Day 1OK, so you've watched the video (or got bored and hit the fast-forward button), and I've probably ruined any anticipation you might have, but there will be pictures here of stuff I didn't bother filming (or stuff that was so shaky it just ended up on the cutting room floor). Anyway, enough with the video tape / film phrases that will mean nothing to the latest generation of digital only campers, and on with the trip.
As I do when I can I effectively worked an early shift so I could finish up as early as possible on the Thursday afternoon, eyeing the camper sat outside ready to go:
Time drags, but we are soon on our way:
We haven't booked any campgrounds on this trip and are relying on some that I have researched ahead of time (as looking like our type of campground - i.e. quiet) and marked on the GPS, and a number of guide books we have bought. One is for restaurants, farms, etc. which allow campers to park on their land for free for a night, on the hope you might buy some of their produce. Another is a guide to French Aires - rest stops near villages, some free, others costing a few Euros a night. I need somewhere accessible where we can get these and the related maps, so a quick hunt through the garage revealed a small cardboard box which I modified with some duct tape to make a cheap and cheerful book shelf to lodge between the driver and passenger seats (some days I surprise even myself with my cheapness):
We head off around London and through Kent to the channel ports and the Eurotunnel. In the past I have found that you can book a time, but then turn up early and the staff will tend to put you on the next train. This time though we arrived early at check-in and found they had computerized it. It recognized our license plate and gave us the option of the crossing we had booked, the one before or an $80 option of going 30 minutes before that. Given my money-saving cardboard box and duct tape cabinetry I think you can guess how keen I was to spend $80 to arrive 30 minutes early!
Onto the train:
An uneventful journey and we are soon in France and on the Autoroutes heading south east. Having the decent looking campgrounds in the GPS means I can flick through them and it will give us an estimated ETA. I therefore select one we will reach before 7pm - an Aire on the edge of a village, the first time we had tried staying in such a location. We nearly missed the small sign:
We got the last space:
It actually had free electric hookup, but we didn't need it. Plus it had a dump station too and free drinking water.
The sort of people who use these tend to be retired campers travelling for longer, so they are looking for a cheap (free) stop-over and won't be making a noise or a mess. Plus the rules stipulate that you aren't allowed to set-up camp so to speak - i.e. no putting out tables, chairs, awnings, etc. It is also for campers only, no TTs, 5ers or tents. The only downside is the retired campers tend to have more travelling time so arrive much earlier in the day meaning you could turn up after 6pm and find all the spaces taken.
We went for a walk along the canal below the aire and then through the village, looking unsuccessfully for a shop that might be open in the evening.
The location turned out to be very quiet and we got a pretty good night's sleep.
Stay tuned for day 2...
