Malibu Molly

Please excuse the linking to another blog service.  I use Travellerspoint as my family can see posts appear in their email. Travellerspoint also allows me to update via email and include photos in the posts. Blogger doesn't.  https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/987/

A couple of weeks to go before we set off for deepest France and Spain. The problem when trying to plan a route down is that in the end, there aren't really that many places to cross from France into Spain, and vice-versa. When you are pressed for time on the outward journey to avoid tolls limits the choices to get from the channel port, either ferry or train.  If the aim is to cross at the Mediterranean end of the Pyrenees than the A75 comes up on all route planners. Also Paris site like a fat spider in the middle of its web.  Getting around always poses a problem.  The eastern route on the N104/A104 is pretty much the route you get given by Google Maps and many of the route planners that use Google Maps! Oddly, MyRouteApp decided to go to the west this time from Formerie.  I guess if we had chosen to stay at a different aire then the route might have been substantially different. Route avoiding the worst of Paris! Usually to get a route you want you have to add som...

It might be a bit early to be planning the return for a holiday that we haven't started yet and that's a month away! But one needs to have a look at the maps and suss out places to stop that aren't too far apart, or requite driving all day and also that mean you see little or nothing of the countryside. That's why I try and avoid motorways where possible, and toll motorways in particular. Okay, you can speed along and cover long distances.  For a lot of the time you only get to see  the road stretching away in front of you and often just a bank of grass where they have tried to hide the road from view! The rough route that I have planned from Kione Playa in Alcossebre to Calais Ferry Port takes in a route we haven't done before.  Well, some of it we have but not for many years. At the moment I have planned stops at Camping-Car Park aires, although once the route is cut down to each day (from an overall route) then we can refine, and I like the idea of the France Pa...

The route southwards in France is pretty much sorted now.   With three stops at Camping-Car Park (CCP) aires planned,  I decided to book the first night in advance. By the time we arrive in France it will be around 2pm.  No doubt we'll want to get some shopping done on the way.   I have chosen the CCP aire at Formerie as the first stop. It's around 100 miles from Eurotunnel. It's only got 6 emplacements so booking might be a good idea. Just in case.. Photo by me!  Taken in May 2024. To book in advance rather than taking pot luck, you need to pay for the " PACK'PRIVILEGES" subscription.  Mine runs out on the 4th October. So I was able to pre-book this stop and if necessary, the following two.  It's debatable whether it's worth the €29 to buy as it doesn't really give anything but pre-booking.  It may be worth it for high season. With the app installed on the phones we can check the area and choose an aire that has plenty ...

The slight change is that we are no longer going to fit in a visit to Claire's friend near Saint Etienne.  It's simply to cut down some of the mileage involved and free-up a few hours on the road. Another change and what could be called a spanner in the works is that John, whose "surprise" 70th we are going to for lunch on Sunday, emailed to say that we shouldn't be too late arriving on Saturday as there is a dinner!  We were unaware of that! And it's not a surprise. He also said friends in the village had offered to put us up in their house (or apartment) whilst we are there. The problem we have is that we will have a fridge full of stuff bought on the way down, including Reggie's food that we can't keep frozen in the freezer compartment unless we are on an electric hook-up, or using the LPG onboard. It's not safe to leave a van with the gas burning when you aren't near it! We will need to address that nearer the time.  It may be that we can p...

Once I had rested after my 14 hours sojourn between triage and major investigations, I started to work through the list of bookings I had already made for this trip. Le Shuttle was the easiest and could be done online. That they stiffed us for £36 to change from one low season date to another low season date says more about their business than anything. No humans involved and I did all the work for them. The two Camping-Car Park bookings were easily enough cancelled, although it needed a WhatsApp chat to get it done as it can't be done through the newly updated app on the phone. It needed a Messenger message to their Facebook social media team to get the WhatsApp link.  The cost of the two aires was credited back to my account in minutes. The other campsite bookings took a little longer.  The site in Belgium that I booked through the Caravan Club had been paid in full. Firstly a deposit in January and then the full payment in April.  I am to receive two payments that amou...

Since the last update I have been looking at Maps, both paper and online, and various apps looking for places to stay in the three overnights we have between  Bühl and Annecy. I have been working in MyRouteApp to to make a route that goes from Bühl to Obernai near Strasbourg that gives us a day on the Black Forest High Road.  It's not that long but it is supposed to be scenic. I have the France Passion book and also the app on my phone to look for two overnights along the Route des Crêtes in Alsace. These generally tend to be non reserveable so it's a matter of seeing what's available when we want to stop. The third overnight has been sorted. I was looking at aires and saw Camping-Car Park has one at Chavannes to the south east of the Crêtes area. It's €13.50 per night with all services. I have been checking for a few nights on the app and there haven't been many pitches left by 7pm. So I booked it.  The new app allows you to choose the time of day when you expect t...

I have been mapping out the possible routes to take on the outward journey from the Shuttle arrival point in Coquelles near Calais. The Shuttle is already booked and so is the first night of the trip. That first night is at a campsite in the Ardennes in Belgium.   I am still looking beyond that and have looked at Bühl in the Black Forest for the second night. The idea for that is that it avoids French pay motorways and it takes us to an area we have never been to before.  Bühl looks like a good overnight spot and thee is a Camping-Car Park (CCP) aire on the outskirts of the town. As the first night is on a site we will have fill power etc in the batteries and the power bank.  The CCP aires all have power and clean water and waste facilities anyway. Awaycation 2025 - Map 1 The route that TomTom Camper Max through the online mapping tool has planned is for a campervan with the dimensions of Malibu Molly in programmed in.  It's also set to avoid toll roads. The nex...

With the dates of the French "event" firmly in the diary and the timeshare booked, I am left with 6 nights before we can check in in Alcossebre. So,I started to check a few sites that I had seen on some of the vloggers we follow. " The Slaws Adventures " went to a campsite in Northern Spain called  Càmping La Gaviota Costa Brava . It looks like a good site and is close to a dog friendly beach. The reviews on Google maps look promising.  I have enquired by email about staying there three nights so that after a drive through France we can have a few days with no worries. A dog friendly beach means that Reggie can have a play too. It's quite expensive at about £33 a night. I know some van lifers will cringe at that sort of cost. It leaves one night between the "event" and La Gaviota.  Before we cross into Spain there are quite a few Camping-Car Park aires en route. So we won't be left in a lay-by somewhere. I also have the France Passion booklet an...