Time does fly, it is unrelenting, yet another week is over for us, and the end of the adventure does loom now. Yes, there is an end, we return to the UK on the 14th October and will meet up with our friends at Elddis on the 1st of November. By that time, we will have been on the road 94 weeks, who could have dreamed how the world would change from that day in January 2020.
We were lucky enough to have toured around the UK for three months and did have some great weather as well, and we loved it. This time last year we had our first trip to France in a motorhome, and now we are back, it is so easy to tour France in a motorhome. In the UK we had to book virtually every spot and the average price of a site was between £25 – £30 with the most expensive being over £40. Here even in the high season we have been able to find places to stay with ease and without booking. The average price so far being less than £15 a night. It would be fair to say that not all the sites have been perfect, but they have been good plus safe and secure. If you have never used an aire you should try, they are fantastic well located and safe. Have a look on the map below to see every site where we have stopped on the trip and how much we paid and what they were like.
I am still catching up on the reviews of some of the UK sites and am catching up the map will update automatically.
I have a real thing with the second world war and read and study it a lot, so as we are in Britanny I could not resist treating Karen to a visit to Port Louis. I headed across the water to take look at the main German submarine base of the second world war. Bombed heavily during the war it hardly has a mark on it due to the ingenious way they built it. As the allies could not destroy it, to stop the area being used they flattened the town around it by the wars end 90% of Lorient was destroyed.
To see the engineering, scale, and complexity of what was done was amazing, after the war the French submarine service used it until the late 90’s as by then their new submarines were to long for the pens. Now the complex it devoted to sailing boat industry and leisure activities. While I walked around the site, I could not help think that our experiences of Covid were nothing to what was experienced by the people of the world during the 1940’s.
We have been so lucky to have been able to visit 13 different countries, many twice during the past months and experienced lockdowns and rule changes all the time. The common thread is everyone just got on with life longed for normality and accepted what was going on. My feeling now is that people are fed up, praying the vaccine works and life will get back to normal. It will be difficult if not impossible to put the genie back in the bottle if it does not.
The people we have met over the past weeks have been great we have thus far only met one other English speaking motor homers Rodger and Evelyn from Dublin in their Elddis Accordo.
We met on an Aire provided by the town of Josselin this was a free place to park right beside the canal. The town itself is medieval and lovely. You can cycle miles and miles by the canal and take in the beauty of the area. There are lots of lovely restaurants and shops as well. Our one night became two.
We are soon to celebrate Karen’s oldest brother’s 70th a year late but in the correct place as booked and paid for last year so we headed towards Paris as we have added a day in Versailles to go with the Champagne party planned last year.
You can sort of stick a pin in a map France and pick your stopping point and we ended up in Chartres, again a lovely town with a stunning cathedral with what is thought to be the oldest stained-glass windows in the world.
Totally vibrant and fun, we stopped off for some drinks and music and met new friends. The Municipal campsite on the edge of town with a simple 3km walk in was only €21 but we had a discount as we have an ACSI card so €19.50. Time to do our washing and get ready for a night at the Walforf Astoria!
So until next week, stay safe enjoy yourselves and get out in a motorhome its fun out there and as safe a way to travel as you can get in these times or anytime.
Katherine Clune says
Port Louis sounds really fascinating…. on my list now.
Enjoy Champagne … sure that won’t be hard!
Max says
Been following your tour. We finally escaped the UK on Monday for the Republic of Ireland, Europe next year.
Thankyou for your inspiration – you’ve helped keep the idea alive for us.