Malibu Molly

With the plan to to Donzenac aborted yesterday and us ending up on the CCP site at Saint-Léon sur Vézere, it meant that we needed to rethink today and the rest of the week's journey and overnighting spots. We set off around 1020 today. We were originally heading up the A20/N20 to another CCP site at Thénioux near Orleans. What should have been a simple run eastward to Brive became another C roads funathon.  Once we finally got onto the A20 after a little of the A89 we discussed options. By the time we stopped at the Area Porte de Corrèze services we had decided to abort Thénioux and get somewhere not as far away. Checking the road map and CCP app we hit on the aire at Oradour sur Glane. It's a popular aire as it's not too far from the "village martyr". We went there some years ago. It's a very sobering experience. Oradour-sur-Glane Memory Center | Limousin – New Horizons https://share.google/Ny8nRf3gYi1c5HH6I By the time we had setup it started to rain. The vi...

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...

I have allowed three nights on the "Alsace Tour" section of the trip.  This should take us from Bühl in the Black Forest across into France and through Alsace and along the Route des Crêtes to around the north of Mulhouse. I have a few places bookmarked on the France Passion system to overnight. All the places are self-sufficient and so in Bühl we will need to do the housekeeping  jobs and fill the fresh water tank. We do tend to carry a five litre spring water bottle with us for drinking water, although when it's emptied we can fill it with fresh water from the tap on the aire.  I've not booked the Bühl Camping-Car Park aire yet.  They have changed the app and website and it's all bug ridden! Nearer the time.  There are one or two other aires in France that could maybe do the same overnight! So to Annecy.  It's a place we have planned to visit in the past and never have done. Always something else came up and we did that instead.  Usually Spain! Mulho...

Ferry Maybe I should have done this before but I have booked the return crossing for the end of our holiday. I did a price comparison check on the three of the four channel crossing operators from our area.  I discounted DFDS (Calais or Dunkerque) as they don't have anywhere for the dog to go other than in the van for the entire crossing. Further afield is DFDS from Dieppe to Newhaven.  Newhaven is along the A259 almost door to door. One road! That route also doesn't have a dog lounge and the crossing is around 4 hours. So from the three I have booked Irish Ferries. Why?  It's the cheapest.  I paid in euros and it came out at £132.10 when it landed in my Halifax account. This is for the van, us and Reggie with access to the "pet den".   Last year when I returned on the bike from the MotoGP at Assen their ferry "Oscar Wilde" was very clean and was much cheaper than P&O and the Shuttle. By comparison. For ...

I haven't made all that much progress with "Summer 2025" yet other than a channel crossing booked and one campsite for the first night booked. My attention has turned to Autumn,  October to be a little more precise. We have been invited to a special event early in the month in France and I have begun to look at the feasibility of going and including it into the holiday we normally have for our wedding anniversary.   I can't say much about the event itself until later in the year but the wedding anniversary will be our 25th - Silver Wedding! So, I have been looking at combining the two events and incorporating them into a trip to France and Spain. I have been looking on RCI ( rci.com ) to use the "banked" apartment and seeing if there are other options to Alcossebre. We have done Kione Playa Romana twice before, lastly in October 2024.  It was  a good week and meant we didn't have to travel all that far once there and could have a bit of R&R. The...

I have been looking at places to go again. Apart from the Shuttle booking and one campsite for the first night we are away,  Ardennen Camping Bertix , I have not planned anything yet. This doesn't mean that over the next four months before we set off that this won't change!  Of course! The current idea is still basically what I had looked at before.  From the Ardennes through Luxembourg, where I hope they still have cheaper fuel (!) into Germany and the Black Forest with an overnight stay in Bühl.  It's close to  Baden Baden . The original plan was to do the Alsace Tour and this could be a good starting point for crossing into France near Strasbourg. Reggie is getting older and he is definitely not a towny kind of  dog and so many places may see us leaving him to sleep in the van whilst we venture out. He doesn't really like traffic all that much!! Admittedly, neither do I go out for a walk. Hopefully, once on the Alsace Tour there will be plenty of o...

This year as we are going to be in France for quite a few days or even weeks this year, I decided to give us more options to park up during the evenings.  So I joined France Passion . Check out their website to see what's on offer.  There's no pre-booking so it's basically suck it and see!  I have been looking at the vineyards around the Alsace region on the way southwards. I am still hoping to get across to Switzerland to get some days in the mountains.  But of course things are open to debate and change. In fact, I am thinking of just a few days in Switzerland and then back into France. We shall see?

With the Shuttle and first night already booked, I am looking at the route that will take us from southern Belgium to a second overnight stop that will mean we can embark on the "Alsace Route". I am of course looking at Camping-Car Park aires and there are a few to choose from.  One in particular is actually across the Rhine at Bühl . It's not that far from the suggested route that I found on "Into the Alpine" website . Whether or not we can find anywhere to park a 6m van in Strasbourg and get to look at the city is another matter.  It may be a case of bypassing the southern HQ of the EU Parliament and go to the next place on the suggested route.  I am also looking at Colmar for a night or two as it is in the middle of the route and will give us time to relax and also to take more time looking at the scenic places on the way around.   I think sometimes as we are always "going somewhere" we tend to miss out on a lot of places and over plan the...

It's that time again when I have started to look at where to go for the early Summer holiday.  Whereas I do like Spain I do prefer to go in the autumn away from school holidays and when the weather is less extreme, i.e. hot. We have toured France in the van a few times and we have been across many times on the motorcycle and in the car. After going to the Picos in Spain last May, I do like the idea of a mountain or two.  I was looking for ideas on the internet and came across a site that is essentially about tours in the Alps in France, and one of them is "Alsace".  Places and ideas for stops in a short distance between Strasbourg and Mulhouse. Essentially south along the lands bordering the Rhine, and the border with Germany. This site also has a tour called "Furka Pass".  Looking on the map currently Google Maps can't plot a route as many of the passes are snowed in. Changing the date to June works for some of the alpine passes! But oddly not all. More go...