Another September another trip to the Ludlow food festival, sans Haakers again, but this time with mother and Dad, who had been touring the highways and byways of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We had successfully booked in with Mrs Woman, and made a prompt departure via the beautiful M6 Toll road. Extremely luckily the weather was fine and we had a warm welcome on the (empty … Continue reading Ludlow with the folks

More than 1100 miles later and time to head north. Enough time has passed now to have got over the dramas we encountered. We took the autoroute north, still in searing heat, ready to clock up many more kms on the way to our stopover in Beaune. I collected some randomness in French along the way: We paused to refresh and rehydrate We stopped in … Continue reading Drama on the Drive Home

So, what did we know about Aigues Mortes before we went there? Not a deal. Read that it was a walled town, cobbly streets, restaurants a plenty, with car parking beyond the walls. What’s not to like? We took off through the Camargue’s marais again and hooked a right. Many a salt pan and vineyard were bypassed en route, the waterways were lovely The last … Continue reading Aigues Mortes

What a start to the day! Previous evening’s forgetfulness meant a croissant free brekkie – but away to Avignon and the north. According to Google’s recommended parking spots, if we follow the ring road, Parking de L’Italie should see us right, but sadly not. A double navigation scenario eventually got us out of the one way system and across the river to the park and … Continue reading Avignon and the Parasol Near Death Experience

A nice meander through the village is always a good shout. We never explored the shortcut from le camping and we never sampled the local eateries, of which there were several judging by the roadside menus. Parking wasn’t an issue, plenty of room down side streets and the main car park, when it’s not market day, which it was. Madame made a purchase with her … Continue reading Fontvieille village and a bit of Arles, eventually

The majestic Pont du Gard, Roman treasure and visitor attraction just under an hour away from Fontvieille, of which we knew nowt, seemed like a good way to bypass the midday canicule, if only for the chance of enjoying the vehicular aircon and taking a few cheeky snaps. We had no idea what to expect, if anything beyond the actual bridge, so to discover you … Continue reading Pont du Gard

The Camargue was definitely on our list of spots to visit and once we’d had a few days to acclimatise to the scorching heat we decided to take a bit of a drive. First stop, with free parking in a kind of lay by outside (no shade mind) was the Parc Ornithologique du Pont de Gau, where we knew we could see some ‘mingoes. It … Continue reading Camargue and Saintes Maries de la Mer

Before I get into things properly, it is pertinent to note that this trip is both the longest number of days we have spent consecutively in the van, and also the hottest location we have visited. The trip was planned a few months in advance and on reflection, and especially following the recent meandering in the Nederlands, we should have made the stopovers 2 nighters … Continue reading Fun in Fontvieille

We left Montreuil reasonably early, for what we knew would be a long drive, and with some tolls to shell out for.So we stocked up at the supermarket on the way out of town.H was enthralled by the Poissonnerie counterNeed any liquids?The temperature rose steadily and by the time we stopped for lunch, a bit of sun shade action was necessary.We had intended to go … Continue reading To Beaune and Beyond

So the day finally arrived and we left at the crack of dawn for another race to Dover. As you can see above, at the start of the trip we had already done just under 15,500 miles and it took us almost a round 5 hours to get to the port. It was showing signs of a sunny day when we left home… but not … Continue reading Le Grand Départ