every now and then, a village appeared, mostly farmhouses and maybe a small church, but no supermarket or shopping center in sight. Simply the vastness of nothingness. A truly beautiful rural area.

We ended up in such a village. After 262km, our accommodation for the next 2 nights is Soulaines-Dhuys. There are only a few parking spaces here, so it's pure peace and relaxation. The caretaker is Dutch and a really cool guy. When we arrived, he had his coffee mug in his hand and immediately saw from the license plate that we are Germans. After the greeting, he casually showed us where we could park, "not there, because we have the grape pickers as guests, they will arrive tonight and leave tomorrow around 7 am." He gave us some tips on choosing a spot, where the sun rises, how to best position ourselves, and where the swimming pool is. Totally laid-back, wearing baggy pants and holding a coffee cup. He told us to check in around 4 or 5 pm, he has some other things to do and will be at the reception then. So we unpacked and observed the neighborhood. Right behind the parking area is a large playground, next to it is a cow pasture, and on the other side is the village church. It rings every half and full hour, but only until 7 pm, and starts again at 9 am. Very nice of the church, because when it rings, it's quite loud as it is right next door. For the last chime of the evening at 7 pm, it plays a melody for about 5 minutes - exquisite!

When checking in, I saw a sign saying that the Dutchman speaks 4 languages perfectly. Hats off. We've also encountered this in Sweden... the restaurant owner at Tyforsgarden could speak several languages too. So the Dutch really have it!

Later, we tried playing table tennis, but the table, the ball, the wind... it didn't work properly.

The grape pickers from Romania also arrived in the evening, hopefully they will go to bed soon. The crowd is already quite loud, but tomorrow will be quiet again. We will take a look at the village and maybe take a walk through the fields...

Best regards,

Die3Bolis