Our daughter Hannah is expecting her first child in June, so obviously we are going to be nearby for the birth.
We vowed never to drive Cervantes back to UK due to the lack of aires and the overcrowded roads, but weighing everything up, we came to the conclusion that we could make a really nice tour out of this opportunity.
Our plan is to slowly work our way up the centre of Spain, staying in some places we have not yet visited. Next we can take our time working our way up the west coast of France to Dunkirk, and then to Dover.
The plan then is to go west through southern England, then slowly work our way through the heart of the Welsh countryside to our 1 month stay in a CL in Knowsley.
To make this happen we had to join the Caravan and Motorhome Club (£60) to stay in the CL, but we also plan to use them on the way to the north of UK, and also on the trip south again, after the birth.
Then it’s either south through France in a line between Paris and the coast, or through the Black Forest in Germany, then through Austria, Italy and France to our home in Spain - we’ve not decided yet!
TOTAL TOUR STATISTICS
Wednesday 09/05/2018 Home to Murcia
N38°01'44.6'' W001°08'53.5'' Free aire on block paving for 50+ vans. 2 service points, no electric.
55.5km in 48min
We had planned a mid-afternoon getaway, but thanks to some excellent organisational skills from Glyn, we were off and running at 12:30pm.
The airshow we are aiming for is at Albacete on Friday. It revolved around the TLP (Tactical Leadership Programme) which consists of personnel (and aircraft) from many different countries. They were an integral part of the show, both on and off the ground.
However, due to world politics (Syria, Russia etc.) the TLP involvement has been cancelled, so we are not really sure if anything is happening at all on Friday.
Prior information is very hard to get hold of - there is very little information about the airshow anywhere, on or off-line.
Our plan is to arrive at the airbase in Albacete on Friday morning and see what is happening.
Glyn did some research and found a NOTAM (advance warning of airspace movements) for Albacete airbase which started at 9am Friday to 10am Saturday. The airspace is closd to everyone except emergency services, so it sounds like an airshow is on - we shall see!!
A short journey today to Ikea in Murcia - a part of Ikea car park dedicated to motorhomes with space for 50+ vans.
Because we are away for 3 months this time, we are giving Cervantes a shake-down to check everything is working properly on this short trip.
We set off in bright sunshine, but once on the aire the sky darkened and the wind got up - a thunderstorm is in the offing.
On the previous 2 occasions we have been here it has been packed - today there is us and another van, so I think all the over-winterers have gone home.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 10/05/2018 Murcia to Albacete
N38°58'36.8'' W001°51'07.2'' Free aire on tarmac for 8 vans. Free service point, no electric.
137km in 1hr 40min
The thunderstorm came with a vengeance last night - jet-black skies, torrential rain and strong winds.
We battened down the hatches and ran for the cover of 100 monteditos - a restaurant serving many types of small sandwiches. The van count had gone up to 9 by the time we returned, and spent a very quiet night with regular patrols by the on-site security man in his van - his security hut was only 100 metres away.
Straight onto the fabulous A30 northbound outside Ikea, we had the cruise control on for the next 1hr 30min. Once we crossed the border into Castilla La Mancha, Cervantes was back in his spiritual home with plenty of windmills and reminders of Don Quixote everywhere.
The free aire, Area de Albacete is only a 15 minute walk from the town centre. It has 8 dedicated motorhome places with a full service point, but no electric. It is shared with a free public car park.
A quick walk to the town centre and we were soon looking for the Tourist Information Office, which proved rather a task. It had apparently moved recently, hence we got a different story from everyone we asked. We finally found the Town Hall who gave us the definitive answer.
Once there we asked if he had any information on the upcoming airshow. He seemed a bit vague about it, but on our behalf he rang someone who sent him a flyer for the airshow - but no date - he thought it was on Saturday only, so a little bit closer now, but not much.
Albacete town centre had some excellent period buildings, including one we passed advertising menu del dia. It was the original old casino (no betting, just a gentlemans club) which had retained many of its original features.
After a tour around the centre (the cathedral was closed so we will have to return later) we returned to the casino to eat - fabulous value at €25 for a 3 course meal with wine for 2.
2 more vans greeted us when we returned to Cervantes, and soon after a police patrol did a tour around the car park. We went over and thanked them for the facilities provided by the town for motorhomes, and tentatively asked them if they knew anything about the airshow.
Quick as a flash they said it was on Saturday only, and started at 9:30am - at last, someone who knew!!
This put a bit of a spanner in the works as regards our planned route timing, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 11/05/2018 Albacete
We had a full house last night - 8 motorhomes filling all the spaces. 4 Spanish, 2 French, 1 Belgian and 1 German - a real car park of nations!
The police were patrolling which I think made for a peaceful night, although we did have more of the strong winds and driving rain.
We were still not 100% sure when the airshow was, so we set off for the airbase at Albacete to ask the people who were organising it!
The first entrance we came to contained a very helpful guard who confirmed the airshow was on Saturday at 9:30am until 2pm - good news because it now meant we could set off on Saturday for Toledo and get there at a reasonable hour.
He also pointed us to the correct gate where the official entrance was, so we set off around the airfield on a 3km trek.
Again the guardsman was very helpful, giving us a pamphlet of the attending planes and their nationalities.
He also said that we could arrive in the motorhome and would be shown where to park.
We intend to fill and empty at our aire, then drive to the airfield to arrive at 8am, in plenty of time to bag a parking spot.
On our walk to the 2nd entrance we were parallel with the runway and were rewarded with our own personal airshow by the planes which will be flying tomorrow - they were practicing their routines today! We were spellbound by the Eurofighter, Tornado, F18, and many, many more. The G-forces on some of the turns must be tremendous.
Satisfied that we at last had the correct information, we made our way back to Albacete centre for a well-earned menu del dia after our 10km round trip walk - looking forward to tomorrow.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 12/05/2018 Albacete to Toledo
N39°51'46.7'' W004°00'58.2'' Free overnight parking on tarmac for 20+ vans. No services, no electric, no camping behaviour.
The airshow opens at 9:30am, but the guard yesterday mentioned it was OK to park from 8am so we were up at 7am to prepare the van and fill and empty (we made sure we were first in the queue for the service point because the aire was full again last night)
We were outside the airbase in the queue at 8am, and were finally let in at 9:15, straight into some covered, spacious parking - just right for Cervantes, so we were very impressed.
As we were locking up, a man in airforce uniform with a golden retriever by his side, came over and asked us something in Spanish. We mis-interpreted it as asking us to move back so another motorhome could park in front of us. We explained that we had to go as soon as the show had finished because we were going to Toledo.
He responded in English - no - I asked if the dog (Hero) could search your van for explosives!!
Of course we said yes, and watched as Hero did a comprehensive sweep of our van (and found nothing, thank goodness!) What a great dog he was - very friendly (unless you had hidden some dynamite!)
The static ground display was very good, and we had a good chat to the 4 guys from the UK manning the Tornado exhibit. They said that the Tornados will be out of service next year and they will all be out of a job (so to speak) - the F15 is taking over.
The air display was even better than the practice display yesterday.
Some of the longest camera lenses I have ever seen were trackside to photograph the planes - you could have bought a small car for the price of some of them!
Fully thrilled (and deafened) we got back to Cervantes at 1:30pm and set off for Toledo on the fabulous A31/E903. The road was long, smooth and flat through the plains of Castilla La Mancha, with views of some spectacular windmills and castles on the tops of some big hills.
It was motorway all the way, and the final descent into Toledo was breathtaking, with so many fantastic, huge buildings on the hills surrounding the river.
The motorhome parking de la Rosa (there were 5 vans already here when we arrived) was by the river with great views of the buildings above us.
After tea we went on a circular walk over one bridge, then back over another upstream. There's a wealth of history to explore here and our 2 hours did it no justice at all. This is certainly a place to return to and fully explore all it has to offer - I should imagine several days would be needed.
Just a word of warning to allergy sufferers - the pollen was flying thick and fast here, looking a bit like snow at Christmas. We have had similar situations in Aranjuez and Cuenca, and now realise that this is the norm for this part of Spain at this time of year - come prepared!!
See today's full photo and video gallery here.
Sunday 13/05/2018 Toledo to Ávila
N40°39'41.3'' W004°42'24.0'' Free overnight parking on grass/sand for 20+ vans. No service point, no electric.
There was a good turnout last night of 10 motorhomes, 5 Spanish, 2 French, 2 Belgian, 1 English.
We're at 1100 metres altitude here, so the morning was quite chilly (6°), but the morning sun was shining on the buildings of Toledo, lighting them up to give a perfect picture.
The excellent A40 road out of Toledo soon had us onto the superb N403 through the pine forests of the Sierra de Gredos.
The road climbed to 1395 metres with the temperature at 6° over the Puerto de la Paramera, followed by the descent into Ávila, which gave us a fantastic view of the city, with the walls standing proud.
The overnight parking del Palacio de Congresos we were headed for was on a car park right next to the famous walls of Ávila.
Unfortunately today and yesterday the car park had been taken over by the Hollywood Motor Show - an exhibition of modified pick-up trucks and cars which were revved to the max and slid around corners. Luckily there were only 2 more shows left, one at 12:30pm and one at 7pm, so it's fingers crossed.
We set off early this morning and were here at 11:30am, which gave us plenty of time to go into the walled city of Ávila for an explore.
Because of the condition and completeness of the walls of Ávila and the 88 towers, the whole thing is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is the most complete example in Spain.
It took 300 years for the Christians to build it from the local granite, most of it in the 12th century.
We first saw it whilst watching the Vuelta de España cycle race on TV, and have been planning to come here ever since.
It costs €5 each to walk on the walls - the walk is not continuous due to the cathedral being in the way at one point, and the top of the wall not having a walkway in other areas, so only 60% is walkable. The views over the surrounding countryside on one side and the city on the other are well worth the €5 - stunning.
We have 16 other vans here tonight for company - not surprising as the city walls are only a 2 minute walk away.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 14/05/2018 Ávila to Torquemada
N42°02'13.2'' W004°18'57.9'' Free aire on concrete for 4 vans. Full service point, no electric.
225km in 3hr 5min
We'll be sorry to leave Ávila, it's a superb place to visit and I suspect we have not done it justice, but we will be back.
Last night was quite cold for mid-May in Spain - it was 11° in Cervantes and 7° outside, so we had no option than to fire up the heating. 15min later we were warm enough to get out of bed and prepare the van for travelling.
Our first stop was to fill the refillable LPG bottle we fitted. We have one refillable LPG 13kg (22litres) bottle, and one 13kg (25.5litres) Spanish propane bottle (exchangeable at Repsol garages in Spain, approx €12).
When out of Spain we keep a full Spanish bottle and keep the LPG topped up.
We were not quite sure how much was in the LPG bottle, so decided to fill it to be on the safe side. It took only 9.7litres (22litres is the fill from empty to 80% full - a legal safety requirement), so was more than half full.
The Repsol garage where we filled with LPG was service only, and the young lad was service itself. He chose the correct adaptor from my box of 4 (the last time I filled it was in Switzerland 2 years ago!) and screwed it into my remote filler (inside my gas locker - not a problem), then filled it and disconnected for me - what a star! It cost me the princely sum of
€6.45 - fantastic value.
Our first hour was in the gloom of low cloud and drizzle over the hills surrounding Ávila until we dropped down and entered wine country.
We were near the River Duero and surrounded by vineyards and bodegas. This gave way to cereals as we approached Valladolid, where we made a detour to an enormous out-of-town shopping centre. It was huge - we had a 10 minute trek from where we parked to get some fresh fruit and veg and a few more essentials.
Our aire at Area de Santa Cruz, Torquemada is beside the Ermita de la Santa Cruz, first built in the 12th Century as a Roman temple.
It has a stork nesting on top of the bell tower, looking after its chick.
The town itself is very quaint with a large church, a couple of bars and the usual shops needed to sustain a village community, along with some lovely walks by the river.
In the centre of town there is a bridge over the river, built in the 15th Century with a plaque telling you all about the origin and history of it. One thing endearing about the Spanish is that they are not afraid of their history.
Even if they were conquered and ruled by their conquerors, they are still keen to give you the full facts and are more than happy to show you all the remains of that civillisation, and explain what happened and why - a very refreshing attitude.
There is also a substantial community of subterranean cave houses on the hill above our aire - fascinating to see and very unusual.
It's very quiet where we are - just some farm buildings opposite.
There were just the 2 vans here at 2pm, us and a UK one. Now, at 3pm, there are 3 UK vans, one French and us - a popular place!
See today's full photo gallery here
Tuesday 15/05/2018 Torquemada to Pamplona
N42°50'24.9'' W001°39'53.6'' Free aire on concrete for 80+ vans, free empty, 1 jeton (bought from nearby sports centre) buys 1 hour of electric or 100 litres of water.
280km in 3hr 37min
Our journey today took us to the Basque region of Spain, which has a totally different language.
Torquemada was quiet as a grave last night (next to a cemetry!) although only 6° last overnight.
We filled and emptied for free, then set off to find some fuel on our way.
The headline price seems to be €1.20 per litre for Gasoleo A (it's less than €1 at home), but we eventually nosed out an E Leclerc hypermarket for €1.11 in Miranda del Ebro, just off the N1 road. Whilst there we shopped at Mercadona for the things we miss from home which we will be without for the next couple of months.
We were at the aire for 2:30pm, just off the N240A in Berriozar, just north of the Pamplona ring road.
The weather is grey and overcast today with a very strong wind, although the sun is making an occasional appearance.
The rules at the aire on a notice by the service point run to 10, and seem to be very particular about where and how you park. We are strictly told not to obstruct the pavement or the road, and to park within the designated lines. The designated lines put you at 90° to the pavement, so unless you are in a very, very short van, you are going to obstruct either the pavement or the road.
We took the decision to park parallel with the road and pavement and explain the absurdity if anyone questions why we did it.
The next 2 vans to arrive also parked parallel, so we think we are justified.
The municipal sports centre is 400m down the hill we have just driven up, where you can get a jeton for either 1 hour of electric (park near the service point) or 100 litres of water - price unknown.
There is also an information board by the bourne detailing the many walking routes in the surrounding hillsides, one of which we successfully tried out - very useful information supplied by the local council.
Tonight's motorhome count is as follows:-
First prize to France with 5, next a tie between Germany and Spain with 3 each, then a share of last place to Belgium, Netherlands and UK with 1 each - the common language of motorhoming.
Glyn added another new bird to her substantial list so far when she spotted a Linnet - the male has a very distinctive strawberry coloured head and chest. They move in flocks, and sure enough, after a while, there were 20+ of them after the seeds on the grass - a formidable sight when they all rose together.
It's reassuring to see the police patrolling this aire - it seems to be once an hour a patrol car goes past - well done to Pamplona - we'll be back!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 16/05/2018 Pamplona to Saint-Paul-les-Dax
N43°44'06.4'' W001°04'41.7'' Free aire on pine needles and earth for 9 vans, full service point, no electric.
161km in 3hr 23min
It's an early start for us today to avoid the morning school rush - it will be pandemonium if home time last night was anything to go by!
Our first stop was a Repsol garage (spotted last night when we were out for an hour's circular walk) at the bottom of the hill for a new bottle of propane gas.
We have already filled the LPG, and will run on LPG until we are back in Spain. If we do run out of LPG, our Spanish bottle (full!) will keep us going until we can refill with LPG, hopefully within a day or two. It's the only way to travel if you plan on leaving your home country.
Whilst I was at the garage I quizzed the cashier about our route for today - the N121A northbound to Hendaye on the coast.
The road looked full of tunnels and seemed to go through a narrow river valley - we have driven down gorges before, and some of the overhangs force you out past the centre line of the road - not ideal with traffic racing towards you.
He had no knowledge of the road, so I asked a gent in a car parked outside, and he said it was fine - almost like an autovia.
And he was right - it was fine. I was further convinced by the number of HGV's on the road, my thinking being if they can get through, I have nothing to worry about.
After that we went through Biarritz and Bayone which proved to be a bit of a chore with lots of roadworks, roundabouts and slow-moving traffic.
The aire municipal in Saint-Paul-les-Dax was easy to find (thanks to Glyn!), approached alongside a lake into some woodland with individual parking spaces. It's a bit muddy, but we're on pine needles and the forecast is good.
As we were leaving for our walk and picnic around the lake, the police came round patrolling. We had a chat with them - it turned out he was in the Caravan and Motorhome Club and went to Land's End as often as he could!
The walk was excellent with some great views and the picnic was brilliant.
As we got back at 3:30pm the aire was starting to fill up, with one arriving every 10 minutes. At 4:30pm there were 2 spaces left. It's a lovely, peaceful,tranquil aire here - like being in the middle of a forest.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 17/05/2018 Saint-Paul-les-Dax to Mortagne-sur-Gironde
N45°28'33.4'' W000°47'37.8'' Paid aire on crushed stone/grass for 40+ vans, €9.30 including electric. Full service point, water €1 for 2 minutes.
A good night for stargazing last night - it is really dark here - no light pollution at all. It's also very quiet so we had a peaceful night.
An early start soon had us heading for the E5/E70 (Spanish road number and European road number) which on one of our maps was free, and on another map was a toll motorway.
Our Garmin sat-nav, set for no tolls and usually spot on, told us to go on it, come off after 50km, go round 3 sides of a square, and come back on.
Strange we thought, but it was absolutely right. There was a toll after 50km. Everyone seemed to be staying on, so we did the same. It was €5.50 to avoid another 25km and 40min extra, so seemed worth it.
The ring road around Bordeaux was a bit of a bun fight with the locals swapping lanes with impunity.
Once away from the madness we were transformed into a huge vineyard with a chateau every 500m, all inviting you in for a tasting, and hopefully a sale.
We resisted temptation and pressed on through hectares of vines - they were all doing well and looked really healthy.
It was a narrow approach to our aire in Mortagne-sur-Gironde after leaving the northbound D730.
A steep descent brought us to the marina, the aire was on one side with a great view of the boats.
The tidal range here is 3 metres and the tide is now out, exposing the mud and beaching the boats.
However, the marina is protected by lock gates, so the boats inside the marina are always floating.
High tide is 7pm tonight, when things will look completely different.
The cost of the aire is €9.30 which includes electric, and each pitch has plenty of room.
I must mention Glyn's navigational skills here - we would have been well and truly lost today without her - well done that girl - tea and medals back at the van (Glyn :- "You mean cava surely?!")
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 18/05/2018 Mortagne-sur-Gironde to Île de Ré
N46°14'19.6'' W001°33'38.1'' Paid campsite on grass/sand, €19 including electric, full service point, toilets, showers, 50m to the beach.
Isn't water mesmerising (or is it just us?). We sat until it was dark watching the people coming and going on the boats, only 10m away from us.
The twanging of rope on mast got us off to sleep eventually, to awake for another early start.
We have always wanted to stay on the Île de Ré ever since we visited the region in 1992, and now is the perfect opportunity.
We set off up the coast on the small but picturesque D145 which gave us some fantastic views of the estuary and chalk cliffs.
We have been monitoring the diesel prices all the way up France and have not seen any below €1.43 per litre. We are now resigned to pay this as we have only a quarter tank left, so we bit the bullet and paid €1.48 at a Super U just outside La Rochelle.
The bridge over to the Île de Ré charged us €8 to cross it on the D735 (and I assume another €8 to get off the island tomorrow), then it was 30km to the west as far as you can go to the Phare de Baleines (a lighthouse on the western tip of the island)
The campsite at Camping les Baleines is in ACSI and is out of season, so we had a large pitch, electric, full service point, showers, toilets, TV room, 50m to the sea, etc, etc, for €19 - bargain!
It is so quiet here. There is no traffic noise, just the sound of birdsong and breaking waves. They even bake their own bread on site, so we've got a baguette booked for tomorrow morning.
If you're unsure about ACSI please take it from me it really is a bargain. It helps the campsite stay open and viable out of season, and gives the members tremendous value. It's a bit like the Spanish Imserso - a system where Spanish pensioners (and any nationality of pensioner resident in Spain) can book winter holidays in regions of Spain (city, inland, coast) for cost price. It really is as cheap as staying at home. The hotels just break even supplying full board - the alternative would be to close for the winter, laying off all the staff, then re-employing them (if possible) at the start of the season. The Imserso holidays include travel to and from the hotels - what a great boost for the older generation - they really do look after the old people in Spain.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 19/05/2018 Île de Ré to St Nazaire (Pornichet)
N47°15'11.7'' W002°19'07.5'' Paid campsite (ACSI), €18 including electric, showers, toilets, bar/cafe, swimming pool and WiFi.
An evening stroll to the beach gave us a totally different view now the tide was in. The waves were pounding in right up to the stones which made up the breakwater.
The noise was tremendous and the power of the Atlantic as it crashed in was awesome.
We had that noise most of the night, and watching Misery (James Caan and Kathy Bates) on DVD didn't help us sleep either.
Still - wouldn't have missed it for anything!
They bake their own bread here, so we ordered a baguette yesterday and collected it this morning - excellent with oil and salt and fresh expresso coffee - we are on mains electric so are able to use our coffee machine.
A bonus we weren't expecting was that we didn't have to pay €8 to get off the Île de Ré as we thought we would.
We made steady progress north with some roads fast, some roads slow.
Another bridge, this time over the mouth of the Loire had us into St Nazaire. From the bridge we could see the shipyards which held a huge new cruise ship being built. Last week we watched a documentary about the biggest cruise ship ever built so far - it was built in St Nazaire!
The aire we are headed for is in St Marguerite and according to Campercontact is mixed parking on a car park. It was a bit of a tortuous route to get there through some narrow streets with lots of speed bumps.
When we did eventually get there, the motorhomes were parked around the outside of the car park, unable to get under the height restriction bar.
There were no free spaces so we implemented plan B (always have a plan B!)
This involved a 3km drive along some marginally better streets to Campsite du Bugeau (part of ACSI) for €18.
Previously we had looked at some France Passion sites on the approach to St Nazaire, all of them being before we crossed the bridge, so we thought it was too long a trek to re-trace our steps now.
The campsite was on grass, but the sun was "cracking the flags" and the ground is rock-hard, so we felt safe enough.
Writing this at 4pm we have not booked in yet, although we are sat outside Cervantes with food and drink, connected to electric, and have watched the "best moments" of the Royal Wedding, courtesy of France 2 on our TV.
Reception at the campsite is on very restricted hours of 10am to 1pm and 6pm to 7:30pm. Out of these hours you can turn up, settle on the pitch of your choice and book in when they are there, which we did after an hour's walk along the coast looking down on the beach with some very impressive houses behind us.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 20/05/2018 St Nazaire to La Meurdraquière
N48°51'24.0'' W001°23'38.3'' France Passion site on grass for 10 vans. No services.
243km in 3hr 14min
Today we're heading for a France Passion site in the same family since 1909. They make their own Calvados, Pommeau, Cidre Bouché, and Vinaigre - just what we like. (page 414 in the 2018 edition).
It was an early start for us going past the mightily impressive shipyards in St Nazaire onto a good motorway, with the bonus of no HGV's.
However, there are some seriously bad road surfaces in France and we've been on a few today. Honestly, I've been on less bumpy farm tracks. In truth they were split 50/50 with some excellent, fast motorways, but when they were bad, they were really, really bad!
We had a shower at the campsite before leaving - the facilities were fine, but could do with a little updating, although the covered outdoor swimming pool looked inviting.
We finally ended up on the fabulous D7 heading north, passing superb scenery and some excellent properties.
The France Passion book gives very comprehensive instructions on how to reach each property listed (in French, English and German). As usual they were spot on, and although the approach roads were quite narrow (as you would expect to a farm off the beaten track) we were soon parked at 1pm in a field (follow the apple sign) surrounded by mature trees, with a view to die for.
An Adria motorhome was already here, and he advised us that, being Sunday, the proprietors were not back until the evening.
This gave us a chance to make lunch and sit back and drink in the view - indescribable!
Next was a 2 hour walk to the local village of Le Mesnil-Rouge with its high bell tower and local restaurant.
Back at Cervantes we were reading in the sun when the owner (Roland) introduced himself and collected all the motorhomers for a trip around the farm. By this time there were 4 motorhomes, so 6 of us followed the farmer, who was the typically ruddy-faced old stager who was full of bonhomie and welcome.
First was the production shed full of machinery to collect and process the apples.
Then came the storage tanks to mature the apple juice.
Then the tasting room to try apple juice, cider, pommeau (apple must mixed with calvados) and calvados, all fermented and distilled on the farm.
There were 3 couples, so 3 women and 3 men. The hilarious thing was that the old farmer was obviously sticking to the etiquette of years ago. He gave the alcoholic drinks to the men to try, and gave apple juice only to the ladies! I did sneak a taste to Glyn though - I don't think he approved!
The copper still was in the corner of the room looking ready for business.
We spent a good 30 minutes tasting the various drinks and trying to keep up with our schoolboy French. Various purchases were made and we came away with cider and cider vinegar - you can't beat France Passion for an experience!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 21/05/2018 La Meurdraquière to Vieux Port
N49°25'36.6'' E000°36'36.8'' Free overnight parking on grass for 20+ vans, no services, no electric
196km in 3hr 11min
We're sitting on the banks of the River Seine in glorious sunshine after parking up Cervantes 5 metres away, watching the huge bulk carriers chugging past us and I'm thinking - how lucky are we to be able to sleep somewhere like this - sometimes you have to pinch yourself!
After a lovely day and night at La Ferme de la Butte we got back on the D7 to find some fuel and shopping - we're running low on essential supplies.
First we stopped at a motorway aire to empty the grey and black water at a service point there, then on to the E. Lecerc in Caen. The store was closed so that put paid to the shopping (it is a bank holiday in France today).
We filled with fuel OK, but couldn't get out of the fuel station due to the 3 metre height barrier over the exit that we hadn't noticed. We are allegedly 2.75 metres, but have never measured it, so with the status TV aerial and the solar panel, we may or may not get through a 3 metre height (if indeed it really is 3 metres)
The only option was to drive the wrong way down the one-way entrance road to the supermarket car park. It's a good job the supermarket was closed meaning not much traffic about.
We found a Super U further up the road, so they got our €120 instead.
Sorry to say that the roads today were abysmal - potholes, poor repairs, uneven joints - just horrible to drive on - the motorways were a luxury after them.
The Spanish often use a poor road surface to slow you down. Drive up to most Spanish towns on a 90kph road, and as soon as you hit the 50kph limit the road surface deteriorates to a cart track. This slows everyone down until the end of the town, when the road surface miraculously improves with the start of the 90kph limit.
The free parking at Vieux Port is a gem of a find, right on the bank of the River Seine with big bulk carriers passing regularly on their way out to sea.
The village is full of stunning houses, most of them with thatched roofs. Vieux Port is part of the thatched houses tourist route and has at least 25 thatched houses, some very old and original, and some just being built.
Our 1 hour circular walk took us into the surrounding woodland giving us great views of the river - what a lovely place.
On our return it started to rain, so we moved off the grass onto some hardstanding which gave us a much better view of the river both ways, and meant we didn't have to worry about getting off tomorrow morning.
There are no services here, but there are rubbish bins.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 22/05/2018 Vieux Port to Le Hourdel
N50°12'51.7'' E001°33'09.3'' Free overnight parking for 25+ vans on crushed gravel. No services, no electric.
143km in 2hr 49min
The Seine was still and misty this morning as we had our coffee sitting on the wall overlooking the river.
The road out was quite interesting - good suface with some great views, but a trifle narrow.
The bridge over the Seine was spectacular, and the roads thereafter were quite good and fast.
We emptied and filled at the aire in Yvetot before heading for our remote parking in Cayeux sur Mer near Le Hourdel.
Glyn (the ace navigator) sent us up the correct roads to get us to the mixed parking at the end of the peninsular.
We bagged what we thought was the last parking place, then watched as at least 10 French vans appeared at regular intervals and literally parked anywhere - they really don't care where they park or who they inconvenience. We wouldn't have dreamt of parking where they did.
C'est la vie, as they say here - I hope they're gone by morning because they're blocking some of the longer vans' exits.
The tide was well out when we got here, giving us a view of the seals basking in the sunshine on the distant shore of the inlet channel. It's the largest seal colony in France - we counted 68 today.
Our one hour walk took us to the seaside village of La Hourdel with its 3 cafe/restaurants and its lighthouse.
The tide was out, which left the boats in the creek high and dry on the mud.
There is an excellent walk through the wooded dunes - full of birds and wildlife.
We left Cervantes 2 hours later to see the tide coming in and filling the channel - we had a great time seeing who was brave enough to stand their ground when the tide was coming in - every wave brought the water closer - the tide was coming in at a tremendous speed. I think Glyn won the dare (just!)
After tea, another visit to see the high tide - it was very impressive and a real contrast to the first time we had seen it at low tide.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 23/05/2018 Le Hourdel to Dunkirk
N51°01'13.7'' E002°11'34.9'' Ferry to Calais
222km in 3hr 44min
This morning we saw the first rain for almost 2 weeks - we must be getting near the UK!
It was a bit of a shuffle to get out this morning, but we managed it.
The roads today were excellent, but I think a speed of 90kph on a road with so many side roads was far too fast, as proved by the tractor in the road cutting the grass verge on the blind brow of a hill - an accident just waiting to happen.
Our ferry is booked for 2am tomorrow morning, so our first call was to Dunkirk ferry port to see if we could board an earlier ferry.
The very nice man behind the information desk said we could go at midnight for no extra cost, or we could go at 10pm for €190, so we're going at midnight. We can start to queue at 10pm, so aim to be there for then.
In the interim we are in an aire in Carrefour car park in Bray Dunes, approx 25mins from the ferry port.
We got to the aire at 12 noon so had plenty of time to wash and dry some clothes in the launderette on site.
Before we go tonight we will fill and empty so we are set when we get off the ferry. We also filled with fuel to avoid the extortionate UK prices (ha ha). As an added bonus the Giro cycle race is on the TV and Simon Yates is in the lead with four days to go. When I used to go to the Manchester Velodrome on Friday night for the weekly track league, I rode against him and his brother Adam - it's a very inclusive sport is cycling!
We were at Dunkirk ferry port at 10pm for the midnight ferry, and after all the formalities were 2nd from the front in lane 27.
At 10:07 the heavens opened and torrential rain came down, bouncing off the floor - we were nearly underwater!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 24/05/2018 Newhaven to Pilot Inn, Dungeness
N50°55'45.8'' E000°58'27.8'' Overnight parking in car park of Pilot Inn, Dungeness. No services, no electric - visit pub for a meal.
81km in 2hr 15min
It was a calm crossing, thank goodness, and we were soon off the ferry and and on the A20 heading for Tesco's car park. We had stayed there to wait for the ferry to France on a previous trip, but now, as is the norm, the car park was privately owned and run and full of rules and conditions. We just wanted a couple of hours sleep, but evidently this was not the place.
As a backup we had the Marine Parade in Hythe, which turned out to be much too narrow for motorhomes, and all the car parks we passed were height restricted.
By now it was 2:30am (3:30am to us!) and we were getting a bit weary.
We found a quiet residential street with lots of street parking outside an apartment block, and parked up to get a couple of hours sleep.
At 5am we were off again to a motorway service area, but unfortunately nothing was open, so we had a cup of tea in the van and waited until our 2 hours of parking was up before heading for Dungeness.
Streams of traffic were heading down the small country lane to Dungeness Point - we later found out that over 1000 people work at the nuclear power station that dominates the landscape.
Right at the end of the point, by the lighthouse, we were able to park, so had a good explore of the shingle beach, the old houses made from converted railway carriages and the newer, modern, matt black boxes.
Our 6km walk took us to a superb fish shop in the little village that smoked its own fish. So after buying some smoked mackerel, cod and haddock, along with 6 free range eggs, we were set up for the next couple of days.
Our overnight stop was opposite this excellent shop on the Pilot Inn car park. The landlord lets you park overnight if you buy a meal in the pub - everyone's a winner!
I'm getting used to driving on the left again thanks to this little marvel on the windscreen - we bought it 5 years ago on the ferry and it's been invaluable as it's reversible for right or left hand drive.
Our meal in the pub of one haddock and one cod with chips and mushy peas was excellent. The fish fillet was overhanging the plate and cooked to perfection - the crispy batter staying crisp with the addition of rice flour, according to the landlady.
We were both exhausted so were in bed by 9pm and sound asleep by 9:05pm and didn't wake until 7:30am - sea air or lack of sleep (or both!)
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 25/05/2018 Dungeness to Slinfold
N51°04'05.4'' W000°24'53.8'' Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite on grass or gravel for 38 vans. £14 including electric. Full service point, no showers or toilets.
165km in 2hr 40 min
We were up and about at 7:30am regardless, so after an early coffee, another visit to the fish shop opposite was needed.
Another 6 fillets of hot smoked mackerel, 2 fillets of hot smoked salmon and 2 fillets of cold smoked haddock, and we were ready to set off.
Yesterday we met 2 very nice rangers from one of the many wildlife sites around Dungeness. They told us all about the RSPB site and how good it was, so that was our first destination today.
The visitor centre was 1km away down a cobbled track off the main road. The gate to the track is opened at about 9am, and the visitor centre opens at 10am.
We bought our tickets (£5 each) and on display were at least 10 different types of binocular. I had been promising myself some for ages, so bit the bullet and got some 8x42 RSPB ones - great value at £130
Suitably equipped we were off on the 3km track around the lakes and ponds, calling in at 6 different hides along the way to spot and identify the birds.
There were some people with mega-expensive equipment, and some with bargain basement binoculars - this is something that everyone can do.
On the road we took the longer (20 miles) but quicker (by 50 minutes) route, skirting around Gatwick.
We have almost no UK money, so a cashpoint was a must, and combined with a Tesco Extra for some fruit and veg, this was achieved just before our destination in Slinfold, in the South Downs.
It's a Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite which we booked yesterday by phone.
The approach was a bit tortuous up a very narrow lane, but the site was quite spacious and only £14 which included electric and a full service point. There is an industrial unit nearby, but the noise is not intrusive to us.
Cervantes is performing superbly - never misses a beat and is very fuel efficient - I'm amazed sometimes by the power, refinement and frugality of this power plant - very impressive.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 26/05/2018 Slinfold to Bampton
N51°42'50.3'' W001°31'33.5'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site for 5 vans, 4 on grass, 1 on hardstanding. £7 with fresh water and grey water disposal.
We've been on some shocking roads in France, but M25 - hang your head in shame, you are a disgrace to the UK road system.
I can stand queues - my last lob was managing them - what I can't stand is an absolute disgrace of an excuse for a road surface. A slab of concrete with a 2" gap every metre for 20 miles is totally unacceptable.
A German driver in front of us was stroking his beard and I imagine he was thinking - why am I at a standstill on a motorway, and when I am moving, why am I on a cart track?
Disgraceful - UK roads - you should be ashamed, I know I was (apart from the fear of Cervantes rattling himself to death)
We had some pretty narrow roads on the way to our CL in Bampton today, but once here, were enchanted by the peacocks and peahens, horses, geese, chickens and dogs.
The owner of the CL was very chatty and told us he thought the red kites (plentiful in the sky above us) had chased off the buzzards, which nested in the woods opposite last year and raised their young, but are missing this year.
He told us about a beer festival in the local pub (The Trout Inn) about 1 mile down the road, so after a bite to eat we were on our way along the narrow road with no pavement - only grass banking (full of nettles!)
Luckily a very nice lady was pulling out of her drive in a horsebox after we had walked half a mile, and generously gave us a lift to the pub - thank you.
The beerfest had 7 beers and 4 ciders on sale in a tent, plus what they served in the pub bar.
They had some live music from a duo called Cherry Valentines - a girl singer with a flute and a male singer who played guitar faultlessly, playing 60's, 70's and 80's classics - we were very impressed. We got their business card afterwards and promised to give them a mention - they were excellent!
In the end we managed all the beers and ciders and had a great time in this idyllic setting on the banks of the River Thames.
On our risky walk back to Cervantes we saw lots of mayfly around a small stream that went under the road - they only live for 24 hours and have only one purpose - to mate and continue the mayfly line. The sight was very impressive.
The weather forecast in Wales for the coming 2 days was abysmal - gale force winds, torrential rain and a big risk of flooding.
On this basis we have revised our plans and have decided to go north through Northamptonshire and Leicestershire to get to our eventual destination in Liverpool.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 27/05/2018 Bampton to Bourton-on-the-Water
N51°53'20.5'' W001°52'10.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite. £17.10 including electric. No toilets or showers, full service point with re-cycling bins.
The beer yesterday must have had something in it because we slept like babies last night.
I thought we were being broken into this morning at 8:30am, but it turned out to be the peacock stamping about on the roof of our motorhome!!
We managed to get some footage of it before it became embarrassed enough to jump off.
It's definitely the mating season for peacocks because he's been displaying all yesterday and all this morning - hard work this mating game!
We had an early coffee and gave some spare bread to the peacocks, hens and geese (who looked at us disdainfully and walked off looking the other way without touching it)
We set off on some good roads past RAF Brize Norton - it brought back some memories for Glyn as she had flown from there to Cyprus on many occasions on an indulgence flight.
The security around the base was high with no stopping on the road, no photography and surveillance cameras everywhere - it's the times we live in.
We had phoned ahead this morning and pre-booked a Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite in Bourton-on-the-Water.
It turned out to be a lovely site (I imagine when the mist rises).
We are on hardstanding (a must when we are booking, otherwise it's a no-go), which is quite lucky because 30 minutes after we arrived here the heavens opened and torrential rain fell - not a time to be on grass!
We were planning a walk along the disused railway line (the campsite sits where the old railway station stood) to the nearest village, then a round trip to get back here.
Considering the roads and the volume of traffic in the UK, and tomorrow being a bank holiday, we decided to stay here for another night.
The forecast here is on/off rain, so we'll save the walk for tomorrow, when the weather looks more settled.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 28/05/2018 Bourton-on-the-Water
We were awoken this morning by the window alarm going off. We have the side windows open, not the rooflights, because we are under trees which are dropping pollen and seeds.
These get stuck in the mesh flyscreens and are impossible to get out, short of climbing onto the roof and hoovering them out.
The window alarm didn't go off last night when I opened it, so I assumed it was switched off. It was actually switched on, and sparked into life at 5:30am this morning.
We soon nodded off again, and were further woken by another bird on the roof - this time a much smaller one who was doing some exploratory tapping with it's beak.
This morning was misty and a tad chilly, but after coffee (we're on mains electric so our expresso coffee machine is working!) and toast we decided to set off on our walk.
We did 7 miles in 2 hours 20 minutes through some lovely Gloucestershire countryside, through the very pretty villages of Salperton and Notgrove with cottages built from the local Cotswold stone - a honey-coloured limestone which is very pretty.
Cheese and oatcakes and an excellent Muscadet-sur-lies for lunch when we got back, then some domestic chores to finish the day.
This site is really quite nice and the staff are very helpful and full of local knowledge.
We have learnt from a couple of days ago, and booked our site for Wednesday already! - a site in the middle of wild Wales!
A lot of the caravans and motorhomes have gone today - it must be a workday tomorrow for most of them. Thank goodness someone is holding the country together.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 29/05/2018 Bourton-on-the-Water to Frodesley
N52°36'36.5'' W002°43'26.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL at Brickyard Farm on gravel for 5 vans. Full service point, toilet, shower, re-cycle bins. £13
180km in 2hr 53min
We're sad to leave this site - it really is quite nice.
After coffee and organising the van for travel, Glyn noticed water coming from the base of the fridge.
Examination showed the fridge had not been working for some hours, The freezer was at 5° and the fridge at 19°, which is not good!
We took everything out, mopped the water up and wondered what was happening and why.
Up until now, after travelling for 20 days, we have had no trouble with the fridge on gas, mains electric or van engine electric. Why has this suddenly happened now?
We set off with a plan to buy all tinned food and eat rice, pasta and potatoes until it could be fixed.
After travelling for 2 hours we stopped at Sainsburys in Shrewsbury and b****r me - the damned thing was working again.
We travelled another 30 minutes then hooked up to mains electric and it's still working.
It's a mystery, but we'll have to solve it because we can't have the fridge and freezer defrosting itself when it feels like it!
Our CL today at Brickyard Farm was up some very narrow roads, but everyone is aware and very helpful to let us pass.
Imagine our surprise when we parked up to find the owners, when we saw this pulling into the CL - imagine meeting that coming the other way on the road!
It's a lovely site here with some great views and, so far, some sunny weather.
There's a toilet and shower here, along with a full service point, electric and re-cycling bins, and lots of grass to sit out on and have a picnic.
It advertises farm walks, and sure enough, you can walk around the edges of numerous fields of grain, then back along the road.
At the crossroads was a village bulletin/notice board, where a handwritten note said free range eggs were £1 for 6, leave the money for them in a tin box next to the eggs - this could only happen in the country!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 30/05/2018 Frodesley to Gwern-y-Bwlch
N52°37'10.5'' W003°39'33.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite on crushed slate. £14 including electric. Full service point, no toilets or showers.
92km in 1hr 52min
The fridge saga is as follows:-
The roads through mid-Wales are great to drive on, though you have to avoid the odd pothole or two.
When we rang this unpronounceable Welsh site (Gwern-y-Bwlch) yesterday to book it, the lady said there would be no-one here and to leave the money through the letter box if we went before she came tomorrow.
The site is on 9 different levels, all broadly level, connected by steep ramps.
When we got here we saw an RAF transport plane flying low, down the valley.
This added to the fighter jet we had seen on the way here, screaming low-level up the valley - it frightened the life out of us - the noise was tremendous.
It's very green here with cows and sheep in every field. We climbed the adjacent road to the top of the hill and got a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and mountains - stunning scenery.
We are parked on an elevated pitch with a great view of the opposite hillside and the grazing sheep.
We've made an appointment with Cheshire Caravan and Motorhome Service and Repair Centre in Warrington for 10am on Friday, so tomorrow night we have booked into the Leigh Arms in Northwich - you can stay overnight if you use the pub - sounds good to me!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 31/05/2018 Gwern-y-Bwlch to Leigh Arms, Northwich
N53°16'48.0'' w002°35'58.1'' Overnight parking in pub car park. no services, no electric (visit pub!)
164km in 2hr 51min
Up early this morning to pay at reception, then a quick fill and empty and we were on our way through the glorious Welsh countryside.
Well done Wales - you have some fabulous roads, some stunning scenery and some very nice people. You are an example to the rest of the UK - chill out!
Just before our destination we called into a shopping centre and discovered a B&M bargains shop. I am a sucker for a bargain, so I got a litre of car shampoo (£3) and a microfibre mop on an extending pole (£5), because Cervantes is absolutely filthy and needs a good wash when we get to Fluker's Brook.
The road to the Leigh Arms was marked as closed, but the landlord explained, when we rang him yesterday, that the pub was still accessible, so down the A49 we went and sure enough we got to the Leigh Arms.
No problem parking, right next to the river. We introduced ourselves in the bar with a drink, and said we would be back later for a meal - Glyn's sister Bron and her husband Frank are meeting us here later for a meal, so we're looking forward to that.
Maps.me showed a footpath along the banks of the River Weaver, so we followed that to the left for a good 15 minutes, but it didn't seem to get very near the river at all. Glyn's sister rang just then and recommended a better walk, so we re-traced our steps and went to the right this time, under the road bridge to just before the next road bridge, when we turned right up the hill.
This brought us to the Trent and Mersey Canal which we followed back to the main road (A49) through the village of Bartington, and thus back to Cervantes.
It was a good 3 mile walk in glorious sunshine with numerous canal boats and working boats (dredging the lagoon!) passing us along the way.
It was nice to catch up with Bron and Frank. I asked the waitress how long she had worked here, and she told me 16 years. I then asked her if she remembered any guinea pigs being in the garden, and she said yes - a year before she started they were here.
I've cycled past here many times with Bolton Clarion Cycling Club, and was always intrigued by a garden full of guinea pigs, but I couldn't remember if this was the correct place, so she confirmed it.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 01/06/2018 Leigh Arms to Fluker's Brook Farm
N53°26'38.3'' W002°51'42.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site on crushed gravel for 5 vans. Electric, water and grey water disposal on pitch, black water disposal on site. £11, no toilets or showers.
43km in 1hr 7min
It was an early start to get to Bewsey Road, though Warrington was very quiet (we realised later that it was half term, so the school run was not on) so we were at Cheshire Caravans at 9:15am.
They agreed to look at it straight away whilst we walked to a Tesco Express, opposite the Halliwell Jones rugby league stadium of Warrington Wolves, and had some breakfast.
The fridge was working fine again when we got there - we got the call at 11am and went back to the workshop. The technician had tested the 240V system - all OK. The battery was all OK as well, but the gas was a problem with a sooty burner.
He cleaned it thoroughly, then tried it again and all was OK.
However, it still didn't explain why the fridge defrosted itself, and why it suddenly started working again.
He did his best and said he couldn't diagnose a fault if everything was working as normal, so I still don't know what the cause was, and how to stop it happening again. I intend buying a remote fridge thermometer so I can monitor the freezer temperature without constantly opening the door.
All set now for our CL for a month at Fluker's Brook Farm, but first some LPG to top us up for our stay. I had foolishly not marked on the sat-nav the 2 nearby supermarkets where LPG was available, but after asking around I found a Shell garage on Liverpool Road selling LPG.
The filler gun was a bit of a problem - it seemed to have a mind of its own. Eventually I filled it with 10.32 litres for £6.59. So 8 days on refillable LPG has used 10.32 litres - not bad considering that all our cooking, hot water and heating has to be on gas.
We made it to Fluker's Brook by 1pm and parked up - hopefully for a month.
Stella (our host) gave us lots of great information, including cycle maps for the whole of Liverpool - the Trans Pennine Trail (a cycle path that runs from the west coast of the UK to the east coast) runs very near here, so we'll be on that a lot.
Stella had a baby a month ago, so there was lots of baby talk happening - not long now until the big day!!
The facilities here are excellent - there is electric (16A), water and waste on all 5 pitches, plus a full service point nearby with recycling bins. A nice touch was a bottle of hand sanitiser by the cassette emptying point, and some lengths of tubing to get your grey water to the drain on your pitch - very thoughtful.
We're quite near the M57 here, but the noise really isn't that intrusive - it soon blends into the background.
If you thought the approach road was a bit narrow on our video above, look at what was parked here when we arrived (and it was towing a car!!).
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 02/06/2018 to Saturday 30/06/2018 Fluker's Brook Farm
We spent 4 weeks on the CL here, and are very pleased to announce the arrival of Elliot, a lovely baby boy - we are now proud grandparents, and mother, father and baby are all doing well and learning fast!
The fridge stopped working altogether on the 8th of June, and we've been trying to get it fixed since then.
We got a list of Dometic engineers in the area and spent some time trying to get one of them to come out and diagnose the problem (or I would have been perfectly happy to drive to them)
We had no joy from any of them. Some had massive lead times of 6 weeks, some diagnosed it over the phone without even seeing it.
One "engineer" took 2 weeks to give us a price of £800 (supply only) for a new cooling unit, whilst another gave me a price for the same thing in 48 hours (£600 fitted), again without anyone coming out to diagnose the fault.
Some were impossible to talk to on the phone - never answered and never phoned back in response to the answerphone messages I left - he communicated with me by abrupt text when he felt like it - days of silence. (I'll let you guess which one of the above that was!)
They were obviously very busy, but so uncommunicative, as if they didn't want the business!
Strange behaviour indeed.
Our drop down bed developed a fault at the same time - the hydraulic struts that help lift the bed failed, so we ordered 2 more from the nearest Burstner dealers - MB motorhomes in Bury.
Steve on the phone in the parts department was as helpful as he could be - the complete opposite of the Dometic men.
They were in stock in Germany so with express 4 day delivery they were here on Monday 18th June.
We drove over to Bury to collect them, along with a £50 spare water pump, the bill was £300 - quite a lot for 2 struts, but at least we can now sleep in the bed again - it was too heavy to lift up before, so we were sleeping on the bench seats.
The drive to Bury and back on the 19th June sparked the fridge back into life, which has since been on mains electric for 7 days and now goes down to -18° regularly (we bought a remote temperature sender and receiver in Clas Olsen in Liverpool).
The cooling unit has therefore not failed as a number of "experts" diagnosed over the phone!
It's a good job they were so inept, or I may have spent a lot of money for no result.
The fridge worked until 8th June, stopped until 19th June, then worked until 1st July (the thermostat in the fridge had fallen off the fins, I re-attached it and all is now working.
Sunday 01/07/2018 Fluker's Brook Farm to Rooley Farm
N53°42'10.6'' W001°56'40.2'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site on grass for 5 vans, £11. Fully services pitches, with a full service point onsite. No showers or toilets.
89km in 1hr 40min
After a month here it's time to move on. We've met some really nice people, especially Stella and John and their newborn.
Our daughter, husband and baby are all doing well, and we're looking forward to seeing them again vary soon.
Time now to see some family and friends, so it's off to another CL in Sowerby, near Halifax at Rooley Farm.
It's all on grass, but the weather here has been in the high 20's for the last 10 days, and is set to continue, so grass should not be a problem to park on.
We're the only ones here in this lovely CL. It's very quiet here - just the baaing of the sheep and lambs, and only a short walk to my brother's house where we had an excellent reunion - thank you Pete and Ali for the welcome you gave us at such short notice.
There is a nice chill-out tent in the corner of the CL with padded easy chairs - a nice touch by the owners.
With virtually no passing traffic and fantastic views, this is an excellent CL if you want peace and quiet.
The saga of the fridge continues with it defrosting itself yesterday overnight.
After emptying it (and throwing most of the stuff away), we noticed that the plastic thermostat sensor had fallen off the fins at the back of the fridge. It's just a push fit, so not very suitable for wet and cold metal cooling fins. We reattached it and lo and behold the fridge started up again and has run on all 3 power sources again, functioning perfectly.
If this has been the problem all along (who knows??) then the design team at Dometic want firing and replacing with someone with some common sense - what an appalling piece of pathetic design - I'm speechless.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 02/07/2018 Rooley Farm to Sue's
103km in 2hr 14min
As we were so near, we HAD to go and see our very good friend Sue. She is a very busy lady, but she made time for us in her busy schedule (apart from the Smart Meter man coming) and we had a really excellent day with her. What with all the catching up, food, drink, and walks by the sea, the day flew by.
Thank you Sue - it was really lovely to see you, and we'll see you soon when you're over here next.
Tuesday 03/07/2018 Sue's to Lower Woodend Farm
N52°03'55.8'' W000°34'14.6'' Private campsite for 30 vans on grass, £10, one electric point with 4 sockets, water in the barn, black water disposal in the garden.
322km in 4hr 24min
Today is a travelling day - we've given ourselves 2 days to get to Dover, so are down the M6 and M1 today.
The "managed motorway" network is rolling out at the moment, which means a 50mph speed restriction for 40 miles or so.
Having worked for Highways England on the motorways, I fear it will all be for nothing in the end - I can't see anything to be gained from it (apart from years of work for the contractors).
We only queued once on the motorway, and that was 1 mile from our exit!!!
The approach to Lower Woodend Farm is definitely single track - see approach video below.
The site itself is a large, flat field with one electric point with 4 sockets - you'll need a very long lead.
The water is a tap in the barn with numerous watering cans nearby, the chemical toilet disposal is a septic tank in the garden, and we were told to put the grey water onto the field as it hadn't rained for ages.
There were several caravans and one other motorhome which all seemed to be permanent. It did the job for us as an overnight stop near the motorway for only £10.
There are some good walk in the surrounding fields and woods, and the village of Marston Moretaine is a short walk away through the fields.
It was very quiet overnight, with only the tractor mowing the field at 7am to disturb us.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 04/07/2018 Lower Woodend Farm to Dunkirk
N51°03'46.3'' E002°31'18.0'' Free aire in Carrefour car park in Bray Dunes for 6 vans on block paving. Full service point, water €2 for 10 mins (approx 30 litres) or 1 hour of electric.
299km in 4hr 35 min
Another travelling day today to get to Dover by nightfall.
Glyn hasn't managed to do much shopping on this trip, so a visit to Sainsbury's hyperstore in Ashford was planned. We asked about the parking arrangements at the customer service desk and were told it was no problem up to 3 hours.
A fully stocked fridge and one dress later, we were soon in Dover, and our first port of call was the information desk.
We had booked for the 2am ferry on Thursday 05/07/2018, with the option to go on the one before (midnight) if there was room.
They told me that only 46 cars were booked on the midnight ferry, so join the queue at 10pm.
We had some time to kill so went to the new Aldi store in Dover which has no parking restrictions (good old Aldi), then moved on to Tesco, further on up the road.
The crossing passed in no time and we were soon on the aire in Carrefour car park in Bray Dunes to get some sleep.
Thursday 05/07/2018 Bray Dunes aire, Dunkirk
A quiet night with 3 other vans - hope we didn't disturb them too much when we arrived at 3:30am.
In the morning we walked to the coastal town of Bray Dunes for a wander and a cool beer (it was after 2pm!) There's a huge beach here and too many restaurants and cafes to count.
A week-long market was being erected which looked a huge affair.
Back at Cervantes we had a late lunch, then plunged into the laundrette to wash and dry the bedding and underwear.
As it washed and dried we had our 10 minutes of water for €2 at the service point, but the tap was so slow we only managed to get 30 litres - a tad expensive!
Our bathroom tap has been giving us some problems - the wiring is so tight inside the assembly, that turning it on and off so many times (as you do!) caused a break in the wire to the microswitch.
I bridged the wire 6 months ago and managed to stuff everything back in the space, but now the tap is not working again.
Taking it to bits I found that one of the wires had come completely out of the microswitch - problem!
We were on Aldi car park in Dover when I found this, and B&Q were just across the car park. It was a very long shot that they would have the correct microswitch, and sure enough, they didn't. My solution was to buy a simple on/off switch and wire the tap to that - one way for on, one way for off. It will get us home where we can aquire a new tap if needed, or the correct microswitch if the wiring can be re-done.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 06/07/2018 Dunkirk to Estaires
N50°38'33.6'' E002°43'12.3'' Free aire for 3 vans on block paving. Full service point. €2 for 10 mins of water or 1 hr of electric. €4 for 12 hrs of electric.
67km in 1hr 10min
We struggled to get to the service point this morning with a full house on the aire, and vans turning up just to use the service point. We were extra tired last night and slept through until 9am - unusual for us.
We checked out the aire at Moulin de la Victoire in Hondschoote this morning - the service point is on a different car park, so don't be fooled that this is the aire - it's round the corner near the windmill.
The town of Hondschoote has a magnificent church interior, but the outside was marred by a funfair almost blocking the front door! - not a good sight.
Next stop was Estaires, with a small 3 van aire, but in a very nice location. Each pitch has a table and benches at the rear and access to electric at €2 for 1 hour, or €4 for 12 hours.
When we arrived a German Dethleffs was just going, and said we could use the remaining 10 hours of his electric - very nice of him.
There are 3 block-paved pitches, plenty long and wide enough, and a service point in the 4th bay.
We took a walk to the town - the main street has plenty of shops, bars, restaurants, and a huge church very much like the one in Hondschoote.
We went in and were amazed by the light - the side windows were plain glass, not stained glass, and went right up to roof level letting in plenty of sunlight.
Inside a church or cathedral I usually have to change the camera settings to high ISO/low noise to capture all the light available, but here was no problem - it was like being outside.
The enormous spire dominated the skyline, only rivalled by the town hall which had a brick-built tower of equal enormity - very impressive.
It's very quiet here apart from the cheers when France scored in the World Cup - the whole town erupted!
The fridge is still performing well - fingers crossed it works until we get home.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 07/07/2018 Estaires to Bapaume
N50°06'04.0'' E002°50'59.8'' Free aire on crushed stone for 4 vans, service point over the road, water is €2 for 10 minutes.
78km in 1hr 34 min
I didn't fancy staying up until midnight to change power supply to the fridge when the electric ran out, so I donated the last 2 hours to the French van next door. They were over the moon and presented us with a bottle of non-alcoholic peach wine, and he wouldn't take it back!
Today's roads were excellent, as was the scenery on our way to Arras. The aire in the centre was full, but there was a large car park next door with plenty of space.
It turned out that there was a 2 day music festival in the centre square in Arras with some big names featured, attracting all the motorhomes.
The city itself was a bit tired and scruffy, but the centre was OK with a big central market on today in the town hall square.
The town hall was the grandest I've ever seen - it put the cathedral (closed) to shame. We did manage to get into a smaller church which did impress.
More good roads took us to the aire in Bapaume where there is a 4 van aire and a separate service point across the road.
Unfortunately the D917 was closed 10km from Bapaume, so we were sent around the houses following the diversion signs. We came out almost in the centre of Bapaume and found the aire easily.
It is very near the centre of this lovely town, with another impressive town hall, and a criss-cross of good shopping streets.
We are in the middle of the front line in the first world war here, and there are many memorials to keep the memories alive. Just outside Bapaume is an Australian war grave, only finished last year, to remember the fallen in this area.
We passed many more on the way - it certainly brings it home to us what a great sacrifice these men, women and boys made so that we could be free - very moving.
There is a friterie (selling chips) 50 metres from our aire, so as a treat we bought some to have with some smoked mackerel we had. Two large frites at €3.50 each turned out to be huge portions. Desperate Dan would have struggled!
We overcame our astonishment and managed to clear the table, but we may be in for a rough night.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 08/07/2018 Baoaume to Saint Imoges
N49°06'19.8'' E003°58'44.1'' Free aire for 6 vans on tarmac, service point, €2 for 100 litres of water or 1 hour of electric.
164km in 2hr 38min
The first half of today's journey passed by many war graves of all nationalities - South African, Indian, English, Australian - all part of the former commonwealth. As we passed one after another we couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sadness, that so many young people, some from the other side of the world, gave their lives in this area.
The aire in Reims is behind the Cultural Centre, accessed by phoning the number by the barrier to obtain a code to let you in.
There is room for 8 motorhomes, but space is very tight with hardly any room to turn round, so once through the barrier it's advisable to check on foot if there is room.
The city centre is only a 10 minute walk away, where you are met by the magnificence that is Reims cathedral.
The detail on the stonework outside and inside is stunning. The huge scale of the building takes your breath away - it is so tall inside.
Information boards inside revealed that the cathedral was almost flattened by bombs in the 1914 - 18 war - the front line was quite near here.
They have done a magnificent job of re-building it to it's former glory with some very skilled stonemasons.
The Reims aire was that tight we thought we would move on before the Monday morning influx had us trapped, so we headed for the lovely little aire in Saint Imoges for just 6 vans.
Each of the 3 pitches are fully separate, whilst the other 3 are in-line spaces. There is a full service point where €2 gets you 100 litres of water or 1 hour of electric.
If you like peace and quiet - this is for you.
The small village of Saint Imoges is only a 10 minute walk away, so off we set.
Parked on the pavement outside the town hall was a panel van that had been converted into a pizza maker. He had a wood-fired oven blazing away inside, with a big chimney on the top.
The wood had just been lit and was still burning, so we ordered 2 from the menu to pick up at 8pm.
We took a circular route back (as shown on a poster outside the town hall) past 2 etangs (lakes) which were buzzing with dragonflies and various flying insects. It was a good walk, and nice to get back to the peace and quiet of the aire - there are 5 of us here now.
Well - the pizza was fantastic. I went to the van at 7:45pm and he was just preparing it. The dough base was made by a machine in the corner, and all the fillings were in tupperware boxes.
The 2 went into the oven, were turned once and out again in no more than 30 seconds - they tasted fantastic!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 09/07/2018 Saint Imoges to Villers-sous-Châtillon
N49°05'46.4'' E003°48'01.3'' Free aire on tarmac for 4 vans, service point, no electric, water €2 for 10 minutes.
27km in 54min
We woke up to a total of 8 vans here this morning, which the aire took very comfortably. We waited for the service point to desague (grey water), then were off to E. Lecerc in Dizy (there is also a Bouzy in the area - very apt for the champagne region!)
€170 later we were suitably re-stocked with food, drink and diesel, so set off for a France Passion site in Binson Orquigny (page 419 in the 2018 edition) which produced and sold champagne.
The drive there on the D1 was through some iconic wine-growing landscape, with vineyards and champagne producers everywhere.
The champagne house of Xavier Loriot was a bit plain and industrial on the outside, but the welcome we got from Charlène Loriot more than made up for that.
We were taken on a 1 hour champagne tour (just the 3 of us) where we saw collection, extraction, fermentation, maturation, rotation, bottling and labelling, ending in an excellent tasting room where we sampled proper quantities of champagne to taste.(we had witnessed "Champagne tasting" in the tourist office in Reims, and the amount they got to taste was minuscule.
Charlène was helpfulness itself. She had great English (learnt when she went to "wine school" in Quebec and ended up in New York) She was in charge of production, overseeing the pressing of the grapes in a huge metal press, then the fermentation, then the blending of grape varieties and age - a massive responsibility. She was a lovely lady who did the brand credit - well done.
We settled on 2 bottles of Fragments de Noirs Brut (65% Pinot Meunier and 35% Pinot Noir). It was €17.90 a bottle, but we knew what we were buying having tasted it - always the best way to buy something expensive.
As we said, the setting of Champagne Xavier Loriot gave us no views, so we decided to go up to the aire in the village of Villers-sous-Châtillon, on the hill above Binson orquigny.
The aire had a great view over the vineyards and some magnificently fronted champagne houses. Every house here was either a champagne house or a gîte, but none of them were scruffy - all were pristine. We walked again around this village to marvel at the grandeur of the houses.
The aire here has a very strange grey water drain - it is raised up, reached by reversing up some ramps. Unless your drain is right in the centre of your motorhome you will have trouble draining your grey water.
It's lovely and quiet here, just us and the birds, a bit like last night - there are some wonderful places to stay in rural France.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 10/07/2018 Villers-sous-Châtillon to Beaunay
N48°52'54.9'' E003°52'28.3'' France Passion site, Bel Air in Beaunay, for 6 vans on crushed stone, full service point, including electric.
93km in 2hr 5min
We woke to find 2 other vans had joined us overnight - they were very quiet.
We wanted to check out an aire by the canal and the River Marne in Mareuil-sur-Ay. We found it easily enough, but all the spaces were filled - some looked as if they had been there for a long time. It was a shame really because it looked like a really nice place to stay.
So we headed for the champagne triangle of Epernay, Sézanne and Châlons-en-Champagne.
Looking through our France Passion book we saw one in Ambonnay, a small medieval village, called Champagne Dominique Foureur.
We were unsure of the approach, and were surprised when we came straight to it up a narrow entrance.
The nice lady (Dominique) who came out had various vehicles and farm machinery moved so that we could get in and park, but we were still stuck out too much into the farm track.
Dominique spoke very good english and took us to the oldest part of the house (from the 16th century) to the tasting room. She gave us a glass each to try of a 10 year old Grand Cru. I'm no champagne expert (cava possibly), but it didn't taste much different from yesterdays one year old.
It was however made from different grapes - this had a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir mix which gave it a slightly acidic taste, but very nice never the less. She never told us the price, and we didn't ask!
Dominique told us about the harvest of the grapes - all done by hand by 15 people in August in 2 weeks.
She houses and feeds all the workers in the house after their 8 hours in the fields. Some have been coming for 20 years to pick the grapes. She said nearly all of them were from Northern France, where they only drink beer, so she buys 1000 cans of beer whch are all drunk over the 2 weeks.
We had a look around the town - some very old buildings, dominated again by champagne houses - there must be thousands of small producers in this area.
It seemed a bit impractical to stay the night here, so we moved on to another France Passion in Beaunay.
On the way we passed some iconic champagne producers in the champagne triangle. Moët & Chandon had a huge, modern, designer production plant behind single story smoked glass.
More traditional and not as ostentatious were Mumm, Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot.
The champagne producers (Béatrice & Michel Jacquesson) in Beaunay have been in France Passion since 1997, so must have been one of the first to sign up for this great organisation (€25 per year gives you free access to 000's of farms, mills, restaurants, shops, producers - all things artisan, and exclusive to France Passion).
We found the farm with no problem and were absolutely gobsmacked by the view when we parked - an unbelievable view of the vines and wheatfields in the foreground, and the hills in the distance - what a place to stay! (you couldn't do this without a motorhome).
We consulted the noticeboard which said not to knock on the door - they will come round to us, so we left our book and sticker in the windscreen and went walking to Etoges.
We went along the road and had a quick look around - the church was locked, and there didn't seem to be any signs of life in the village, so we returned on a footpath that went straight through the vineyards to the front door of Cervantes.
This is an idyllic place - we love it here.
We waited until 6:30pm, then thought we would cook a meal and see if anyone came round to see us. 7:30pm and still no-one, which was OK by us - we'd already had a cellar tour and tasted some champagne elsewhere, so were happy to just stay here.
We switched the TV on to discover that France were playing in the semi finals of the World Cup in 30 minutes, so I'm not surprised that no-one has been round. (France beat Belgium 1-0 to go through to the World Cup Final)
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 11/07/2018 Beaunay to Aix-en-Othe
N48°13'41.5'' E003°43'25.7'' Paid aire on grass for 40+ vans, €7, electric €2.50, full service point, showers, toilets, washing machine and tumble dryer, books, guides, magazines.
107km in 2hr 3min
It was deathly quiet last night, apart from some juvenille little owls calling for food all through the hours of darkness. It sounded like many alarms going off. Glyn was OK with it, but I had to put earplugs in.
We wanted to explore Sézanne, and luckily there was an aire in the centre - very spacious and easy to get to, with the longest pitches we have ever seen.
Sézanne has a fabulous old church, so old that some of it was crumbling - hence the ceiling nets.There were some excellent painted frescoes on the walls, and some great external gargoyles.
Sézanne also had some wonderful old buildings, all in good condition - it's a really nice place to visit.
The roads were excellent to our next port of call, an aire in Nogent-sur-Seine, although it was a bit of a palaver to get there round the houses. The aire was outside the municipal campsite with space for 4 vans, a grey water drain, water and electric.
It was a bit bare and impersonal, so we decided to move on to aire municipal du-Moulin-a-Tan in Aix-en-Othe. It gets 9.5 out of 10 in 45 reviews on the campercontact app on our tablet, so we thought it may be OK.
It was more than OK - it was brilliant!
We're all on grass, but that's OK with the sunshine we've had. It's €7 per night, with €2.50 extra for electric. It has showers and toilets, a service point, a sink, a double electric hob, a washing machine (€3.50), a tumble dryer (€1.50), and a smart reception and sitting area.
A small river runs alongside, and there is a grass off-road footpath to the town 1km away
TV reception is good, so we managed to see the Tour de France today (go Van Avermaet), and I do believe England are playing in a football tournament tonight.
There are acres of space here with no designated pitches - you can park where you like, how you like, and someone comes round for the money in the evenings.
It's so good I think we're staying 2 days!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 12/07/2018 Aix-en-Othe
Last night a man came round for the money - we paid for 2 nights and the washing machine (€17.50)
A very peaceful night - no noise at all here.
After coffee this morning we went to the Frankia A class opposite reception (as instructed last night) and asked for the washing machine to be switched on. This he did in a cupboard next to the washer, and gave us a tablet to put in the washer.
After 1 hour 15 minutes the wash was done, and lo and behold, there was a huge long washing line behind the building in the sun - they've thought of everything here!
We walked the 1km along a grass path to the village of Aix-en-Othe. It had a very ornate town hall (as seems to be the norm in this area) opposite a very old church.
Exploring the town we found a couple of restaurants that took our eye, and finally settled on one doing crepes and gallettes, so one smoked salmon and one three cheese gallette later (with a carafe of red), we walked back in the afternoon heat to Cervantes.
They're combine harvesting the field of grain opposite us, so there's a bit of dust, but it's no big deal, and is quite interesting to watch.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 13/07/2018 Aix-en-Othe to Samur-en-Auxois
N47°29'42.3'' E004°20'56.7'' Free aire on tarmac for 20+ vans, service point, no electric.
118km in 2hr 33min
After filling and emptying we said goodbye to this great aire - what a place!
We are ultimately heading for the Alps to see the Tour de France, so we headed southeast this morning to an aire we had chosen in Samut-en-Auxois.
The roads were very good today - straight, well-surfaced and wide. However, we did pass through quite a lot of excellent villages - every one had something to recommend it, but they did slow us down somewhat. We were in no hurry, so it didn't matter to us.
The aire at Samur-en-Auxois is next to the sports centre in a car park that can take 20+ vans. There is a full service point, bins, but no electric.
We parked up and went to explore the town of Samur-en-Auxois. We passed through it to get to the aire and it looked an excellent place - living up to it's "Cité Médiévale" tag.
It did indeed live up to it with superb narrow streets with original doors and windows and frontages dating back hundreds of years.
It had a couple of towers, built to defend the town, but now in need of some serious restoration work - look at the crack up this tower!
We were the only motorhome when we went to town, but on returning we had 2 French vans and a Belgian one with us.
TV reception is sketchy here, so we'll have to miss the live Tour de France stage today and catch up via the news.
The fridge has been working perfectly since 19/06/18, regularly with the freezer down to -20° - long may it continue!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 14/07/2018 Samur-en-Auxois to Charnay-les-Mâcon
N46°17'59.6'' E004°46'30.8'' France Passion wine producer, space for 6 vans on tarmac. No services or electric. Water and toilets 30m away in old railway station.
169km in 3hr 5min
It was a very warm and quiet night here, and we woke to find another 4 vans here - we never heard a thing!
The grey water tank level gauge is playing up again, so it's a can of coke down the sink before we set off to cure the problem (the 3 probes get a covering of fat/oil/general crud, and as they are inside the grey water tank (inaccessible) this is the only way to clean them - if you have any doubts as to the efficacy of coke, just drop a 1cent/1pence piece into a glass of coke - scary!)
Today we are on some great roads through some idyllic, picture-perfect villages. One in particular, Sainte Sabine, has a large chateau which is now a hotel and restaurant, a massive church, houses with flowers round the doors, and a general air of pristine buildings.
We criss-crossed canals and rivers all the way today, passing through many villages, some well kept, some unkempt, but all interesting.
It's the old argument of getting somewhere fast on a motorway and seeing very little (sometimes on a road surface not fit to do 100kph on) versus the D roads through small villages (at 50 or 30kph) on roads that are sometimes better, sometimes worse than the autoroute. If time is not a problem, then the villages win every time.
We drove through the city of Mâcon alongside the River Saône, through some quite nice boulevards to our destination today - the France Passion site in Charnay-les-Mâcon is a wine producer, so we're looking forward to a tour and some tasting.
We're here partly because it's Bastille Day today, so we wanted somewhere a little remote where we could get some sleep tonight - the French are renown for their celebrating.
It's a national holiday today, hence the cave is closed today as is the norm, so no tour today.
On the plus side we have TV reception so we can see the Tour today.
The cave is on a "Via Verde (Spanish) / Voie Verte (French)" or green road, which is a disused railway line that has been tarmaced to be used as a cycling and walking path.
Because we're heading for the Alps and 2 or 3 days of self-sufficiency, I wanted to make sure we had enough LPG, so filled up just outside Mâcon, not having a clue how much we had used.
It took 10 litres to fill it to its maximum of 22 litres, and we've been running exclusively on it for 10 days - full time fridge running, random cooking and hot water, so it's approx 1 litre per day.
This is very impressive as it's 83 cents per litre, so 10 days or 10 litres of gas has cost us €9.30, approx £8 - definitely cheaper than Camping Gaz!!!
Even better value is Spanish propane, where we can get a 13kg bottle holding 25.5litres for €12, so that's almost half the price.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 15/07/2018 Charnay-les-Mâcon
We had some serious news overnight which changed our plans.
Glyn's mum is in a care home, and last night had a drastic deterioration in her condition, so severe that close family members were at her bedside overnight. We are waiting for the latest developments to see what we should do.
Things are not looking good, and we are only a short distance away from UK, so it makes sense to go back now.
We are waiting here for further developments before we make a final decision as to which direction we go in.
We unloaded the bikes and set off along the old railway line, following the tarmac path in glorious sunshine.
We passed a wine producer in France Passion who has made a proper motorhome aire in part of his car park - what a brilliant idea. We are thinking of going there tomorrow if circumstances don't change.
Further on we came to a small retail park which had a superb boulangerie and a stunning cheese shop which was very traditional and had a huge range.
I got some Comté cheese from a huge wheel which the cheesemonger cut with a cheese wire!
Back at our France Passion site the door was open, so we went in and tasted the wines we wanted. Having limited space we bought wine boxes (5litres) of red (Mâcon-Charnay Rouge) and white (Bourgogne Aligoté), along with a couple of bottles of red and a bottle of Crémant de Bourgogne. Also bought was a wine tasting glass for a bargain price.
The layout was ultra-modern inside with well-priced and described wines, excellent lighting and very helpful staff, and the range of wines produced was huge.
As the World Cup Final ended (France 4 Croatia 2), a thunderstorm erupted with torrential rain - the first real rain for 2 months!
Following developments and advice, we are heading back to UK.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 16/07/2018 Charnay-les-Mâcon to Prissé
N46°19'18.7'' E004°45'11.0'' France Passion sire for 6 vans on crushed stone. Full service point, free jeton from shop for water, no electric.
23km in 37min
We're still undecided about our future direction today. Glyn's mum seems to have made a recovery, but the outcome is still unknown.
We therefore decided that we will stay in this area today and await further news.
We passed today's aire yesterday on our bikes, and what a fantastic place it is, with pitches for 6 vans, full service point (free jeton from the shop for the water), and a lovely, quiet spot.
There were 2 vans here when we arrived - the occupants of both were cycling on the old railway line.
Prior to arriving we went to the nearest Carrefour, which turned out to be massive - far too much choice in every range. We stocked up on essentials and got some new seatcovers (the old ones were 5 years old) at the Norauto next to Carrefour.
This aire is really, really quiet - just the odd car coming past on the minor road - very nice indeed.
We paid a visit to the cave of our hosts who have supplied our aire, Vigneron des Terres Secrètes, and found it to be as modern and upmarket as the last one.
Everything was priced and explained with hugely helpful staff. After an extended tasting session we came away with an excellent Pinot Noir (Bourgogne Les Sentinelles), and a Pouilly-Fuissé - all great value and tasting superb.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 17/07/2018 Prissé to Chauffailles
N46°12'05.0'' E004°20'06.8'' Free aire for 10 vans on tarmac, service point, no electric.
69km in 1hr 31min
It was another wet night with torrential rain and angry, black skies - but it didn't get any cooler!
We had the rooflights open, but I had to close them at 2am due to excessive wind (it's usually the other way round)
Glyn's Mum has recovered well so we have decided to head home to Spain, so we can include a stage of the Tour de France along the way - the stage to Mende in the Massif Central is looking favourite at the moment.
Just southwest of where we are in Mâcon is an area of France which we know well, so decided to explore some more of it.
Our initial aire was in Chateauneuf, by the river and a Roman bridge. The aire was fine, with a great view of the river.
A tour of the village revealed a Roman church from the 12th century, and to be honest, not much more.
We only saw half a dozen people on our 50 minute walk. There were no shops, no businesses, and only one café, which honestly had seen better days.
If you want lovely scenery and a great aire by the river come here, but don't come for the amenities.
Just over the Roman bridge was the community of St. Maurice en Chateauneuf, which was a bit more alive with a boulangerie, a Super U convenience store, and an art installation workshop in the old Roman church, again 12th century.
We had no TV reception (first day in the mountains in the TDF!), and had seen all we wanted to see, so decided to move on to Chauffailles, where the le-Tour-du-Bois aire was just outside the town.
A very quiet location, and easy walking distance to a supermarket and the town centre - lots of shops, bars and restaurants.
After a drink (Kir for Glyn, blonde pression for me) we went to the imposing church for a look.
Every French village, no matter how small, has an area devoted to remembering the French soldiers who died in the war. The church was no exception, with a wall full of names and dates - very sobering, and the youngsters here seem to take it onboard as well.
Evening mass was just about to start, so we left immediately and made our way (via the supermarket for some cassis to make Kir in the van) back to Cervantes to find 2 other vans in the aire - yeah - strength and security in numbers!
The fridge vents have been in full sun for 4 hours with an outside temperature of 35°, and the freezer temperature has not dropped below -14° (although I have had the fan running in the top vent to extract some of the hot air). The fridge has worked since June 19th the best it ever has. I don't understand it - I just hope it continues!!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 18/07/2018 Chauffilles to Mende
N44°31'16.0'' E003°29'46.9'' Free aire on tarmac for 25+ vans, full service point, €2 gets you 10 minutes of water or 55 minutes of electric.
274km in 4hr 26min
We made a decision this morning to get back home to Spain as soon as possible so that if needed,we could fly back to the UK so today's destination was the riverside aire in Mende.
The roads were a mixture of D roads with lots of villages, but quite fast between them, and purpose-built dual carriageways for fast travel.
We are in the Massif Central so obviously went up and down some very long, steep hills today - Cervantes performing brilliantly as usual.
Mende is made up of very old, narrow streets, with houses to match - there are some fantastic examples of centuries-old houses here, unfortunately some of them were unoccupied.
We visited the cathedral which dominates the city and were impressed by the inside - simple and understated, but oh so well done.
A walk across the river was next to discover what the massive building opposite our aire was - it turned out to be a catholic library, but surely that can't take up the whole floorspace?
We decided to have our evening meal out in Mende, but I'm sorry to say that if you don't like fast food (burgers, pizzas, fries, kebabs) you will go hungry in Mende.
I don't know why - it has fabulous selling points to attract tourists - the cathedral, the old buildings and narrow streets, the amazing views of the tree-clad mountains, but there is practically nowhere to eat except fast food outlets.
We can only imagine that most people here stay in hotels with full board, but how strange to not have so few restaurants in the town.
As we have a motorhome we came back and cooked a fantastic meal for next to no money - I love motorhomes.
Just a quick word of advice for anyone coming to this aire after 4pm - have a plan B because it gets really full very quickly. There is a large car park next door which some vans went on to later for some space - it really is sardine time here.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 19/07/2018 Mende to Albi
N43°55'38.3'' E002°08'27.4'' Free overnight parking for 6 vans on tarmac, no services.
182km in 2hr 53min
It rained last night, and we awoke to sparrows on our rooflights - what is it with birds and our roof?
The roads today gave us an insight into the glorious country of the Massif Central - huge forest-covered gorges and towering cliffs - very inspiring.
Passing through Rodez at 12 noon, we were amazed by the amount of traffic on the roads, until we realised that everyone was rushing from work for their afternoon break.
From 12 until 2 the roads are absolutely deserted - if you want to travel, this is the time to do it.
The approach to parking du Bondidou in the car park next to Albi cathedral was a little strained. The sat-nav sent us on a different route than it initially said when I checked the route before we set off. This entailed going through some roadworks that were coned off to make a very narrow road.
The parking is a public car park, but there are no signs whatsoever to guide you to it, which there were when we last visited Albi. There are some signs for the Pratgraussals aire, but this is the one over the river, currently undergoing refurbishment.
After stumbling around for a while, we finally found the aire at 1:30pm to find it was full. Luckily one motorhome was just about to set off, so we got his spot. Over the next 2 hours almost everyone left - there were 6 empty spaces at 4:30pm, so don't always think it will be full in the afternoon - It's worth coming for a look.
I had filled up with fuel at the Super U in Mende, but had a faulty pump. When you pressed the lever fully the diesel rushed out too quickly and caused the pump to stop, as if the tank was full.
My solution was to hold the lever halfway in, so the diesel flowed. I assumed the cut-off would still work when the tank was full, but I was proved wrong when diesel started spewing out of the filler nozzle as I overfilled the tank.
Our first job at the aire in Albi was to check if we had TV reception to watch the Tour de France - success!
3 hors category climbs gave victory to Geirant Thomas and a continued wearing of the yellow jersey - come on G!
Next on the agenda was a look around Albi. We had been here before, but not stopped long enough to explore the town. What had we missed!!!
The cathedral (the biggest brick-built cathedral in the world) was mindblowing.
The walls were handpainted, the detail of which was unbelievable. We've been in many cathedrals, but I have to say, this took our breath away - it was truly awesome.
We walked around the town and were wowed by the number of old, well-preserved buildings - no scruffy parts of town, and some absolutely stunning, huge buildings - all pristine.
There was an upmarket café culture feel to the place, with plenty of restaurants, all with menu deals.
They were so good we took one of them up on their offer and had an excellent meal with a bottle of wine for €50 for two.
Even the other side of the river, usually the poor relation to the side with the cathedral, church and museums, were buzzing with bars and restaurants doing great business.
What a fantastic place - we never realised when we were here last, how special this place is.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 20/07/2018 Albi
We now have a plan to see the TDF in the Pyrenees, so now we are able to stay another night in this wonderful city to explore further.
We set off early and went into the museum of Toulouse-Lautrec (€9 entry) which was on 4 floors of the old bishops palace, which in itself was spectacular, with a superb manicured garden.
The exhibition showed all original work, which ranged from his early pencil sketches to his late lithographs - very interesting in a fabulously ornate building.
Lunch was opposite the cathedral with free WiFi. 3 courses with half a litre of wine for €38 for two - good value when you look at some of the other restaurants - the choice you have is enormous.
The TDF was status quo today as expected, but we had great fun watching the vans come and go - it's like musical chairs. One minute there are 2 spaces, and 10 minutes later they're all filled with 2 vans milling around waiting for someone to go.
It's worth waiting around because someone nearly always goes. It's 10:30pm here now, and there are 3 spaces empty!
We took another walk after tea to the other church in Albi. If we hadn't seen the cathedral first, we would have said that this alone was worth coming to Albi for.
There was a street market in full swing over 3 streets separating some very old half-timbered buildings, all in pristine condition.
Again bars, restaurants and cafés were in abundance - you will not go hungry in Albi.
We found a supermarket to buy some water to tide us over until tomorrow, and headed back to Cervantes for a shower, some TV and bed, just beating the thunder, lightning and torrential rain.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 21/07/2018 Albi to Saint-Vidian
N43°11'18.2'' E001°00'08.7'' Paid aire on grass for 10 vans. €10. Full service point including electric.
166km in 2hr 38min
Last night, as expected, was very noisy, with people shouting and arguing, drunks singing and cars being revved up - I gave in at 2:30am and put my earplugs in!
On the plus side however, this parking is only 2 minutes walk away from the cathedral and city centre.
On the way out we called at an E. Leclerc to buy some food - it was the biggest store I've ever seen - it took me an hour to buy €30 worth of essentials. There was far too much choice in too big a space, occupied by too many people, whose sole objective seemed to be to have a chat in the very narrow isles - what a nightmare.
On our way we had great roads, due mainly to it being Saturday and thus free of HGV's-
We were 5km from our motorway exit when the yellow engine light came on - "check engine" it said very helpfully.
Cervantes seemed to run OK - not in limp mode, so I assume it's some stupid sensor somewhere that has failed and triggered the warning. I'm going to run it until I can get to a dealer to plug the diagnostic reader in.
The aire in Mazères-sur-Salat was a huge disappointment. We had been there years ago and loved it. Now it looked run down and not nice at all, with what looked like 2 permanent vans.
There was one hole in the tarmac floor - for grey or black water - who knows?, and just one tap sticking out of the wall, so you know how dirty that is going to be - no thanks.
We moved on to the aire at Martres-Tolosane opposite the cemetry. It was supposed to be for 5 vans, but most of it was taken up with 3 shipping containers.
Thee was an open black water drain, and a dried up grey water drain. It didn't look like anyone had been there for years.
It was also as near to the road as you could get, so yet again we moved on to plan C.
This time to a paid aire in Saint Vidian, by the River Garonne. It was down a very narrow road by a railway line and was on soggy grass - the van above us had very muddy wheels, having been stuck yesterday.
A stroppy woman in the van came out berating us in French, telling us where we could and couldn't park, and which way to point the van (she didn't know that the site owner had followed us down the narrow lane to the aire, and we had stopped to chat - she said we could park where we wanted)
We ignored the woman and parked uphill to be level, and to escape backwards if needed be - down the hill.
She was still twittering on as we hooked up the electric and tuned in the TV, but eventually ran out of words and went back to her van.
The owner we had met came round 10 minutes later for the €10, and said we were OK where we were, so the obnoxious woman bent her ear for the next 15 minutes - she obviously doesn't get out much.
We are very near the River Garonne here and 200 metres from us is a barrage, incorporating a hydroelectric power station. The water level is 35 metres lower downstream, so the turbines and generators are constantly going. It's a massive engineering work with enormous lifts and chutes running the water intakes - very impressive.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 22/07/2018 Saint Vidian to Martres-Tolosane
N43°11'46.6'' E001°00'06.8'' Super U car park
3km in 9min
So, we're all set for a couple of days on the mountain to see the Tour de France.
We're full of fresh water, empty of all waste, and have a fridge/freezer (still working perfectly) full of food and drink - what could possibly go wrong?
Key in ignition and turn to start, engine splutters, then dies.
Try again in 30 seconds, this time it fires but runs badly and will not rev - just idles lumpily at 750rpm.
Get all the vehicle recovery stuff out and write down where we are, co-ordinates etc.
Try to start it one last time and it fires up, then runs normally.
We're in the worst possible place to get recovered from - down a one car wide track for 1km in a sloping grass field.
We decide to attempt to drive to the town of Martres-Tolosane and park in a more accessible position.
Just out of town is a Super U supermarket, so we're straight on their car park.
Now - what to do?
We can carry on and pray we don't lose the engine on a single track road in the mountains, or on a road only just wide enough for 2 vehicles, or on a motorway (the engine warning light is still on), or we can call recovery (it's compulsory in Spain to have vehicle recovery with your vehicle insurance) and get a diagnostic check at the nearest Fiat Camper service centre (Saint Girons according to our Fiat Camper assistance handbook).
We err on caution and decide on the latter.
The call centre in Spain have English speakers so we are soon booked for recovery at 9am on Monday morning (there is no recovery in France on Sunday unless you pay them big bucks!!)
So here we are in a Super U car park (we've been in to explain our situation and they were fine with us parking overnight in their car park) watching the TDF on TV.
I think we have been lucky to do 70,000 km in Cervantes without having any engine electrical problems - some of the stories on the motorhome forums are horrendous, especially to do with the electrics. I have waterproofed the leaking windscreen scuttle, so water doesn't get into the engine, mitigating some of the problems, and I have the oil and filter changed as a minimum once a year.
Reading some of the forums, the engine light sometimes goes off after a while if you continue driving normally. We did consider doing this, but on the roads planned, it would be foolish.
I went back into Super U before they closed for a fresh baguette. Luckily I just managed to hear "get me some chocolate"!! I would have been in real trouble had I missed that one.
After the problems with the fridge and the bed, and now this, if the Truma water heater blows up we will have had a full house of faults this trip!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 23/07/2018 Martres-Tolosane to Marquefave
N43°18'43.7'' E001°13'57.1'' Garage Aspe, Marquefave
The recovery truck came at 10:15am. They'd sent an HGV recovery heavy wrecker, used to recover 40 ton HGVs. Instead of being a drive-on/winch-on flatbed recovery truck as I had expected, this had a rear lift which went under the front wheels of Cervantes.
We asked to go to Saint Gaudens to the registered Fiat Camper garage which we had stated when we phoned recovery. The driver wanted to take us the other way, towards Toulouse.
We rang our Arag recovery again, and luckily they spoke English and French, and we were told that the garage they were sending us to was a proper Fiat garage with Fiat trained mechanics and all the necessary diagnostic equipment. I agreed to go on the proviso that this was the case, and if it proved to be anything but, I would be back on the phone to get recovered to a registered Fiat garage.
The HGV recovery lorry looked very smart from the outside, but inside was a very different story - it had only 1 passenger seat and no seatbelts - that's how old it was!
We decided we had to go, so I sat on the engine compartment between the 2 seats, and Glyn had the seat. I don't think I've ever been 31km without a seatbelt before - it's a weird feeling.
We finally arrived at Garage Aspe in Marquefave, and it was indeed a Fiat Professional garage. It was in a small village, so was quite laid back, not smart or modern, but with enough clues around to decide they knew what they were doing.
The mechanic/owner (Jerome Aspe) plugged a reader into the diagnostic socket and attached a computer to it. His young mechanic came over and helped press the relevant buttons to reveal the fault codes.
He told us it was the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) that either needed cleaning or replacing, along with a new sensor.
By now it was 12 noon and time for the French lunch, so we stayed in the van until 2pm.
Back at work another mechanic spent 15 minutes going through the fault codes and re-enforcing what the boss had said.
There were 2 options. We could have the DPF washed and a new sensor fitted for €460, or we could have a new DPF for €1500.
We had a long conversation on google translate, then with a Spanish/French speaking friend of Jeromes, then with a fluent translator at a call centre. We considered all the relevant pros and cons, and thought €460 was a small price to pay for a safe journey home.
Jerome, the owner, seems like a really genuine guy.
It's our lack of French that is the problem. We can order beer and talk about the weather, but when it comes to the minutiae of what the problem with the DPF is, we are obviously well out of our depth.
After many deliberations we decided to go with the clean and replacement sensor - we have an excellent garage in Spain where we service Cervantes, so as long as we can get back there, we will be happy.
They couldn't get the part until tomorrow, so kindly let us sleep in their car park.
Jerome came round as he was leaving work at 7pm to wish us good night and a good sleep.
It's very hot here - the inside of the van was 42° when we returned from our walk to the village of Carbonne, 20 minutes away.
It's a lovely little town with lots of boulangeries and some nice bars, right next to the River Garonne.
Not having slept too well yesterday, after tea we were out like a light. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 24/07/2018 Marquefave to Foix
N42°57'39.6'' E001°36'39.6'' Free aire on tarmac for 18 vans. Full service point, no electric, bins.
75km in 1hr 41min
We slept well last night after the fierce sun had gone down.
We gave Jerome a bottle of Spanish wine as a thank you for the overnight stay in his car park, and waited for the part to arrive.
I took a walk around the garage to see what cars they were working on, and was amazed to see an old Citroën (1974) which I thought was a modified DS, but on closer inspection, and talking to the mechanic, it was a very rare Citroën SM.
It came off the production line with a V6 Maserati engine - very impressive. It was halfway through a complete renovation, and it will be stunning when finished.
Whilst I was exchanging words with the mechanic (I would be lying to say we were chatting), the father of Jerome (presumably the former owner) signalled for me to follow him to his garage in the garden of his house, just next to the workshop.
He unlocked the garage door to reveal an immaculate Citroën DS in concours condition. It was a 1970 model and he had had it from new - what a privilege to see it, and he was rightly very proud of it.
The part arrived at 9:30am, so we had to get out of the van for an hour whilst they cleaned the filter and fitted the sensor.
It was a nice walk down by the river, but a little like waiting to see the dentist.
We gave them an extra 15 minutes before we re-appeared, and lo and behold, Cervantes was off the ramps and parked around the corner. Glyn asked Jerome how things had gone, and he gestured with his hands as if an explosion had happened, and said ''poufff!!' So she immediately thought the DPF had come to a sad end, but luckily he just meant that there was a lot of soot in it when they cleaned it out.
We thought that was it, but no, it needed a test drive and some more diagnostics before we could breathe a sigh of relief.
20 minutes later, and €458.96 poorer, we were on the road again.
However, our sweaty palms were not dry, because now was the test - would the warning light come on again and put us back to square one with not much of a leg to stand on?
50km of driving gave us the answer - success!!!!
In truth we had every faith in Jerome and his knowledgeable staff - they seemed to know exactly what they were doing and what to look for. They seemed a bit rough and ready, not much customer service as we know it, but boy, did they know how to diagnose a Fiat engine.
When they diagnosed the DPF I thought - is that a symptom of something else, what if the problem is still there when they have cleaned and replaced, but no - they were bang on, and for that we will be eternally grateful - thank you Jerome and crew.
We had no time to get onto the Tour de France route, the roads were already closed, so we went to the nearest intersection, parked Cervantes and stood by the road.
They were through in a flash, with Sky looking their usual confident self - I think it's in the bag now. Poor Glyn was so traumatised by now that she shouted "Come on Gareth" when Geraint sailed past!
We then drove to the aire in Foix where there are 2 aires - No1 and No2.
No1 is on a public car park so you take your chances with the cars and no services.
No2 is a proper aire with marked places for 20 vans with a full service point (but no electric). We made for No2 aire and got in no problem.
After watching the Tour we went to the centre of Foix, only 10 minutes walk away.
It had a great feeling with lots going on - jazz bands, impromptu music everywhere, and a stunning chateau on top of an enormous outcrop of rock - that's for tomorrow.
The abbey in Foix is a mix of Roman and Gothic and had a very welcoming feel to it - a helper was giving out information sheets inside in many languages and explaining the different features - a great ambassador for the abbey and the city.
We found some WiFi in a café listening to a jazz band on the stage, sitting in the sun, having a beer, with a working van, a cold fridge and a bed we can lift up - fantastic!!!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 25/07/2018 Foix
Very quiet here last night, although this is a very busy aire, vans coming and going continually.
We set off early for the chateau on a rock in the middle of Foix.
The entrance fee was €9.60 each, worth it just for the view from the top.
There was a walk around the outside wall, and a stone, spiral staircase up each of the two towers - the views were excellent.
Some artisan joiners were renovating a trébuchet - an ancient wooden sling-shot used to throw rocks etc. against the castle walls.
The top of the towers were a bit buttock clenching and sweaty palm material, but there were no young children up there to frighten me even more.
Afterwards we went to the centre to have a beer and do some people watching.
The road through Foix is the only way to get west, so all the traffic goes through the town, no matter how big. We saw a circus HGV towing 2 massive trailers go through - good luck meeting that!
Then back to Cervantes to watch the tour with 3 Hors category climbs in 65 km - that should shake things up.
We have wondered why the DPF failed - it was obviously regenerating otherwise the regeneration light would have lit on the dashboard. Glyn said it may have had something to do with buying the cheapest diesel all the time.
There may be something in this as the DPF takes out the particulates left after combustion, so the cheaper/dirtier the diesel, the more it has to do.
However, these are workhorses used by construction companies, delivery drivers, taxis, etc designed to do 250,000 kms plus. Surely cheap diesel should not cause a part to fail after 68,000 km - hardly run in!
When we get WiFi I'll have to research if this is a common fault. I know Fiat are notorious for their unreliable wiring, juddering reverse gear, water in the engine due to a faulty windscreen scuttle and poor engine protection. They seem to ignore all these problems, so maybe this is just another one to add to the list.
Whilst we were on our walkabout on Tuesday waiting for the DPF to be cleaned and a new sensor fitted, we had a call from Adag, our recovery people, to tell us that the part would be fitted today, and after that we could drive away.
It was nice of them to tell us, but I wondered where they thought we were - in a hotel room maybe, waiting for a phone call?
Aspe garage had obviously been in touch with Fiat, who in turn had been in contact with Adag recovery. It was nice to think that there was some backup available if we needed it.
It's still very hot here, so we have all the ventilation possible in the van, including a 12 volt fan which circulates the hot air, but makes a tremendous difference.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 26/07/2018 Foix to L'Hospitalet-près-L'Andorre
N42°35'20.0'' E001°47'59.2'' Free aire on tarmac for 8 vans, full service point, €2 for 100 litres of water, €6 for 12 hours of electric.
62km in 1hr 9min
This morning we filled with water without moving (we were next to the service point) and emptied the toilet cassette, but by the time it came for us to leave and empty the grey water the queue was horrendous.
We set off regardless, hoping to desague at our destination.
It seems as if Cervantes has been re-mapped - it is totally different to drive, with more available instant revs, but I need to rev much more to change up to a higher gear.
When I downloaded today's speed and elevation, it showed we had been going uphill for the first 40km - so that would explain it! I could have sworn in a court of law that we had been going downhill.
After a brief stop at a very old Aldi - it looked like, and was stocked like, something from the 60's.
The scenery today was epic, being in the foothills of the Pyrenees, and the roads were also excellent, although some of the bends were a little tight.
It was a steep climb to our destination in L'Hospitalet-près-L'Andorre, where the aire is right next to the railway station. Luckily the trains are fairly infrequent, so are not too much of a nuisance.
We are surrounded by huge mountains, and using our binoculars we could see some men right at the top of one of them. They were doing avalanche prevention work on a slope that must have been 70°
We saw them later finishing work and coming down the mountain by hanging onto a rope that went from top to bottom - what a way to get to and from work!
We had a picnic on top of a small hill - bread, cheese, smoked trout and beer, with a view to die for - excellent.
It is nice and hot today with a cooling breeze blowing up the valley, and we spent an excellent half hour watching some workmen attacking the pipeline supplying water to the hydroelectric plant in the valley, trying to cure a leaking joint.
The big hammer didn't work, so another team came with the biggest spanner I've ever seen, and proceeded to tighten up all 40 of the nuts around the flange.
The aire here has separate bays with stone walls inbetween, and a full service point with water and electric if needed at a cost. There are 7 bays, but plenty of parking nearby if needed.
We have some snow poles next to the van to show how deep your van is buried - scary!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 27/07/2018 L'Hospitalet-près-L'Andorre to Agramunt
N41°47'13.3'' E001°05'37.2'' España Discovery site, free parking, no services
179km in 3hr 13min
We set off up the mountain today with the intention of going through the Puymorens tunnel. There was no price indication at the entrance, and no-one to ask, so we decided (as did everyone else seemingly) to go over the mountain.
It transpired that this was the way into Andorra - hence all the traffic, but it certainly made it quieter going down the other side.
The views from the top were stunning - this is an Hors Category climb in cycling terms.
The following roads, when we finally got to Spain (yeah!) were excellent - what a joy to be back.
We celebrated with coffee and double toast with tomato in a roadside restaurant. Free, strong WiFi and a bill for €7.10 - welcome back to Spain!
Our first stop was the Punto Sosta aire in La Seu d'Urgell, which was a bit basic, but fine for a visit to the town.
We continued on to an España Discovery site in Séro. It was a bodega, but looked closed with no-one around, and a distinct smell of pigs with all the intensive farming sheds surrounding the village.
Next it was on to Torrons Vicens which was a huge, round building making and selling turrón on a massive scale.
They seemed to have no knowledge of Esaña Discovery, but I showed them their entry in the book, after which they let us stay for the night in the car park opposite.
We tried parking Cervantes in many positions to get TV reception to watch the TDF, but to no avail.
The only thing to do was to park up and find a café or restaurant with a TV (all of them!) tuned to Teledeporte.
We found one with a receptive owner who changed channels for us, and we sat and watched whilst enjoying a superb menu del dia - starter, main and sweet with a bottle of wine came to €25 for two - where would you rather live Spain or France? We think it is no contest.
Glyn went back to the van, but after ascertaining that the bar was open until 8pm, customers or not, I stayed until 6pm to watch the end of the tour.
What a fantastic finish on the last day in the mountains. Just the time trial to go now, then Paris for the finish - come on G.
It was 41° in the van when I got back - wow!
The fridge is obviously struggling, but the fan I fitted seems to help.
We're heading for the coast tomorrow for some coastal, cooling influence in our newly rejuvenated Cervantes, now back to his former self, thank goodness.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 28/07/2018 Agramunt to Alcañiz
N41°03'06.0'' W000°08'21.2'' Free aire for 20+ vans on crushed stone. Full service point, no electric, recycling bins.
184km in 2hr 41min
This wasn't the most pleasant car park to spend the night in, but wild cats, kittens and bats kept us amused until bedtime
I changed the LPG onto Spanish Propane on 26/07/18 because I thought it was not burning properly and was giving off a really strong smell, which in the past I'd associated with the gas running out. I didn't think this was doing the burner any good, so I changed it.
This morning, in Lleida, we filled with LPG - it took 12.88 litres, so was just over half empty - I thought it was on it's last dregs.
Working that out we had used 9 litres over 12 days of constant use - very impressive.
We were soon out of Lleida and onto the excellent N211 - what a fantastic road. It had everything - hardly any traffic, good surface,fast, great scenery of mountains, lakes and forests, with fast climbs and descents.
We stopped of at Mequinenza, where we had once stayed overnight, to make coffee and admire the views and the river life - never-ending with motor boats, single and double sculls, fishing and swimming.
Our destination today, just off the N211 is Alcañiz, where a new aire has just opened.
It has plenty of room for 20+ vans with a free, full service point (no electric).
It is almost in the town centre which is well worth a visit. We were at the cathedral in 5 minutes to find a christening in progress.
We left them to it and went for a quiet beer in the square.
15 minutes later the whole of the congregation descended on the bar/hotel we were outside, so we thought we had better decamp and leave them to it.
The 2 vans that were here when we arrived were going as we returned - "too hot" they said - never- it's only 39° (but with a cooling wind)
The town of Alcañiz has an excellent ancient part full of quaint streets and elaborate, monolithic buildings.
There is also a parador in the castle at the top of the hill - but that's for tomorrow.
We sat out again until 10:30pm watching the world go by - it's so nice to be back in the warmth again.
The fridge is still keeping the ice frozen and the beer cold (and the white wine) - long may it continue.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 29/07/2018 Alcañiz to Valencia Caravan Park, Torrent
N39°26'25.6'' W000°31'31.3'' Paid aire on gravel for 15 vans, full service point, showers, toilet, no electric, secure.
268km in 4hr 21min
It was a very sticky night - we were outside until 11:30pm talking to our next door neighbours from the North of Spain, with their 8 month old girl - Lucia. They set off at 11:45pm to climb to the castle to see the city at night.
It took us until 10am the next morning to get to the parador in the castle. It was very well preserved and presented, although the steep hill up to it would preclude anyone over a certain age attempting it.
We used the service point for fresh water, grey water (it had an automatic wash cycle when it detected water) and black water from the toilet cassette. After lifting the lid and pouring the cassette in, that too started an automatic wash - what a very, very good idea - in an ideal world all service points would be like this.
We climbed and descended 2 major mountains today, and I am pleased to report that Cervantes coped admirally.
In the back of your mind you are always watching for the yellow engine light to come on at any moment - not helped by the sat-nav pinging to let us know that motorhome access is unknown - exactly the same ping as when the engine light came on with the advice "check engine"
Thank goodness that the 768km we have done since Garage Aspe worked their magic has been incident-free.
We were soon on the motorway for 100km, so it was a case of put it on cruise control at 2400rpm in 6th gear (approx 96kph), then plug the USB stick into the radio to get some music.
It's 33° outside and I think the aircon need re-gassing after 5 years in the Spanish sun - it works, but is not as cold as it should be.
Our first aire in Riba-Roja del Turia was not what we imagined - it was full of cars (badly parked) and was very overgrown. It is Sunday today and the river is a favourite place to go, so it's understandable, but still scruffy with no services.
We reverted to plan B and went to Valencia Caravan Park in Torrent which primarily stores motorhomes and caravans, but also takes tourers for €12 per night. It has a full service point, showers, toilets, van-washing equipment, but no electric. It is fully enclosed with a wire mesh fence, and has an electric gate which is always closed, so is very secure.
It's the last day of the TDF today, so just enjoying watching Geraint Thomas winning the yellow jersey in Paris - well-deserved after all the years of loyal service.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 30/07/2018 Valencia Caravan Park to Home
260km in 3hr 26min
Well, we're back after a really eventful 3 months. After all the problems, the overriding plus, and all that matters, is that we have a happy, healthy grandson who has 2 very happy and proud parents (and 2 very happy and proud grandparents) - everything else can be repaired or replaced.
TOTAL TOUR STATISTICS
- Distance travelled 7319 km
- Travelling time 137 hr 15 min
- Amount of fuel used 685.06 litres
- Cost of fuel used €935.95
- Average fuel consumption 9.36 litres/100km (30.18mpg)
- Nights away 82
- Nights in free aires 19
- Nights in paid aires 5 at a cost of €45.30
- Nights in free overnight parking 10
- Nights in paid campsites 3 at a cost of €47.00
- Nights in France Passion sites 5
- Nights in España Discovery sites 1
- Nights in roadside parking 1
- Nights in Caravan and Motorhome Club campsites 4 at a cost of £62.20
- Nights in Caravan and Motorhome Club CL sites 33 at a cost of £361.00
- Nights in a repair garage car park 1
- Kilometres on the back of a tow truck 31km
N38°01'44.6'' W001°08'53.5'' Free aire on block paving for 50+ vans. 2 service points, no electric.
55.5km in 48min
We had planned a mid-afternoon getaway, but thanks to some excellent organisational skills from Glyn, we were off and running at 12:30pm.
The airshow we are aiming for is at Albacete on Friday. It revolved around the TLP (Tactical Leadership Programme) which consists of personnel (and aircraft) from many different countries. They were an integral part of the show, both on and off the ground.
However, due to world politics (Syria, Russia etc.) the TLP involvement has been cancelled, so we are not really sure if anything is happening at all on Friday.
Prior information is very hard to get hold of - there is very little information about the airshow anywhere, on or off-line.
Our plan is to arrive at the airbase in Albacete on Friday morning and see what is happening.
Glyn did some research and found a NOTAM (advance warning of airspace movements) for Albacete airbase which started at 9am Friday to 10am Saturday. The airspace is closd to everyone except emergency services, so it sounds like an airshow is on - we shall see!!
A short journey today to Ikea in Murcia - a part of Ikea car park dedicated to motorhomes with space for 50+ vans.
Because we are away for 3 months this time, we are giving Cervantes a shake-down to check everything is working properly on this short trip.
We set off in bright sunshine, but once on the aire the sky darkened and the wind got up - a thunderstorm is in the offing.
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| All alone in Ikea aire |
On the previous 2 occasions we have been here it has been packed - today there is us and another van, so I think all the over-winterers have gone home.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 10/05/2018 Murcia to Albacete
N38°58'36.8'' W001°51'07.2'' Free aire on tarmac for 8 vans. Free service point, no electric.
137km in 1hr 40min
The thunderstorm came with a vengeance last night - jet-black skies, torrential rain and strong winds.
We battened down the hatches and ran for the cover of 100 monteditos - a restaurant serving many types of small sandwiches. The van count had gone up to 9 by the time we returned, and spent a very quiet night with regular patrols by the on-site security man in his van - his security hut was only 100 metres away.
Straight onto the fabulous A30 northbound outside Ikea, we had the cruise control on for the next 1hr 30min. Once we crossed the border into Castilla La Mancha, Cervantes was back in his spiritual home with plenty of windmills and reminders of Don Quixote everywhere.
The free aire, Area de Albacete is only a 15 minute walk from the town centre. It has 8 dedicated motorhome places with a full service point, but no electric. It is shared with a free public car park.
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| Lots of room on this great aire |
A quick walk to the town centre and we were soon looking for the Tourist Information Office, which proved rather a task. It had apparently moved recently, hence we got a different story from everyone we asked. We finally found the Town Hall who gave us the definitive answer.
Once there we asked if he had any information on the upcoming airshow. He seemed a bit vague about it, but on our behalf he rang someone who sent him a flyer for the airshow - but no date - he thought it was on Saturday only, so a little bit closer now, but not much.
Albacete town centre had some excellent period buildings, including one we passed advertising menu del dia. It was the original old casino (no betting, just a gentlemans club) which had retained many of its original features.
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| The well-preserved Gran Hotel |
After a tour around the centre (the cathedral was closed so we will have to return later) we returned to the casino to eat - fabulous value at €25 for a 3 course meal with wine for 2.
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| The period bar... |
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| ...with a great menu |
Quick as a flash they said it was on Saturday only, and started at 9:30am - at last, someone who knew!!
This put a bit of a spanner in the works as regards our planned route timing, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 11/05/2018 Albacete
We had a full house last night - 8 motorhomes filling all the spaces. 4 Spanish, 2 French, 1 Belgian and 1 German - a real car park of nations!
The police were patrolling which I think made for a peaceful night, although we did have more of the strong winds and driving rain.
We were still not 100% sure when the airshow was, so we set off for the airbase at Albacete to ask the people who were organising it!
The first entrance we came to contained a very helpful guard who confirmed the airshow was on Saturday at 9:30am until 2pm - good news because it now meant we could set off on Saturday for Toledo and get there at a reasonable hour.
He also pointed us to the correct gate where the official entrance was, so we set off around the airfield on a 3km trek.
Again the guardsman was very helpful, giving us a pamphlet of the attending planes and their nationalities.
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| The pamphlet given to us by the guard |
He also said that we could arrive in the motorhome and would be shown where to park.
We intend to fill and empty at our aire, then drive to the airfield to arrive at 8am, in plenty of time to bag a parking spot.
On our walk to the 2nd entrance we were parallel with the runway and were rewarded with our own personal airshow by the planes which will be flying tomorrow - they were practicing their routines today! We were spellbound by the Eurofighter, Tornado, F18, and many, many more. The G-forces on some of the turns must be tremendous.
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| Awesome! |
Satisfied that we at last had the correct information, we made our way back to Albacete centre for a well-earned menu del dia after our 10km round trip walk - looking forward to tomorrow.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 12/05/2018 Albacete to Toledo
N39°51'46.7'' W004°00'58.2'' Free overnight parking on tarmac for 20+ vans. No services, no electric, no camping behaviour.
The airshow opens at 9:30am, but the guard yesterday mentioned it was OK to park from 8am so we were up at 7am to prepare the van and fill and empty (we made sure we were first in the queue for the service point because the aire was full again last night)
We were outside the airbase in the queue at 8am, and were finally let in at 9:15, straight into some covered, spacious parking - just right for Cervantes, so we were very impressed.
As we were locking up, a man in airforce uniform with a golden retriever by his side, came over and asked us something in Spanish. We mis-interpreted it as asking us to move back so another motorhome could park in front of us. We explained that we had to go as soon as the show had finished because we were going to Toledo.
He responded in English - no - I asked if the dog (Hero) could search your van for explosives!!
Of course we said yes, and watched as Hero did a comprehensive sweep of our van (and found nothing, thank goodness!) What a great dog he was - very friendly (unless you had hidden some dynamite!)
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| Hero - what a charmer (if you're innocent) |
The static ground display was very good, and we had a good chat to the 4 guys from the UK manning the Tornado exhibit. They said that the Tornados will be out of service next year and they will all be out of a job (so to speak) - the F15 is taking over.
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| Out of work next year? |
The air display was even better than the practice display yesterday.
Some of the longest camera lenses I have ever seen were trackside to photograph the planes - you could have bought a small car for the price of some of them!
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| Wow - what a display |
Fully thrilled (and deafened) we got back to Cervantes at 1:30pm and set off for Toledo on the fabulous A31/E903. The road was long, smooth and flat through the plains of Castilla La Mancha, with views of some spectacular windmills and castles on the tops of some big hills.
It was motorway all the way, and the final descent into Toledo was breathtaking, with so many fantastic, huge buildings on the hills surrounding the river.
The motorhome parking de la Rosa (there were 5 vans already here when we arrived) was by the river with great views of the buildings above us.
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| A great parking place - you couldn't be nearer the centre |
After tea we went on a circular walk over one bridge, then back over another upstream. There's a wealth of history to explore here and our 2 hours did it no justice at all. This is certainly a place to return to and fully explore all it has to offer - I should imagine several days would be needed.
Just a word of warning to allergy sufferers - the pollen was flying thick and fast here, looking a bit like snow at Christmas. We have had similar situations in Aranjuez and Cuenca, and now realise that this is the norm for this part of Spain at this time of year - come prepared!!
See today's full photo and video gallery here.
Sunday 13/05/2018 Toledo to Ávila
N40°39'41.3'' W004°42'24.0'' Free overnight parking on grass/sand for 20+ vans. No service point, no electric.
There was a good turnout last night of 10 motorhomes, 5 Spanish, 2 French, 2 Belgian, 1 English.
We're at 1100 metres altitude here, so the morning was quite chilly (6°), but the morning sun was shining on the buildings of Toledo, lighting them up to give a perfect picture.
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| The wonderful Toledo |
The road climbed to 1395 metres with the temperature at 6° over the Puerto de la Paramera, followed by the descent into Ávila, which gave us a fantastic view of the city, with the walls standing proud.
The overnight parking del Palacio de Congresos we were headed for was on a car park right next to the famous walls of Ávila.
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| Free parking next to the city walls |
Unfortunately today and yesterday the car park had been taken over by the Hollywood Motor Show - an exhibition of modified pick-up trucks and cars which were revved to the max and slid around corners. Luckily there were only 2 more shows left, one at 12:30pm and one at 7pm, so it's fingers crossed.
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| Luckily, not too noisy |
We set off early this morning and were here at 11:30am, which gave us plenty of time to go into the walled city of Ávila for an explore.
Because of the condition and completeness of the walls of Ávila and the 88 towers, the whole thing is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is the most complete example in Spain.
It took 300 years for the Christians to build it from the local granite, most of it in the 12th century.
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| The best example of walls in Spain |
We first saw it whilst watching the Vuelta de España cycle race on TV, and have been planning to come here ever since.
It costs €5 each to walk on the walls - the walk is not continuous due to the cathedral being in the way at one point, and the top of the wall not having a walkway in other areas, so only 60% is walkable. The views over the surrounding countryside on one side and the city on the other are well worth the €5 - stunning.
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| The city on one side, the countryside on the other |
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| The cathedral blocks the walls at this point |
We have 16 other vans here tonight for company - not surprising as the city walls are only a 2 minute walk away.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 14/05/2018 Ávila to Torquemada
N42°02'13.2'' W004°18'57.9'' Free aire on concrete for 4 vans. Full service point, no electric.
225km in 3hr 5min
We'll be sorry to leave Ávila, it's a superb place to visit and I suspect we have not done it justice, but we will be back.
Last night was quite cold for mid-May in Spain - it was 11° in Cervantes and 7° outside, so we had no option than to fire up the heating. 15min later we were warm enough to get out of bed and prepare the van for travelling.
Our first stop was to fill the refillable LPG bottle we fitted. We have one refillable LPG 13kg (22litres) bottle, and one 13kg (25.5litres) Spanish propane bottle (exchangeable at Repsol garages in Spain, approx €12).
When out of Spain we keep a full Spanish bottle and keep the LPG topped up.
We were not quite sure how much was in the LPG bottle, so decided to fill it to be on the safe side. It took only 9.7litres (22litres is the fill from empty to 80% full - a legal safety requirement), so was more than half full.
The Repsol garage where we filled with LPG was service only, and the young lad was service itself. He chose the correct adaptor from my box of 4 (the last time I filled it was in Switzerland 2 years ago!) and screwed it into my remote filler (inside my gas locker - not a problem), then filled it and disconnected for me - what a star! It cost me the princely sum of
€6.45 - fantastic value.
Our first hour was in the gloom of low cloud and drizzle over the hills surrounding Ávila until we dropped down and entered wine country.
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| Farewell to Ávila - we will be back |
We were near the River Duero and surrounded by vineyards and bodegas. This gave way to cereals as we approached Valladolid, where we made a detour to an enormous out-of-town shopping centre. It was huge - we had a 10 minute trek from where we parked to get some fresh fruit and veg and a few more essentials.
Our aire at Area de Santa Cruz, Torquemada is beside the Ermita de la Santa Cruz, first built in the 12th Century as a Roman temple.
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| The aire by the Ermita |
It has a stork nesting on top of the bell tower, looking after its chick.
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| Aww! |
The town itself is very quaint with a large church, a couple of bars and the usual shops needed to sustain a village community, along with some lovely walks by the river.
In the centre of town there is a bridge over the river, built in the 15th Century with a plaque telling you all about the origin and history of it. One thing endearing about the Spanish is that they are not afraid of their history.
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| Lots of info in all forms |
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| A superb piece of engineering so long ago |
Even if they were conquered and ruled by their conquerors, they are still keen to give you the full facts and are more than happy to show you all the remains of that civillisation, and explain what happened and why - a very refreshing attitude.
There is also a substantial community of subterranean cave houses on the hill above our aire - fascinating to see and very unusual.
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| This town is full of information |
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| Lots of chimneys, but no walls |
It's very quiet where we are - just some farm buildings opposite.
There were just the 2 vans here at 2pm, us and a UK one. Now, at 3pm, there are 3 UK vans, one French and us - a popular place!
See today's full photo gallery here
Tuesday 15/05/2018 Torquemada to Pamplona
N42°50'24.9'' W001°39'53.6'' Free aire on concrete for 80+ vans, free empty, 1 jeton (bought from nearby sports centre) buys 1 hour of electric or 100 litres of water.
280km in 3hr 37min
Our journey today took us to the Basque region of Spain, which has a totally different language.
Torquemada was quiet as a grave last night (next to a cemetry!) although only 6° last overnight.
We filled and emptied for free, then set off to find some fuel on our way.
The headline price seems to be €1.20 per litre for Gasoleo A (it's less than €1 at home), but we eventually nosed out an E Leclerc hypermarket for €1.11 in Miranda del Ebro, just off the N1 road. Whilst there we shopped at Mercadona for the things we miss from home which we will be without for the next couple of months.
We were at the aire for 2:30pm, just off the N240A in Berriozar, just north of the Pamplona ring road.
The weather is grey and overcast today with a very strong wind, although the sun is making an occasional appearance.
The rules at the aire on a notice by the service point run to 10, and seem to be very particular about where and how you park. We are strictly told not to obstruct the pavement or the road, and to park within the designated lines. The designated lines put you at 90° to the pavement, so unless you are in a very, very short van, you are going to obstruct either the pavement or the road.
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| Confusing and conflicting information |
We took the decision to park parallel with the road and pavement and explain the absurdity if anyone questions why we did it.
The next 2 vans to arrive also parked parallel, so we think we are justified.
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| It's impossible to park and not break the rules |
The municipal sports centre is 400m down the hill we have just driven up, where you can get a jeton for either 1 hour of electric (park near the service point) or 100 litres of water - price unknown.
There is also an information board by the bourne detailing the many walking routes in the surrounding hillsides, one of which we successfully tried out - very useful information supplied by the local council.
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| A great walking map - this should keep you occupied |
Tonight's motorhome count is as follows:-
First prize to France with 5, next a tie between Germany and Spain with 3 each, then a share of last place to Belgium, Netherlands and UK with 1 each - the common language of motorhoming.
Glyn added another new bird to her substantial list so far when she spotted a Linnet - the male has a very distinctive strawberry coloured head and chest. They move in flocks, and sure enough, after a while, there were 20+ of them after the seeds on the grass - a formidable sight when they all rose together.
It's reassuring to see the police patrolling this aire - it seems to be once an hour a patrol car goes past - well done to Pamplona - we'll be back!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 16/05/2018 Pamplona to Saint-Paul-les-Dax
N43°44'06.4'' W001°04'41.7'' Free aire on pine needles and earth for 9 vans, full service point, no electric.
161km in 3hr 23min
It's an early start for us today to avoid the morning school rush - it will be pandemonium if home time last night was anything to go by!
Our first stop was a Repsol garage (spotted last night when we were out for an hour's circular walk) at the bottom of the hill for a new bottle of propane gas.
We have already filled the LPG, and will run on LPG until we are back in Spain. If we do run out of LPG, our Spanish bottle (full!) will keep us going until we can refill with LPG, hopefully within a day or two. It's the only way to travel if you plan on leaving your home country.
Whilst I was at the garage I quizzed the cashier about our route for today - the N121A northbound to Hendaye on the coast.
The road looked full of tunnels and seemed to go through a narrow river valley - we have driven down gorges before, and some of the overhangs force you out past the centre line of the road - not ideal with traffic racing towards you.
He had no knowledge of the road, so I asked a gent in a car parked outside, and he said it was fine - almost like an autovia.
And he was right - it was fine. I was further convinced by the number of HGV's on the road, my thinking being if they can get through, I have nothing to worry about.
After that we went through Biarritz and Bayone which proved to be a bit of a chore with lots of roadworks, roundabouts and slow-moving traffic.
The aire municipal in Saint-Paul-les-Dax was easy to find (thanks to Glyn!), approached alongside a lake into some woodland with individual parking spaces. It's a bit muddy, but we're on pine needles and the forecast is good.
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| An excellent aire in the middle of a forest |
As we were leaving for our walk and picnic around the lake, the police came round patrolling. We had a chat with them - it turned out he was in the Caravan and Motorhome Club and went to Land's End as often as he could!
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| The caravaning policeman |
The walk was excellent with some great views and the picnic was brilliant.
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| A great lake - very peaceful |
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| Good info on walking and biking routes |
As we got back at 3:30pm the aire was starting to fill up, with one arriving every 10 minutes. At 4:30pm there were 2 spaces left. It's a lovely, peaceful,tranquil aire here - like being in the middle of a forest.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 17/05/2018 Saint-Paul-les-Dax to Mortagne-sur-Gironde
N45°28'33.4'' W000°47'37.8'' Paid aire on crushed stone/grass for 40+ vans, €9.30 including electric. Full service point, water €1 for 2 minutes.
A good night for stargazing last night - it is really dark here - no light pollution at all. It's also very quiet so we had a peaceful night.
An early start soon had us heading for the E5/E70 (Spanish road number and European road number) which on one of our maps was free, and on another map was a toll motorway.
Our Garmin sat-nav, set for no tolls and usually spot on, told us to go on it, come off after 50km, go round 3 sides of a square, and come back on.
Strange we thought, but it was absolutely right. There was a toll after 50km. Everyone seemed to be staying on, so we did the same. It was €5.50 to avoid another 25km and 40min extra, so seemed worth it.
The ring road around Bordeaux was a bit of a bun fight with the locals swapping lanes with impunity.
Once away from the madness we were transformed into a huge vineyard with a chateau every 500m, all inviting you in for a tasting, and hopefully a sale.
We resisted temptation and pressed on through hectares of vines - they were all doing well and looked really healthy.
It was a narrow approach to our aire in Mortagne-sur-Gironde after leaving the northbound D730.
A steep descent brought us to the marina, the aire was on one side with a great view of the boats.
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| A great aire with a fantastic view |
The tidal range here is 3 metres and the tide is now out, exposing the mud and beaching the boats.
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| Lock gates protect the marina from the tide |
However, the marina is protected by lock gates, so the boats inside the marina are always floating.
High tide is 7pm tonight, when things will look completely different.
The cost of the aire is €9.30 which includes electric, and each pitch has plenty of room.
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| Pay for the aire here, then put the ticket in your windscreen |
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| The service point is on the other side of the marina |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 18/05/2018 Mortagne-sur-Gironde to Île de Ré
N46°14'19.6'' W001°33'38.1'' Paid campsite on grass/sand, €19 including electric, full service point, toilets, showers, 50m to the beach.
Isn't water mesmerising (or is it just us?). We sat until it was dark watching the people coming and going on the boats, only 10m away from us.
The twanging of rope on mast got us off to sleep eventually, to awake for another early start.
We have always wanted to stay on the Île de Ré ever since we visited the region in 1992, and now is the perfect opportunity.
We set off up the coast on the small but picturesque D145 which gave us some fantastic views of the estuary and chalk cliffs.
We have been monitoring the diesel prices all the way up France and have not seen any below €1.43 per litre. We are now resigned to pay this as we have only a quarter tank left, so we bit the bullet and paid €1.48 at a Super U just outside La Rochelle.
The bridge over to the Île de Ré charged us €8 to cross it on the D735 (and I assume another €8 to get off the island tomorrow), then it was 30km to the west as far as you can go to the Phare de Baleines (a lighthouse on the western tip of the island)
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| There is great walking here - at low tide... |
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| ...and at high tide |
The campsite at Camping les Baleines is in ACSI and is out of season, so we had a large pitch, electric, full service point, showers, toilets, TV room, 50m to the sea, etc, etc, for €19 - bargain!
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| A great pitch... |
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| ...in a great campsite |
It is so quiet here. There is no traffic noise, just the sound of birdsong and breaking waves. They even bake their own bread on site, so we've got a baguette booked for tomorrow morning.
If you're unsure about ACSI please take it from me it really is a bargain. It helps the campsite stay open and viable out of season, and gives the members tremendous value. It's a bit like the Spanish Imserso - a system where Spanish pensioners (and any nationality of pensioner resident in Spain) can book winter holidays in regions of Spain (city, inland, coast) for cost price. It really is as cheap as staying at home. The hotels just break even supplying full board - the alternative would be to close for the winter, laying off all the staff, then re-employing them (if possible) at the start of the season. The Imserso holidays include travel to and from the hotels - what a great boost for the older generation - they really do look after the old people in Spain.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 19/05/2018 Île de Ré to St Nazaire (Pornichet)
N47°15'11.7'' W002°19'07.5'' Paid campsite (ACSI), €18 including electric, showers, toilets, bar/cafe, swimming pool and WiFi.
An evening stroll to the beach gave us a totally different view now the tide was in. The waves were pounding in right up to the stones which made up the breakwater.
The noise was tremendous and the power of the Atlantic as it crashed in was awesome.
We had that noise most of the night, and watching Misery (James Caan and Kathy Bates) on DVD didn't help us sleep either.
Still - wouldn't have missed it for anything!
They bake their own bread here, so we ordered a baguette yesterday and collected it this morning - excellent with oil and salt and fresh expresso coffee - we are on mains electric so are able to use our coffee machine.
A bonus we weren't expecting was that we didn't have to pay €8 to get off the Île de Ré as we thought we would.
We made steady progress north with some roads fast, some roads slow.
Another bridge, this time over the mouth of the Loire had us into St Nazaire. From the bridge we could see the shipyards which held a huge new cruise ship being built. Last week we watched a documentary about the biggest cruise ship ever built so far - it was built in St Nazaire!
The aire we are headed for is in St Marguerite and according to Campercontact is mixed parking on a car park. It was a bit of a tortuous route to get there through some narrow streets with lots of speed bumps.
When we did eventually get there, the motorhomes were parked around the outside of the car park, unable to get under the height restriction bar.
There were no free spaces so we implemented plan B (always have a plan B!)
This involved a 3km drive along some marginally better streets to Campsite du Bugeau (part of ACSI) for €18.
Previously we had looked at some France Passion sites on the approach to St Nazaire, all of them being before we crossed the bridge, so we thought it was too long a trek to re-trace our steps now.
The campsite was on grass, but the sun was "cracking the flags" and the ground is rock-hard, so we felt safe enough.
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| We're on grass, but it may as well be concrete |
Writing this at 4pm we have not booked in yet, although we are sat outside Cervantes with food and drink, connected to electric, and have watched the "best moments" of the Royal Wedding, courtesy of France 2 on our TV.
Reception at the campsite is on very restricted hours of 10am to 1pm and 6pm to 7:30pm. Out of these hours you can turn up, settle on the pitch of your choice and book in when they are there, which we did after an hour's walk along the coast looking down on the beach with some very impressive houses behind us.
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| A huge beach with a coastal path above |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 20/05/2018 St Nazaire to La Meurdraquière
N48°51'24.0'' W001°23'38.3'' France Passion site on grass for 10 vans. No services.
243km in 3hr 14min
Today we're heading for a France Passion site in the same family since 1909. They make their own Calvados, Pommeau, Cidre Bouché, and Vinaigre - just what we like. (page 414 in the 2018 edition).
It was an early start for us going past the mightily impressive shipyards in St Nazaire onto a good motorway, with the bonus of no HGV's.
However, there are some seriously bad road surfaces in France and we've been on a few today. Honestly, I've been on less bumpy farm tracks. In truth they were split 50/50 with some excellent, fast motorways, but when they were bad, they were really, really bad!
We had a shower at the campsite before leaving - the facilities were fine, but could do with a little updating, although the covered outdoor swimming pool looked inviting.
We finally ended up on the fabulous D7 heading north, passing superb scenery and some excellent properties.
The France Passion book gives very comprehensive instructions on how to reach each property listed (in French, English and German). As usual they were spot on, and although the approach roads were quite narrow (as you would expect to a farm off the beaten track) we were soon parked at 1pm in a field (follow the apple sign) surrounded by mature trees, with a view to die for.
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| Cervantes in the field... |
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| ...with some fabulous views |
An Adria motorhome was already here, and he advised us that, being Sunday, the proprietors were not back until the evening.
This gave us a chance to make lunch and sit back and drink in the view - indescribable!
Next was a 2 hour walk to the local village of Le Mesnil-Rouge with its high bell tower and local restaurant.
Back at Cervantes we were reading in the sun when the owner (Roland) introduced himself and collected all the motorhomers for a trip around the farm. By this time there were 4 motorhomes, so 6 of us followed the farmer, who was the typically ruddy-faced old stager who was full of bonhomie and welcome.
First was the production shed full of machinery to collect and process the apples.
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| Collection |
Then came the storage tanks to mature the apple juice.
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| Fermantation |
Then the tasting room to try apple juice, cider, pommeau (apple must mixed with calvados) and calvados, all fermented and distilled on the farm.
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| Tasting |
There were 3 couples, so 3 women and 3 men. The hilarious thing was that the old farmer was obviously sticking to the etiquette of years ago. He gave the alcoholic drinks to the men to try, and gave apple juice only to the ladies! I did sneak a taste to Glyn though - I don't think he approved!
The copper still was in the corner of the room looking ready for business.
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| A seriously old copper still |
We spent a good 30 minutes tasting the various drinks and trying to keep up with our schoolboy French. Various purchases were made and we came away with cider and cider vinegar - you can't beat France Passion for an experience!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 21/05/2018 La Meurdraquière to Vieux Port
N49°25'36.6'' E000°36'36.8'' Free overnight parking on grass for 20+ vans, no services, no electric
196km in 3hr 11min
We're sitting on the banks of the River Seine in glorious sunshine after parking up Cervantes 5 metres away, watching the huge bulk carriers chugging past us and I'm thinking - how lucky are we to be able to sleep somewhere like this - sometimes you have to pinch yourself!
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| What a fabulous parking spot |
After a lovely day and night at La Ferme de la Butte we got back on the D7 to find some fuel and shopping - we're running low on essential supplies.
First we stopped at a motorway aire to empty the grey and black water at a service point there, then on to the E. Lecerc in Caen. The store was closed so that put paid to the shopping (it is a bank holiday in France today).
We filled with fuel OK, but couldn't get out of the fuel station due to the 3 metre height barrier over the exit that we hadn't noticed. We are allegedly 2.75 metres, but have never measured it, so with the status TV aerial and the solar panel, we may or may not get through a 3 metre height (if indeed it really is 3 metres)
The only option was to drive the wrong way down the one-way entrance road to the supermarket car park. It's a good job the supermarket was closed meaning not much traffic about.
We found a Super U further up the road, so they got our €120 instead.
Sorry to say that the roads today were abysmal - potholes, poor repairs, uneven joints - just horrible to drive on - the motorways were a luxury after them.
The Spanish often use a poor road surface to slow you down. Drive up to most Spanish towns on a 90kph road, and as soon as you hit the 50kph limit the road surface deteriorates to a cart track. This slows everyone down until the end of the town, when the road surface miraculously improves with the start of the 90kph limit.
The free parking at Vieux Port is a gem of a find, right on the bank of the River Seine with big bulk carriers passing regularly on their way out to sea.
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| There are some huge bulk carriers passing us by |
The village is full of stunning houses, most of them with thatched roofs. Vieux Port is part of the thatched houses tourist route and has at least 25 thatched houses, some very old and original, and some just being built.
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| Just one of many, many thatched houses in the village |
Our 1 hour circular walk took us into the surrounding woodland giving us great views of the river - what a lovely place.
On our return it started to rain, so we moved off the grass onto some hardstanding which gave us a much better view of the river both ways, and meant we didn't have to worry about getting off tomorrow morning.
There are no services here, but there are rubbish bins.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 22/05/2018 Vieux Port to Le Hourdel
N50°12'51.7'' E001°33'09.3'' Free overnight parking for 25+ vans on crushed gravel. No services, no electric.
143km in 2hr 49min
The Seine was still and misty this morning as we had our coffee sitting on the wall overlooking the river.
The road out was quite interesting - good suface with some great views, but a trifle narrow.
The bridge over the Seine was spectacular, and the roads thereafter were quite good and fast.
We emptied and filled at the aire in Yvetot before heading for our remote parking in Cayeux sur Mer near Le Hourdel.
Glyn (the ace navigator) sent us up the correct roads to get us to the mixed parking at the end of the peninsular.
We bagged what we thought was the last parking place, then watched as at least 10 French vans appeared at regular intervals and literally parked anywhere - they really don't care where they park or who they inconvenience. We wouldn't have dreamt of parking where they did.
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| The dedicated motorhome parking when we got there... |
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| ...the dedicated motorhome parking after the French arrived |
C'est la vie, as they say here - I hope they're gone by morning because they're blocking some of the longer vans' exits.
The tide was well out when we got here, giving us a view of the seals basking in the sunshine on the distant shore of the inlet channel. It's the largest seal colony in France - we counted 68 today.
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| The largest seal colony in France |
Our one hour walk took us to the seaside village of La Hourdel with its 3 cafe/restaurants and its lighthouse.
The tide was out, which left the boats in the creek high and dry on the mud.
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| Going nowhere |
There is an excellent walk through the wooded dunes - full of birds and wildlife.
We left Cervantes 2 hours later to see the tide coming in and filling the channel - we had a great time seeing who was brave enough to stand their ground when the tide was coming in - every wave brought the water closer - the tide was coming in at a tremendous speed. I think Glyn won the dare (just!)
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| It was a near thing |
After tea, another visit to see the high tide - it was very impressive and a real contrast to the first time we had seen it at low tide.
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| From low tide... |
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| ...to high tide! |
Wednesday 23/05/2018 Le Hourdel to Dunkirk
N51°01'13.7'' E002°11'34.9'' Ferry to Calais
222km in 3hr 44min
This morning we saw the first rain for almost 2 weeks - we must be getting near the UK!
It was a bit of a shuffle to get out this morning, but we managed it.
The roads today were excellent, but I think a speed of 90kph on a road with so many side roads was far too fast, as proved by the tractor in the road cutting the grass verge on the blind brow of a hill - an accident just waiting to happen.
Our ferry is booked for 2am tomorrow morning, so our first call was to Dunkirk ferry port to see if we could board an earlier ferry.
The very nice man behind the information desk said we could go at midnight for no extra cost, or we could go at 10pm for €190, so we're going at midnight. We can start to queue at 10pm, so aim to be there for then.
In the interim we are in an aire in Carrefour car park in Bray Dunes, approx 25mins from the ferry port.
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| Just right for the ferry and last minute shopping |
We got to the aire at 12 noon so had plenty of time to wash and dry some clothes in the launderette on site.
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| €3 for a 6kg wash, €7 for a 14kg wash and €2 to tumble dry |
Before we go tonight we will fill and empty so we are set when we get off the ferry. We also filled with fuel to avoid the extortionate UK prices (ha ha). As an added bonus the Giro cycle race is on the TV and Simon Yates is in the lead with four days to go. When I used to go to the Manchester Velodrome on Friday night for the weekly track league, I rode against him and his brother Adam - it's a very inclusive sport is cycling!
We were at Dunkirk ferry port at 10pm for the midnight ferry, and after all the formalities were 2nd from the front in lane 27.
At 10:07 the heavens opened and torrential rain came down, bouncing off the floor - we were nearly underwater!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 24/05/2018 Newhaven to Pilot Inn, Dungeness
N50°55'45.8'' E000°58'27.8'' Overnight parking in car park of Pilot Inn, Dungeness. No services, no electric - visit pub for a meal.
81km in 2hr 15min
It was a calm crossing, thank goodness, and we were soon off the ferry and and on the A20 heading for Tesco's car park. We had stayed there to wait for the ferry to France on a previous trip, but now, as is the norm, the car park was privately owned and run and full of rules and conditions. We just wanted a couple of hours sleep, but evidently this was not the place.
As a backup we had the Marine Parade in Hythe, which turned out to be much too narrow for motorhomes, and all the car parks we passed were height restricted.
By now it was 2:30am (3:30am to us!) and we were getting a bit weary.
We found a quiet residential street with lots of street parking outside an apartment block, and parked up to get a couple of hours sleep.
At 5am we were off again to a motorway service area, but unfortunately nothing was open, so we had a cup of tea in the van and waited until our 2 hours of parking was up before heading for Dungeness.
Streams of traffic were heading down the small country lane to Dungeness Point - we later found out that over 1000 people work at the nuclear power station that dominates the landscape.
Right at the end of the point, by the lighthouse, we were able to park, so had a good explore of the shingle beach, the old houses made from converted railway carriages and the newer, modern, matt black boxes.
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| This shingle beach is enormous |
Our 6km walk took us to a superb fish shop in the little village that smoked its own fish. So after buying some smoked mackerel, cod and haddock, along with 6 free range eggs, we were set up for the next couple of days.
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| The best fish shop we have ever seen |
Our overnight stop was opposite this excellent shop on the Pilot Inn car park. The landlord lets you park overnight if you buy a meal in the pub - everyone's a winner!
I'm getting used to driving on the left again thanks to this little marvel on the windscreen - we bought it 5 years ago on the ferry and it's been invaluable as it's reversible for right or left hand drive.
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| This clever windscreen sticker has saved me on a few occasions |
Our meal in the pub of one haddock and one cod with chips and mushy peas was excellent. The fish fillet was overhanging the plate and cooked to perfection - the crispy batter staying crisp with the addition of rice flour, according to the landlady.
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| Safe and sound in the Pilot Inn car park |
We were both exhausted so were in bed by 9pm and sound asleep by 9:05pm and didn't wake until 7:30am - sea air or lack of sleep (or both!)
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 25/05/2018 Dungeness to Slinfold
N51°04'05.4'' W000°24'53.8'' Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite on grass or gravel for 38 vans. £14 including electric. Full service point, no showers or toilets.
165km in 2hr 40 min
We were up and about at 7:30am regardless, so after an early coffee, another visit to the fish shop opposite was needed.
Another 6 fillets of hot smoked mackerel, 2 fillets of hot smoked salmon and 2 fillets of cold smoked haddock, and we were ready to set off.
Yesterday we met 2 very nice rangers from one of the many wildlife sites around Dungeness. They told us all about the RSPB site and how good it was, so that was our first destination today.
The visitor centre was 1km away down a cobbled track off the main road. The gate to the track is opened at about 9am, and the visitor centre opens at 10am.
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| Friendly, knowledgeable staff at RSPB Dungeness |
We bought our tickets (£5 each) and on display were at least 10 different types of binocular. I had been promising myself some for ages, so bit the bullet and got some 8x42 RSPB ones - great value at £130
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| Varied habitats, with the power station dominating the horizon |
Suitably equipped we were off on the 3km track around the lakes and ponds, calling in at 6 different hides along the way to spot and identify the birds.
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| There are many hides to choose from |
There were some people with mega-expensive equipment, and some with bargain basement binoculars - this is something that everyone can do.
On the road we took the longer (20 miles) but quicker (by 50 minutes) route, skirting around Gatwick.
We have almost no UK money, so a cashpoint was a must, and combined with a Tesco Extra for some fruit and veg, this was achieved just before our destination in Slinfold, in the South Downs.
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| Cervantes on a huge pitch in Slinfold |
It's a Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite which we booked yesterday by phone.
The approach was a bit tortuous up a very narrow lane, but the site was quite spacious and only £14 which included electric and a full service point. There is an industrial unit nearby, but the noise is not intrusive to us.
Cervantes is performing superbly - never misses a beat and is very fuel efficient - I'm amazed sometimes by the power, refinement and frugality of this power plant - very impressive.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 26/05/2018 Slinfold to Bampton
N51°42'50.3'' W001°31'33.5'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site for 5 vans, 4 on grass, 1 on hardstanding. £7 with fresh water and grey water disposal.
We've been on some shocking roads in France, but M25 - hang your head in shame, you are a disgrace to the UK road system.
I can stand queues - my last lob was managing them - what I can't stand is an absolute disgrace of an excuse for a road surface. A slab of concrete with a 2" gap every metre for 20 miles is totally unacceptable.
A German driver in front of us was stroking his beard and I imagine he was thinking - why am I at a standstill on a motorway, and when I am moving, why am I on a cart track?
Disgraceful - UK roads - you should be ashamed, I know I was (apart from the fear of Cervantes rattling himself to death)
We had some pretty narrow roads on the way to our CL in Bampton today, but once here, were enchanted by the peacocks and peahens, horses, geese, chickens and dogs.
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| All alone, but surrounded by animals |
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| A fine display by Mr Peacock |
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| Lots of animals here |
The owner of the CL was very chatty and told us he thought the red kites (plentiful in the sky above us) had chased off the buzzards, which nested in the woods opposite last year and raised their young, but are missing this year.
He told us about a beer festival in the local pub (The Trout Inn) about 1 mile down the road, so after a bite to eat we were on our way along the narrow road with no pavement - only grass banking (full of nettles!)
Luckily a very nice lady was pulling out of her drive in a horsebox after we had walked half a mile, and generously gave us a lift to the pub - thank you.
The beerfest had 7 beers and 4 ciders on sale in a tent, plus what they served in the pub bar.
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| The man with the beer |
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| Good range for a small pub |
They had some live music from a duo called Cherry Valentines - a girl singer with a flute and a male singer who played guitar faultlessly, playing 60's, 70's and 80's classics - we were very impressed. We got their business card afterwards and promised to give them a mention - they were excellent!
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| Cherry Valentine - just the ticket |
In the end we managed all the beers and ciders and had a great time in this idyllic setting on the banks of the River Thames.
On our risky walk back to Cervantes we saw lots of mayfly around a small stream that went under the road - they only live for 24 hours and have only one purpose - to mate and continue the mayfly line. The sight was very impressive.
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| The air was thick with mayfly - we were lucky to see them |
The weather forecast in Wales for the coming 2 days was abysmal - gale force winds, torrential rain and a big risk of flooding.
On this basis we have revised our plans and have decided to go north through Northamptonshire and Leicestershire to get to our eventual destination in Liverpool.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 27/05/2018 Bampton to Bourton-on-the-Water
N51°53'20.5'' W001°52'10.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite. £17.10 including electric. No toilets or showers, full service point with re-cycling bins.
The beer yesterday must have had something in it because we slept like babies last night.
I thought we were being broken into this morning at 8:30am, but it turned out to be the peacock stamping about on the roof of our motorhome!!
We managed to get some footage of it before it became embarrassed enough to jump off.
We had an early coffee and gave some spare bread to the peacocks, hens and geese (who looked at us disdainfully and walked off looking the other way without touching it)
We set off on some good roads past RAF Brize Norton - it brought back some memories for Glyn as she had flown from there to Cyprus on many occasions on an indulgence flight.
The security around the base was high with no stopping on the road, no photography and surveillance cameras everywhere - it's the times we live in.
We had phoned ahead this morning and pre-booked a Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite in Bourton-on-the-Water.
It turned out to be a lovely site (I imagine when the mist rises).
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| Lots of room here, and a great view |
We are on hardstanding (a must when we are booking, otherwise it's a no-go), which is quite lucky because 30 minutes after we arrived here the heavens opened and torrential rain fell - not a time to be on grass!
We were planning a walk along the disused railway line (the campsite sits where the old railway station stood) to the nearest village, then a round trip to get back here.
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| Reception on the site of the old railway station |
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| Lots of walking routes and local history in here |
Considering the roads and the volume of traffic in the UK, and tomorrow being a bank holiday, we decided to stay here for another night.
The forecast here is on/off rain, so we'll save the walk for tomorrow, when the weather looks more settled.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 28/05/2018 Bourton-on-the-Water
We were awoken this morning by the window alarm going off. We have the side windows open, not the rooflights, because we are under trees which are dropping pollen and seeds.
These get stuck in the mesh flyscreens and are impossible to get out, short of climbing onto the roof and hoovering them out.
The window alarm didn't go off last night when I opened it, so I assumed it was switched off. It was actually switched on, and sparked into life at 5:30am this morning.
We soon nodded off again, and were further woken by another bird on the roof - this time a much smaller one who was doing some exploratory tapping with it's beak.
This morning was misty and a tad chilly, but after coffee (we're on mains electric so our expresso coffee machine is working!) and toast we decided to set off on our walk.
We did 7 miles in 2 hours 20 minutes through some lovely Gloucestershire countryside, through the very pretty villages of Salperton and Notgrove with cottages built from the local Cotswold stone - a honey-coloured limestone which is very pretty.
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| There is some excellent walking in this area... |
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| ...just a shame about the mist today |
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| One of many stone houses making the villages look very smart |
Cheese and oatcakes and an excellent Muscadet-sur-lies for lunch when we got back, then some domestic chores to finish the day.
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| Lunch in the mist on a very quiet site |
This site is really quite nice and the staff are very helpful and full of local knowledge.
We have learnt from a couple of days ago, and booked our site for Wednesday already! - a site in the middle of wild Wales!
A lot of the caravans and motorhomes have gone today - it must be a workday tomorrow for most of them. Thank goodness someone is holding the country together.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 29/05/2018 Bourton-on-the-Water to Frodesley
N52°36'36.5'' W002°43'26.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL at Brickyard Farm on gravel for 5 vans. Full service point, toilet, shower, re-cycle bins. £13
180km in 2hr 53min
We're sad to leave this site - it really is quite nice.
After coffee and organising the van for travel, Glyn noticed water coming from the base of the fridge.
Examination showed the fridge had not been working for some hours, The freezer was at 5° and the fridge at 19°, which is not good!
We took everything out, mopped the water up and wondered what was happening and why.
Up until now, after travelling for 20 days, we have had no trouble with the fridge on gas, mains electric or van engine electric. Why has this suddenly happened now?
We set off with a plan to buy all tinned food and eat rice, pasta and potatoes until it could be fixed.
After travelling for 2 hours we stopped at Sainsburys in Shrewsbury and b****r me - the damned thing was working again.
We travelled another 30 minutes then hooked up to mains electric and it's still working.
It's a mystery, but we'll have to solve it because we can't have the fridge and freezer defrosting itself when it feels like it!
Our CL today at Brickyard Farm was up some very narrow roads, but everyone is aware and very helpful to let us pass.
Imagine our surprise when we parked up to find the owners, when we saw this pulling into the CL - imagine meeting that coming the other way on the road!
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| This is one big outfit! |
It's a lovely site here with some great views and, so far, some sunny weather.
There's a toilet and shower here, along with a full service point, electric and re-cycling bins, and lots of grass to sit out on and have a picnic.
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| A good pitch with great views |
It advertises farm walks, and sure enough, you can walk around the edges of numerous fields of grain, then back along the road.
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| We really are out on the country here |
At the crossroads was a village bulletin/notice board, where a handwritten note said free range eggs were £1 for 6, leave the money for them in a tin box next to the eggs - this could only happen in the country!
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| Imagine this in Manchester |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 30/05/2018 Frodesley to Gwern-y-Bwlch
N52°37'10.5'' W003°39'33.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite on crushed slate. £14 including electric. Full service point, no toilets or showers.
92km in 1hr 52min
The fridge saga is as follows:-
- Yesterday morning at 8am the freezer has defrosted to 4° whilst on mains electric
- In 3 hours of driving the freezer is now at 0°
- On mains electric from 2:30pm to 5pm the freezer is still at 0°
- Switched to gas from 5pm to 9pm and the freezer is still at 0°
- Changed back to mains electric at 9pm with freezer at 0°
- At 10pm freezer at -6°
- At 8am next morning freezer at -11°
- Driving to here for 2 hours freezer at -11°
- After 3 hours on mains electric freezer at -10°
The roads through mid-Wales are great to drive on, though you have to avoid the odd pothole or two.
When we rang this unpronounceable Welsh site (Gwern-y-Bwlch) yesterday to book it, the lady said there would be no-one here and to leave the money through the letter box if we went before she came tomorrow.
The site is on 9 different levels, all broadly level, connected by steep ramps.
When we got here we saw an RAF transport plane flying low, down the valley.
This added to the fighter jet we had seen on the way here, screaming low-level up the valley - it frightened the life out of us - the noise was tremendous.
It's very green here with cows and sheep in every field. We climbed the adjacent road to the top of the hill and got a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and mountains - stunning scenery.
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| We're creating some interest from the locals |
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| Green everywhere (it rains a lot) |
We are parked on an elevated pitch with a great view of the opposite hillside and the grazing sheep.
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| What an ace view! |
We've made an appointment with Cheshire Caravan and Motorhome Service and Repair Centre in Warrington for 10am on Friday, so tomorrow night we have booked into the Leigh Arms in Northwich - you can stay overnight if you use the pub - sounds good to me!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 31/05/2018 Gwern-y-Bwlch to Leigh Arms, Northwich
N53°16'48.0'' w002°35'58.1'' Overnight parking in pub car park. no services, no electric (visit pub!)
164km in 2hr 51min
Up early this morning to pay at reception, then a quick fill and empty and we were on our way through the glorious Welsh countryside.
Well done Wales - you have some fabulous roads, some stunning scenery and some very nice people. You are an example to the rest of the UK - chill out!
Just before our destination we called into a shopping centre and discovered a B&M bargains shop. I am a sucker for a bargain, so I got a litre of car shampoo (£3) and a microfibre mop on an extending pole (£5), because Cervantes is absolutely filthy and needs a good wash when we get to Fluker's Brook.
The road to the Leigh Arms was marked as closed, but the landlord explained, when we rang him yesterday, that the pub was still accessible, so down the A49 we went and sure enough we got to the Leigh Arms.
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| Safe in the Leigh Arms car park... |
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| ...with a great beer garden |
No problem parking, right next to the river. We introduced ourselves in the bar with a drink, and said we would be back later for a meal - Glyn's sister Bron and her husband Frank are meeting us here later for a meal, so we're looking forward to that.
Maps.me showed a footpath along the banks of the River Weaver, so we followed that to the left for a good 15 minutes, but it didn't seem to get very near the river at all. Glyn's sister rang just then and recommended a better walk, so we re-traced our steps and went to the right this time, under the road bridge to just before the next road bridge, when we turned right up the hill.
This brought us to the Trent and Mersey Canal which we followed back to the main road (A49) through the village of Bartington, and thus back to Cervantes.
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| The Trent and Mersey Canal |
It was a good 3 mile walk in glorious sunshine with numerous canal boats and working boats (dredging the lagoon!) passing us along the way.
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| A sludge carrier on the River Weaver |
It was nice to catch up with Bron and Frank. I asked the waitress how long she had worked here, and she told me 16 years. I then asked her if she remembered any guinea pigs being in the garden, and she said yes - a year before she started they were here.
I've cycled past here many times with Bolton Clarion Cycling Club, and was always intrigued by a garden full of guinea pigs, but I couldn't remember if this was the correct place, so she confirmed it.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 01/06/2018 Leigh Arms to Fluker's Brook Farm
N53°26'38.3'' W002°51'42.4'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site on crushed gravel for 5 vans. Electric, water and grey water disposal on pitch, black water disposal on site. £11, no toilets or showers.
43km in 1hr 7min
It was an early start to get to Bewsey Road, though Warrington was very quiet (we realised later that it was half term, so the school run was not on) so we were at Cheshire Caravans at 9:15am.
They agreed to look at it straight away whilst we walked to a Tesco Express, opposite the Halliwell Jones rugby league stadium of Warrington Wolves, and had some breakfast.
The fridge was working fine again when we got there - we got the call at 11am and went back to the workshop. The technician had tested the 240V system - all OK. The battery was all OK as well, but the gas was a problem with a sooty burner.
He cleaned it thoroughly, then tried it again and all was OK.
However, it still didn't explain why the fridge defrosted itself, and why it suddenly started working again.
He did his best and said he couldn't diagnose a fault if everything was working as normal, so I still don't know what the cause was, and how to stop it happening again. I intend buying a remote fridge thermometer so I can monitor the freezer temperature without constantly opening the door.
All set now for our CL for a month at Fluker's Brook Farm, but first some LPG to top us up for our stay. I had foolishly not marked on the sat-nav the 2 nearby supermarkets where LPG was available, but after asking around I found a Shell garage on Liverpool Road selling LPG.
The filler gun was a bit of a problem - it seemed to have a mind of its own. Eventually I filled it with 10.32 litres for £6.59. So 8 days on refillable LPG has used 10.32 litres - not bad considering that all our cooking, hot water and heating has to be on gas.
We made it to Fluker's Brook by 1pm and parked up - hopefully for a month.
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| Lots of room to relax here |
Stella (our host) gave us lots of great information, including cycle maps for the whole of Liverpool - the Trans Pennine Trail (a cycle path that runs from the west coast of the UK to the east coast) runs very near here, so we'll be on that a lot.
Stella had a baby a month ago, so there was lots of baby talk happening - not long now until the big day!!
The facilities here are excellent - there is electric (16A), water and waste on all 5 pitches, plus a full service point nearby with recycling bins. A nice touch was a bottle of hand sanitiser by the cassette emptying point, and some lengths of tubing to get your grey water to the drain on your pitch - very thoughtful.
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| Drainage tubes... |
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| ...and hand sanitiser - how thoughtful is that? |
We're quite near the M57 here, but the noise really isn't that intrusive - it soon blends into the background.
If you thought the approach road was a bit narrow on our video above, look at what was parked here when we arrived (and it was towing a car!!).
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| Ha Ha, didn't expect to see something this size here |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 02/06/2018 to Saturday 30/06/2018 Fluker's Brook Farm
We spent 4 weeks on the CL here, and are very pleased to announce the arrival of Elliot, a lovely baby boy - we are now proud grandparents, and mother, father and baby are all doing well and learning fast!
The fridge stopped working altogether on the 8th of June, and we've been trying to get it fixed since then.
We got a list of Dometic engineers in the area and spent some time trying to get one of them to come out and diagnose the problem (or I would have been perfectly happy to drive to them)
We had no joy from any of them. Some had massive lead times of 6 weeks, some diagnosed it over the phone without even seeing it.
One "engineer" took 2 weeks to give us a price of £800 (supply only) for a new cooling unit, whilst another gave me a price for the same thing in 48 hours (£600 fitted), again without anyone coming out to diagnose the fault.
Some were impossible to talk to on the phone - never answered and never phoned back in response to the answerphone messages I left - he communicated with me by abrupt text when he felt like it - days of silence. (I'll let you guess which one of the above that was!)
They were obviously very busy, but so uncommunicative, as if they didn't want the business!
Strange behaviour indeed.
Our drop down bed developed a fault at the same time - the hydraulic struts that help lift the bed failed, so we ordered 2 more from the nearest Burstner dealers - MB motorhomes in Bury.
Steve on the phone in the parts department was as helpful as he could be - the complete opposite of the Dometic men.
They were in stock in Germany so with express 4 day delivery they were here on Monday 18th June.
We drove over to Bury to collect them, along with a £50 spare water pump, the bill was £300 - quite a lot for 2 struts, but at least we can now sleep in the bed again - it was too heavy to lift up before, so we were sleeping on the bench seats.
The drive to Bury and back on the 19th June sparked the fridge back into life, which has since been on mains electric for 7 days and now goes down to -18° regularly (we bought a remote temperature sender and receiver in Clas Olsen in Liverpool).
The cooling unit has therefore not failed as a number of "experts" diagnosed over the phone!
It's a good job they were so inept, or I may have spent a lot of money for no result.
The fridge worked until 8th June, stopped until 19th June, then worked until 1st July (the thermostat in the fridge had fallen off the fins, I re-attached it and all is now working.
Sunday 01/07/2018 Fluker's Brook Farm to Rooley Farm
N53°42'10.6'' W001°56'40.2'' Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site on grass for 5 vans, £11. Fully services pitches, with a full service point onsite. No showers or toilets.
89km in 1hr 40min
After a month here it's time to move on. We've met some really nice people, especially Stella and John and their newborn.
Our daughter, husband and baby are all doing well, and we're looking forward to seeing them again vary soon.
Time now to see some family and friends, so it's off to another CL in Sowerby, near Halifax at Rooley Farm.
It's all on grass, but the weather here has been in the high 20's for the last 10 days, and is set to continue, so grass should not be a problem to park on.
We're the only ones here in this lovely CL. It's very quiet here - just the baaing of the sheep and lambs, and only a short walk to my brother's house where we had an excellent reunion - thank you Pete and Ali for the welcome you gave us at such short notice.
There is a nice chill-out tent in the corner of the CL with padded easy chairs - a nice touch by the owners.
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| Just us and a chill-out tent here today |
With virtually no passing traffic and fantastic views, this is an excellent CL if you want peace and quiet.
The saga of the fridge continues with it defrosting itself yesterday overnight.
After emptying it (and throwing most of the stuff away), we noticed that the plastic thermostat sensor had fallen off the fins at the back of the fridge. It's just a push fit, so not very suitable for wet and cold metal cooling fins. We reattached it and lo and behold the fridge started up again and has run on all 3 power sources again, functioning perfectly.
If this has been the problem all along (who knows??) then the design team at Dometic want firing and replacing with someone with some common sense - what an appalling piece of pathetic design - I'm speechless.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 02/07/2018 Rooley Farm to Sue's
103km in 2hr 14min
As we were so near, we HAD to go and see our very good friend Sue. She is a very busy lady, but she made time for us in her busy schedule (apart from the Smart Meter man coming) and we had a really excellent day with her. What with all the catching up, food, drink, and walks by the sea, the day flew by.
Thank you Sue - it was really lovely to see you, and we'll see you soon when you're over here next.
Tuesday 03/07/2018 Sue's to Lower Woodend Farm
N52°03'55.8'' W000°34'14.6'' Private campsite for 30 vans on grass, £10, one electric point with 4 sockets, water in the barn, black water disposal in the garden.
322km in 4hr 24min
Today is a travelling day - we've given ourselves 2 days to get to Dover, so are down the M6 and M1 today.
The "managed motorway" network is rolling out at the moment, which means a 50mph speed restriction for 40 miles or so.
Having worked for Highways England on the motorways, I fear it will all be for nothing in the end - I can't see anything to be gained from it (apart from years of work for the contractors).
We only queued once on the motorway, and that was 1 mile from our exit!!!
The approach to Lower Woodend Farm is definitely single track - see approach video below.
The site itself is a large, flat field with one electric point with 4 sockets - you'll need a very long lead.
The water is a tap in the barn with numerous watering cans nearby, the chemical toilet disposal is a septic tank in the garden, and we were told to put the grey water onto the field as it hadn't rained for ages.
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| Cervantes in the big field |
There were several caravans and one other motorhome which all seemed to be permanent. It did the job for us as an overnight stop near the motorway for only £10.
There are some good walk in the surrounding fields and woods, and the village of Marston Moretaine is a short walk away through the fields.
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| There is lots of good walking around the site |
It was very quiet overnight, with only the tractor mowing the field at 7am to disturb us.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 04/07/2018 Lower Woodend Farm to Dunkirk
N51°03'46.3'' E002°31'18.0'' Free aire in Carrefour car park in Bray Dunes for 6 vans on block paving. Full service point, water €2 for 10 mins (approx 30 litres) or 1 hour of electric.
299km in 4hr 35 min
Another travelling day today to get to Dover by nightfall.
Glyn hasn't managed to do much shopping on this trip, so a visit to Sainsbury's hyperstore in Ashford was planned. We asked about the parking arrangements at the customer service desk and were told it was no problem up to 3 hours.
A fully stocked fridge and one dress later, we were soon in Dover, and our first port of call was the information desk.
We had booked for the 2am ferry on Thursday 05/07/2018, with the option to go on the one before (midnight) if there was room.
They told me that only 46 cars were booked on the midnight ferry, so join the queue at 10pm.
We had some time to kill so went to the new Aldi store in Dover which has no parking restrictions (good old Aldi), then moved on to Tesco, further on up the road.
The crossing passed in no time and we were soon on the aire in Carrefour car park in Bray Dunes to get some sleep.
Thursday 05/07/2018 Bray Dunes aire, Dunkirk
A quiet night with 3 other vans - hope we didn't disturb them too much when we arrived at 3:30am.
In the morning we walked to the coastal town of Bray Dunes for a wander and a cool beer (it was after 2pm!) There's a huge beach here and too many restaurants and cafes to count.
A week-long market was being erected which looked a huge affair.
Back at Cervantes we had a late lunch, then plunged into the laundrette to wash and dry the bedding and underwear.
As it washed and dried we had our 10 minutes of water for €2 at the service point, but the tap was so slow we only managed to get 30 litres - a tad expensive!
Our bathroom tap has been giving us some problems - the wiring is so tight inside the assembly, that turning it on and off so many times (as you do!) caused a break in the wire to the microswitch.
I bridged the wire 6 months ago and managed to stuff everything back in the space, but now the tap is not working again.
Taking it to bits I found that one of the wires had come completely out of the microswitch - problem!
We were on Aldi car park in Dover when I found this, and B&Q were just across the car park. It was a very long shot that they would have the correct microswitch, and sure enough, they didn't. My solution was to buy a simple on/off switch and wire the tap to that - one way for on, one way for off. It will get us home where we can aquire a new tap if needed, or the correct microswitch if the wiring can be re-done.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 06/07/2018 Dunkirk to Estaires
N50°38'33.6'' E002°43'12.3'' Free aire for 3 vans on block paving. Full service point. €2 for 10 mins of water or 1 hr of electric. €4 for 12 hrs of electric.
67km in 1hr 10min
We struggled to get to the service point this morning with a full house on the aire, and vans turning up just to use the service point. We were extra tired last night and slept through until 9am - unusual for us.
We checked out the aire at Moulin de la Victoire in Hondschoote this morning - the service point is on a different car park, so don't be fooled that this is the aire - it's round the corner near the windmill.
The town of Hondschoote has a magnificent church interior, but the outside was marred by a funfair almost blocking the front door! - not a good sight.
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| What a place for a funfair! |
Next stop was Estaires, with a small 3 van aire, but in a very nice location. Each pitch has a table and benches at the rear and access to electric at €2 for 1 hour, or €4 for 12 hours.
When we arrived a German Dethleffs was just going, and said we could use the remaining 10 hours of his electric - very nice of him.
There are 3 block-paved pitches, plenty long and wide enough, and a service point in the 4th bay.
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| A nice quiet aire, near the town, with good facilities |
We took a walk to the town - the main street has plenty of shops, bars, restaurants, and a huge church very much like the one in Hondschoote.
We went in and were amazed by the light - the side windows were plain glass, not stained glass, and went right up to roof level letting in plenty of sunlight.
Inside a church or cathedral I usually have to change the camera settings to high ISO/low noise to capture all the light available, but here was no problem - it was like being outside.
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| Lots of light in here |
The enormous spire dominated the skyline, only rivalled by the town hall which had a brick-built tower of equal enormity - very impressive.
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| The impressive town hall... |
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| ...and church in Estaires |
The fridge is still performing well - fingers crossed it works until we get home.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 07/07/2018 Estaires to Bapaume
N50°06'04.0'' E002°50'59.8'' Free aire on crushed stone for 4 vans, service point over the road, water is €2 for 10 minutes.
78km in 1hr 34 min
I didn't fancy staying up until midnight to change power supply to the fridge when the electric ran out, so I donated the last 2 hours to the French van next door. They were over the moon and presented us with a bottle of non-alcoholic peach wine, and he wouldn't take it back!
Today's roads were excellent, as was the scenery on our way to Arras. The aire in the centre was full, but there was a large car park next door with plenty of space.
It turned out that there was a 2 day music festival in the centre square in Arras with some big names featured, attracting all the motorhomes.
The city itself was a bit tired and scruffy, but the centre was OK with a big central market on today in the town hall square.
The town hall was the grandest I've ever seen - it put the cathedral (closed) to shame. We did manage to get into a smaller church which did impress.
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| What a town hall in Arras !! |
More good roads took us to the aire in Bapaume where there is a 4 van aire and a separate service point across the road.
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| The 4 van aire with a separate service point in Bapaume |
Unfortunately the D917 was closed 10km from Bapaume, so we were sent around the houses following the diversion signs. We came out almost in the centre of Bapaume and found the aire easily.
It is very near the centre of this lovely town, with another impressive town hall, and a criss-cross of good shopping streets.
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| Another huge town hall, this one in Bapaume |
We are in the middle of the front line in the first world war here, and there are many memorials to keep the memories alive. Just outside Bapaume is an Australian war grave, only finished last year, to remember the fallen in this area.
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| One of many war cemeteries we have seen today |
We passed many more on the way - it certainly brings it home to us what a great sacrifice these men, women and boys made so that we could be free - very moving.
There is a friterie (selling chips) 50 metres from our aire, so as a treat we bought some to have with some smoked mackerel we had. Two large frites at €3.50 each turned out to be huge portions. Desperate Dan would have struggled!
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| Chips !!! |
We overcame our astonishment and managed to clear the table, but we may be in for a rough night.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 08/07/2018 Baoaume to Saint Imoges
N49°06'19.8'' E003°58'44.1'' Free aire for 6 vans on tarmac, service point, €2 for 100 litres of water or 1 hour of electric.
164km in 2hr 38min
The first half of today's journey passed by many war graves of all nationalities - South African, Indian, English, Australian - all part of the former commonwealth. As we passed one after another we couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sadness, that so many young people, some from the other side of the world, gave their lives in this area.
The aire in Reims is behind the Cultural Centre, accessed by phoning the number by the barrier to obtain a code to let you in.
There is room for 8 motorhomes, but space is very tight with hardly any room to turn round, so once through the barrier it's advisable to check on foot if there is room.
The city centre is only a 10 minute walk away, where you are met by the magnificence that is Reims cathedral.
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| The stunning Reims cathedral |
The detail on the stonework outside and inside is stunning. The huge scale of the building takes your breath away - it is so tall inside.
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| Unbelievable stonework outside... |
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| ...and inside |
Information boards inside revealed that the cathedral was almost flattened by bombs in the 1914 - 18 war - the front line was quite near here.
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| Bombed in the war and almost razed to the ground |
They have done a magnificent job of re-building it to it's former glory with some very skilled stonemasons.
The Reims aire was that tight we thought we would move on before the Monday morning influx had us trapped, so we headed for the lovely little aire in Saint Imoges for just 6 vans.
Each of the 3 pitches are fully separate, whilst the other 3 are in-line spaces. There is a full service point where €2 gets you 100 litres of water or 1 hour of electric.
If you like peace and quiet - this is for you.
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| An excellent, quiet aire |
The small village of Saint Imoges is only a 10 minute walk away, so off we set.
Parked on the pavement outside the town hall was a panel van that had been converted into a pizza maker. He had a wood-fired oven blazing away inside, with a big chimney on the top.
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| The Pizza van - in a different village every night |
The wood had just been lit and was still burning, so we ordered 2 from the menu to pick up at 8pm.
We took a circular route back (as shown on a poster outside the town hall) past 2 etangs (lakes) which were buzzing with dragonflies and various flying insects. It was a good walk, and nice to get back to the peace and quiet of the aire - there are 5 of us here now.
Well - the pizza was fantastic. I went to the van at 7:45pm and he was just preparing it. The dough base was made by a machine in the corner, and all the fillings were in tupperware boxes.
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| Into that hot, wood-fired oven they go |
The 2 went into the oven, were turned once and out again in no more than 30 seconds - they tasted fantastic!
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| The finished pizzas - delicious |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 09/07/2018 Saint Imoges to Villers-sous-Châtillon
N49°05'46.4'' E003°48'01.3'' Free aire on tarmac for 4 vans, service point, no electric, water €2 for 10 minutes.
27km in 54min
We woke up to a total of 8 vans here this morning, which the aire took very comfortably. We waited for the service point to desague (grey water), then were off to E. Lecerc in Dizy (there is also a Bouzy in the area - very apt for the champagne region!)
€170 later we were suitably re-stocked with food, drink and diesel, so set off for a France Passion site in Binson Orquigny (page 419 in the 2018 edition) which produced and sold champagne.
The drive there on the D1 was through some iconic wine-growing landscape, with vineyards and champagne producers everywhere.
We were taken on a 1 hour champagne tour (just the 3 of us) where we saw collection, extraction, fermentation, maturation, rotation, bottling and labelling, ending in an excellent tasting room where we sampled proper quantities of champagne to taste.(we had witnessed "Champagne tasting" in the tourist office in Reims, and the amount they got to taste was minuscule.
Charlène was helpfulness itself. She had great English (learnt when she went to "wine school" in Quebec and ended up in New York) She was in charge of production, overseeing the pressing of the grapes in a huge metal press, then the fermentation, then the blending of grape varieties and age - a massive responsibility. She was a lovely lady who did the brand credit - well done.
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| Charlène and the massive metal press used to extract the grape juice |
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| Fermentation in stainless steel vats |
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| Mechanical turning of crates full of bottles |
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| Labelling and corking machine |
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| Packing |
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| Sealed and labelled bottles for the Champagne authorities to pass as fit for sale - if they say no, you cannot sell it! |
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| The superb Charlène in the tasting room - what an asset |
As we said, the setting of Champagne Xavier Loriot gave us no views, so we decided to go up to the aire in the village of Villers-sous-Châtillon, on the hill above Binson orquigny.
The aire had a great view over the vineyards and some magnificently fronted champagne houses. Every house here was either a champagne house or a gîte, but none of them were scruffy - all were pristine. We walked again around this village to marvel at the grandeur of the houses.
The aire here has a very strange grey water drain - it is raised up, reached by reversing up some ramps. Unless your drain is right in the centre of your motorhome you will have trouble draining your grey water.
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| The strangest grey water drain I've ever seen |
It's lovely and quiet here, just us and the birds, a bit like last night - there are some wonderful places to stay in rural France.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 10/07/2018 Villers-sous-Châtillon to Beaunay
N48°52'54.9'' E003°52'28.3'' France Passion site, Bel Air in Beaunay, for 6 vans on crushed stone, full service point, including electric.
93km in 2hr 5min
We woke to find 2 other vans had joined us overnight - they were very quiet.
We wanted to check out an aire by the canal and the River Marne in Mareuil-sur-Ay. We found it easily enough, but all the spaces were filled - some looked as if they had been there for a long time. It was a shame really because it looked like a really nice place to stay.
So we headed for the champagne triangle of Epernay, Sézanne and Châlons-en-Champagne.
Looking through our France Passion book we saw one in Ambonnay, a small medieval village, called Champagne Dominique Foureur.
We were unsure of the approach, and were surprised when we came straight to it up a narrow entrance.
The nice lady (Dominique) who came out had various vehicles and farm machinery moved so that we could get in and park, but we were still stuck out too much into the farm track.
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| Still sticking out |
Dominique spoke very good english and took us to the oldest part of the house (from the 16th century) to the tasting room. She gave us a glass each to try of a 10 year old Grand Cru. I'm no champagne expert (cava possibly), but it didn't taste much different from yesterdays one year old.
It was however made from different grapes - this had a Chardonnay/Pinot Noir mix which gave it a slightly acidic taste, but very nice never the less. She never told us the price, and we didn't ask!
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| Excellent Champagne with a wealth of history behind it |
Dominique told us about the harvest of the grapes - all done by hand by 15 people in August in 2 weeks.
She houses and feeds all the workers in the house after their 8 hours in the fields. Some have been coming for 20 years to pick the grapes. She said nearly all of them were from Northern France, where they only drink beer, so she buys 1000 cans of beer whch are all drunk over the 2 weeks.
We had a look around the town - some very old buildings, dominated again by champagne houses - there must be thousands of small producers in this area.
It seemed a bit impractical to stay the night here, so we moved on to another France Passion in Beaunay.
On the way we passed some iconic champagne producers in the champagne triangle. Moët & Chandon had a huge, modern, designer production plant behind single story smoked glass.
More traditional and not as ostentatious were Mumm, Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot.
The champagne producers (Béatrice & Michel Jacquesson) in Beaunay have been in France Passion since 1997, so must have been one of the first to sign up for this great organisation (€25 per year gives you free access to 000's of farms, mills, restaurants, shops, producers - all things artisan, and exclusive to France Passion).
We found the farm with no problem and were absolutely gobsmacked by the view when we parked - an unbelievable view of the vines and wheatfields in the foreground, and the hills in the distance - what a place to stay! (you couldn't do this without a motorhome).
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| Now that's what you call a view! |
We consulted the noticeboard which said not to knock on the door - they will come round to us, so we left our book and sticker in the windscreen and went walking to Etoges.
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| The view from our window |
We went along the road and had a quick look around - the church was locked, and there didn't seem to be any signs of life in the village, so we returned on a footpath that went straight through the vineyards to the front door of Cervantes.
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| Walking back through the vines, Cervantes in the distance |
This is an idyllic place - we love it here.
We waited until 6:30pm, then thought we would cook a meal and see if anyone came round to see us. 7:30pm and still no-one, which was OK by us - we'd already had a cellar tour and tasted some champagne elsewhere, so were happy to just stay here.
We switched the TV on to discover that France were playing in the semi finals of the World Cup in 30 minutes, so I'm not surprised that no-one has been round. (France beat Belgium 1-0 to go through to the World Cup Final)
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 11/07/2018 Beaunay to Aix-en-Othe
N48°13'41.5'' E003°43'25.7'' Paid aire on grass for 40+ vans, €7, electric €2.50, full service point, showers, toilets, washing machine and tumble dryer, books, guides, magazines.
107km in 2hr 3min
It was deathly quiet last night, apart from some juvenille little owls calling for food all through the hours of darkness. It sounded like many alarms going off. Glyn was OK with it, but I had to put earplugs in.
We wanted to explore Sézanne, and luckily there was an aire in the centre - very spacious and easy to get to, with the longest pitches we have ever seen.
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| You could get an A class and trailer on here |
Sézanne has a fabulous old church, so old that some of it was crumbling - hence the ceiling nets.There were some excellent painted frescoes on the walls, and some great external gargoyles.
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| In need of some restoration |
Sézanne also had some wonderful old buildings, all in good condition - it's a really nice place to visit.
The roads were excellent to our next port of call, an aire in Nogent-sur-Seine, although it was a bit of a palaver to get there round the houses. The aire was outside the municipal campsite with space for 4 vans, a grey water drain, water and electric.
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| It just didn't feel right for us here |
It was a bit bare and impersonal, so we decided to move on to aire municipal du-Moulin-a-Tan in Aix-en-Othe. It gets 9.5 out of 10 in 45 reviews on the campercontact app on our tablet, so we thought it may be OK.
It was more than OK - it was brilliant!
We're all on grass, but that's OK with the sunshine we've had. It's €7 per night, with €2.50 extra for electric. It has showers and toilets, a service point, a sink, a double electric hob, a washing machine (€3.50), a tumble dryer (€1.50), and a smart reception and sitting area.
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| An excellent sitting area at this aire |
A small river runs alongside, and there is a grass off-road footpath to the town 1km away
TV reception is good, so we managed to see the Tour de France today (go Van Avermaet), and I do believe England are playing in a football tournament tonight.
There are acres of space here with no designated pitches - you can park where you like, how you like, and someone comes round for the money in the evenings.
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| Acres of room to park here |
It's so good I think we're staying 2 days!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 12/07/2018 Aix-en-Othe
Last night a man came round for the money - we paid for 2 nights and the washing machine (€17.50)
A very peaceful night - no noise at all here.
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| A brilliant Citroën van conversion leaving the site this morning |
After coffee this morning we went to the Frankia A class opposite reception (as instructed last night) and asked for the washing machine to be switched on. This he did in a cupboard next to the washer, and gave us a tablet to put in the washer.
After 1 hour 15 minutes the wash was done, and lo and behold, there was a huge long washing line behind the building in the sun - they've thought of everything here!
We walked the 1km along a grass path to the village of Aix-en-Othe. It had a very ornate town hall (as seems to be the norm in this area) opposite a very old church.
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| The impressive Town Hall |
Exploring the town we found a couple of restaurants that took our eye, and finally settled on one doing crepes and gallettes, so one smoked salmon and one three cheese gallette later (with a carafe of red), we walked back in the afternoon heat to Cervantes.
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| Outside in the sun with good food and wine |
They're combine harvesting the field of grain opposite us, so there's a bit of dust, but it's no big deal, and is quite interesting to watch.
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| This old combine harvester eventually finished the whole field |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 13/07/2018 Aix-en-Othe to Samur-en-Auxois
N47°29'42.3'' E004°20'56.7'' Free aire on tarmac for 20+ vans, service point, no electric.
118km in 2hr 33min
After filling and emptying we said goodbye to this great aire - what a place!
We are ultimately heading for the Alps to see the Tour de France, so we headed southeast this morning to an aire we had chosen in Samut-en-Auxois.
The roads were very good today - straight, well-surfaced and wide. However, we did pass through quite a lot of excellent villages - every one had something to recommend it, but they did slow us down somewhat. We were in no hurry, so it didn't matter to us.
The aire at Samur-en-Auxois is next to the sports centre in a car park that can take 20+ vans. There is a full service point, bins, but no electric.
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| Lots of room here, and a nice view |
We parked up and went to explore the town of Samur-en-Auxois. We passed through it to get to the aire and it looked an excellent place - living up to it's "Cité Médiévale" tag.
It did indeed live up to it with superb narrow streets with original doors and windows and frontages dating back hundreds of years.
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| Original frontages from Medieval times |
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| They've even dated this one |
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| History round every corner |
It had a couple of towers, built to defend the town, but now in need of some serious restoration work - look at the crack up this tower!
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| Surely this can't be safe? |
We were the only motorhome when we went to town, but on returning we had 2 French vans and a Belgian one with us.
TV reception is sketchy here, so we'll have to miss the live Tour de France stage today and catch up via the news.
The fridge has been working perfectly since 19/06/18, regularly with the freezer down to -20° - long may it continue!
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| Cold enough for a cold beer! |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 14/07/2018 Samur-en-Auxois to Charnay-les-Mâcon
N46°17'59.6'' E004°46'30.8'' France Passion wine producer, space for 6 vans on tarmac. No services or electric. Water and toilets 30m away in old railway station.
169km in 3hr 5min
It was a very warm and quiet night here, and we woke to find another 4 vans here - we never heard a thing!
The grey water tank level gauge is playing up again, so it's a can of coke down the sink before we set off to cure the problem (the 3 probes get a covering of fat/oil/general crud, and as they are inside the grey water tank (inaccessible) this is the only way to clean them - if you have any doubts as to the efficacy of coke, just drop a 1cent/1pence piece into a glass of coke - scary!)
Today we are on some great roads through some idyllic, picture-perfect villages. One in particular, Sainte Sabine, has a large chateau which is now a hotel and restaurant, a massive church, houses with flowers round the doors, and a general air of pristine buildings.
We criss-crossed canals and rivers all the way today, passing through many villages, some well kept, some unkempt, but all interesting.
It's the old argument of getting somewhere fast on a motorway and seeing very little (sometimes on a road surface not fit to do 100kph on) versus the D roads through small villages (at 50 or 30kph) on roads that are sometimes better, sometimes worse than the autoroute. If time is not a problem, then the villages win every time.
We drove through the city of Mâcon alongside the River Saône, through some quite nice boulevards to our destination today - the France Passion site in Charnay-les-Mâcon is a wine producer, so we're looking forward to a tour and some tasting.
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| Closed today for a public holiday (Bastille Day) |
We're here partly because it's Bastille Day today, so we wanted somewhere a little remote where we could get some sleep tonight - the French are renown for their celebrating.
It's a national holiday today, hence the cave is closed today as is the norm, so no tour today.
On the plus side we have TV reception so we can see the Tour today.
The cave is on a "Via Verde (Spanish) / Voie Verte (French)" or green road, which is a disused railway line that has been tarmaced to be used as a cycling and walking path.
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| The Via Verde/Voie Verte is 10 metres away |
Because we're heading for the Alps and 2 or 3 days of self-sufficiency, I wanted to make sure we had enough LPG, so filled up just outside Mâcon, not having a clue how much we had used.
It took 10 litres to fill it to its maximum of 22 litres, and we've been running exclusively on it for 10 days - full time fridge running, random cooking and hot water, so it's approx 1 litre per day.
This is very impressive as it's 83 cents per litre, so 10 days or 10 litres of gas has cost us €9.30, approx £8 - definitely cheaper than Camping Gaz!!!
Even better value is Spanish propane, where we can get a 13kg bottle holding 25.5litres for €12, so that's almost half the price.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 15/07/2018 Charnay-les-Mâcon
We had some serious news overnight which changed our plans.
Glyn's mum is in a care home, and last night had a drastic deterioration in her condition, so severe that close family members were at her bedside overnight. We are waiting for the latest developments to see what we should do.
Things are not looking good, and we are only a short distance away from UK, so it makes sense to go back now.
We are waiting here for further developments before we make a final decision as to which direction we go in.
We unloaded the bikes and set off along the old railway line, following the tarmac path in glorious sunshine.
We passed a wine producer in France Passion who has made a proper motorhome aire in part of his car park - what a brilliant idea. We are thinking of going there tomorrow if circumstances don't change.
Further on we came to a small retail park which had a superb boulangerie and a stunning cheese shop which was very traditional and had a huge range.
I got some Comté cheese from a huge wheel which the cheesemonger cut with a cheese wire!
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| A craftsman at work... |
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| ...you don't see this very often |
Back at our France Passion site the door was open, so we went in and tasted the wines we wanted. Having limited space we bought wine boxes (5litres) of red (Mâcon-Charnay Rouge) and white (Bourgogne Aligoté), along with a couple of bottles of red and a bottle of Crémant de Bourgogne. Also bought was a wine tasting glass for a bargain price.
The layout was ultra-modern inside with well-priced and described wines, excellent lighting and very helpful staff, and the range of wines produced was huge.
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| The tasting desk |
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| Ultra modern in design and layout... |
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| ...with everything priced and described |
As the World Cup Final ended (France 4 Croatia 2), a thunderstorm erupted with torrential rain - the first real rain for 2 months!
Following developments and advice, we are heading back to UK.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 16/07/2018 Charnay-les-Mâcon to Prissé
N46°19'18.7'' E004°45'11.0'' France Passion sire for 6 vans on crushed stone. Full service point, free jeton from shop for water, no electric.
23km in 37min
We're still undecided about our future direction today. Glyn's mum seems to have made a recovery, but the outcome is still unknown.
We therefore decided that we will stay in this area today and await further news.
We passed today's aire yesterday on our bikes, and what a fantastic place it is, with pitches for 6 vans, full service point (free jeton from the shop for the water), and a lovely, quiet spot.
There were 2 vans here when we arrived - the occupants of both were cycling on the old railway line.
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| A superb aire, and slightly uphill, so no ramps required |
Prior to arriving we went to the nearest Carrefour, which turned out to be massive - far too much choice in every range. We stocked up on essentials and got some new seatcovers (the old ones were 5 years old) at the Norauto next to Carrefour.
This aire is really, really quiet - just the odd car coming past on the minor road - very nice indeed.
We paid a visit to the cave of our hosts who have supplied our aire, Vigneron des Terres Secrètes, and found it to be as modern and upmarket as the last one.
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| The ever-helpful tasting desk |
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| They even have a sample of the soil they are grown in! |
Everything was priced and explained with hugely helpful staff. After an extended tasting session we came away with an excellent Pinot Noir (Bourgogne Les Sentinelles), and a Pouilly-Fuissé - all great value and tasting superb.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 17/07/2018 Prissé to Chauffailles
N46°12'05.0'' E004°20'06.8'' Free aire for 10 vans on tarmac, service point, no electric.
69km in 1hr 31min
It was another wet night with torrential rain and angry, black skies - but it didn't get any cooler!
We had the rooflights open, but I had to close them at 2am due to excessive wind (it's usually the other way round)
Glyn's Mum has recovered well so we have decided to head home to Spain, so we can include a stage of the Tour de France along the way - the stage to Mende in the Massif Central is looking favourite at the moment.
Just southwest of where we are in Mâcon is an area of France which we know well, so decided to explore some more of it.
Our initial aire was in Chateauneuf, by the river and a Roman bridge. The aire was fine, with a great view of the river.
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| A lovely location if all you want is peace and quiet |
A tour of the village revealed a Roman church from the 12th century, and to be honest, not much more.
We only saw half a dozen people on our 50 minute walk. There were no shops, no businesses, and only one café, which honestly had seen better days.
If you want lovely scenery and a great aire by the river come here, but don't come for the amenities.
Just over the Roman bridge was the community of St. Maurice en Chateauneuf, which was a bit more alive with a boulangerie, a Super U convenience store, and an art installation workshop in the old Roman church, again 12th century.
We had no TV reception (first day in the mountains in the TDF!), and had seen all we wanted to see, so decided to move on to Chauffailles, where the le-Tour-du-Bois aire was just outside the town.
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| Nice and quiet, and near a thriving town |
A very quiet location, and easy walking distance to a supermarket and the town centre - lots of shops, bars and restaurants.
After a drink (Kir for Glyn, blonde pression for me) we went to the imposing church for a look.
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| Kir and beer |
Every French village, no matter how small, has an area devoted to remembering the French soldiers who died in the war. The church was no exception, with a wall full of names and dates - very sobering, and the youngsters here seem to take it onboard as well.
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| Honouring the war dead |
Evening mass was just about to start, so we left immediately and made our way (via the supermarket for some cassis to make Kir in the van) back to Cervantes to find 2 other vans in the aire - yeah - strength and security in numbers!
The fridge vents have been in full sun for 4 hours with an outside temperature of 35°, and the freezer temperature has not dropped below -14° (although I have had the fan running in the top vent to extract some of the hot air). The fridge has worked since June 19th the best it ever has. I don't understand it - I just hope it continues!!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 18/07/2018 Chauffilles to Mende
N44°31'16.0'' E003°29'46.9'' Free aire on tarmac for 25+ vans, full service point, €2 gets you 10 minutes of water or 55 minutes of electric.
274km in 4hr 26min
We made a decision this morning to get back home to Spain as soon as possible so that if needed,we could fly back to the UK so today's destination was the riverside aire in Mende.
The roads were a mixture of D roads with lots of villages, but quite fast between them, and purpose-built dual carriageways for fast travel.
We are in the Massif Central so obviously went up and down some very long, steep hills today - Cervantes performing brilliantly as usual.
Mende is made up of very old, narrow streets, with houses to match - there are some fantastic examples of centuries-old houses here, unfortunately some of them were unoccupied.
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| Mende is full of narrow, cobbled streets... |
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| ...and old buildings |
We visited the cathedral which dominates the city and were impressed by the inside - simple and understated, but oh so well done.
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| Very simple, but very, very good |
A walk across the river was next to discover what the massive building opposite our aire was - it turned out to be a catholic library, but surely that can't take up the whole floorspace?
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| A huge building for a library |
We decided to have our evening meal out in Mende, but I'm sorry to say that if you don't like fast food (burgers, pizzas, fries, kebabs) you will go hungry in Mende.
I don't know why - it has fabulous selling points to attract tourists - the cathedral, the old buildings and narrow streets, the amazing views of the tree-clad mountains, but there is practically nowhere to eat except fast food outlets.
We can only imagine that most people here stay in hotels with full board, but how strange to not have so few restaurants in the town.
As we have a motorhome we came back and cooked a fantastic meal for next to no money - I love motorhomes.
Just a quick word of advice for anyone coming to this aire after 4pm - have a plan B because it gets really full very quickly. There is a large car park next door which some vans went on to later for some space - it really is sardine time here.
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| The cathedral dominates the city, and the packed aire |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 19/07/2018 Mende to Albi
N43°55'38.3'' E002°08'27.4'' Free overnight parking for 6 vans on tarmac, no services.
182km in 2hr 53min
It rained last night, and we awoke to sparrows on our rooflights - what is it with birds and our roof?
The roads today gave us an insight into the glorious country of the Massif Central - huge forest-covered gorges and towering cliffs - very inspiring.
Passing through Rodez at 12 noon, we were amazed by the amount of traffic on the roads, until we realised that everyone was rushing from work for their afternoon break.
From 12 until 2 the roads are absolutely deserted - if you want to travel, this is the time to do it.
The approach to parking du Bondidou in the car park next to Albi cathedral was a little strained. The sat-nav sent us on a different route than it initially said when I checked the route before we set off. This entailed going through some roadworks that were coned off to make a very narrow road.
The parking is a public car park, but there are no signs whatsoever to guide you to it, which there were when we last visited Albi. There are some signs for the Pratgraussals aire, but this is the one over the river, currently undergoing refurbishment.
After stumbling around for a while, we finally found the aire at 1:30pm to find it was full. Luckily one motorhome was just about to set off, so we got his spot. Over the next 2 hours almost everyone left - there were 6 empty spaces at 4:30pm, so don't always think it will be full in the afternoon - It's worth coming for a look.
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| Just overnight parking - no services |
I had filled up with fuel at the Super U in Mende, but had a faulty pump. When you pressed the lever fully the diesel rushed out too quickly and caused the pump to stop, as if the tank was full.
My solution was to hold the lever halfway in, so the diesel flowed. I assumed the cut-off would still work when the tank was full, but I was proved wrong when diesel started spewing out of the filler nozzle as I overfilled the tank.
Our first job at the aire in Albi was to check if we had TV reception to watch the Tour de France - success!
3 hors category climbs gave victory to Geirant Thomas and a continued wearing of the yellow jersey - come on G!
Next on the agenda was a look around Albi. We had been here before, but not stopped long enough to explore the town. What had we missed!!!
The cathedral (the biggest brick-built cathedral in the world) was mindblowing.
The walls were handpainted, the detail of which was unbelievable. We've been in many cathedrals, but I have to say, this took our breath away - it was truly awesome.
We walked around the town and were wowed by the number of old, well-preserved buildings - no scruffy parts of town, and some absolutely stunning, huge buildings - all pristine.
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| There are some stunning old buildings here |
There was an upmarket café culture feel to the place, with plenty of restaurants, all with menu deals.
They were so good we took one of them up on their offer and had an excellent meal with a bottle of wine for €50 for two.
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| Our restaurant for the evening |
Even the other side of the river, usually the poor relation to the side with the cathedral, church and museums, were buzzing with bars and restaurants doing great business.
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| The view from the other side of the river |
What a fantastic place - we never realised when we were here last, how special this place is.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 20/07/2018 Albi
We now have a plan to see the TDF in the Pyrenees, so now we are able to stay another night in this wonderful city to explore further.
We set off early and went into the museum of Toulouse-Lautrec (€9 entry) which was on 4 floors of the old bishops palace, which in itself was spectacular, with a superb manicured garden.
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| The superbly maintained gardens |
The exhibition showed all original work, which ranged from his early pencil sketches to his late lithographs - very interesting in a fabulously ornate building.
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| The building itself was a stunner |
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| So much detail and history |
Lunch was opposite the cathedral with free WiFi. 3 courses with half a litre of wine for €38 for two - good value when you look at some of the other restaurants - the choice you have is enormous.
The TDF was status quo today as expected, but we had great fun watching the vans come and go - it's like musical chairs. One minute there are 2 spaces, and 10 minutes later they're all filled with 2 vans milling around waiting for someone to go.
It's worth waiting around because someone nearly always goes. It's 10:30pm here now, and there are 3 spaces empty!
We took another walk after tea to the other church in Albi. If we hadn't seen the cathedral first, we would have said that this alone was worth coming to Albi for.
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| It's worth coming to Albi just for this |
There was a street market in full swing over 3 streets separating some very old half-timbered buildings, all in pristine condition.
Again bars, restaurants and cafés were in abundance - you will not go hungry in Albi.
We found a supermarket to buy some water to tide us over until tomorrow, and headed back to Cervantes for a shower, some TV and bed, just beating the thunder, lightning and torrential rain.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 21/07/2018 Albi to Saint-Vidian
N43°11'18.2'' E001°00'08.7'' Paid aire on grass for 10 vans. €10. Full service point including electric.
166km in 2hr 38min
Last night, as expected, was very noisy, with people shouting and arguing, drunks singing and cars being revved up - I gave in at 2:30am and put my earplugs in!
On the plus side however, this parking is only 2 minutes walk away from the cathedral and city centre.
On the way out we called at an E. Leclerc to buy some food - it was the biggest store I've ever seen - it took me an hour to buy €30 worth of essentials. There was far too much choice in too big a space, occupied by too many people, whose sole objective seemed to be to have a chat in the very narrow isles - what a nightmare.
On our way we had great roads, due mainly to it being Saturday and thus free of HGV's-
We were 5km from our motorway exit when the yellow engine light came on - "check engine" it said very helpfully.
Cervantes seemed to run OK - not in limp mode, so I assume it's some stupid sensor somewhere that has failed and triggered the warning. I'm going to run it until I can get to a dealer to plug the diagnostic reader in.
The aire in Mazères-sur-Salat was a huge disappointment. We had been there years ago and loved it. Now it looked run down and not nice at all, with what looked like 2 permanent vans.
There was one hole in the tarmac floor - for grey or black water - who knows?, and just one tap sticking out of the wall, so you know how dirty that is going to be - no thanks.
We moved on to the aire at Martres-Tolosane opposite the cemetry. It was supposed to be for 5 vans, but most of it was taken up with 3 shipping containers.
Thee was an open black water drain, and a dried up grey water drain. It didn't look like anyone had been there for years.
It was also as near to the road as you could get, so yet again we moved on to plan C.
This time to a paid aire in Saint Vidian, by the River Garonne. It was down a very narrow road by a railway line and was on soggy grass - the van above us had very muddy wheels, having been stuck yesterday.
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| Mud on the wheels - not for us |
A stroppy woman in the van came out berating us in French, telling us where we could and couldn't park, and which way to point the van (she didn't know that the site owner had followed us down the narrow lane to the aire, and we had stopped to chat - she said we could park where we wanted)
We ignored the woman and parked uphill to be level, and to escape backwards if needed be - down the hill.
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| Parking uphill for level and possible escape |
She was still twittering on as we hooked up the electric and tuned in the TV, but eventually ran out of words and went back to her van.
The owner we had met came round 10 minutes later for the €10, and said we were OK where we were, so the obnoxious woman bent her ear for the next 15 minutes - she obviously doesn't get out much.
We are very near the River Garonne here and 200 metres from us is a barrage, incorporating a hydroelectric power station. The water level is 35 metres lower downstream, so the turbines and generators are constantly going. It's a massive engineering work with enormous lifts and chutes running the water intakes - very impressive.
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| The water intakes on the high level side |
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 22/07/2018 Saint Vidian to Martres-Tolosane
N43°11'46.6'' E001°00'06.8'' Super U car park
3km in 9min
So, we're all set for a couple of days on the mountain to see the Tour de France.
We're full of fresh water, empty of all waste, and have a fridge/freezer (still working perfectly) full of food and drink - what could possibly go wrong?
Key in ignition and turn to start, engine splutters, then dies.
Try again in 30 seconds, this time it fires but runs badly and will not rev - just idles lumpily at 750rpm.
Get all the vehicle recovery stuff out and write down where we are, co-ordinates etc.
Try to start it one last time and it fires up, then runs normally.
We're in the worst possible place to get recovered from - down a one car wide track for 1km in a sloping grass field.
We decide to attempt to drive to the town of Martres-Tolosane and park in a more accessible position.
Just out of town is a Super U supermarket, so we're straight on their car park.
Now - what to do?
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| Well - at least the sun is shining |
We can carry on and pray we don't lose the engine on a single track road in the mountains, or on a road only just wide enough for 2 vehicles, or on a motorway (the engine warning light is still on), or we can call recovery (it's compulsory in Spain to have vehicle recovery with your vehicle insurance) and get a diagnostic check at the nearest Fiat Camper service centre (Saint Girons according to our Fiat Camper assistance handbook).
We err on caution and decide on the latter.
The call centre in Spain have English speakers so we are soon booked for recovery at 9am on Monday morning (there is no recovery in France on Sunday unless you pay them big bucks!!)
So here we are in a Super U car park (we've been in to explain our situation and they were fine with us parking overnight in their car park) watching the TDF on TV.
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| An opportunity to do some washing |
I think we have been lucky to do 70,000 km in Cervantes without having any engine electrical problems - some of the stories on the motorhome forums are horrendous, especially to do with the electrics. I have waterproofed the leaking windscreen scuttle, so water doesn't get into the engine, mitigating some of the problems, and I have the oil and filter changed as a minimum once a year.
Reading some of the forums, the engine light sometimes goes off after a while if you continue driving normally. We did consider doing this, but on the roads planned, it would be foolish.
I went back into Super U before they closed for a fresh baguette. Luckily I just managed to hear "get me some chocolate"!! I would have been in real trouble had I missed that one.
After the problems with the fridge and the bed, and now this, if the Truma water heater blows up we will have had a full house of faults this trip!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 23/07/2018 Martres-Tolosane to Marquefave
N43°18'43.7'' E001°13'57.1'' Garage Aspe, Marquefave
The recovery truck came at 10:15am. They'd sent an HGV recovery heavy wrecker, used to recover 40 ton HGVs. Instead of being a drive-on/winch-on flatbed recovery truck as I had expected, this had a rear lift which went under the front wheels of Cervantes.
We asked to go to Saint Gaudens to the registered Fiat Camper garage which we had stated when we phoned recovery. The driver wanted to take us the other way, towards Toulouse.
We rang our Arag recovery again, and luckily they spoke English and French, and we were told that the garage they were sending us to was a proper Fiat garage with Fiat trained mechanics and all the necessary diagnostic equipment. I agreed to go on the proviso that this was the case, and if it proved to be anything but, I would be back on the phone to get recovered to a registered Fiat garage.
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| Oh Cervantes - what have they done to you |
The HGV recovery lorry looked very smart from the outside, but inside was a very different story - it had only 1 passenger seat and no seatbelts - that's how old it was!
We decided we had to go, so I sat on the engine compartment between the 2 seats, and Glyn had the seat. I don't think I've ever been 31km without a seatbelt before - it's a weird feeling.
We finally arrived at Garage Aspe in Marquefave, and it was indeed a Fiat Professional garage. It was in a small village, so was quite laid back, not smart or modern, but with enough clues around to decide they knew what they were doing.
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| It was a genuine Fiat Professional garage |
The mechanic/owner (Jerome Aspe) plugged a reader into the diagnostic socket and attached a computer to it. His young mechanic came over and helped press the relevant buttons to reveal the fault codes.
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| Diagnostics! |
He told us it was the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) that either needed cleaning or replacing, along with a new sensor.
By now it was 12 noon and time for the French lunch, so we stayed in the van until 2pm.
Back at work another mechanic spent 15 minutes going through the fault codes and re-enforcing what the boss had said.
There were 2 options. We could have the DPF washed and a new sensor fitted for €460, or we could have a new DPF for €1500.
We had a long conversation on google translate, then with a Spanish/French speaking friend of Jeromes, then with a fluent translator at a call centre. We considered all the relevant pros and cons, and thought €460 was a small price to pay for a safe journey home.
Jerome, the owner, seems like a really genuine guy.
It's our lack of French that is the problem. We can order beer and talk about the weather, but when it comes to the minutiae of what the problem with the DPF is, we are obviously well out of our depth.
After many deliberations we decided to go with the clean and replacement sensor - we have an excellent garage in Spain where we service Cervantes, so as long as we can get back there, we will be happy.
They couldn't get the part until tomorrow, so kindly let us sleep in their car park.
Jerome came round as he was leaving work at 7pm to wish us good night and a good sleep.
It's very hot here - the inside of the van was 42° when we returned from our walk to the village of Carbonne, 20 minutes away.
It's a lovely little town with lots of boulangeries and some nice bars, right next to the River Garonne.
Not having slept too well yesterday, after tea we were out like a light. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Tuesday 24/07/2018 Marquefave to Foix
N42°57'39.6'' E001°36'39.6'' Free aire on tarmac for 18 vans. Full service point, no electric, bins.
75km in 1hr 41min
We slept well last night after the fierce sun had gone down.
We gave Jerome a bottle of Spanish wine as a thank you for the overnight stay in his car park, and waited for the part to arrive.
I took a walk around the garage to see what cars they were working on, and was amazed to see an old Citroën (1974) which I thought was a modified DS, but on closer inspection, and talking to the mechanic, it was a very rare Citroën SM.
It came off the production line with a V6 Maserati engine - very impressive. It was halfway through a complete renovation, and it will be stunning when finished.
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| I've never seen one before - a Citroën SM |
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| with a Maserati engine! |
Whilst I was exchanging words with the mechanic (I would be lying to say we were chatting), the father of Jerome (presumably the former owner) signalled for me to follow him to his garage in the garden of his house, just next to the workshop.
He unlocked the garage door to reveal an immaculate Citroën DS in concours condition. It was a 1970 model and he had had it from new - what a privilege to see it, and he was rightly very proud of it.
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| A concours Citroën DS owned from new |
The part arrived at 9:30am, so we had to get out of the van for an hour whilst they cleaned the filter and fitted the sensor.
It was a nice walk down by the river, but a little like waiting to see the dentist.
We gave them an extra 15 minutes before we re-appeared, and lo and behold, Cervantes was off the ramps and parked around the corner. Glyn asked Jerome how things had gone, and he gestured with his hands as if an explosion had happened, and said ''poufff!!' So she immediately thought the DPF had come to a sad end, but luckily he just meant that there was a lot of soot in it when they cleaned it out.
We thought that was it, but no, it needed a test drive and some more diagnostics before we could breathe a sigh of relief.
20 minutes later, and €458.96 poorer, we were on the road again.
However, our sweaty palms were not dry, because now was the test - would the warning light come on again and put us back to square one with not much of a leg to stand on?
50km of driving gave us the answer - success!!!!
In truth we had every faith in Jerome and his knowledgeable staff - they seemed to know exactly what they were doing and what to look for. They seemed a bit rough and ready, not much customer service as we know it, but boy, did they know how to diagnose a Fiat engine.
When they diagnosed the DPF I thought - is that a symptom of something else, what if the problem is still there when they have cleaned and replaced, but no - they were bang on, and for that we will be eternally grateful - thank you Jerome and crew.
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| If you break down again Cervantes, this is where you'll end up! |
We had no time to get onto the Tour de France route, the roads were already closed, so we went to the nearest intersection, parked Cervantes and stood by the road.
They were through in a flash, with Sky looking their usual confident self - I think it's in the bag now. Poor Glyn was so traumatised by now that she shouted "Come on Gareth" when Geraint sailed past!
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| G in yellow on his way to victory |
We then drove to the aire in Foix where there are 2 aires - No1 and No2.
No1 is on a public car park so you take your chances with the cars and no services.
No2 is a proper aire with marked places for 20 vans with a full service point (but no electric). We made for No2 aire and got in no problem.
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| The excellent Foix aire |
After watching the Tour we went to the centre of Foix, only 10 minutes walk away.
It had a great feeling with lots going on - jazz bands, impromptu music everywhere, and a stunning chateau on top of an enormous outcrop of rock - that's for tomorrow.
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| Café culture at it's best |
The abbey in Foix is a mix of Roman and Gothic and had a very welcoming feel to it - a helper was giving out information sheets inside in many languages and explaining the different features - a great ambassador for the abbey and the city.
We found some WiFi in a café listening to a jazz band on the stage, sitting in the sun, having a beer, with a working van, a cold fridge and a bed we can lift up - fantastic!!!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Wednesday 25/07/2018 Foix
Very quiet here last night, although this is a very busy aire, vans coming and going continually.
We set off early for the chateau on a rock in the middle of Foix.
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| The chateau on a huge outcrop of rock |
The entrance fee was €9.60 each, worth it just for the view from the top.
There was a walk around the outside wall, and a stone, spiral staircase up each of the two towers - the views were excellent.
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| Great views from the top |
Some artisan joiners were renovating a trébuchet - an ancient wooden sling-shot used to throw rocks etc. against the castle walls.
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| Trébuchet made using original tools only |
The top of the towers were a bit buttock clenching and sweaty palm material, but there were no young children up there to frighten me even more.
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| You have to admire the people who built this |
Afterwards we went to the centre to have a beer and do some people watching.
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| Cold beer, lots of people and traffic - excellent |
The road through Foix is the only way to get west, so all the traffic goes through the town, no matter how big. We saw a circus HGV towing 2 massive trailers go through - good luck meeting that!
Then back to Cervantes to watch the tour with 3 Hors category climbs in 65 km - that should shake things up.
We have wondered why the DPF failed - it was obviously regenerating otherwise the regeneration light would have lit on the dashboard. Glyn said it may have had something to do with buying the cheapest diesel all the time.
There may be something in this as the DPF takes out the particulates left after combustion, so the cheaper/dirtier the diesel, the more it has to do.
However, these are workhorses used by construction companies, delivery drivers, taxis, etc designed to do 250,000 kms plus. Surely cheap diesel should not cause a part to fail after 68,000 km - hardly run in!
When we get WiFi I'll have to research if this is a common fault. I know Fiat are notorious for their unreliable wiring, juddering reverse gear, water in the engine due to a faulty windscreen scuttle and poor engine protection. They seem to ignore all these problems, so maybe this is just another one to add to the list.
Whilst we were on our walkabout on Tuesday waiting for the DPF to be cleaned and a new sensor fitted, we had a call from Adag, our recovery people, to tell us that the part would be fitted today, and after that we could drive away.
It was nice of them to tell us, but I wondered where they thought we were - in a hotel room maybe, waiting for a phone call?
Aspe garage had obviously been in touch with Fiat, who in turn had been in contact with Adag recovery. It was nice to think that there was some backup available if we needed it.
It's still very hot here, so we have all the ventilation possible in the van, including a 12 volt fan which circulates the hot air, but makes a tremendous difference.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Thursday 26/07/2018 Foix to L'Hospitalet-près-L'Andorre
N42°35'20.0'' E001°47'59.2'' Free aire on tarmac for 8 vans, full service point, €2 for 100 litres of water, €6 for 12 hours of electric.
62km in 1hr 9min
This morning we filled with water without moving (we were next to the service point) and emptied the toilet cassette, but by the time it came for us to leave and empty the grey water the queue was horrendous.
We set off regardless, hoping to desague at our destination.
It seems as if Cervantes has been re-mapped - it is totally different to drive, with more available instant revs, but I need to rev much more to change up to a higher gear.
When I downloaded today's speed and elevation, it showed we had been going uphill for the first 40km - so that would explain it! I could have sworn in a court of law that we had been going downhill.
After a brief stop at a very old Aldi - it looked like, and was stocked like, something from the 60's.
The scenery today was epic, being in the foothills of the Pyrenees, and the roads were also excellent, although some of the bends were a little tight.
It was a steep climb to our destination in L'Hospitalet-près-L'Andorre, where the aire is right next to the railway station. Luckily the trains are fairly infrequent, so are not too much of a nuisance.
We are surrounded by huge mountains, and using our binoculars we could see some men right at the top of one of them. They were doing avalanche prevention work on a slope that must have been 70°
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| I hope these guys are on danger money |
We saw them later finishing work and coming down the mountain by hanging onto a rope that went from top to bottom - what a way to get to and from work!
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| Don't let go! |
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| A novel commute from work - sliding down a hill |
We had a picnic on top of a small hill - bread, cheese, smoked trout and beer, with a view to die for - excellent.
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| Everything tastes better outside with a view |
It is nice and hot today with a cooling breeze blowing up the valley, and we spent an excellent half hour watching some workmen attacking the pipeline supplying water to the hydroelectric plant in the valley, trying to cure a leaking joint.
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| A huge pipeline using gravity to turn the turbine |
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| The leak |
The big hammer didn't work, so another team came with the biggest spanner I've ever seen, and proceeded to tighten up all 40 of the nuts around the flange.
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| Surprisingly the big hammer didn't work, so he's off to hit something else |
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| Now that's what you call a wrench |
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| This is better than going to the gym |
The aire here has separate bays with stone walls inbetween, and a full service point with water and electric if needed at a cost. There are 7 bays, but plenty of parking nearby if needed.
We have some snow poles next to the van to show how deep your van is buried - scary!
See today's full photo gallery here.
Friday 27/07/2018 L'Hospitalet-près-L'Andorre to Agramunt
N41°47'13.3'' E001°05'37.2'' España Discovery site, free parking, no services
179km in 3hr 13min
We set off up the mountain today with the intention of going through the Puymorens tunnel. There was no price indication at the entrance, and no-one to ask, so we decided (as did everyone else seemingly) to go over the mountain.
It transpired that this was the way into Andorra - hence all the traffic, but it certainly made it quieter going down the other side.
The views from the top were stunning - this is an Hors Category climb in cycling terms.
The following roads, when we finally got to Spain (yeah!) were excellent - what a joy to be back.
We celebrated with coffee and double toast with tomato in a roadside restaurant. Free, strong WiFi and a bill for €7.10 - welcome back to Spain!
Our first stop was the Punto Sosta aire in La Seu d'Urgell, which was a bit basic, but fine for a visit to the town.
We continued on to an España Discovery site in Séro. It was a bodega, but looked closed with no-one around, and a distinct smell of pigs with all the intensive farming sheds surrounding the village.
Next it was on to Torrons Vicens which was a huge, round building making and selling turrón on a massive scale.
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| Turron producers and sellers, with a turron museum next door |
They seemed to have no knowledge of Esaña Discovery, but I showed them their entry in the book, after which they let us stay for the night in the car park opposite.
We tried parking Cervantes in many positions to get TV reception to watch the TDF, but to no avail.
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| They told us to park as far away as possible! |
The only thing to do was to park up and find a café or restaurant with a TV (all of them!) tuned to Teledeporte.
We found one with a receptive owner who changed channels for us, and we sat and watched whilst enjoying a superb menu del dia - starter, main and sweet with a bottle of wine came to €25 for two - where would you rather live Spain or France? We think it is no contest.
Glyn went back to the van, but after ascertaining that the bar was open until 8pm, customers or not, I stayed until 6pm to watch the end of the tour.
What a fantastic finish on the last day in the mountains. Just the time trial to go now, then Paris for the finish - come on G.
It was 41° in the van when I got back - wow!
The fridge is obviously struggling, but the fan I fitted seems to help.
We're heading for the coast tomorrow for some coastal, cooling influence in our newly rejuvenated Cervantes, now back to his former self, thank goodness.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Saturday 28/07/2018 Agramunt to Alcañiz
N41°03'06.0'' W000°08'21.2'' Free aire for 20+ vans on crushed stone. Full service point, no electric, recycling bins.
184km in 2hr 41min
This wasn't the most pleasant car park to spend the night in, but wild cats, kittens and bats kept us amused until bedtime
I changed the LPG onto Spanish Propane on 26/07/18 because I thought it was not burning properly and was giving off a really strong smell, which in the past I'd associated with the gas running out. I didn't think this was doing the burner any good, so I changed it.
This morning, in Lleida, we filled with LPG - it took 12.88 litres, so was just over half empty - I thought it was on it's last dregs.
Working that out we had used 9 litres over 12 days of constant use - very impressive.
We were soon out of Lleida and onto the excellent N211 - what a fantastic road. It had everything - hardly any traffic, good surface,fast, great scenery of mountains, lakes and forests, with fast climbs and descents.
We stopped of at Mequinenza, where we had once stayed overnight, to make coffee and admire the views and the river life - never-ending with motor boats, single and double sculls, fishing and swimming.
Our destination today, just off the N211 is Alcañiz, where a new aire has just opened.
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| An excellent new aire in Alcañiz |
It has plenty of room for 20+ vans with a free, full service point (no electric).
It is almost in the town centre which is well worth a visit. We were at the cathedral in 5 minutes to find a christening in progress.
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| A very ornate entrance to a big cathedral |
We left them to it and went for a quiet beer in the square.
15 minutes later the whole of the congregation descended on the bar/hotel we were outside, so we thought we had better decamp and leave them to it.
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| 5 minutes before the christening party arrived |
The 2 vans that were here when we arrived were going as we returned - "too hot" they said - never- it's only 39° (but with a cooling wind)
The town of Alcañiz has an excellent ancient part full of quaint streets and elaborate, monolithic buildings.
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| One of many old streets in Alcañiz - well worth a visit |
There is also a parador in the castle at the top of the hill - but that's for tomorrow.
We sat out again until 10:30pm watching the world go by - it's so nice to be back in the warmth again.
The fridge is still keeping the ice frozen and the beer cold (and the white wine) - long may it continue.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Sunday 29/07/2018 Alcañiz to Valencia Caravan Park, Torrent
N39°26'25.6'' W000°31'31.3'' Paid aire on gravel for 15 vans, full service point, showers, toilet, no electric, secure.
268km in 4hr 21min
It was a very sticky night - we were outside until 11:30pm talking to our next door neighbours from the North of Spain, with their 8 month old girl - Lucia. They set off at 11:45pm to climb to the castle to see the city at night.
It took us until 10am the next morning to get to the parador in the castle. It was very well preserved and presented, although the steep hill up to it would preclude anyone over a certain age attempting it.
We used the service point for fresh water, grey water (it had an automatic wash cycle when it detected water) and black water from the toilet cassette. After lifting the lid and pouring the cassette in, that too started an automatic wash - what a very, very good idea - in an ideal world all service points would be like this.
We climbed and descended 2 major mountains today, and I am pleased to report that Cervantes coped admirally.
In the back of your mind you are always watching for the yellow engine light to come on at any moment - not helped by the sat-nav pinging to let us know that motorhome access is unknown - exactly the same ping as when the engine light came on with the advice "check engine"
Thank goodness that the 768km we have done since Garage Aspe worked their magic has been incident-free.
We were soon on the motorway for 100km, so it was a case of put it on cruise control at 2400rpm in 6th gear (approx 96kph), then plug the USB stick into the radio to get some music.
It's 33° outside and I think the aircon need re-gassing after 5 years in the Spanish sun - it works, but is not as cold as it should be.
Our first aire in Riba-Roja del Turia was not what we imagined - it was full of cars (badly parked) and was very overgrown. It is Sunday today and the river is a favourite place to go, so it's understandable, but still scruffy with no services.
We reverted to plan B and went to Valencia Caravan Park in Torrent which primarily stores motorhomes and caravans, but also takes tourers for €12 per night. It has a full service point, showers, toilets, van-washing equipment, but no electric. It is fully enclosed with a wire mesh fence, and has an electric gate which is always closed, so is very secure.
It's the last day of the TDF today, so just enjoying watching Geraint Thomas winning the yellow jersey in Paris - well-deserved after all the years of loyal service.
See today's full photo gallery here.
Monday 30/07/2018 Valencia Caravan Park to Home
260km in 3hr 26min
Well, we're back after a really eventful 3 months. After all the problems, the overriding plus, and all that matters, is that we have a happy, healthy grandson who has 2 very happy and proud parents (and 2 very happy and proud grandparents) - everything else can be repaired or replaced.
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