M
motorvating
Guest
Just got back from France today after a 2.5 week holiday in our newly acquired RV, and all I can say it was fantastic, heart breaking annoying and funny all in one.
I was worried before we went to France that we would get lost in a large vehicle in a country that speaks a foreign language, so I invested in a Snooper Ventura (brilliant piece of kit).
We first set off to Pirbright to see our nephew Passing Out Parade after completing his basic training for the Artillery (drop shorts), and followed our Ventura all the way, however we did get lost a few times because we did not understand how the Sat Nav worked, and once ended up in the middle of a army housing estate:blushing:
The Sat Nav got us their, and as promised it avoided all unsuitable roads. As we arrived at the training barracks the looks on the squaddies on guard duty was a peach as we pulled up in our RV, but after explaining we was on route to France they let us in with lots of squaddie type comments:laugh:
Once the Pass Out finished we dashed off to take the Chunnel to Calais which was an experience in its self. The train carriageways are huge, but are quite narrow, so I had a few tyre scrubbing episodes as we loaded onto the train. Once in France we unloaded and went in search of a Aires on route to Paris, where we were going to stop for a few days.
I had loaded up an Aire in Boulogne Sur Mer and sped off to get our heads down, but unfortunately I was still not confident with the Sat Nav, and was unwilling to go down the narrow roads it wanted to take me. An hour later which had seen us stuck in a very narrow dead end road with cars behind us, we spotted a UK plated Motor home in the town, and so took the risk of following them. We drove down some very narrow roads to the area of the Aires, but in the dark we could not find it, so pulled onto a car park for the night. The next morning I looked out of the window to see a dozen other Motor homes who having seen us parked up had thought they had found the Aires, which was actually right next to us.
As we was preparing the van to go, the Police arrived and gave us all a ticking off, and sent us on our way.
Next we was off to the Aire site in Paris (Camping du Bois de Boulogne) which is in Paris its self. I was feeling a little apprehensive of driving an RV into Paris, but put faith in the Sat Nav to get us to our destination. The sat Nav took us into the centre of Paris, and up the Champs Elysees due to me not been able to follow the Sat Nav as I could not bully my way into the lanes due to the mad style of driving the Parisians partake in, needles to say navigating around the island that the Arc De Triomphe sits on was not a pleasant experience. The looks on the faces of the Parisians as a mad Brit attempts to drive an RV through the centre of Paris was wonderful.
Once at the Aire we quickly set the van up and went off to look at the sites, which is a 5 min bus ride from the camp site without any mishaps, however we was soon to have a stream of mishaps and cock ups, due to us being totally green to RVing.
That evening I set up our newly acquired gas BBQ, and set fire to our dinner:crying: and with flames a foot high we soon gained a large audience of French, Italian and Spanish campers:blushing: luckily we had stocked up and managed to bbq the chicken with only a mild burning all over lol. After tea I decided to half fill our fresh water and was soaked as my son switched the tap on full which blew the hose of the RV filling point, which resulted in this angry serpent spewing water all over me (god only knows what the other campers where thinking by this time).
That night we went top bed with the awning left up as the night looked very calm, only to get up in the morning with the awning on the floor as one of the arms had snapped due to torrential rain in the night:cursing: which was a real pain for the rest of the holiday as it was hell to wind back into its housing after use, and we had to use it to protect us from the sun.
We then spent the next hour trying to wind the remains of our RV back in, with much cursing and bickering amongst ourselves, only to be told by a French child that the arms go under the canvas and not on top which was what we was doing.
Apart from Paris we had no plans at all, and as the weather was so bad, we decided the Med was for us, so off we went to south, but stopping on the way to see if we could get the awning fixed, but was not to have any luck as the French do not seem to work very much.
after driving for several hrs we decided to stop around Clermont Ferrand, where we found a lovely Aire in Billom SE of Clermont. Billom is a medieval town that is well worth a look around if you are in the area. The Aire will take RV of all sizes, however it is basic and has no dump station but has fresh water, so is only good for an overnight stay. The electrics are good, and pitches large and private but on grass. Details will be provided to forum in next few days.
The next morning we was up bright and early for our final leg to the Med, and so was the rest of the camp as I forgot about our newly installed Cobra alarm that I set off when I opened the side door, and could not find where the keys were:blushing:
I had looked at our French reading material and decided we was heading to the Sete area to spend a few days of sun sea and vino. The A75 is a road that goes on for ever and ever, and the journey over the mountains was very demanding as you have to be 200% alert all the time, due to the steep mountain roads and sharp bends at high speed in a wallowing RV. It was on these steep mountain gradients that I envied the truck drivers with their exhaust breaks as I really was concerned about break fade, however our RV took it all in its stride. Most of the gradients I cruised up with the cruise control at 65 mph, but on a few gradients I was in the crawler lane with every other large vehicle with had me watching the oil temperature nervously but again the RV took it all in its stride.
Once we reached Sete we quickly found that all the sites were full with the French on the annual two week French get away, so we worked our way towards Agde on the N112 road which is a narrow causeway between a large bay on one side, and the Med on the other. This road has got to be seen to be believed as you have never seen so many Motor homes parked adjacent to the beach, their must have been several thousand on this small stretch of road.
Eventually we came to Marseillan Plage and on to Avenue Des camping which is one campsite after the other. All of these were full, but we was advised to go to the end of the road to the camp Les Sirens that we got into.
The camp will only take cash and will not take advance bookings and does not advertise on the internet. The site owner asked us to look around the site to see where we wanted to park up, and then come back and settle up. We found a pitch 20 feet away from the beech and was so smitten that we booked in for a week as the location next to a beautiful beech and lively town a few minutes walk away was irresistible.
We paid 240 Euros for 7 nights, 20 amp electric and 20 foot away from the beech. The site has a Motor home service station and shower blocks ect, however we was puzzled at the 5 external Thomas Crapper's until we saw the Motor home brigade emptying their stinky boxes of poo into them. You can pitch up right next to the beech, but you are paying double the amount to park and the site will take any size RV.
If anybody has young children this area and site is for you as it has a beautiful powdery beech and a very shallow shelf into the sea where life guards patrol, and when you have had enough of BBQ the very lively town centre has large numbers of restaurants and night clubs for the teens in your group, but be aware, next door their is a naturalist village, so you will see a few nude bodies further up the beech.
After being at this site for a week we booked for another 3 days as my 17 year old son and mate loved the area so much, they almost pleaded for us to stay.
During our stay at Les Sirens the rubber seal on the blade of the toilet failed, which resulted in a few wiffy moments. My son also pulled the shower door off its runners, and my mrs managed to break a tray in the fridge door. Somebody also managed to block the drains (black Water) which resulted in me scrapping around with a straightened coat hanger, and eventually a full flush out at the dumping station which succeeded.
When it was time to head north we decided to do the trip to Calais in two days and made a megga drive up to Orleans but was unable to fins a site in Orleans, and so drove south to La ferte Saint Aubin and found a pleasant Aire there that will take any size RV (details to follow) and had good eclectics, MH service station and is a few minutes walk to town centre.
The next day we dashed up to Calais and headed to the Aires at Sangatte, and bumped into some immigrants wanting to get to the UK at traffic lights in Calais who were obviously up to no good. after reading of some of the recent horror stories I put my foot down and let the v8 roar into life which got their attention, and they quickly moved out of the way as I sped by showing them I still have two fingers to pull my Long Bow lol.
The camp at Sangatte was a strange affair as most of the site was dedicated to fulltime living in mobile homes with a few pitched for Motor Homes and tents. What was amazing is that the French were holidaying in the area?
We was astounded at how the French are as lazy as us when it comes to learning a foreign language, and a little disappointed at how rude they can be in the south of the country.
We made a lot of mistakes and learnt a huge amount about RV touring, but loved every minute of it, and it can only get better as we become more experienced.
The RV we have will probably be sold on for another that meets our requirements in a year or two, however we are pleased with our RV and especially the fuel consumption. we have covered 1,985 miles and used 585 pounds worth off diesel. This was achieved by cruising at 65 mph using the overdrive and cruise control when ever possible.
I was worried before we went to France that we would get lost in a large vehicle in a country that speaks a foreign language, so I invested in a Snooper Ventura (brilliant piece of kit).
We first set off to Pirbright to see our nephew Passing Out Parade after completing his basic training for the Artillery (drop shorts), and followed our Ventura all the way, however we did get lost a few times because we did not understand how the Sat Nav worked, and once ended up in the middle of a army housing estate:blushing:
The Sat Nav got us their, and as promised it avoided all unsuitable roads. As we arrived at the training barracks the looks on the squaddies on guard duty was a peach as we pulled up in our RV, but after explaining we was on route to France they let us in with lots of squaddie type comments:laugh:
Once the Pass Out finished we dashed off to take the Chunnel to Calais which was an experience in its self. The train carriageways are huge, but are quite narrow, so I had a few tyre scrubbing episodes as we loaded onto the train. Once in France we unloaded and went in search of a Aires on route to Paris, where we were going to stop for a few days.
I had loaded up an Aire in Boulogne Sur Mer and sped off to get our heads down, but unfortunately I was still not confident with the Sat Nav, and was unwilling to go down the narrow roads it wanted to take me. An hour later which had seen us stuck in a very narrow dead end road with cars behind us, we spotted a UK plated Motor home in the town, and so took the risk of following them. We drove down some very narrow roads to the area of the Aires, but in the dark we could not find it, so pulled onto a car park for the night. The next morning I looked out of the window to see a dozen other Motor homes who having seen us parked up had thought they had found the Aires, which was actually right next to us.
As we was preparing the van to go, the Police arrived and gave us all a ticking off, and sent us on our way.
Next we was off to the Aire site in Paris (Camping du Bois de Boulogne) which is in Paris its self. I was feeling a little apprehensive of driving an RV into Paris, but put faith in the Sat Nav to get us to our destination. The sat Nav took us into the centre of Paris, and up the Champs Elysees due to me not been able to follow the Sat Nav as I could not bully my way into the lanes due to the mad style of driving the Parisians partake in, needles to say navigating around the island that the Arc De Triomphe sits on was not a pleasant experience. The looks on the faces of the Parisians as a mad Brit attempts to drive an RV through the centre of Paris was wonderful.
Once at the Aire we quickly set the van up and went off to look at the sites, which is a 5 min bus ride from the camp site without any mishaps, however we was soon to have a stream of mishaps and cock ups, due to us being totally green to RVing.
That evening I set up our newly acquired gas BBQ, and set fire to our dinner:crying: and with flames a foot high we soon gained a large audience of French, Italian and Spanish campers:blushing: luckily we had stocked up and managed to bbq the chicken with only a mild burning all over lol. After tea I decided to half fill our fresh water and was soaked as my son switched the tap on full which blew the hose of the RV filling point, which resulted in this angry serpent spewing water all over me (god only knows what the other campers where thinking by this time).
That night we went top bed with the awning left up as the night looked very calm, only to get up in the morning with the awning on the floor as one of the arms had snapped due to torrential rain in the night:cursing: which was a real pain for the rest of the holiday as it was hell to wind back into its housing after use, and we had to use it to protect us from the sun.
We then spent the next hour trying to wind the remains of our RV back in, with much cursing and bickering amongst ourselves, only to be told by a French child that the arms go under the canvas and not on top which was what we was doing.
Apart from Paris we had no plans at all, and as the weather was so bad, we decided the Med was for us, so off we went to south, but stopping on the way to see if we could get the awning fixed, but was not to have any luck as the French do not seem to work very much.
after driving for several hrs we decided to stop around Clermont Ferrand, where we found a lovely Aire in Billom SE of Clermont. Billom is a medieval town that is well worth a look around if you are in the area. The Aire will take RV of all sizes, however it is basic and has no dump station but has fresh water, so is only good for an overnight stay. The electrics are good, and pitches large and private but on grass. Details will be provided to forum in next few days.
The next morning we was up bright and early for our final leg to the Med, and so was the rest of the camp as I forgot about our newly installed Cobra alarm that I set off when I opened the side door, and could not find where the keys were:blushing:
I had looked at our French reading material and decided we was heading to the Sete area to spend a few days of sun sea and vino. The A75 is a road that goes on for ever and ever, and the journey over the mountains was very demanding as you have to be 200% alert all the time, due to the steep mountain roads and sharp bends at high speed in a wallowing RV. It was on these steep mountain gradients that I envied the truck drivers with their exhaust breaks as I really was concerned about break fade, however our RV took it all in its stride. Most of the gradients I cruised up with the cruise control at 65 mph, but on a few gradients I was in the crawler lane with every other large vehicle with had me watching the oil temperature nervously but again the RV took it all in its stride.
Once we reached Sete we quickly found that all the sites were full with the French on the annual two week French get away, so we worked our way towards Agde on the N112 road which is a narrow causeway between a large bay on one side, and the Med on the other. This road has got to be seen to be believed as you have never seen so many Motor homes parked adjacent to the beach, their must have been several thousand on this small stretch of road.
Eventually we came to Marseillan Plage and on to Avenue Des camping which is one campsite after the other. All of these were full, but we was advised to go to the end of the road to the camp Les Sirens that we got into.
The camp will only take cash and will not take advance bookings and does not advertise on the internet. The site owner asked us to look around the site to see where we wanted to park up, and then come back and settle up. We found a pitch 20 feet away from the beech and was so smitten that we booked in for a week as the location next to a beautiful beech and lively town a few minutes walk away was irresistible.
We paid 240 Euros for 7 nights, 20 amp electric and 20 foot away from the beech. The site has a Motor home service station and shower blocks ect, however we was puzzled at the 5 external Thomas Crapper's until we saw the Motor home brigade emptying their stinky boxes of poo into them. You can pitch up right next to the beech, but you are paying double the amount to park and the site will take any size RV.
If anybody has young children this area and site is for you as it has a beautiful powdery beech and a very shallow shelf into the sea where life guards patrol, and when you have had enough of BBQ the very lively town centre has large numbers of restaurants and night clubs for the teens in your group, but be aware, next door their is a naturalist village, so you will see a few nude bodies further up the beech.
After being at this site for a week we booked for another 3 days as my 17 year old son and mate loved the area so much, they almost pleaded for us to stay.
During our stay at Les Sirens the rubber seal on the blade of the toilet failed, which resulted in a few wiffy moments. My son also pulled the shower door off its runners, and my mrs managed to break a tray in the fridge door. Somebody also managed to block the drains (black Water) which resulted in me scrapping around with a straightened coat hanger, and eventually a full flush out at the dumping station which succeeded.
When it was time to head north we decided to do the trip to Calais in two days and made a megga drive up to Orleans but was unable to fins a site in Orleans, and so drove south to La ferte Saint Aubin and found a pleasant Aire there that will take any size RV (details to follow) and had good eclectics, MH service station and is a few minutes walk to town centre.
The next day we dashed up to Calais and headed to the Aires at Sangatte, and bumped into some immigrants wanting to get to the UK at traffic lights in Calais who were obviously up to no good. after reading of some of the recent horror stories I put my foot down and let the v8 roar into life which got their attention, and they quickly moved out of the way as I sped by showing them I still have two fingers to pull my Long Bow lol.
The camp at Sangatte was a strange affair as most of the site was dedicated to fulltime living in mobile homes with a few pitched for Motor Homes and tents. What was amazing is that the French were holidaying in the area?
We was astounded at how the French are as lazy as us when it comes to learning a foreign language, and a little disappointed at how rude they can be in the south of the country.
We made a lot of mistakes and learnt a huge amount about RV touring, but loved every minute of it, and it can only get better as we become more experienced.
The RV we have will probably be sold on for another that meets our requirements in a year or two, however we are pleased with our RV and especially the fuel consumption. we have covered 1,985 miles and used 585 pounds worth off diesel. This was achieved by cruising at 65 mph using the overdrive and cruise control when ever possible.
