A light hearted and (I hope) amusing record of some of our Campervan Trips.
It is mainly intended to inform friends and family where we are, plus, to keep our children updated on what is happening to their inheritance.
I do try to include details of Camp Sites and Aires, we visit. Checkout the "labels" listed in the right margin,
Please comment if you feel inclined, at least then I know I am not talking to myself (again).
The starts cloudy with sun, cool (15C), but, by 10:00, the cloud has cleared and we have 19C. Good weather for city visiting. We are now so expert at riding the RER into Paris, we can do it without even thinking. We have a little plan, this involves a stroll down the Champs Elleyses, visit Les Invalides, visit Tuileries Gardens and, find a Louis Vuitton shop, which Brian wishes to visit to treat himself to some expensive item. We get off the train at Charles De Gaulle Etoille, and stroll along the Champs Elleyses, soon, Kathleen and Linda disappear in Marks and Spencer. A stroll around a very smart arcade, which contains an odd mix of shops, half are so expensive, we could not possibly shop there, the other half are selling cheap tourist tat, which we would not want to buy. Very attractive arcade however. It is not long before a toilet stop is needed, the girls find a very posh loo, but, are horrified to find it costs 2 Euro EACH, to, as it were, spend a penny. The Louis Vuitton shop in Champs Elleyses have kindly furnished Brian with a map, all nicely contained in a cardboard wallet embossed with their logo. Following the map, we cross the river and head for Les Invalides. Our destination is behind Les Invalides, so, the plan is, after negotiating security at Les Invalides, to walk through Les Invalides, emerging on the other side. Alas, it would appear, you cannot simply "walk through", so, we walk around the outside of the building, and soon, we We find the Louis Vuitton shop. The shop is located within a building called Bon Marche, which has security at the door, complete with metal detector, and, houses several well known "designer label" outlets. This causes Kathleen some amusement, since, in the UK, "Bon Marche" is associated with a rather down market shop for elderly ladies. This is no ordinary shopping outlet, and, accordingly, being served, is a time consuming process, but, we eventually emerge, business concluded, Brian, is now the proud owner of a wallet which is worth more than the money inside it. The area we are in appears to be quite upmarket, but, lacking the "tourist" feel, we are, on the edge of the "Rive Gauche" area, and find a very pleasant, and, it would appear very authentic "Salon de The". Here, we enter into the French way, and spend two and a half hours having a rather pleasant lunch of Gallettes, followed by ice cream, and coffee. We wend our way back to the RER station, via Jardin Tuileries.
Sunday 6th September 2015 We take the RER into Paris, this time to visit one of the Sunday Markets and, Rive Gauche. Vegetable buying is quickly followed by a succession of hat trials by Kathleen and Linda. A stroll through Jardin des Plantes, past the zoo, then coffee, ice cream and a sandwich. Past Notre Dame lingering by the riverside stalls, to buy priceless rare prints of Paris street scenes, who can resist? Until, eventually, hats are purchased in the Rive Gauche area.
Monday 7th September 2015
Brian and Linda take a trip into Paris, to visit Arc de Triomphe. We take a day off from the city and go cycling. We cycle past the Chateau at Maisons Laffitte. Then across the river to where there is an excellent, mostly traffic free cycle track. We go along the Seine approximately 10 miles we think, towards Paris, but, to be honest, the river meanders so much, it is difficult to be sure!
The evening is rounded off with a meal in L'Avenue, Maisons Lafitte, and, very enjoyable too. Our waiter's English is just slightly better than our French, so, much hilarity, but, we all get what we ordered, so, success.
Saturday 5th September 2015. Overcast and cool, but, that is probably ideal for our planned visit to Montemartre area, Kathleen and Linda plan to visit the shops, myself and Brian plan to do anything but, visit the shops. We take the ten minute walk from the Campsite to the RER station. Purchase of our tickets, with the aid of Linda's excellent French is accomplished without a problem, deciding which platform we needed to be on takes a little longer. Change from RER to metro at Charles De Gaulle Etoile, and soon, we are at Pigalle and in Montmartre. We have all been to the Basilica before, so, while the girls concentrate on shopping, Brian and I wander and have coffee. Kathleen and Linda eventually turn up, all shopped out, a light lunch, followed by more wandering the streets of Montmartre. Place de Tetre is particularly interesting, lost of interesting Paris street scenes, Love it.
Friday 4th September 2015 Before leaving Camping St Claire, we have a busy morning: Me: Empty waste water, service toilet, half fill fresh water tank, Kathleen: do her hair I decide, in a moment of madness to set both satnavs for our destination. So, I have three women telling me what to do at every junction, roundabout and motorway exit, ie two satnavs plus Kathleen. Actually, they turn out to be in remarkable harmony.
. For almost the whole journey, the road is good and the traffic is light to almost none existent. At one of the sets of traffic lights we spot this litter lout, see the fag packet being thrown out of the left hand side window. I suppose it goes to show anti-social, thoughtless people are everywhere you go.
We are a little anxious about about driving so close into Central Paris, in the campervan, but, it turns out the approach to Maisons Lafitte is not difficult at all, apart from the last half mile or so, which is through narrow streets, lined with parked cars. It is well signposted, until, we are confronted with a diversion, where some workmen are busy cutting a tree down, so, we must wend our way through a few even narrower streets, to enter Maisons Laffite International. Maisons Lafitte is quite a large campsite, on an island in the river Seine. As "city" campsites go, in our experience, it is remarkably well kept. It is relatively quiet at this time f year, which is how we like it. Reception staff are helpful and friendly, Kathleen emerges not only with details of nearest church and mass times, details of how to get to the nearest RER station, but, also significant details of the receptionists private life and her ambitions to become as school teacher. All of that information was gathered without infringing the Human Rights Act or the Geneva Convention. The helpful receptionist, allocates us a spot near Brian and Linda's prebooked pitch, although they have not yet arrived. We have a river view from the van, with barges and pleasure craft sailing past at regular intervals. Brian and Linda are delayed, they are approaching from the South (Dijon) and have got themselves onto a stretch of toll motorway, with height barriers on the exits. Eventually they escape the motorway and arrive via Versailles. Brian provides the wine, Kathleen, rustles up food for all, and, an evening of eating and drinking follows.
Amusing little scene this morning as we sat eating our breakfast at about 8:30. A "council" pickup truck arrived, towing an industrial shredder. Three workmen emerged. First, they asked the lone German lady campervaner to move her van, they clearly planned to trim the trees behind her van. I expected this to be the end of peace and quiet, chain saws, hedge trimmers, not to mention the shredder. I need not have worried. German lady moved, Workman 1, lit up a cigarette, sat on the towbar of the shredder and smoked. Workman 2, got his sandwiches out and proceeded to munch away. Workman 3, the driver, disappeared in the pickup and, returned, about 15 minutes later with coffees and more food. About two hours later, just before we left, work commenced. Council workers in France are clearly just like their British counterparts.
We had no EHU last night at Montreuil-sur-Mer, that means, no hair dryer or hair straighteners (not for me silly). It is necessary, therefore, to have a night at a campsite so Kathleen's withdrawal symptoms can be brought under control. It is decided that, old faithful Camping Ste Claire at Neufchatel-en-Bray will do very nicely. We arrive to find it pristine as usual. We arrive at lunch time, the site looks almost empty, but, such is it's popularity, by 16:30, it is looking decidely full! 20:30 and, they are still arriving! Sadly, the weather is not kind, it pours with rain until about 16:00, but Kathleen has no difficulty filling her time, planning a route to Maison Lafitte, after she has put the French National Grid to good use. Yesterday, whilst still in England, I visited an M&S Simply Food, to buy a Pizza for tea. I noticed they also had Chocolate Teacakes (not Tunnocks, but, M&S own brand). Kathleen is very partial to Tunnocks chocolate teacakes, so, I bought a pack of 16 of the M&S version. Unknown to me, Kathleen stored them in the fridge, to prevent the chocolate from melting. Today, we had one with our coffee, it was decidedly not upto Tunnock standard. Kathleen decided, that I could eat the remaining 14 (not all at once), since she did not like them. Just in the interests of using them up, I ate a second one. Well, we post war babies remember rationing, we don't like to waste things. I suggested that, perhaps, storing them in the fridge was the problem, so, they were put in the "food" cupboard. Later, in the evening, I had another, it was much better. Kathleen tried one, yes, much better. I am now banned from eating any more.
Wednesday 3rd September 2015 We have plenty of time, so, a leisurely drive to Dover. It is motorway almost all the way, M11, M25, M2.
To M11, and away we go: Very soon after leaving Barton, the traffic slows to a crawl, the opposite carriageway is totally empty of traffic, looks like an accident ahead on the north-bound carriageway.
Sure enough, we soon come upon the scene, a small campervan on it's side, with other motorists trying to get the doors open, there are no emergency services on the scene yet. Despite the new "no stopping" toll system at the Dartford Crossing, there is still a one mile tail back of slow moving traffic. The most exciting thing to happen is at the services on the M2. While sitting having our lunch, we watch a large articulated wagon, attempting to park. I don't feel inclined to comment on the driver's skill level, since I cannot reverse the campervan, with motorcycle trailer attached, but, he was making heavy weather of it. Eventually, he collided with a very smart Marley wagon and trailer outfit, he was trying to park alongside. It is quite a hit, we can see the trailer move with the impact from 200 metres away! When the driver of the Marley wagon returns to his wagon, we decide to play the "goodie" and tell him.
On to Dover, despite dawdling, we arrive too early for out 17:30 ferry and are given the option of taking the 16:45 at same price, or, 16:00 for £20 extra, we opt to pay the £20.
By now, it is raining heavily, with accompanying thunder and lightening.
During the crossing, Kathleen decides to re-organise our journey, it is decided my selection of Baie de Somme aire is too far south, so, another Aire is selected, at Montreuil-sur-Mer. Montreuil turns out to be a very pleasant French town, but, quite why it has the tag "sur-mer", literally, "on sea", is a mystery to us, since it is at least five miles as the crow flies from the coast. The aire is full, given our late evening arrival, that is not really a surprise, but, there is a bus parking area adjacent, which several campervans have "overflowed" into, so, we join them. I can recommend this aire, pleasant town, five minutes walk away, with shops, bars, banks etc. Clean "automatic" public toilets. Free, with services for 2Euro. Plus, it is not isolated and appears to be well used, so, no fears on the security side.
A very leisurely departure, at 09:45, as planned. So far, we do not appear to have forgotten anything, or, if we have, we have not realised it yet! Straight to ASDA, fill with deisel, followed by an uneventful 220 miles to Barton, near Cambridge.
Our stop-over is a Caravan Club, Certified Location (CL), called Birds Farm (12 Haslingfield Road, Barton, Cambridge, CB23 7AG). £10 a night, with EHU and toilets, it is just a short distance off the A14. Of course, proximity to the A14 has a downside, you can hear the traffic noise from the site. I don't expect that to keep me awake, I am a sound sleeper, clear conscience! The final few miles:-
