On the Road Again!

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...

I have been mapping out the possible routes to take on the outward journey from the Shuttle arrival point in Coquelles near Calais. The Shuttle is already booked and so is the first night of the trip. That first night is at a campsite in the Ardennes in Belgium.   I am still looking beyond that and have looked at Bühl in the Black Forest for the second night. The idea for that is that it avoids French pay motorways and it takes us to an area we have never been to before.  Bühl looks like a good overnight spot and thee is a Camping-Car Park (CCP) aire on the outskirts of the town. As the first night is on a site we will have fill power etc in the batteries and the power bank.  The CCP aires all have power and clean water and waste facilities anyway. Awaycation 2025 - Map 1 The route that TomTom Camper Max through the online mapping tool has planned is for a campervan with the dimensions of Malibu Molly in programmed in.  It's also set to avoid toll roads. The nex...

With the dates of the French "event" firmly in the diary and the timeshare booked, I am left with 6 nights before we can check in in Alcossebre. So,I started to check a few sites that I had seen on some of the vloggers we follow. " The Slaws Adventures " went to a campsite in Northern Spain called  Càmping La Gaviota Costa Brava . It looks like a good site and is close to a dog friendly beach. The reviews on Google maps look promising.  I have enquired by email about staying there three nights so that after a drive through France we can have a few days with no worries. A dog friendly beach means that Reggie can have a play too. It's quite expensive at about £33 a night. I know some van lifers will cringe at that sort of cost. It leaves one night between the "event" and La Gaviota.  Before we cross into Spain there are quite a few Camping-Car Park aires en route. So we won't be left in a lay-by somewhere. I also have the France Passion booklet an...

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...

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 open spaces t...

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?

I have been hitting the books/apps today to look for a second overnight stop on the way south.  I booked some places in advance last summer as it was our first trip away in the motorhome. When we went again in November, I only booked the first night in advance and then we left it to the morning to book the next one. The PITA with Camping-Car Parks is that when you book online it doesn't eat into any balance you have on the card, but wants you to pay separately.  This in effect means you have €'s sitting the account that aren't used until you rock up at a site un-booked. As we are planning to meet Claire's ex-work colleague at her home near Sainte Etienne, I am looking for somewhere near Macon on the way down and then maybe neat StE on the next night. Camping-Car Parks aren't that wonderful in this area. So I checked the ACSI book. Some choices for both areas. But the need to pay in full now is a little off putting. I'll give the France Passion app a bit of a bas...

After sorting out a few details and working my way through the various books from ACSI and France Passion, plus the websites/apps about overnight stops I eventually checked pitchup.com. For the first night in France after we get off the Shuttle I want to have somewhere booked so that we don't have to start looking for a stop. In the end I have booked one night with EHU at Camping de la Pointe near to Laon.  It's to the north of Reims and easily accessible from the A26, should we decide to take the toll road route from the Shuttle at Coquelles. Compared with many UK sites this is much less expensive. A pitch with electric and with even having to pay for the dog it's a few pence over £21. It's a grass pitch. So we have to keep fingers crossed it's dry! That's all booked so far. I'll hit the books and apps for a second overnight. The second night is more than liable to be at a Camping-Car Park Aire or France Passion. I joined the latter last year but we didn...

This is the trip we have planned for June. We decided to go earlier this year so that the end of the holiday should be over before the French school holidays begin.  It's not that I have anything against the French per se, it's just that once they get to a holiday campsite, the inner problem child escapes. Last year we had a quietish holiday until the last longer stay at a campsite near a beach on the Atlantic coast.  Once the families arrived, and I mean families, it was bedlam.  Everyone from Grandad to tiny kids seemed to think that despite being allocated their own pitch to put their tent or their caravan, that walking across my little piece of holiday heaven was okay. Once they had fallen over the bright orange guy ropes to our wind-break a few times it was becoming a joke. We use the wind-break to of course break the wind that comes off the sea or perhaps from the other direction, but also to save Reggie having to see passing mutts and bark at them.  Having nei...