The day didn’t start well to say the least because myself and my husband had a massive argument that ended in us deciding to set a route back to Calais. Why? What went wrong? Well, on a personal note we had cracks in our relationship before we embarked on this trip and we were hoping that this journey would pull those cracks back together and mend us but it seemed like the cracks were getting bigger and it didn’t help that I was suffering mentally too- if you’ve read our ‘About’ page then you would already know that I had post natal depression and unfortunately it’s not something that can go with the click of your fingers. Each persons journey with it is different. I had suffered with depression in my teens and I was hoping I would never have to go through it again and feel so low but I was wrong and the post natal depression I had was still with me.
As a stay at home mother for 4years, I felt I had lost my identity and I needed to find myself again. My poor husband didn’t really understand what I was going through as so many people don’t when it comes to depression and it took its toll on him too.
We had a short break away from each other to clear our heads and then had a talk which lasted hours. The children bless them were so good as they sat there in their seats whilst we tried to work things out and thankfully, we did. Relationships comes with its ups and downs and we had hit a rocky patch big time that we were trying to work our way out of. You may wonder why I’m sharing such personal information with you but I believe honesty is the best policy and I don’t want to falsify this journey by telling you that everyday was rosy because that’s just not life, well not our life anyway and especially with two young children who at times make life difficult- don’t get me wrong I love our children with all my heart and I would never change them for the world but parenting is tough and sometimes that stress can get too much. I’m not saying they’re the problem but when they play up it doesn’t help things in the slightest.
We changed our minds and decided to carry on with the trip as it was early days and this was our first major hiccup. We ended up stopping in an Aire again, in Vaux En Couhe which was just a big car park with no services such as electric hook up but it was somewhere to stay and it was free! The only downside was the teenagers on motorbikes that kept racing around revving their engines- I believe on purpose as they did the same route continuously.
The following day on Wednesday 21st August we had yet another spontaneous stop only this time we stayed for a while. Whilst driving we spotted a lake which looked pretty cool so we decided to go check it out and maybe have some down time before setting off again. However, there was a campsite right next to it so we decided to stay for 2nights as it had been a while since we had last stayed anywhere longer than a night and we had washing to do again- children get through clothes quickly! The campsite called Camping du plan d’Eau in Saint Yrieix was really nice and we had a choice of staying in the Aire which was on hard ground and had all the services or pay double the price and stay on a grassy pitch. We decided on the grassy pitch as it would be a better choice for the children and we were glad we did as we ended up staying for a further 2nights because it was that nice! The first day we went to the lake and let the children play on the park and beach before doing a loop around the lake itself. It was so beautiful and reminded me of American films where teenagers go to the lake for the summer. There was an inflatable obstacle course on the lake too which looked awesome but obviously we couldn’t do it seeing as we had our little ones. There was an outdoor gym area and a cafe that served the best chips ever and of course willow trees everywhere much to our daughters delight who absolutely loved them and would point and shout every time she saw one.
On Thursday we caught up on our chores and chilled at the campsite. We took a dip in the pool too before showering and headed to the welcome meeting which they hold every Thursday. It didn’t seem to be much of a meeting so after getting our free drink we left and let the kiddiwinks have a play on the park before calling it a night.
Friday was pretty much a repeat of Wednesday really with more chips of course and our last day saw us going on a cycle ride which was great! Hot, but good to get the heart rate going. We were sad to be leaving as we had such a great time and it had been our longest stay in one place so far- that shows just how much we had enjoyed it but it was time to move on and explore somewhere else and we had a route set for Bordeaux! So back on the road we go!
K.E.E.N Explorers 