OK, so another "teach your granny to suck eggs" post - but hopefully other newbies might find this helpful. Sorry it is long.
We took the newly-christened MotorBaguette with the ever-fragrant MrsW and the second teenage genepuddle to France recently on our first trip with it overseas. We learnt a number of valuable lessons (part of the point of the trip was getting to know the van) that might provide help (or comic relief!) to first-timers.
1. Just because it's a new van, doesn't mean everything works. We only got the van in the summer and the temp hasn't dropped below about 10 degrees ever since. Except when we were on the way to the tunnel when it was 4-5 degrees and the Memsahib started to complain about the rubbish Ducato cab heater. I started checking and the engine temp gauge struggled to get over the bottom line unless we were stopped. Suspect the thermostat is stuck open and only now noticeable that it is colder. Didn’t have tools and couldn’t source a stat at short notice between Cambridge and Folkestone… so we just put up with the lower fuel economy for the week. MrsW complained every day of cold toes when we were driving. I developed a selective and temporary hearing loss to that particular frequency
2. Don’t forget your euro adaptors for the refillable LPG tanks. Yes, she reminded me to buy them regularly in the run up to the off, no I didn’t do it, yes I thought we’d pop into an accessory shop en route, no we didn’t, yes we ran out of gas mid-week. Still it was an excuse to eat out in the evening. I could have borrowed one from the filling station no doubt, but we just planned aire stops with (mostly free) hook up.
3. Ditto the euro hose adaptor for fresh water. Yes she did, no I didn’t. Quick trip to a Bricomarche whilst she perused Maison Du Monde and that was sorted.
4. French aires are great. We found some great ones in little villages (Nogent le Roi being superb). But we learnt quickly it is better to arrive before dark than after. Firstly because they are not always easy to find, secondly because we don’t like to think we are disturbing people already parked, and thirdly because the best spots (especially those with free EHU) are snapped up early.
5. Apps are great. I’ve fitted an Android head unit to the cab and we have loads of apps installed instead of using the phones. We struggled with signal strength/bandwidth sometimes from tethering phones and the gene puddle’s laptop burned through 2gig of data one evening because he hadn’t switched off the Windows10 update optimisation service. Ouch. We will set up a MiFi system for the next trip and test if we need a roof antenna or not. The thread on here on sim card deals is very helpful info.
In terms of Apps, by far the best SatNav for us was Waze. I quite liked Sysgic Truck, but it was a bit unstable and despite having all the van’s dimensions plugged in it tried to take us under a 2.5m height restriction (which was clearly signed thankfully in advance.). Co-Pilot was rubbish visually and had a bug where it constantly cycled through all the voice commands - interestingly it goes up to “Take the tenth exit at the roundabout”, which I presume is the Arc de Triomphe! Googlemaps is pretty good too - but the offline maps seem to be much bigger downloads than other apps.
I couldn’t find an aire/site finder app that was really comprehensive – and we tried them all, buying most of the offline/enhanced version. SearchforSites was possibly the most comprehensive, with CamperContact and Camperstop pretty good too. Sadly in many cases the apps don’t scale well to 7” landscape screens like the head unit. Search for sites particularly has limited screen real estate due to all the menus and banners. Does anyone have a favourite to recommend?
6. France is closed most of the time. For a nation of shopkeepers it can be difficult for us to appreciate that France is closed on a Sunday, Monday morning, every lunchtime (including the out of town centres) and by about 8pm in the evening. OK I exaggerate, but not much. I'm amazed the French economy is doing anything at all in terms of growth...
7. Don’t overestimate how far you will get unless on tollroads. Our initial plan was to motor on down to Bordeaux via a first night and following day visiting the Thiepval memorial, spend a few days biking around and then motor back pdq. We planned a route that avoided the tollroads mostly. D and N roads are lovely to see the scenery, but slow (nice slow, but very slow progress mostly). We revised our plan and only went as far as the Loire. We used the tollroads to come back and made great progress – at a cost. Other than that, the driving was pretty pleasant and nowhere near as aggressive and competitive as the UK.
8. The Tunnel car park is a free aire on the way back. Although it says not to arrive more than two hours before departure, we arrived around 11pm for the 5.29 crossing and the car parks were deserted (it was mid-week at the end of October) and we were fine to bed down for the night.
9. It is superb fun. These were the kinds of holidays we hoped to have when we took the plunge and bought the van this year. It was a short but great trip to learn the van, and as we know France quite well it was helpful to learn these lessons here than on a longer trip further afield.
Can’t wait to get under the tunnel again. Sadly work and GCSEs for the second genepuddle mean this won’t be until May next year. But that gives lots of time for weekend trips in the UK instead!
We took the newly-christened MotorBaguette with the ever-fragrant MrsW and the second teenage genepuddle to France recently on our first trip with it overseas. We learnt a number of valuable lessons (part of the point of the trip was getting to know the van) that might provide help (or comic relief!) to first-timers.
1. Just because it's a new van, doesn't mean everything works. We only got the van in the summer and the temp hasn't dropped below about 10 degrees ever since. Except when we were on the way to the tunnel when it was 4-5 degrees and the Memsahib started to complain about the rubbish Ducato cab heater. I started checking and the engine temp gauge struggled to get over the bottom line unless we were stopped. Suspect the thermostat is stuck open and only now noticeable that it is colder. Didn’t have tools and couldn’t source a stat at short notice between Cambridge and Folkestone… so we just put up with the lower fuel economy for the week. MrsW complained every day of cold toes when we were driving. I developed a selective and temporary hearing loss to that particular frequency
2. Don’t forget your euro adaptors for the refillable LPG tanks. Yes, she reminded me to buy them regularly in the run up to the off, no I didn’t do it, yes I thought we’d pop into an accessory shop en route, no we didn’t, yes we ran out of gas mid-week. Still it was an excuse to eat out in the evening. I could have borrowed one from the filling station no doubt, but we just planned aire stops with (mostly free) hook up.
3. Ditto the euro hose adaptor for fresh water. Yes she did, no I didn’t. Quick trip to a Bricomarche whilst she perused Maison Du Monde and that was sorted.
4. French aires are great. We found some great ones in little villages (Nogent le Roi being superb). But we learnt quickly it is better to arrive before dark than after. Firstly because they are not always easy to find, secondly because we don’t like to think we are disturbing people already parked, and thirdly because the best spots (especially those with free EHU) are snapped up early.
5. Apps are great. I’ve fitted an Android head unit to the cab and we have loads of apps installed instead of using the phones. We struggled with signal strength/bandwidth sometimes from tethering phones and the gene puddle’s laptop burned through 2gig of data one evening because he hadn’t switched off the Windows10 update optimisation service. Ouch. We will set up a MiFi system for the next trip and test if we need a roof antenna or not. The thread on here on sim card deals is very helpful info.
In terms of Apps, by far the best SatNav for us was Waze. I quite liked Sysgic Truck, but it was a bit unstable and despite having all the van’s dimensions plugged in it tried to take us under a 2.5m height restriction (which was clearly signed thankfully in advance.). Co-Pilot was rubbish visually and had a bug where it constantly cycled through all the voice commands - interestingly it goes up to “Take the tenth exit at the roundabout”, which I presume is the Arc de Triomphe! Googlemaps is pretty good too - but the offline maps seem to be much bigger downloads than other apps.
I couldn’t find an aire/site finder app that was really comprehensive – and we tried them all, buying most of the offline/enhanced version. SearchforSites was possibly the most comprehensive, with CamperContact and Camperstop pretty good too. Sadly in many cases the apps don’t scale well to 7” landscape screens like the head unit. Search for sites particularly has limited screen real estate due to all the menus and banners. Does anyone have a favourite to recommend?
6. France is closed most of the time. For a nation of shopkeepers it can be difficult for us to appreciate that France is closed on a Sunday, Monday morning, every lunchtime (including the out of town centres) and by about 8pm in the evening. OK I exaggerate, but not much. I'm amazed the French economy is doing anything at all in terms of growth...
7. Don’t overestimate how far you will get unless on tollroads. Our initial plan was to motor on down to Bordeaux via a first night and following day visiting the Thiepval memorial, spend a few days biking around and then motor back pdq. We planned a route that avoided the tollroads mostly. D and N roads are lovely to see the scenery, but slow (nice slow, but very slow progress mostly). We revised our plan and only went as far as the Loire. We used the tollroads to come back and made great progress – at a cost. Other than that, the driving was pretty pleasant and nowhere near as aggressive and competitive as the UK.
8. The Tunnel car park is a free aire on the way back. Although it says not to arrive more than two hours before departure, we arrived around 11pm for the 5.29 crossing and the car parks were deserted (it was mid-week at the end of October) and we were fine to bed down for the night.
9. It is superb fun. These were the kinds of holidays we hoped to have when we took the plunge and bought the van this year. It was a short but great trip to learn the van, and as we know France quite well it was helpful to learn these lessons here than on a longer trip further afield.
Can’t wait to get under the tunnel again. Sadly work and GCSEs for the second genepuddle mean this won’t be until May next year. But that gives lots of time for weekend trips in the UK instead!
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!
! Not fair for your boss is it
! And before you ask, no, of course not, I'm not offended, amused more like. You go to another country .... expect what goes with it! I bet Spain has different adaptators... and close at different times 
Bob.
