JayM Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 WOW! WOW! WOW! Well you told me it would be good but nothing could have prepared me for just how good it would be! Earlier on in the year I was asking for help in the do's and don'ts when motorhoming in France, being a total novice in motorhoming and never having set foot on French soil before! The feed back was tremendous and oh so helpful and for this I would like to thank all of you who replied to my pleas. Initially we had planned to head for the Ile de Re, exploring Normandy and Brittany along the way. We only had 2 weeks and you wisely pointed out to me that this would be too much. So what did we do instead ... we headed south! We left Calais having travelled via Eurotunnel (and having taken advantage of the Frequent Traveller deal as recommended by one of you chaps) and just drove south. We spent the first night on an aire in the most enchanting little town of La Marchal-sur-Saone set on a lovely green next to the river which also had a mooring for boats. Next morning once again headed south and ended up in the lovely resort of Cavalaire Sur Mer. A day time temperature of upper 30s and a morning temperature of 29 degrees. We found a lovely site with excellent facilities and only a 5 min walk from the town, marina and hypermarket. We stayed here for 4 nights. We then travelled inland towards Macon. We found the most superb site about 40 miles west of Macon in the most beautiful town of Paray le Monial - absolutely gorgeous with the most amazing Basilica. This site is adjacent to a cycle track which eventually ends up in Budapest!!!! We stayed here for 4 nights. We left here and headed north towards Arras. Using our Alan Rogers book of campsites in France we liked the sound of the site in a place called Boiry Notra Dame. The book said this was a friendly campsite which was true but the bit about a supermarket being "within 500m" turned out to be more like 2 miles (which turned out to be very small) but we did find an amazing hypermarche just 5 miles away where we stocked up with goodies to bring home. One final point, I purchased a Tom Tom satnav just before we left. I quite liked the Joanna Lumley voice and decided that she would be the chosen one to guide me on my expedition! Well, Joanna (and whom Mary now calls "The Witch") decided that whatever I put in she was going to do her own thing. She took us up Monte Carlo style mountain passes which I really loved (Mary has a fear of heights especially when they have sheer drops and this is when she decided that the satnav would be referred to as "The Witch"). It was not until she dumped us in the middle of a disused farmyard and declared that we had now reached our destination (and it was at this point I confess that I called "her" something a little stronger than a witch) that I decided that the tried and tested Michelin map was far more reliable!!!! Having now bored you all to tears I would just like to thank you all once again for your much appreciated comments and advice, one of them being to just go and enjoy the driving experience and this I certainly did (despite "The Witch"). Kind regards John and Mary (Jay & M) (The Fockers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi, Not at all boring at all. It is great to read what a wonderful time you had and you enjoyed it. Well and trully initiated to the joys of Motorhoming. Marinas often have Motorhome parking nearby and are good places to lookout for a stop, be it a break or overnight. I think a lot of us have pet names for our Sat Nav ladies. Our young giudance lady is called Becky, as it is a Becker Sat Nav. She is a sweety and not a witch. However, sometimes we do have to tell her off and we have learned over a few trips how to control her and not her us...impossible without comparing the route given with a map. Learn how to use your Sat Nav and to control it, and you will find it is more than just useful for when you deliberately stray from the main road through some picturesque villages or towns. Anyway, wonderful to hear you had a 'wow' time. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi John and Mary So pleased your first foray was a good one ... with more of them to come! :-D Not boring at all, it's always very interesting to see what people get up to! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi there you fockers! We stayed on the site in Cavalaire sur mere a few years ago (the name escapes me now*-) ) in late July and it was a good spot. I love this side away from St Tropez it's a lovely stretch of coast. Try Italy you will Love it! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 :-D I enjoyed reading your thread ,it will also be encouraging to others to who have not yet crossed the Channel to go for it. Nice one Jay&M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayM Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 Hi Judge, Thanks for reading, maybe the site your thinking of is Camping de la Baie. Italy is in my plans for the future but I have too much of France to explore first as I have only just begun! The Journey begins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Not boring at all, it's nice to read about others travels and get ideas for our next trip. We downloaded the campingcar-infos website POI's into our Tom tom and found that excellent for finding aires and parking areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Jay&M - 2009-09-20 8:11 PM Hi Judge, Thanks for reading, maybe the site your thinking of is Camping de la Baie. Italy is in my plans for the future but I have too much of France to explore first as I have only just begun! The Journey begins. Yes that's the one! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Well done, both of you! I'm really glad it went well for you. I always get mixed up betwen Cavalaire and Cavaliere - quite close together, and both have sites. One also had a cheap and cheerful aire when we were last down that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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