On the Road Again!

Please excuse the linking to another blog service.  I use Travellerspoint as my family can see posts appear in their email. Travellerspoint also allows me to update via email and include photos in the posts. Blogger doesn't.  https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/987/

A couple of weeks to go before we set off for deepest France and Spain. The problem when trying to plan a route down is that in the end, there aren't really that many places to cross from France into Spain, and vice-versa. When you are pressed for time on the outward journey to avoid tolls limits the choices to get from the channel port, either ferry or train.  If the aim is to cross at the Mediterranean end of the Pyrenees than the A75 comes up on all route planners. Also Paris site like a fat spider in the middle of its web.  Getting around always poses a problem.  The eastern route on the N104/A104 is pretty much the route you get given by Google Maps and many of the route planners that use Google Maps! Oddly, MyRouteApp decided to go to the west this time from Formerie.  I guess if we had chosen to stay at a different aire then the route might have been substantially different. Route avoiding the worst of Paris! Usually to get a route you want you have to add som...

The route southwards in France is pretty much sorted now.   With three stops at Camping-Car Park (CCP) aires planned,  I decided to book the first night in advance. By the time we arrive in France it will be around 2pm.  No doubt we'll want to get some shopping done on the way.   I have chosen the CCP aire at Formerie as the first stop. It's around 100 miles from Eurotunnel. It's only got 6 emplacements so booking might be a good idea. Just in case.. Photo by me!  Taken in May 2024. To book in advance rather than taking pot luck, you need to pay for the " PACK'PRIVILEGES" subscription.  Mine runs out on the 4th October. So I was able to pre-book this stop and if necessary, the following two.  It's debatable whether it's worth the €29 to buy as it doesn't really give anything but pre-booking.  It may be worth it for high season. With the app installed on the phones we can check the area and choose an aire that has plenty ...

With the ferry at 0945 we decided that with 14 miles to drive to Dover, we would get up at 0645 My planned leaving time was 0745. We eventually packed the last stuff in the moho and set off at 0743 It was pretty easy going and the rat trap maze through the works was navigable. At French passports there were only two cars ahead of us and we were quickly through.  As we travel on British passports we checked the dates on the stamps...  Boarding Liberté meant going up to deck 7 behind another moho. It seems this isn't the usual RoRo boat. The pet lounge on deck 9 is easy enough to locate. Today there are 7 humans and 4 dogs. And away we go. The captain said sea conditions are moderate to rough. As we exited through the harbour wall into the channel we started to roll. Next stop France. We actually left at 0935 as everyone was onboard. The crossing wasn't that bad and we were in sight of Calais when we had to slow as the berth we were to go on was occupied. It turned out to be P...

A little more planning this evening for the second day we are in France.  We will overnight at the CCP aire at Formerie and the plan is to head almost due south to the CCP aire at Beaulieu-sur-Loire. Leaving it to Google Maps and TomTom of course come up with several different routes. One that goes into Paris and on the  périphérique (shudder the thought!) and others that bypass Paris to the east and the west.   I decided that as we have "done" the east side so many times, maybe the east ought to be given a chance.   Ticking the boxes in both apps to "avoid tolls" came to one route!  No doubt when it gets onto "Max" it will all change. So the attached screenshot is the proposed route for Day 2.

Once the ferry booking was done and dusted I decided that I might as well get the first overnight stop booked. I had already been looking at Camping-Car Park (CCP) aires for the trip down through France as far as St Cyprien Plage. The firs top being around 180kms from the ferry port at Formerie. We have stayed there before. It's a small aire with only 6 places and it fills up quite quickly. To book I needed to credit my account with enough to cover the €12.50 (inc local taxe de sejour) overnight cost. I added €20 to the account taking my balance to €20.68! So that's booked. This will be a toll route start to the holiday! I have driven and ridden the "old" N1 from Calais via Boulogne to Abbeville so often and with the 80kph blanket limit even in the sticks, it's mind bogglingly terrible and tedious. I feel after 40 years I know every turn it has to offer. So it will be A16 from Calais to Abbeville. Once onto the A28 the route planning will be "toll free"!...