More Aires Hunting

More Aires Hunting - Day 1

In true motor-homing spirit we've been very casual about planning this trip south. We had to hang around a bit in the UK for the shower repair and a couple of other small things but as soon as was possible we had our channel crossing booked.

Eurotunnel prices had gone through the roof for the days we wanted so we booked a very unsociable 1.23AM! We took a bit of a chance and arrived very early, about 5pm and they very kindly rescheduled us to cross 6 hours early at no extra cost - thank you Eurotunnel! We also found out that the huge prices were because we had chosen dates leading up to the 24 hour Le Mans racing - doh!

So, arriving late evening we just popped around the corner from the Calais terminal to Cite Europe for the night. A leisurely meal, bottle of wine, some French TV and a good night's sleep followed.

Next morning after breakfast and over our traditional couple of cups of coffee we studied the map to decide on our approximate route. Although definitely heading for Spain we had not decided whether to go down through France via the coast, through the middle or via the eastern side and the Rhone-Alps. More or less tossing a coin we chose the Alps. Mostly based on the theory that at this time of year the coast will be hectic, inland hot and from previous experience the Alps offer stunning scenery in the summer without having to contend with snowy conditions at high altitude.

With the loss of an hour on the clock and the above lazy start a couple of hundred toll-free Km's will do for today so we're heading for the St-Quentin area in Northern France and we'll see what turns up en-route. After that we will be taking in some of the Champagne region, Burgundy and maybe a little of Eastern France as the days progress.

Well, 'en-route' we came across a very pleasant Aire, nearly missed due to the very small sign giving away its location. A canal side spot with free parking, and free services including free unmetered electricity..... Albeit it only overnight. So we stayed.

We had the place to ourselves and once settled in went off for a wander along the canal. Several fishermen were trying their skills, one offered us his catch to eat! Back at the van we acquired 2 neighbours, a Dutch couple and a German couple. The latter being of the type who fidget for ages before they settle down - try a different space, turn and face the other way, move forwards a bit, end up parked right up close to us (never mind the 5 other free spaces) and then go backwards and forwards to their lockers opening and slamming the doors, hey ho  its all good fun.

I'll update and upload the blog as and when we have wifi of some description

Day 2

A very lazy and late start, must be the hour lost still! Plan today is another couple of hundred km's hoping to stopover around the vineyards of the Champagne region.

Sat nav set for an approximate destination we set off to see what turns up. With a late start we didn't bother with a lunch stop, just brief pauses to have a look at a few Aires on the way - seems to be a bit of a canal theme to our findings!

Through Picardie and into the Champagne-Ardenne we headed to an Aire that we had used a couple of times before at Mareuil sur Ay but on the way we found a fabulous stop right by the vineyards of the big label producers Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger. The Aire has 8 spaces and still plenty of room enabling us to get the end spot with a great view to just gaze at

After a walk around the village, unfortunately too late in the day for some tasting, we settled down to food and to get the TV tuned for the Spain vs Holland world cup match.

Day 3

Spain are going to have to pull their socks up!!

Another 200 km destination although there is a lovely canal-side (again!) Aire that we used a few years ago that might tempt us to stop a bit early, a beautiful spot with all services and although not free it was very cheap. This day would take us right to the bottom of the Champagne region.

Driving was fairly uneventful but I am feeling more comfortable with the van. On an Iveco base its very lorry like as opposed to our Bel-Air which was fiat based and very car like to drive. The gear-change especially has a very long throw and feels quite clonky at first. The engine doesn't feel that it wants to be revved hard through the gears and, like the lorries I remember driving years ago, works at its best when kept in the green power band on the rev-counter. Initial calculations show that we're averaging just over 25mpg which at 4 and a half tons I'm very happy with.

Arriving at Froncles, the Aire I mentioned, we were really disappointed to see the state of it. A couple of really grubby vans and an old coach looked like they had taken permanent residence with associated debris strewn about and the others were jammed in at all angles with washing lines up - it all looked more like a travellers camp!

Back to plan A then, As we went through Landres we followed the signs to a town centre Aire but on arrival we found that although the services were open the parking had been blocked off and prohibited signs put up.

Another 15 or 20 kms on we pulled in at a village Aire that we recognised from about 4 years ago, it had been full then so we hadn't stayed but this time there was room. The pitches are good sized and in pairs bordered by hedging. We soon got parked and settled in. There's a 5€ charge but includes EHU and services and we found out later, showers and toilets too - we always use our own facilities but it's great for those who don't.

A couple of Brits were considering their parking options in order to be able to receive satellite signals for England's game against Italy but the surrounding trees were a problem. We just put up our Status aerial and found TF1 HD amongst our Freeview channels and job done

We decided we'd stay an extra day.

Day 4

A day of rest.

Thats's a laugh! Well, that's what we call it anyway

A great opportunity to finish a couple of jobs on the van whilst we are rested up in lovely surroundings.

Firstly I got the inverter connected up to power. I had previously installed the unit and run the necessary cables behind trim and through lockers etc to get the power where it would be needed. For some reason Carthago don't seem to think you might need any power points at the front of the van, they only supply 4 singles which are all amidships. The inverter (300W) is now mounted in the garage near to where the leisure batteries live and there are now power points in the rear bedroom, middle cupboard and front lounge, the latter being able to run off mains or inverter. The whole inverter supply can be turned off from inside the van via a switched relay.

With that done I bolted our old safe into its new position and tidied the garage a bit, to be fair though its carrying lots of stuff bound for Spain so can't help but looked a bit cluttered.

A quick look at the map and it will be another 200 kms tomorrow.....

Day 5

After filling and emptying as required we headed to the nearest E'Leclerc to get some shopping, fill up with diesel and give back our French Butagaz cylinder that we used in France in our old van which didn't have the refillable cylinders that we now use - on production of our original gas contract and ID we got our 9€ deposit back too.

Having had no wifi for a few days we also headed to a MacDonalds to see if all was well in the world. Their car park looked a bit tight so I pulled in at a garden centre opposite and used a long range aerial to get a just about ok signal. Caroline went for a wander around the centre to 'justify' our parking . Emails sorted, blog uploaded, lunch eaten (that time already!) we set off for Burgundy.

Our afternoon's driving finished in the south of the region at Louhans. Its a lovely Aire that we first visited a few years ago when it had first been refurbished. Set by the riverside its nicely laid out and landscaped with the planting of 50 different varieties of pear trees which were now coming along nicely.

Tomorrow should see us up into the Alps....

Day 6

After visiting Aires on the way we ended up at a charming location next to a small swimming lake, Serrieres En Chautagne. Parking and services free next to a little stream, we felt another day off coming!

We took advantage of the local bar's take-away pizza option and very good it was too.

A nice peaceful, if very warm, night other than the many local bullfrogs croaking the night away!

Day 7

The plan was to follow one of the local circular walks up into the mountains.

Whilst having our traditional morning coffee there was a determined knock at the van door. A Frenchman enquired as to whether we would be staying 'this night'? He advised us not to be worried by gunfire because 'tonight we kill some bad animals!'

We're intrigued to say the least!

We set of on the planned 5.4km walk which took us all of two and a half hours due to the slowness caused by the gradients but it was well worth it following waterfall after waterfall.

The viewpoint towards the highest point gave us an idea of just how far we'd climbed as we could look right down to our van in the Aire below.

By the time we got back to the van the lakeside bar had opened up so it seemed rude not to sit with a couple of cold pints for a while never mind the cost

Having had at least a day's exercise the rest of the afternoon was spent reading maps and books in preparation for more of our journey.

Day 8

Well, no gunfire in the night so I have no idea what that was all about......

Anyway, after a fill and empty we set off for a scenic day. Beautiful village after beautiful village we progressed through the Rhone-Alps and before long we were gaining altitude. Another difference discovered between this and our last van is the lack of engine braking on long descents - I can see more frequent changes of brake pads coming.

Our 200km day was a long one on these sort of roads so we were glad to reach our stop for the night. Pont du Fosse is a lovely Aire that we first used about 4 years ago, on arrival it was clear that it has been a little neglected since. However, its still free to stay and its a great location, we may have another day off tomorrow to walk the local routes as we did last time. (Incidentally, Pont du Fosse [link] is available for public viewing in full detail in the relevant stopover section on Club Motorhome).

Day 9

A change of plans

Rather than a day off we decided to proceed south, our intial destination being on the Med coast but thinking about a long day we decided to split the journey with a night-stop about half way.

Before setting off properly we nipped about 15/20kms into the mountains for some scenic photos, at somewhere over 2000mtrs we found our spot. We would have used the Aire at Orcieres but at 10€ a stop (18€ in the ski season) we used a public car park for a brief stop.

While I fiddled about getting photos Caro decided to start walking back down and I had instructions to catch her up in about half an hour - fair enough!

Once reunited we continued our day's journey.

Nothing remarkable about the drive - its amazing how quickly you become familiar and complacent about the scenery... We did have a MacDonalds wifi stop but other than having a lunch break (not McD!) it was a waste of time - their signal, my laptop or aerial weren't playing so we (I) gave up.

Our destination was an Aire by an observatory in a small village - big mistake! Access appeared to only be via the village and its very lucky we didn't damage our van or any one else's property squeezing through the tiny streets, several locals came out to watch our progress...... Eventually we came across some roadworks and we abandoned our quest.

Exiting the village our satnav told us it would be another 18km before we could turn around and I believed her - that was the second mistake! She directed us through the most tortuous 18kms you could imagine, the only good thing is I now know exactly how small roads and gaps can be and still be passable!! After that 18km detour we were back towards the ridiculously small village on the same road that we had left it on - the air was fairly blue.....

We found another Aire a few kms away at Dauphin, another tiny village but easier to navigate. The Aire is as good as disused but as we had no need for services it was a nice place with a countryside view to park for the night.

Tomorrow it'll be the hustle and bustle of the coast