The Flavours of France: A Culinary Campervan Journey

France wasn’t supposed to be a big thing actually. It was just a stop on the way to Spain. A bit of driving, a few nice meals, then onwards. But, well… France had other plans. 

Coq au Vin & Sylvie, the Legend 

First night, we roll into some little auberge near Lille. No clue what we’re doing, just hungry. 

In walks Sylvie. Short, bossy, definitely in charge of everything. She takes one look at us, plonks two glasses of red on the table and basically decides we need feeding. 

Next thing, we’re sat in front of coq au vin that makes every version I’ve ever cooked taste like a tin of soup. No idea what she did to it. Probably magic. 

I try asking in my very best (terrible) French. She sighs, drags me into the kitchen, and starts talking very fast while pointing at things. 

I nod a lot. Drink more wine. Learn absolutely nothing. 

But by the end of the night, we’re laughing like old mates. She keeps topping up our glasses. We keep drinking. Kevin just sits there, grinning, knowing full well I’ll wake up with a headache. Worth it. 

The Market in Reims & Why I’m Not a French Chef 

Next morning, bit delicate, but still excited for the day. We stop at a market in Reims—one of those proper French ones with cheese, bread, olives, stuff piled high on every stall. 

I get way too confident and decide we should try cooking cassoulet in the campervan. 

Which was a little ambitious. 

Cassoulet: Don’t try it in a Tiny Kitchen 

Have you ever tried cooking anything more complicates than beans on toast in a campervan? 

Don’t. 

There were pans and crockery everywhere. 
Kevin nearly set fire to a tea towel. 
I was shouting at a bag of dried beans for refusing to cook faster. 

Two hours in, the van smelled incredible, but we were also sweating, starving, and dangerously close to throwing the whole thing out the window. 

Eventually, we got there. Sat outside, under the stars, bowls of cassoulet in hand, bottle of wine open. 

And I’ll say this: totally worth it. 
Would we ever make it again? Not a chance. 

Also, cassoulet makes you gassy. Moving on. 

Burgundy, Boeuf & A Man Named Jacques 

Next stop, Burgundy. Another random auberge, another amazing meal, another local character deciding we needed educating. 

Meet Jacques. He takes one look at us and immediately starts lecturing me on wine. Very serious stuff. 

Kevin sits back, arms crossed, watching me struggle through the lesson while drinking said wine. 

I nod along, try to look intelligent, fail miserably. At one point, Jacques hands me a glass of something expensive, says something about “earthy undertones.” 

I sip it, pause dramatically, and say “mmm, yes, very earthy.” 

Kevin nearly spits his wine out. 

Jacques looks pleased. I get away with it. 

We leave slightly drunk, slightly in love with Burgundy, and no smarter about wine than when we arrived. 

Sleeping Wherever We Feel Like It 

The best bit about all of this? No plan. No stress. 

Some nights, we find a proper campsite with showers and everything. Other nights, we just pull over in the middle of nowhere—surrounded by trees, a vineyard, a random field of cows. 

One night, we accidentally park on private vineyard land in the Loire Valley. 

Expecting to get kicked out. 

Instead? 

The owners come over, invite us in for wine. 

Next thing we know, we’re in their kitchen, sipping something that’s been in their family’s cellar for generations. 

We nod, we smile, we have no idea what they’re saying. 

Doesn’t matter. 

We sit there, glasses in hand, thinking how the hell did we get here? 

The Big Realisation 

Somewhere between the food, the people, and the fact that Kevin has somehow become a man who orders wine in French, we realise something. 

We’ve been doing life too planned. 

We spent years working schedules, running the post office, making sure everything was in order. Thought we’d struggle to let go. 

Turns out, we don’t. 

Turns out, doing nothing but eating, driving, and saying yes to random adventures is the best thing we’ve ever done. 

Next Stop: Spain… But Not Yet. 

We’re meant to be heading to Spain. 

But we’re still here! 

France won’t let us go yet. 

Honestly? We’re in no rush are we? 

We’ll keep on driving and enjoying this fabulously friendly country. Who’d have known?

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