Off to France..1 day and counting!!

[playallday]

Well...I've got the wifi sorted, the van is packed, Tomtom is standing by and I'm off in the morning. Have to call in to see Ant who has kindly fitted me in to check the 12v on my fridge and then on to Dover!! I can't believe how fast the last week has gone.

I'm very excited at the thought of 4 months in France on my own, and surprisingly nervous. I am so pleased I found this forum. Thank you, guys, for all the help and advice (and laughs) I am far more prepared than I would have been without you I hope to keep in touch with wifi and post some pics if I can work out how!!

Jean

BTW Jayjay
If I don't manage the wifi stuff in time I hope you had a wonderful time in the isles ;D

[dancer]

Have a great time in France, i hope to do it next year instead of this year, and dont let the french keep you locked up in the harbor.

[niloc]

Good traveling Jean. We are off to France in a week, or perhaps Germany if it is still raining all over France as it seems to be this week. That's the wonder of motorhoming, no set plans, go as the fancy, or weather, takes you.

We will be there for a month, very envious of your four months. We will look out for any Romahome in case it is you. We are not in a small motorhome this time, coachbuilt Roller Team, so if you wonder why you are frantically waved at, it's probably us!

Colin

[jayjay]

Bon Voyage, Jean!!

I hd a wonderful, if tiring, time in the Western Isles, and eaten alive by midges on Skye! LOL!

You'll be fine, if you can do that, you can do anything, as I've found out... although I'd never get the hang of driving on the continent, so I'm staying in the UK! ;D

[playallday]

Hi all!
Long time no speak! Hope you are all well and had a good summer. I am on a friend's PC..haven't been on line since I got back as my PC gave up the ghost and is waiting for me to save up and get it mended!

I had a wonderful time in France...the weather was superb, TomTom and the van behaved themselves beautifully. (I did too! lol)

For the first month I drove down through France stopping where the fancy took me, heading South, I stayed with friends on their land near Carcasonne for most of July (I STRONGLY recommend the Bastille Day Fireworks at Carcasonne...amazing atmosphere, like a really good festival and the most fabulous firework display ever. I had 3 weeks on the coast at Narbonne Plage in a municipal campsite when a friend flew down to join me, other than that I just toured around.

I had a few adventures with the Aires de Services..it was dark and very misty and I was knackered when I arrived in Dunkirk at 4am so I decided to pull into the first Aires de Service I saw and get my head down for a few hours...when I woke at 10am, it turned out to be a factory car park and the barrier was locked!! Another time I pulled into one at about 2am and when I woke in the morning, the Aires de Service was across the road and I was in the middle of a Gypsy encampment!! They were surrounding me and trying to sell me tea-towels and baskets and things, but I just pretended I didn't understand what they were saying and eventually could get in the van and make my escape!

But mostly I had a wonderful, stress-free time and would recommend it to anyone. The municipal campsites were many and various, from the "There's no way I'm stopping here!" to the prettiest of sites with amazing clean facilities...same thing with the Aires de Service...at Treport it was 6 euros a night, including EHU, water, nice picnic area and level parking..others were like dirt car parks near the town tip and charged for camping AND water AND EHU!!

An amazing learning curve, though. Needless to say I am already saving the pennies to do it again next year.

[Graham]

Welcome back Jean, it sounds like you've had an exciting summer. The Bastille Day firework display sounds fantastic, did you get any pictures? It'd be great if you could post them on here for us to have a look.

You are very brave venturing into the Aire de Service in the middle of the night, not sure I'd want to risk it, we like to plan it so we no we are staying on a proper camp site at night.

Graham

[Pauline]

Oct 31, 2008 12:24:28 GMT playallday said:

I had a few adventures with the Aires de Services..it was dark and very misty and I was knackered when I arrived in Dunkirk at 4am so I decided to pull into the first Aires de Service I saw and get my head down for a few hours...when I woke at 10am, it turned out to be a factory car park and the barrier was locked!!

Oh no!! How did you manage to get out?

Sounds like a lovely holiday and an adventurous one

[blondieandi]

Sounds great, you are very brave but every new thing we do enriches our lives and i suppose it was great pleasing yourself!! Wish i had the guts!