Third Trip To France (1 Viewer)

[Granjan]

Apologies if this is boring for some but know some folk like to see what others get up to and hope some of you might enjoy reading it.
We set off Thurs evening and travelled a couple of hours to Rutland CC site, lovely meal in the Plough pub (curry night) and an early night.
Drove next morning to Folkstone (waving all the way ... very few returned waves !) for our first trip ever on the Euro Tunnel. Scheduled for the 2pm shuttle but offered the 12.40. Husband a bit nervous about loading but when you follow the coaches you know you can fit.
Just cleared away the remnants of a quick sandwich and we were in France, amazing and so easy! straight out of the terminal and hit the road towards Reims with the intention of getting a couple of hours down the road. No site booked and hoping to try our first Aire.
Arrived at Aire 34 lac du chantecoq, which per all the Aires takes up to 50 Rv's
We pulled in and could only see one, bit worried... then just over the brow and we could see maybe 40 motorhomes with a pizza delivery van and a billboard with a menu.
David said that he thought he would like it! Had a short walk by large lovely lake lots of birdwatchers and a cycle track that goes all the way round.
Had a really peaceful nights sleep woke by the bakers van at 7.30. Amazing! Free! (Not the Pizza!)
Drove on down Saturday through to the Rhone Alps. To Camping La Colombiere CC site at Neydens between lake Geneva and Lake Annecy.
Pitched next to a chap who was born in the same village as David and another couple who live in the Rhubarb triangle!.
Hired a car today .... Just one small problem, hubby is much better at driving the motorhome with RH drive than a small fiat with LH drive, the side roads are small quite busy around here and he likes to get as near to the curb as he can and doesn't mind taking out the odd bush!
I really try not to speak but it is very hard not to scream at times.
Anyway we got lost and have been up and down every valley seen lots of lovely mountains,

visited Lake Annecy

viewed Geneva from the mountain top. Chamonix tommorow hopefully.

 

[Popeye]

Thoroughly enjoying your travels and the piccies bring it to life, many thanks, keep it coming as we're all living a little of it with you.... Griff

 

[Granjan]

So yesterday the weather was terrible only about 28c and we saw clouds! It even rained for 10 minutes this morning and after a couple of hours the weather was glorious again.
We moved yesterday, west about 15 miles to Port Grimaud bringing forward our stay by a couple of days.
We had a couple of hours to kill so thought we would look for a large supermarket, not our best move! Kept picking up supermarket signs but couldn't seem to get the right roads, you know when you drive on a road and see a lovely looking village on the top of the hill and think nice ... but we will have to go on the bikes ..well we ended up going up some very small hillside roads, through some road works with metal plates covering big holes and over a very narrow bridge .......eek phew! anyway we survived with just a smack on the mirror from a van that was going far too fast ( and that was on a much wider bit) fortunately no damage but will look at mirror protectors for future trips. Shopped at a much smaller intermarche but who cares we had had enough.
Consoled ourselves with a very nice Mille-feuille

1/2 each
Arrived at Holiday Marina Camping Resort Port Grimaud, as is often the case first impressions were that the place was too crowded, commercialised and not really for us, but have to say we have explored this morning and it is a fantastic location to sample the delights of Port Grimaud.
A short walk brought us to the places below. We can get a return boat to St Tropez for 12 euros and there are lovely beaches, small and large shops, buses, bike paths etc etc, probably here till Sunday but we will see how it goes. Our pitch is at the back of the camp next to a busy road but we have our own spacious toilet / shower shed and an outside sink and drainer; if we put the aircon on we can't hear the traffic. The pool is lovely but an extra charge in July and August .... think the whole place will be heaving then anyway. Probably worth the 40 euro's per night for the convenience of being here for a few days.

Think the main thing we are learning from this trip is that we just love holidaying in a motorhome, some days are more expensive than others but as long as you can afford the fuel you can live as cheaply as you wish to.

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[DBK]

Nice to know a it isn't too crowded, which being a popular area it might have been.

 

[Easyliving]

All great stuff again. I think you are developing a bit of a following here Granjan, maybe you could think about writing a blog?

Paul

 

[DavidG58]

We love Port Grimaud, but haven't been back with MH, only visited while tugging

Have you planned your return journey? If so is it via Gorge du Verdon, if not and as you have gained a couple of days look at the route back via Grasse, some of the most spectacular scenery we have come across in France

Sounds like you are having a great time

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[Granjan]

We love Port Grimaud, but haven't been back with MH, only visited while tugging

Have you planned your return journey? If so is it via Gorge du Verdon, if not and as you have gained a couple of days look at the route back via Grasse, some of the most spectacular scenery we have come across in France

Sounds like you are having a great time

Hi David, we did look at going to Grasse and Gorge Du Verdon but the bit of googling I did about the roads put me off, if you or anyone with a large Motorhome have been up I would love to know if it is possible I read that only mini buses go not coaches and I did wonder if we would come unstuck.

We are going round to Perpignon, Carcasonne next Tuesday then 3 nights in the Dordogne before back to ferry at Caen. Less than 2 weeks left.

 

[DavidG58]

It is on our to go back to list, might get there in September, certainly some of the roads have quite low overhangs, but the roads we have been on have had coaches, so unless things have changed it should be OK

next time maybe

you seem to be picking some good places without my input

 

[stringa]

Hi............
Thanks for the post, sounding like a dam good trip, its nice to know you have a good sense of humour as well.
Keep blogging.

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[whoa]

I haven't read it all yet, been to France a fair few times, but not in our van, but I do like your style of travelogue,and the photos, as they say more please ta


Up to date so far and enjoying it

 

[Granjan]

Weather still hot but generally cloudy here, there was a storm last night and lying in bed, having shut all the windows and turned the aircon off, I did fleetingly worry about the "site liable to flooding" warning that I had seen on the notice board.

We feel a bit like sardines in a small can, we have 4 RV's for neighbours, all of whom have been here before several times, our 30ft Burstner looks minuscule up to them. They all have slide outs and we hear tales of getting stuck up impassable roads and decisions to create unavoidable damage. We are glad we are so small!

Yesterday we cycled round to St Tropez and today to St Maxime, we much preferred St Maxime, as we did Port Grimaud, St Raphael and Les Issabres; although St Tropez is really chic, there is just too much emphasis on perfection, designer clothes, designer yachts, white clothing and white restaurants. When I have cycled 6 miles or so I have developed a bit of a glow and feel a tad unkempt, we opt to eat sitting on a wall with a back street burger rather than feeling uncomfortable in a classy restaurant.

We do notice that the people around here don't seem very happy, they rarely seem to laugh or smile and common courtesy seems rare.

We couldn't seem to find any food shops in St Tropez which seemed a bit strange .... does no one cook? On return to Port Grimaud we made enquiries and found a Giant Casino. I left David outside with the electric bikes, lots of dodgy looking young men around and people with very heavy duty chains nervously securing their motorbikes. On our return today we took the batteries and seats inside the supermarket in the trolley!

Fantastic supermarket, fish counter to die for, I collect a quite large tray of Sushi to start our evening meal ... 13 euro's, 2 punnet's of Raspberries, whipped creme, 3 bottles of wine etc and another 64 euro's has gone. We have decided not to eat out so much ... it is easy to spend 80 euro's on a mediocre meal and as we want to escape away as often as we can now we prefer to feed ourselves.
In a small cafe 4 coffee creme's cost 14 euro's and with a set meal 2 bottles of Evian water 10 euro's. We also find the market stalls very expensive. Husband paying 9 euro's for a few cashew nuts!

We will probably return here some day as the coast if very pretty but we are getting itchy feet now and I would really like to see the bulls, horses and flamingos of the Camargue, we have looked up a couple of Aires and might try those, meanwhile off for another glass of wine.

 

[Easyliving]

I must say your Burstner looks tiny compared to those RVs. Another great post, love the look of those cakes.

I know what you mean about getting itchy feet, we always want to move on after a couple of days.

Paul

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[Puddleduck]

You are giving me itchy feet..... maybe next year once we have heath and family issues under control

 

[Granjan]

Hope you get away soon @Puddleduck ... We have worries at home too ... Hope your husband is on the mend now, its never easy to leave worries behind but we can facetime when we have the internet and I am scared that if we don't take the chance now more problems will arise. When we actively ran our business we only managed 2 fortnight holidays in 18 years, it became just too hard to get away for more than a week and by the time we had got everything sorted to go it was hard to enjoy the break. This is the longest holiday we have ever had and I can understand how the full timers love it. Good luck for next year.

 

[DavidG58]

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Hello Jan, more great write ups, but what on earth is on the plates in the photo I hope to have retained from your original post? Doesn't look too good

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[DBK]

Watch the mozzies if going to the Camargue!

 

[Granjan]

Ha ha @DavidG58 home made chicken curry! my husband being a Bradford lad can't go too long without one. Suppose it does look like something from the black waste .... I will try and get something more elegant on the plate!
It has thundered and rained most of night won't be going anywhere till it stops ... unless we float! Thanks for the warning @DBK not sure if we will overnight at Camargue or not , think all the mossis will be hatching now after the rain .... We have been lucky so far only a couple of bites all trip.

 

[Gellyneck]

Don't be daft!
He's asking about the knives and forks.
They've never seen such implements in Derbyshire!

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[Granjan]

Ha ha @Gellyneck ... sorry only just got the Wifi back, had a wonderful day yesterday, the sun came out shortly after we left and we headed for the Camargue, having consulted our All the Aires book we set the Sat Nav for Saintes Maries De la Mer first stop the Ornithological Park WOW, this place just ticked all our boxes, we loved the flamingos and were really glad we payed the 7.50 euros entry fee. Though we did see other them in other places there weren't as many and we couldn't get as close.

The white Camargue Horses were a bit of a disappointment ... In my mind I thought they would like wilder and bigger , most of them were saddled up at pony rides and needed more than a touch of Glow White!

We parked up in the market place and were immediately warned by an elderly couple of French motorhomers that we could not sleep there as the market was on on in the morning, they helpfully redirected us to a large Aire to the right of the port. We parked up, had a swim on beautiful white beach then got the bikes out and cycled into town.

We saw a lovely coach!

There was a bit of a bull fighting display on at the Arena but not wanting to see any blood spilt we called at the tourism office to check, we were told that the bulls are not killed in the displays and fight for 5 to 8 years. With an hour to go before the fight we opted for a look round the port which is really lovely and a drink in the bar.
Made a lovely new friend...

We returned to the bullring just before the time it was due to start and were refused entry by a bumped up official his explanation was simply "Non" ... Then he looked away and ignored us .....No idea why but felt a bit better when he was just as obnoxious to two french ladies who arrived next. I have a reasonable understanding of spoken french .... And the ladies tenaciously stood their ground insisted on an explanation and then very kindly told me he didn't have permission to allow more tickets .... the stadium appeared to be pretty empty! Anyway we cycled round a bit, came back and the doors were open and little Hitler had gone. So we just went in and got a few pictures.

We returned to the aire made a couple of Pizza's, sank another bottle of wine and went for a romantic walk along the prom.

Having had no bites all day and there being a lovely sunset and a pleasant breeze the little mozi critters lulled us into false sense of security by only attacking when we had walked some way, then they had a bit of a field day.

Just before we retired to bed we read the charges sign post for the Aire, the book had said €9.50 2010, the board said €24 for over 7.5 metres, collected between 8 and 12 am .... Water only available between these times too..... After a peaceful night we were woken at 6.30 by campingcars leaving so we thought we would do as the french do, we were parked up at the Intermarche for a bagette at 7.45 am!

The Camargue was a truly truly, beautiful, wonderful place and well well worth a visit, vast stretches of water, rice fields, birds galore, pristine beaches, we will be back despite the bites.

 

[Granjan]

Ok .... So we have now been home a week but I just wanted to finalise my report / blog whatever!
We moved from the Camargue round the med to La Brazilia campsite near to Canet-Plage near Perpignan, really huge commercial campsite, huge pitch and fantastic pool complex, just yards from a beach and river. Weather still very hot but thunder threatening some of the time, thoroughly enjoyed the pool for a couple of days , walked the lovely beach and cycled into resort .... Def a different vibe here no where near as pretty as the more eastern med. the seaside towns from Frejus right round to Site and the city of Narbonne had looked pretty stunning but this was bland, modern buildings long promenades.
La Brazillia ... Expensive but ammenities brill!

Decided we had had enough ?!? and wanted to save a night for the Dordogne so we scarpered late afternoon heading for Carcasonne Aire, big thanks for suggesting this @Chris arrived 18.15 plenty of space 4 mins walk into the city. Fantastic, had a pretty mediocre meal ( as usual ... Not impressed by French cuisine! Though the range of food you can buy is fantastic) a good nights sleep then back into the city again for a daylight view ..... Stunning again, had a quick breakfast back to the motorhome for 11.15 am and paid the car park ticket €7 what a steal!

Headed offnorth then to meet our tugger friends in the Dordogne, fantastic site, cycled and visited Jardin Du Marqueyssac, took the 22k Canoe trip and chilled for the last time.

Returned to the Uk via Caen on Mon evening and hit the horrendous Uk traffic Tues am. French roads are fantasticly quiet (in June!) and driving a RH motorhome works fine for us, I d/w toll boths and large mirrors and reverse camera make vision easy. I always jump out and help him reverse / pitch up.

First meal in UK fish and chips. Only thing my husband missed whilst he was away.

To be honest feet haven't touched the ground since we got back but this morning I have sorted out all the chitties and can now provide a financial summary of our immediate travel costs:-


Total fuel for trip ....£400
Halifax to Eurotunnel, near to Geneva, Apt in Provence, Frejus, Port Grimaud, St Marie De La Mere in the Camargue, all round coast to Perpignan, Carcasonne, Beynac in the Dordogne, Caen Back to Halifax about 2300 miles we do about 25 to gallon.

Sat nav set to lorry mostly used toll roads total spend on tolls all at class 2 ....£210

Eurotunnel for 9.2 metre motorhome booked via caravan club for fri 2pm crossing £98.56

Stayed on 3 large aires total cost €7 we skipped off early from 1 that would have cost €24!

Stayed on sites 22 nights couple of luxury stays! total cost £525.00

Ferry from Caen to Portsmouth overnight with cheap cabin £319.00
Bit dear but enabled us to drive sleep drive and make it home in a day and a half.

All above around £1557 26 nights away

Additional spends
Car hire 2 days €60
plus food (pretty much same as home or cheaper!) ,
meals out ..... Only a few when out for day really, probably less than at home!
And a few trip / entry fees, Mont Blanc, Kayak, boat trip Annecy, garden & chateau maybe €200

Had a fantastic holiday, know that this is the life we want to lead whilst we can, 9.2 metre motorhome not a problem if you use sat Nat and pick sites / aires that can accomodate our size. Only once did we approach a bridge that was too small and it obviously happened all the time because a local gave us directions to get us to the site and knew exactly where we were trying to get to! Flat waste ground there to turn on.

Still love our first motorhome 2 years on but we may go a bit smaller next time. We are outside all of the time and could loose a metre or so easily without great compromise. Didnt turn TV on once!

Today husband has decided to sell his beloved Porsche, shock horror! he knows that if we are away maybe 10 weeks a year we are unlikely to use it enough to justify the depreciation so that money will go in a fund towards a new motorhome in a few years time.

Happy Traveling.

 

[DavidG58]

Thanks Jan, I needed some closure

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[denisejoe]

Have really enjoyed reading your blog. Thank you for the time and effort you have put into it.

Denise

 

[scousebird]

Sounds like you enjoyed yourselves. Loved your pics.

 

[Fenman]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading about the trip from start to finish.
Gave me a mixture of memories of places visited with our then young family and some with better half when sons had flown the nest and some lovely ideas for future visits.
Photography was stunning.
Thank you so much.

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[Easyliving]

Been great reading about your travels, thanks for taking the trouble to keep us entertained.

Paul

 

[Granjan]

Just thought it might be inspiring and reasuring for Newbies who like us might not have been to France much before, glad we saved it for our retirement. Gives people an idea on costs etc.
We don't really regard ourselves as newbys any more we have bought some happy sheets and aren't so precious about the use of the toilet anymore .... Needs must!
Friends have followed our blog too which made updating people easy!

Love reading other peoples blogs too, gives me ideas!