Finally.......... (1 Viewer)

stevegreen

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May 3, 2009
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After giving up our jobs early in 2009 we have finally managed to get our houses rented out and we are planning to be heading over to the continent before Christmas :Smile:

Plans are to head over to Calais and turn right, spend as much time as we can in France on Aires and France Passion sites before heading down toward the south coast of Portugal and Spain where we plan to wild camp as much as possible. It may be that we have to reside on a camp site for a while but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

When the weather gets warmer (maybe March ish) we'll head back into France and do a bit more exploring before coming back to the UK in late June. Hopefully we will then be off again and then plan to take in Germany, more of France and maybe even down into Italy for a while.

It's going to be a bit of an experience as we have only had the motorhome for a few months and have not yet got fully used to it and what all of the buttons do, especially one particular control in the front which has something to do with the Truma heating system :ROFLMAO:

Lots of bits to sort out in the meantime so wish us luck!

Steve & Lorna

We hope that we will bump into a few other English motorhomers along the way
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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Well done, now have some fun but sort the heating out, you are gong to need it:thumb:

Peter

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stevegreen

stevegreen

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Well done, now have some fun but sort the heating out, you are gong to need it:thumb:

Peter

Yep, I gathered that :thumb: I'm fine with the normal heating controls but we have another control at the front of the van which does something, just not sure what.

Do these Truma systems work on both electric and gas? If so i think it might be a control to heat water/have heating on whilst travelling without using the gas.

Oh, that's another thing, need to work out how to fill the Gaslow tanks up :Doh:
 
Apr 27, 2008
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If the control you're on about is a slider type control, a bit like on a mixing desk, its to connect the blown air heating in the caravan part (from the Truma heater) to the vehicle heating. If it is open it allows the vehicle heating when you're driving to go up the back, and likewise when stationary the blown air heating up to the cab, especially the windscreen demist vents. There was one on my previous Dethleffs (which is pretty much a re-badged Hymer).

In practice it didn't do a lot whichever position it was in, though could help to keep the windscreen free of condensation when it's cold.

I'm a bit jealous that you're off, though you will find France is getting very cold, you'll need a wooly hat :winky:

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Venita

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You lucky people. Not wanting to wish our lives away but I cant wait to retire and be able to do exactly the same thing. I hope you have a great time and please keep us informed
 
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stevegreen

stevegreen

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If the control you're on about is a slider type control, a bit like on a mixing desk, its to connect the blown air heating in the caravan part (from the Truma heater) to the vehicle heating. If it is open it allows the vehicle heating when you're driving to go up the back, and likewise when stationary the blown air heating up to the cab, especially the windscreen demist vents. There was one on my previous Dethleffs (which is pretty much a re-badged Hymer).

In practice it didn't do a lot whichever position it was in, though could help to keep the windscreen free of condensation when it's cold.

I'm a bit jealous that you're off, though you will find France is getting very cold, you'll need a wooly hat :winky:

It's not a slider control. I'll take a snap of it tomorrow and post it up.

You lucky people. Not wanting to wish our lives away but I cant wait to retire and be able to do exactly the same thing. I hope you have a great time and please keep us informed

We are not quite retired yet i'm afraid, a couple of years off is the aim and we have already had one of them!

As for keeping people informed, I hope to be able to keep my blog (linked below) up to date as long as I can pick up free wi-fi (courtesy of McDonalds more than likely)
 
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Kon tiki

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Not sure about now but when we went over on Jan 1st this year most of the aires had the water turned off & it was also very cold. We are planning on going over in February & intend to either catch the long ferry or just drive straight down somewhere south of Bordeaux then on to Portugal. We very rarely use campsites, here is a map showing some of the Link Removed I think the numbers show how many around that area as you zoom in you see more. If you click on one you get more info & links to a Spanish forum (use BabelFish to translate)

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Rayb182

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Your living our dream:Cool: as we will be doing exactly what my wife and I will be doing next year when we retire, so a blog would be handy :Smile:anyway happy and safe travels, and Merry Christmas
Ray n Geri
 

jennyp19

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Have a great time. Whatever you do - don't overnight on the aires on the Portugese motorways. It cost us 80 euros a couple of years ago - as we didn't realise they charge you at the end toll - said so on the toll ticket, but of course we hadn't read it !!!!!!!!!!
 

Stephen & Jeannie

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What a coincidence !!!

It sounds like you and I are doing the same thing at about the same time !!!
I am off on Monday 14th. and meandering down to Toulouse on Sat.19th. where I want to go shopping for a France rugby shirt to annoy my friends in the pub, ( I support the French football and rugby teams over the English !!! ( wait for the hurls of abuse from patriotic funsters ) So let me know of your departure date....::bigsmile: ::bigsmile: ::bigsmile:

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imprint

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Jul 14, 2009
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Finally

"We hope that we will bump into a few other English motorhomers along the way"

I sincerely hope not... as one great poster has admonished me in the past ,

Incoming!

Please try to miss us, but have a great time

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stevegreen

stevegreen

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Rickboy

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My Water Tip

You will find many outside taps turned off in the winter.Take a short length of hose
with a push on connector, like you push onto bathroom taps to make a hand held shower about ÂŁ2.Then you can fill a container from inside taps (washroom ect).
Some tourist offices also have free wi fi .Bon voyage!!
 
Oct 12, 2008
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It sounds like you and I are doing the same thing at about the same time !!!
I am off on Monday 14th. and meandering down to Toulouse on Sat.19th. where I want to go shopping for a France rugby shirt to annoy my friends in the pub, ( I support the French football and rugby teams over the English !!! ( wait for the hurls of abuse from patriotic funsters ) So let me know of your departure date....::bigsmile: ::bigsmile: ::bigsmile:


If you 're doing a bit of the travel together then do pop in together in Toulouse!!! more people more fun:roflmto:
BTW Stephen if you want to do some shopping and markets in Toulouse you have to stay at least all the week end!i'm going to make you WALK a lot:roflmto::winky:... we'll have to drive quite a bit as well! especially for the shirts (football/Rugby)!

See you soon!

Amicalement


Frankie::bigsmile:

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stevegreen

stevegreen

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We will definitely be going close to Toulouse at some point though not quite as quickly as Stephen is :Sad: Stephen seems to be very orgainsed, we have not even booked our ferry yet, or loaded the motorhome up for that matter :Eeek:
 
Oct 12, 2008
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We will definitely be going close to Toulouse at some point though not quite as quickly as Stephen is :Sad: Stephen seems to be very orgainsed, we have not even booked our ferry yet, or loaded the motorhome up for that matter :Eeek:


Hi!

Never mind, if you feel like stopping for a night or two and have a look around or just rest, you 're most welcome::bigsmile:. I'll be on holidays on the 22th (after work that is)so even if i'm a bit busy with all the christmas stuffs, i'll still be able to have some time with you. There's a lot of space in my garden and you can have free showers in the main builduig of the stadium (i'm the warden), fresh water, and i can provide you electricity and wifi so no prob:thumb:. To make it clear, everything is free. It's not a campsite, i just happen to have plenty of space for motorhomers and it is my pleasure to offer them a stop over:winky:

Just let me know


Amicalement

Frankie::bigsmile:.
 
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stevegreen

stevegreen

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May 3, 2009
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Hi!

Never mind, if you feel like stopping for a night or two and have a look around or just rest, you 're most welcome::bigsmile:. I'll be on holidays on the 22th (after work that is)so even if i'm a bit busy with all the christmas stuffs, i'll still be able to have some time with you. There's a lot of space in my garden and you can have free showers in the main builduig of the stadium (i'm the warden), fresh water, and i can provide you electricity and wifi so no prob:thumb:. To make it clear, everything is free. It's not a campsite, i just happen to have plenty of space for motorhomers and it is my pleasure to offer them a stop over:winky:

Just let me know


Amicalement

Frankie::bigsmile:.

Wow, that is very kind of you indeed, we may well take you up on it :thumb:

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petrab

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Nov 11, 2009
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Good luck

:ROFLMAO:
After giving up our jobs early in 2009 we have finally managed to get our houses rented out and we are planning to be heading over to the continent before Christmas :Smile:

Plans are to head over to Calais and turn right, spend as much time as we can in France on Aires and France Passion sites before heading down toward the south coast of Portugal and Spain where we plan to wild camp as much as possible. It may be that we have to reside on a camp site for a while but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

When the weather gets warmer (maybe March ish) we'll head back into France and do a bit more exploring before coming back to the UK in late June. Hopefully we will then be off again and then plan to take in Germany, more of France and maybe even down into Italy for a while.

It's going to be a bit of an experience as we have only had the motorhome for a few months and have not yet got fully used to it and what all of the buttons do, especially one particular control in the front which has something to do with the Truma heating system :ROFLMAO:

Lots of bits to sort out in the meantime so wish us luck!

Steve & Lorna

We hope that we will bump into a few other English motorhomers along the way
l

Well done.....my husband & I are looking to be doing the same in April next year...can't wait!!

Not even bought a motorhome yet but scouring the websites:Eeek:

Would love to hear of your experiences, hope you can keep us all up to date.

Merry Xmas:roflmto:

Petra & Bert
 

leeks

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Sep 23, 2009
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Good luck to all.

We are heading down to southern Spain for the sun on the 6th Jan, then a long slow return on the coast to northern Spain following the weather as it gets warmer. Eventually we will meet up with the Italian job in mid may. So if any of you see a Geist Phantom with a slightly manic looking couple and two Yorkshire terriers give us a wave.

Leeks
 

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