France & Belgium 11-22 Jun 15

The title should read "Alsace & the Black Forest" but the joys of motoring holidays mean that things can change very quickly and one has to adapt. We arrived in France on Thurs 11 Jun after a very uneventful journey and crossing, stopping at a Carrefour to stock up with cheap fuel and even cheaper wine. As we headed out for the last leg on a newly tarmacked road, a French garcon-racer totally ignored the 20kph speed limit and generated a hailstorm of stones as he sped past. With a loud crack, a stone hit the edge of the windscreen and formed a nice 4" crack which started to work its way across the screen, not helped by the very high temperature. Then the fun began...

We parked up at our first planned stopover, the lovely Chateau du Gandspette and started the calls to the insurance companies. I won't bore you with the unending saga of dealing with these most unhelpful of people, but the bottom line is that the insurance company's windscreen cover agent in France (Carglass - part of the Autoglass Group) will not repair motorhome windscreens. After many frustrating calls, it was finally agreed that we should head for Belgium where there was a better chance of getting a repair under the insurance policy. As nothing could be done until the following Monday, we stayed at Gandspette and enjoyed a good rest, some nice meals and a trip into St Omer for shopping and a poke around.

Very flat is Belgium

Cracking Windscreen

St Omer. Now - where did we leave the bus? 

On Sunday 14 we drove to our first stop in Belgium, Camping 17 in Bredene. This is a pretty basic site, but ideally located, and here we discovered the excellent coast tram that runs from the Dutch Border to the French Border along the coast of Belgium. We went to the Pub in the evening and discovered that beer is considerably cheaper - and better - in Belgium.

Mon 15 - After calling Autoglass to arrange for a windscreen, which had to be ordered, we decided on a trip to Bruges. Taking the coast tram to Ostend, we boarded the excellent train to Bruges and had a very nice day bimbling around this historic city, albeit it was packed with tourists and, of course, the lunch was very expensive. We resisted the urge to go around the chip museum!

On Tue 16 there was still no news on the windscreen so we moved up the coast towards Zeebrugge/Holland and found a very nice site, Bonanza 1 in Blakenberge. The site is not so close to the sea and a bit of a walk into town, but is in a nice, quiet residential area. We had a walk along the front and a beer in an excellent beach bar.

On Wednesday we relaxed and wandered around Blakenberge.

On Thu 18 we decided that we would buy a day pass and take the tram from the Dutch border all the way to the French Border. It was a looooong day and one not to be repeated, but we can now say that we have done this amazing feat (yawn). 

On Fri 19 we moved to Camping Ter Duinen in Den Haan, a site we had visited many years ago with friends. We wandered into the town, wandered back again looking for food, found nothing and went to bed. Not the most inspiring of sites and we wouldn't go back there again.

On Sat 20 we took the tram to Ostend and a train to Ghent, which, in some ways, we preferred to Bruges as there were less tourists around. The public transport system in Belgium is so much better than ours - our tram ticket on the coast also covered the trams in Ghent. Bargain! There was still no sign of a windscreen appearing and we were being given the runaround, so we decided to bang out and arrange for a replacement at home.

On Sun 21 we crossed back over the border into France and parked up for the night on the Gravelines aire. Gravelines is an interesting place and the weather was fine so we bimbled along the road to Fort Mahon Plage before returning for a glass of wine outside the bus.

On Mon 22  we were up early for the early crossing. So early that we were there before the usual directing staff and found ourselves in the crossing queue when we really wanted to be in the shop for breakfast and wine. It would appear that once you are in there is no way back, so an early crossing was made and we headed to the Ashford Outlet Mall and parked up early for breakfast and a bit of shopping before heading home and, hopefully, a repair of a windscreen by good old UK fitters!

Postnote: The windscreen was eventually repaired at home by Autoglass after we had to wait for a screen to be delivered from - yep, you guessed it. Belgium. You couldn't make it up!

Parked next to his German Twin Brother

Bruges

Frites - had to be done

When in Belgium

The Coast Tram

Den Haan Station

Ghent

Strange things climbing buildings

Shoes? Surely not!

View from the lounge

Plage du Petit Fort Phillipe

Breakfast in the Ashford Outlet - an hour before it opens

Normandy 21 - 26 May 15

A new bus, a bank holiday weekend and a strong desire to get away. However, a Bank Holiday and 1/2 term in the UK = kids, heavy traffic and overinflated prices on crowded sites, so the decision was made to head to France for a mini break. I have always wanted to see the Normandy Beaches and Pegasus Bridge, so off we went.

The journey down to the tunnel on the Thursday was uneventful apart from the detour around an accident on the M11. We relaxed in the rear lounge as we crossed and cleared the terminal only to find long lines of lorries and, literally, thousands of migrants running around, climbing on lorries, sprinting across the motorway and ganging up in huge groups by the side of the road. The police were there in force, wielding batons and chasing the groups, but there were so many. You see it on the news but it doesn't prepare you for the sheer numbers and the risks that they were willing to take, climbing over and under lorries, trying to open doors, lurking and sprinting towards vehicles and running away from the police. We locked the doors and kept moving, slowing as necessary, but never stopping.

We decided that stopping at our usual spot in Citie d'Europe was not an option, so we drove on to the free aire at Wissant, parked up and had a wander into town before retiring for a very quiet night's sleep.

In the morning we  headed down to Normandy, stopping at the nice motorway services at the Baie de Somme and crossing the impressive Pont de Normandie en route. Eventually we arrived at a site between Caen and Ouistreham which we hoped was near Pegasus Bridge.  Before we set up we drove the mile or so to the Carrefour and stocked up with meat, salad and WINE and then established ourselves on our allocated, and very sloping, pitch! We went for a walk out the back of the site and immediately saw the bridge, so our navigation was spot on. We had a crafty pint in Café Gondree and then wandered around the excellent Pegasus Bridge museum. I remain gobsmacked at how those pilots managed to land 3 gliders almost on top of the bridge. Absolutely incredible. The night was disturbed by a group of noisy French young adults who guffawed and shouted well into the early hours. Gits!

On Saturday we asked to move pitch and they re-allocated us a nice level pitch next to the canal. We then drove across to the Bayeux memorial to find the inscription for Debs' great Uncle, who was killed on D-Day, wandered around the beautifully kept cemetery, into the museum and then wandered into Bayeux for Tartiflette. The Bayeux tapestry will have to wait until next time. Following our late lunch we drove along the coast to Arromanches, parked in the aire and wandered through the town and admired the remains of the Mulberry Harbour. We then followed the coast road back along Gold, Juno and Sword beaches and down some very challenging roads (good practice for a new motorhome) finally ending up back at Ouistreham and the site late in the evening.

Having been kept awake by noisy people the night before we were dismayed to find a very noisy group of about 14 men had moved in a couple of pitches along. Out came the booze and a brand new BBQ, which they lit and then a leg fell off. One volunteer was tasked to hold onto the BBQ as repairs were attempted and his cries were quite upsetting (and very funny) as the heat from the BBQ finally worked its way through to his booze-numbed fingers. Finally they gave up and took all the legs off and placed the remainder of the BBQ on the road. Cooking was slow, so they broke up a pallet and threw it on top, finally dishing our their cindered meat at about 10pm. Luckily for us they were actually very quiet at night. One should not pre-judge.
 
On Sunday we tried to walk into Ranville but the route was down some very busy roads, so we watched some yachts pass under Pegasus bridge en route to a race at sea. We then walked to Ouistreham and back. 10 miles later and knackered we retired to bed.
 
Monday saw us at Ranville cemetery to pay our respects to the brave souls of 6th Airborne Division then back to the aire and overnight at Equihen, near Boulogne. Lovely cliff top spot, but a very odd little town.
 
Finally, on Tuesday we crossed the channel and headed for home.
 
This was quite a long trip but well worth it. The area we stayed in is packed with history and the campsite is on the site of quite a bloody battle on D-Day. Every street tells a story. For example, the church tower overlooking the camp site was home to a dozen German snipers on D-Day who were causing all sorts of problems to 7 PARA. Eventually Cpl Killean took the snipers out with a PIAT. According to the actor Richard Todd, who was an officer in 7 Bn at the time:  Later in the day, Corporal Killean recorded an interview with Chester Wilmot, the BBC War Correspondent who had joined us. I was present when he spoke to the embarrassed Killean, a good Irish Catholic lad. Chester drew from his a hesitant description of his exploit. It was the Corporal's last sentence that I shall never forget: "When I got to the church door I looked up, and, och! I was sorry to see what I had done to a wee house of God - but I did take off my tin hat when I went inside!". 
Interestingly, Richard Todd went on to play Major Howard in the film the longest day and another actor played Lt Richard Todd!

Perhaps the most moving inscription I saw was that engraved on the Bayeux Memorial in the Bayeux cemetery (the largest 2nd world war cemetery of commonwealth soldiers in France): NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS   “We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror’s native land.”

The spot where Maj Howard's glider landed. Incredible!

 

 

Debs' Great Uncle - Pte Willis

 

 

 

Arromanches

 

 

Bits of Mulberry Harbour

This Dutchman forgot he had a caravan on the back!  Oops

Ranville Cemetery

Norfolk 8 - 11 May 15

Tom was polished and gleaming, all the paperwork gathered together and all the bits and bobs that the new owners should have gathered up and stowed away, plus all the stuff that was going to be transferred packed into big shopping bags and piled up in the bathroom and wardrobe. The changeover took place smoothly and efficiently and all the stuff loaded into the new van, already named Boris. There was, however, one major hiccup. We'd forgotten to bring the bag of clean clothes!
 

 
Gingerly we drove off (driving an A Class is a new and weird experience, despite the new van being the same size as the old one) and headed to the nearby Caravan Club site in the Norfolk Broads (via a seafood stall for Cromer crab) to test everything out for the weekend.
 
We parked up, unpacked and opened a bottle of bubbly to christen Boris before settling down for the night in our new home (after playing around with the "atmospheric lighting" for a while).
 
Up early I moved into the rear lounge and turned on the heating to test if we would suffer the cold foot syndrome we had put up with for 3 years in Tom. The rear lounge has two hot air outlets on the ground. They are hot. Very hot. As I danced up and down with burning tootsies the pain was tempered with the knowledge that we would never again suffer cold feet!
 
Eventually 'er indoors emerged from the upstairs bedroom and we dressed (albeit in slightly damp underwear after they had been washed the previous evening), breakfasted and then headed towards the bus stop to catch a bus to Norwich to buy clothes. This was not as easy as described as we were not used to stowing and retrieving items and I couldn't find my wallet! 
 
We bought the required items, wandered around a bit, had a nice pub lunch and then caught the bus back, not without incident as the driver forgot the route, slammed on the brakes and skidded back onto the right route. Its not often one suffers badly bruised shins on a bus but I suppose this is Normal for Norfolk!
 
On Sunday we had a long walk around the area and headed back for lunch, sitting around and enjoying some warm sunshine.
 
Monday it was off back to the dealer to find out why the central locking wasn't working. That'll be because it doesn't have central locking. Doh! We did, however, leave the van with them for an hour or so in order that they could rewire the aerial and enjoyed a nice coffee and cake in Potter Heigham whilst we waited.
 
The van fixed, and headlights adjusted for continental driving, we set off for home.
 

Goodbye Mr Tom

And here he is, looking as good as the day we bought him but with a few thousand more miles under his belt and a wealth of experience stored up inside. The near misses - clipping the deer running across the road in the Peak District and getting severely overheated brakes coming down off the Alps in Austria. The hot ones - 45 degrees in Freiburg, Germany, and the cold ones - frozen water pipes in Hipperholme, Yorkshire. Parking in vineyards, stately homes, mountains, forests, by lakes, rivers and the sea, in somebody's garden, outside a supermarket. Having Christmas Dinner in a howling gale on top of Clee Hill in Shropshire, driving through Monaco and along the Corniche, getting changed from the beach in a restaurant car park and then going for dinner and coming back from France with lockers packed full of wine. Stuck in axle deep mud in Peterborough and the never ending trips to Crystal Palace. It's been quite an adventure. It is, however, time to move on.

Why is he going? First the tyres will need replacing soon and, more importantly, as a British built van there is an increasing risk of water ingress from the many seals around the place. Second, the levels of insulation are not as good as a continental van and, for some mad reason, Swift decided to vent the front lounge directly from the exterior to exactly where you place your feet, hence the need to wear hobbit feet in the winter (and we use the van all year round). Third, and the main reason, the dealer at the Peterborough Motorhome Show made us an offer that was significantly above what I expected to sell it for and was, basically, too good to miss.

So - with a few tears it is a sad Goodbye Tom and thanks for some very happy memories. Let's hope his new owners enjoy their travels as much as we did.

.