On the Road Again!

With the weather being the unpredictable factor this summer, I have been looking at further north.  How about the Baltic? Germany? Denmark? It's an area that neither of us have been to before.  I started to look at the area where the "Riddle of the Sands" was staged around the German East Frisian Islands. For years I have thought about a trip to Peenemunde , where the Germans designed and tested the V1. It's on the German Baltic coast. Then I thought about Denmark, or a toe dip into Poland?  I discounted Norway and Sweden!! I tried to get ChatGPT to come up with a sensible idea but it seemed unable to come up with a plan that wasn't a rush there and back. The basic text I gave it was quite specific regarding some places to include but still it planned a whistlestop tour.... So back to the drawing board? Claire would prefer France, Normandy and Brittany.  All that's set in stone are the Eurotunnel dates. As I mentioned in a previous AT26 post, it pr...

We cancelled the trip that would have taken us to the Cathargo Malibu factory at Aulendorf mostly due to the possible weather and that we have a 16yo dog.  He was really not coping with the overly hot weather in June. No one expected to be 1300m above aea level and it being 36°C!! The email to Eurotunnel wasn't as productive as I had hoped.  We could change the date of travel but... the year you can book in is from when the ticket was bought not from when you are booked to travel. I booked the crossing on January 16th. So if we change the date we'd have to travel before then. It's not that great a deal. Hopefully, the weather will start to revert to normal and we can still go in September.  To cancel would lose us over £300. We will have to source breakdown cover for the van and travel insurance for us and of course, repatriation for Reggie. Where to go? Germany still? Or stay more local in France. I had thought of maybe Alcossebre again!!!! Let'...

Today what should have been around a 240 kms drive in pretty much a straight line was far more complicated by TomTom. Checking the route on Google Maps and on MyRouteApp was far more direct than the ridiculous roundabout route chosen by TomTom.  We did take a look at the Chateau at Chaumont sur Loire and they have motorhome parking in with the coaches.  And that was the problem.  There were six coaches and their passengers were queuing to get into the chateau gardens. We decided to crack on. Chaumont was on the original route! It was after here that things went wrong that also meant more miles and of course, more tolls on a variety of motorways.  We stopped for lunch on the A28 and then set off again. Their was a fenced dog area, but Reggie couldn't be less interested.  We arrived at the CCP aire at Bernay at 2.33pm. NO problems with the barrier this time. ...

I had an email from Sandaya to remind me that I had some loyalty points to use when making a next booking. I was thinking more about the midpoint of the trip when we started to move north or at least east to get away from Spain and into France.  I looked on the site and some of them allowed the use of the points and others didn't. In the end I wanted a good few days where after travelling we could have a longer stay to sit and do nothing.  I found a site near the Mediterranean that allowed me four free nights using my loyalty points. It's called Blue Bayou . I decided on five nights. We can't get in until 3pm on the first day and so it gives us time to come up from Spain and across the border. We have a week to come across from Oyambre and we can take in a few historical sites as well as a run through the Picos.... ...

When you have too much time on your hands and easy access to the MyRouteApp app on the phone and on the laptop! By the time we are in Spain, we should have the full "off grid" system up and working. This will enable us to choose sites and aires that won't need electrical hook-up (EHU) for overnights. We can truly be free to stop where we like, when we like, the law permitting. So I have been using MyRouteApp  and a couple of apps on the phone, Search4Sites, Park4Night and TripStop, to plan a different route back. One with fewer miles and fewer stops but for longer each time. I have removed the Douro section and have built into a loop taking in Roman and Moorish sites across Spain before heading north. 

This plan is a little different. We are in Spain and subsequently France for the best part of four weeks. I don't want to be driving  everyday and mileage isn't the point. This planned route is to get an idea of the mileage from when we arrive in Santander to when we get for a possible meeting with friend's in France. None of it as far south as the Mediterranean coast. All we have to hope for is good weather.

With the plan to to Donzenac aborted yesterday and us ending up on the CCP site at Saint-Léon sur Vézere, it meant that we needed to rethink today and the rest of the week's journey and overnighting spots. We set off around 1020 today. We were originally heading up the A20/N20 to another CCP site at Thénioux near Orleans. What should have been a simple run eastward to Brive became another C roads funathon.  Once we finally got onto the A20 after a little of the A89 we discussed options. By the time we stopped at the Area Porte de Corrèze services we had decided to abort Thénioux and get somewhere not as far away. Checking the road map and CCP app we hit on the aire at Oradour sur Glane. It's a popular aire as it's not too far from the "village martyr". We went to the village way back in 2008 when we stayed in the creepiest gite the world has ever known. Unfortunately I can't share any photos of the gite as I can't find any! It's a very sobering experie...

It might be a bit early to be planning the return for a holiday that we haven't started yet and that's a month away! But one needs to have a look at the maps and suss out places to stop that aren't too far apart, or requite driving all day and also that mean you see little or nothing of the countryside. That's why I try and avoid motorways where possible, and toll motorways in particular. Okay, you can speed along and cover long distances.  For a lot of the time you only get to see  the road stretching away in front of you and often just a bank of grass where they have tried to hide the road from view! The rough route that I have planned from Kione Playa in Alcossebre to Calais Ferry Port takes in a route we haven't done before.  Well, some of it we have but not for many years. At the moment I have planned stops at Camping-Car Park aires, although once the route is cut down to each day (from an overall route) then we can refine, and I like the idea of the France Pa...

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 ...

The slight change is that we are no longer going to fit in a visit to Claire's friend near Saint Etienne.  It's simply to cut down some of the mileage involved and free-up a few hours on the road. Another change and what could be called a spanner in the works is that John, whose "surprise" 70th we are going to for lunch on Sunday, emailed to say that we shouldn't be too late arriving on Saturday as there is a dinner!  We were unaware of that! And it's not a surprise. He also said friends in the village had offered to put us up in their house (or apartment) whilst we are there. The problem we have is that we will have a fridge full of stuff bought on the way down, including Reggie's food that we can't keep frozen in the freezer compartment unless we are on an electric hook-up, or using the LPG onboard. It's not safe to leave a van with the gas burning when you aren't near it! We will need to address that nearer the time.  It may be that we can p...

I have allowed three nights on the "Alsace Tour" section of the trip.  This should take us from Bühl in the Black Forest across into France and through Alsace and along the Route des Crêtes to around the north of Mulhouse. I have a few places bookmarked on the France Passion system to overnight. All the places are self-sufficient and so in Bühl we will need to do the housekeeping  jobs and fill the fresh water tank. We do tend to carry a five litre spring water bottle with us for drinking water, although when it's emptied we can fill it with fresh water from the tap on the aire.  I've not booked the Bühl Camping-Car Park aire yet.  They have changed the app and website and it's all bug ridden! Nearer the time.  There are one or two other aires in France that could maybe do the same overnight! So to Annecy.  It's a place we have planned to visit in the past and never have done. Always something else came up and we did that instead.  Usually Spain! Mulho...

Ferry Maybe I should have done this before but I have booked the return crossing for the end of our holiday. I did a price comparison check on the three of the four channel crossing operators from our area.  I discounted DFDS (Calais or Dunkerque) as they don't have anywhere for the dog to go other than in the van for the entire crossing. Further afield is DFDS from Dieppe to Newhaven.  Newhaven is along the A259 almost door to door. One road! That route also doesn't have a dog lounge and the crossing is around 4 hours. So from the three I have booked Irish Ferries. Why?  It's the cheapest.  I paid in euros and it came out at £132.10 when it landed in my Halifax account. This is for the van, us and Reggie with access to the "pet den".   Last year when I returned on the bike from the MotoGP at Assen their ferry "Oscar Wilde" was very clean and was much cheaper than P&O and the Shuttle. By comparison. For ...

I haven't made all that much progress with "Summer 2025" yet other than a channel crossing booked and one campsite for the first night booked. My attention has turned to Autumn,  October to be a little more precise. We have been invited to a special event early in the month in France and I have begun to look at the feasibility of going and including it into the holiday we normally have for our wedding anniversary.   I can't say much about the event itself until later in the year but the wedding anniversary will be our 25th - Silver Wedding! So, I have been looking at combining the two events and incorporating them into a trip to France and Spain. I have been looking on RCI ( rci.com ) to use the "banked" apartment and seeing if there are other options to Alcossebre. We have done Kione Playa Romana twice before, lastly in October 2024.  It was  a good week and meant we didn't have to travel all that far once there and could have a bit of R&R. The...

I have been looking at places to go again. Apart from the Shuttle booking and one campsite for the first night we are away,  Ardennen Camping Bertix , I have not planned anything yet. This doesn't mean that over the next four months before we set off that this won't change!  Of course! The current idea is still basically what I had looked at before.  From the Ardennes through Luxembourg, where I hope they still have cheaper fuel (!) into Germany and the Black Forest with an overnight stay in Bühl.  It's close to  Baden Baden . The original plan was to do the Alsace Tour and this could be a good starting point for crossing into France near Strasbourg. Reggie is getting older and he is definitely not a towny kind of  dog and so many places may see us leaving him to sleep in the van whilst we venture out. He doesn't really like traffic all that much!! Admittedly, neither do I go out for a walk. Hopefully, once on the Alsace Tour there will be plenty of o...

This year as we are going to be in France for quite a few days or even weeks this year, I decided to give us more options to park up during the evenings.  So I joined France Passion . Check out their website to see what's on offer.  There's no pre-booking so it's basically suck it and see!  I have been looking at the vineyards around the Alsace region on the way southwards. I am still hoping to get across to Switzerland to get some days in the mountains.  But of course things are open to debate and change. In fact, I am thinking of just a few days in Switzerland and then back into France. We shall see?

With the Shuttle and first night already booked, I am looking at the route that will take us from southern Belgium to a second overnight stop that will mean we can embark on the "Alsace Route". I am of course looking at Camping-Car Park aires and there are a few to choose from.  One in particular is actually across the Rhine at Bühl . It's not that far from the suggested route that I found on "Into the Alpine" website . Whether or not we can find anywhere to park a 6m van in Strasbourg and get to look at the city is another matter.  It may be a case of bypassing the southern HQ of the EU Parliament and go to the next place on the suggested route.  I am also looking at Colmar for a night or two as it is in the middle of the route and will give us time to relax and also to take more time looking at the scenic places on the way around.   I think sometimes as we are always "going somewhere" we tend to miss out on a lot of places and over plan the...

It's that time again when I have started to look at where to go for the early Summer holiday.  Whereas I do like Spain I do prefer to go in the autumn away from school holidays and when the weather is less extreme, i.e. hot. We have toured France in the van a few times and we have been across many times on the motorcycle and in the car. After going to the Picos in Spain last May, I do like the idea of a mountain or two.  I was looking for ideas on the internet and came across a site that is essentially about tours in the Alps in France, and one of them is "Alsace".  Places and ideas for stops in a short distance between Strasbourg and Mulhouse. Essentially south along the lands bordering the Rhine, and the border with Germany. This site also has a tour called "Furka Pass".  Looking on the map currently Google Maps can't plot a route as many of the passes are snowed in. Changing the date to June works for some of the alpine passes! But oddly not all. More go...

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...

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"!...

With Christmas and New Year behind us now, I have started to hit the guide books and the AA Road Atlas of Spain and Portugal to look at places and routes. I like the idea of looking at the map and heading off but the planner in me wants to get some routes started.  In reverse,  I started to look for the last night of the trip. Our Le Shuttle booking is 1030 local time and so to avoid the usual hassles of getting through the French customs "cone alley" towards UK Border Control, we need to arrive early.  So I have made a reservation at La Bien Assise at Guines. We stayed there in July 2023 before returning home to UK. It's about 30 minutes to the check-in booths and pet reception. It will probably be the most expensive stay as well! It's come out at about €30. It does have a bar and restaurant, and the facilities are very nice and clean. Whilst I was on a roll I had a look at a site for when we arrive in Bilbao. We should dock  early in the morning afte...