Just back so I posted this.

[Tomo3090]

Just returned from our latest tour of France and Spain. We were out for four weeks but it should have been 8! We had to come home because of our poorly pooch, who apart from having Dementia is fine now!

 

We set out from the UK on 7th of Sept using P&O our ticket was booked "last minute", within 7 days, and cost us £56.70 through the CC, (Sea France).

 

We used the N & D roads in France because we don't like to rush things and went from Calais to the aire at Catillon Sur Sambre. A nice little aire by the canal. It takes 5 vans at the service point but has a overflow site just round the corner that takes about 25. It is free to stay for 48 hours and at the service point there is electricity, water and waste point still free. The overflow bit doesn't have anything but is a short walk away to re-fill, or just drive round the block. There is a supermarket, (small), 300 yards up the road from the aire for bread etc.

 

From there we drove to Maurail sur Ay. Another pretty aire by a canal. Also free and has free water and waste dump. Although this is being refurbished and looks like it might soon, (by now!) have a new bourne. So there may be a cost. Loads of room for at least 10 vans, very safe and in the town centre which has Chamapagne houses.

 

From there to Chaumant and another canalside aire. A fee of 6.75 Euros for the night included electric, waste and water dump. It is floodlit and safe with a "Captainaire" who takes the cash and opens the access to the taps and electric. There is a big supermarket close by and the town is a short walk away.

 

To St Gengoux le National next and one of our favourite aires. Free to stay again but the new aire charges 5 Euros for 100 litres of water. Or electricity for 55 minutes to charge your battery. The toilet rinsing water also is available then so don't wait until your water tank is filled otherwise you can't do the loo! Lesoon learned the hard way! You key in your credit card for access to the facilities. Very peaceful and a dream for cyclists as it has 137km of cycle way adjacent to it. The town is a short walk away.

 

Next was Camping Municipal at Charolles. We went to a site to use our little twin tub washing machine and to have a couple of days break from travelling. 2 nights for 22 Euros including electric and water and waste water dump at the pitch. Plus free wifi. ARE YOU READING THIS UK CLUBS!

 

Charolles town is a short stroll from the site and is very pretty with lots to see and do. Very relaxing and we will go back for a longer stay one day.

 

Another aire next at Gervans. Right in the village centre so very safe. A honesty box here so we donated 5 Euros for our night, water and toilet dump.

 

Then a longish drive to see the Catherdral d' Images at Les Baux de Provence. Fantastic! Our third visit in three years and well worth going to see it. Can't be bothered to describe it here so either go or Google it! From there we did take a toll road to get to Narbonne. 20 Euros for the trip. Stayed at Narbonne Plage municipal site for a couple of nights. Nice well laid out site a stroll from the town and beach. It was shutting at the end of the week we stayed so the amenities were not at their best, but we use the van anyway so it didn't bother us.

 

From there into Spain and a splendid drive along the coast road. Through some lovely resort villages and towns. A reasonably good road and a lot less stress than the main motorway, and it's free! We went to Cadaques to the Salavador Dali museum. Well worth a trip to see it, but you must book in advance. Don't just turn up or there is a very good chance you won't get in. The site just up the road from the museum charges 30 Euros a night for the privalidge. So not worth it but there is no option because "wild camping" on the museum motorhome parking area just outside the gate is not allowed and has a 150 Euro fine so we didn't take the risk!

 

The road to Cadaques is very twisty and narrow, especially through the town but you could drive there from nearby Roses. Where you could pay upto 40 Euros a night for a pitch! We didn't, despite a personal recommendation of one site. ( No ACSI sites here by the way!)

 

So we drove to Camping Rui at San Pere Pescador which is an ACSI site and stayed there for 16 Euros including WiFi.

 

We then drove to Palamos and Camping International. Another ACSI site and just on the edge of a very nice resort. It felt very French and not a "Kiss me Quick" hat to be seen!

 

And that's where the wheels came off!

 

Nothing to do with the site or the van. Our dog, a 15 and a half year old Cocker Spaniel had a small stroke and became ill. We decided to seek the reassurance of a UK vet and had to end our tour. Needless to say we were both gutted not only for the tour but for the dog. She has been with us since she was 9 months old and we can't imagine being without her. Neither of us could face things if we had to have her put down in Spain. I mean how do you bring a dead dog back to the UK? And so we high tailed out of there.

 

We decided to get back as quickly as possible so this meant driving the full length of France on the toll roads. I don't know why or how people do this every year! It was soul destroying to be driving past all the pretty French towns and villages with their aires and municipal sites and paying an arm and a leg for the trip.

 

We stopped once on an aire just near Clermont Ferrand and the drove right to Fourges Les Eaux and the English speaking vet, who checked Holly over. She had improved quite a bit since Spain and if you didn't know her, (which he didn't), you would think she was great for her age and full of life, (which he did!) and she was passed clear to travel home. After a night on the aire, which was 5.75 for the night inc electric and facilities. (But it has these switched off from Next week until March although the aire is free to stay on and the municipal site across the road will give you water.) We drove on the normal roads to Calais. Hung aroung until tea time and got the ferry back. £52.25 this time plus £15.00 for Holly. (P&O) Again through the CC, booked the night before after the vet visit.

 

We are now back home and gutted! We were so looking forward to a few weeks in the sun.

 

The whole trip cost the following, (from door to door),

 

Fuel £339.00

Sites £180.00

Aires £19.00

LPG, (fitted tank), £15.00

Tolls £125.60

Ferry £127.00

Shopping, i.e food and drinks etc £435.00

Internet £12.00

 

Sites included a couple of CL sites both going and coming back. Priced between £6.00 and £9.00

 

The internet costs were on the couple of sites where it was payable, Palamos and San Pescador. On our way to Dover to go out we bought, at someones recommendation a Hawking WiFi dish from Maplins in Cantebury. £59.00 and it was excellent. Where we were outside the range of our laptop from the sites ariel it picked up the signal no problem. I would reccommend getting one if you want wifi in your van.

 

We used a Caxton Card to get access to our cash. We loaded it up before we left the UK at 1.19 to the Pound. We then drew it out in 300 Euro blocks and used cash for everything. It was used in the aire machine at St Gengoux with no problem but wasn't accepted at an automatic toll booth, (so we used our ordinary credit card, Barclaycard, and was charged 1.08 Euros commission by the toll company). Again we found it very easy to use and would reccommend getting one for a long tour.

 

France with it's aires is just fanbloodytastic and I can't say how much I enjoy going in our van. Love the country, love the people and love the mayors for providing the facilities for motorhomes. Fuel and SOME food is cheaper than here but clothes cost an internal organ so pack well before you go ladies!

 

Spain is good too. We found the sites more expensive than previous visits though but food and fuel was not too bad

 

Fuel wise Prices in France were around the E1.12 to E1.19 per litre for diesel depending where you filled up. Supermarkets being the cheapest of course. Spain was about 5 to 10 cents less per litre.

 

Our van behaved perfectly with no problems at all, so thanks to the guys at Autotrail, Spinney Motors, LeisurePower, A&M Engineering, Burrtonwood and A1 Caravan Services for that!

 

Lessons learned:

We have decided that we won't risk Holly with a cross channel tour again. So it's UK tours only for us.

 

Only use the toll roads in France & Spain for life or death dashes. Everything else it's the N & D roads for us!

[colin]

I think the last time we used a autoroute in france was about 30years ago 8-) .

Much prefer the smaller roads and enjoying the journey, just means we don't get as far which doesn't realy worry me.

[Petra]

Sorry to hear about the dog and glad it made some recovery. Thanks for the info on the aires. We have used Mareuil sur Ay for the last two years and it has been under refurbishment all that time!

[Guest JudgeMental]

A very good and comprehensive report.....Welcome back! :-D

[Guest pelmetman]

I see your post about classic campers got a mention in dispatches(MMM) :D

Glad the pooch is sorted, funny how you get so attached to the dam things *-)

[bigal]

Hi Tomo, what an excellent report it makes good reading. I understand about Holly, our German Shepherd was unwell but we put it down to the heat at the time. We brought her home successfully through the Eurotunnel and she was back to her old self but un-fortunately she passed away on August Bank Holiday Monday. Only those caring people who have had a dog for most of its' life will understand the sense of loss. I am very pleased you made it home with her. Best Wishes,

[Mel B]

Hi Tomo

 

I'm sorry your holiday has had to be cut short but I totally understand your reasons! I'm pleased your pooch has made a recovery, it can be very frightening and upsetting I know. We had a dog called Poppy that we put in kennels when she was about 9 I think, she was in with her 'sister' Honey who loved kennels (she was a daft dog!). We were on holiday at Hawes in our converted ambulance and had only been away one night when, the following afternoon, the clutch pressure plate clip (?) was on it's way out so we only had 2nd and 3rd gears! At that time we only had road-side assistance, so the AA man recommended that we try to get home there and then, rather than leave it until the following morning, as the traffic would be much lighter at night so we wouldn't have to stop/start as much. We did as advised and had a very hairy journey home, and by the time we got to Market Weighton hill (going upwards with major road surfacing and subsequent traffic lights/jams) we only had 3rd gear left!!!!!!

 

Anyway, we made it home and the following morning went to the kennels to collect our poochs early, as soon as I saw Poppy through the fencing I knew something was wrong. The kennels said she had refused to eat her tea but otherwise she was okay - not she flipping well wasn't, she was wobbling and couldn't look at me properly. Emergency visit to the vet who said she'd had several strokes and put her immediately on various drugs to get her sorted, she made almost a full recovery, with just a very slight tilt to her head, but remained on drugs for the rest of her life ... we had her until she was 16 and a half!

 

We have had the experience of having to repatriate a 'dead' pet back to the UK, we used to keep rats and used to take a couple of them, Jennifer and Clarissa, away on holiday to France with us. Jennifer had a large tumour on her side, but she was coping and still enjoying herself, but towards the end of the holiday she wasn't quite herself and within 24 hours we knew the time had come to say goodbye as she wasn't enjoying life anymore - try explaining to a French vet that you want them to put your pet rat down and HOW you want them to do it (we knew from previous experience the most pain-free and least stressful way). The phrase "You want me to kill it?", wasn't the best way for the vet to acknowledge what we wanted, but she got the idea! It was done very peacefully and Jennifer didn't suffer at all. Now what to do with her ... no way was I leaving with the vet to dispose of her in France!!! So, out came the contents of a Pringle container and in went Jennifer, then room was made for her in the freezer - thank goodness UK customs didn't do a check on our van as I don't know how I'd have explained the 'delicacy' in our freezer!!! :-S