I love camping! I am told that I first went camping at a year old, which must have been a fairly dreadful experience for my mum, but I don't think she had much choice as my dad was a scout master and, in those days, their wives went along to summer camp to do the cooking. None of that now, these days they are expected to do their own, and rightly so.
Summer camp remained an annual event every year until I was about 12, and it was a time I remember for the freedom - both from life in a town and from my mother's watchful eye.
I think camping as a child, often in a farmers field in Wales, was when I developed a love of the outdoors and found peace in nature; its strange that at home I need almost total dark and silence to sleep, but under canvas I seem to drift off easily to the sound of trees rustling, or the pitter-patter of rain on the tent , one of my favourite sounds.
Our first holiday together was a trip to the Yorkshire Dale's in a leaky borrowed tent, where there was a memorable incident with a herd of cows in our field. It didn't put us off, and we continued to camp when we were married, introducing our children to many places in the UK, France and Italy, on long 3 week summer holidays, no TV, no video games (mobile phones weren't a thing back then), just lots of exploring and adventuring in the big outdoors. It must have been as good as I remember it because they all cite those family holidays as the best we had, even rating above Florida and Egypt.
Now we are returning to our wandering, camping life under canvas as a couple and it is wonderful!
Today we drove through the vineyards of the Champagne region, into Burgundy towards Chablis, through endless fields of golden wheat and barley and through delightfully typical sleepy, French villages.
We arrived in Merry-sur-Yonne - what an enchanting name! Itself a tiny hamlet, the campsite providing the only shop, bar and restaurant.
In a spectacular location, on the banks of the River Yonne, we pitched our tent and set up camp, our home for the next week, before setting out for a walk to stretch our legs, a circular route taking us high above a natural cliff formation before winding our way back down through fields, woodland and finally along the river.
Now, time for a barbecue and a glass of the local tipple I think. Cheers!
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