Malibu Molly

A lot indeed has happened since the last update. It was only a few weeks ago. We are only a few days away from our Summer trip to France and it has all come crashing down. Over a week ago I felt really ill and after an NHS 111 call I was referred to my surgery. I went to the surgery after another long call. It seemed I had got myself a urinary tract infection. I was bundled off home with antibiotics and paracetamol. With the proviso that if I was sick i.e. vomit, I was then go to A&E.  Thursday evening and  I fell up the stairs and was unable to get up. I simply had no strength in my arms. Claire called 999. The ambulance came within 20 minutes and they treated me and suggested I either go to hospital. Or stay at home. It was 9.30pm. I stayed. They did say that the hospital might not do much more. My blood pressure was very low and temperature was 39.6. Things didn't really improve over the weekend. I went to the surgery on Monday. They called the ambulance and off I wen...

Whilst the idea of going across to France, by Shuttle or Ferry, and then just going wherever the front of the van points to seems marvellous, the urge to plan things is even stronger.... I have the outward journey booked on Le Shuttle. I did that during a 20% offer that oddly didn't extend to our return journey and so I booked one way. Malibu Molly is a 6m campervan. There are two human adults and one canine adult onboard. It was still £167 for the single journey. The return is booked with Irish Ferries for £132. Le Shuttle return was £207. The new bookings have been done recently. I said in the previous post that Claire would win over me where the destination after the Alsace part of the tour would be, and she did. So Lake Annecy it is. I decided to book at  Camping La Nublière  at the southern end of the lake. After a few nights off-grid or in aires a nice campsite looked like a good idea. I booked this through ACSI. It's  expensive  at around €26.50 a night includ...

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...

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...

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...