It has been a hard year for everyone and I’m sure we’re not the only ones to feel the need for a break. Enjoying camping but not wanting to share the showers and loos we came up with the idea of a chalet or mobilehome on a campsite. We could take all our own kit and lots of cleaning stuff and create our own ‘bubble’, the new buzz word.

I started googling, (try and stop me), and found a campsite in Puy de Dome. If their website was indicative of their organisation it would be very well run. I booked a week in September, our usual big holiday time as it incorporates our wedding anniversary as well as being after all the schools go back..ie calmer. We were offered a five bedroom Malaga, all mod cons including heating. It can be cold at each end of the day in the Auvergne!

Due to covid regulations we couldn’t take possession until 5pm so didn’t need to leave home until after lunch. Needless to say despite lists and lobbing things into spare corners of the car we still managed to forget a few things. The sets of boules and the marmalade for ‘i’m only the chauffeur’.

A short drive, under two hours from home, using the A89 autoroute which had an amazing number of German registered cars going our way. Why? Once back on smaller roads the GPS took us the same route that I had found and scribbled down from Google! Beautiful and forested as we were still in the Correze. Then down and down…and down to the ‘retenue’ (reservoir) of the Dordogne to Pont Dieu, the crossing point into Puy de Dome.

Here at Singles we are north of the barrage at Bort les Orgues, the dam whose held back waters would sweep us away at crouzillou in a disaster scenario. Not much further on and in a beautiful little valley next to the Burande river is le moulin de serre campsite, our home for a week.

Charming patrons and a spotless mobile home facing a petanque pitch (those forgotten boules sets!). Of course, I whirled around with my bleach spray until we smelt like a swimming pool and I was content that we were free of doom virus!

Bread and croissants ordered for the morning, WiFi package purchased, family informed of our safe arrival and we were all set for an apero on our covered terrace in the sunshine. Holidays!