Jeff: April 2024

Sooo week one has been interesting! Its been full of highs and lows, stress and relaxation and alcohol!

We started by leaving Redditch on Sunday and driving down to Romney near Folkstone where we planned to spend the night. Usually at this stop there are a number of campers staying over but when we arrived at around 6.30 there was no one apart from a few dog walkers (not to be confused with doggers). We went for a walk down the empty beach before settling in for the night as we have booked an early ferry. No one arrived that night which is also strange but it did mean it was easy to get in and out of the beach parking and we set off at just before 6am to get to the ferry. Arriving at the port was fairly easy but you have to go through French boarder and had to try and have an argument with the boarder guard as he wanted to stamp Rich’s passport and the EU constitution states that they shouldn’t. In the end (partially due to the lack of tea in our systems) we gave in and he stamped it but we will hopefully manage to get it changed or argue it on the way back. We have proof we are travelling together so it shouldn’t be too hard. We boarded fine and explored the ship, this time we are on Irish Ferries instead of DFDS and while its smaller and what looks to be like older ships there really isn’t much difference. The crossing was fine and we were soon ready to disembark.

This is where the fun always happens, the tense wait for data to navigate out of there as fast as possible, especially as we were in Calais, where stopping is not advised. We had downloaded the map and thought we were all sorted but we had made a fatal error by not only choosing to avoid tolls but motorways. This meant that google took us down side roads to get us going, these were a mix of unpaved and rough roads where many of the migrants hung out. It was very hard to see the living conditions and the sheer number of them hanging around. Once we realised our mistake (about 5 back roads too late) we renavigated and headed back towards civilisation and onto the main roads. We were heading to the champagne region which is a drive that will take several hours but we thought we may as well get there today as we only have just over a week in France. We meandered across the country which is beautiful with fields of green and gold and often you will round a bend a see either a castle, a chateau or a church standing proud in the distance.

We finally reached Chamery, after a couple of stops for food and to stretch our legs, and we parked up in the hills by the champagne vines and we went for a brief walk before heading back to the van for dinner. Whilst on our walk we quickly realised that this town was where we stayed on our first night in our other van, Pierre, in 2017. That time we stayed at the Aire in the town as we weren’t ready to be off grid yet but its funny that both our first and most likely our last trip started in the same town. Anyway it’s been a long day so an early night was called for.

The next day we headed into the two champagne towns to see where we could go look at the process of making champagne and have a little sample. First we headed into Reims and walked from the parking into town. We got there very early so we headed to the church and had a look around before heading to the tourist office to see what was on offer. Most of the tastings didn’t start till 2pm, which was sensible but we wanted to head to the next champagne town before then so after a brief walk around the town we headed south to Epernay. Here we walked down Champagne Avenue where many of the big champagne houses have their main headquarters in grand houses including Moet. The avenue was very grand and elegant at the same time and very peaceful. We walked up and down the avenue and explore the town a little before deciding to go to a vineyard outside of the town where I had booked a tasting. We parked up in a little town and got the bikes out for a 10km cycle to the vineyard where we popped in and asked if they could give us a tour which they happily obliged. We learnt lots about the process and how things have changed the over the years from when they began production. We learnt about the double fermentation, the different processes for vintage champagnes and how some are oak aged and how the workforce increases massively during harvest time. We saw inside the vats, as they had all recently been cleaned and were ready for the next harvest. We then got to taste 4 different champagnes and they were generous in the tasting portions! We tried their standard Brut, a champagne made from only chardonnay grapes, a rose champagne and finally one of their reserve champagnes which was aged in oak. They were all fabulous and while the Brut was definitely the most drinkable (and went down far too quickly) I think the reserve was my favourite. We bought a bottle of the Brut to drink at a later day and headed of slightly tipsily on the bikes to the van where we had a snack and sobered up a little before heading to our stop for the night which was again in the vines on the hills overlooking the towns. We settled in for the evening, alone again, and knew it was going to be a cold and clear night.

The next morning we woke up to no heating and no gas which was worrying as the tank was about 40% full when we went to bed. We have had problems with the heating the last couple of days but we thought we had finally fixed it, obviously not. First we got up and headed into Suzette where I knew of an Aire with free electricity (so we can have a cup of tea while we figure out what is wrong). We couldn’t work it out straight away so decided to go and get some LPG from the local garage (and diesel as we were low) so that we could come back and do a few tests. After some looking at it all we found out the regulator at the back was leaking gas and appeared to have broken (speaking to the motorhome fitter he was just replacing one with the same issue). We did some googling and headed to a local caravan sales place where they had a workshop with the hope they would have the regulator and be able to fix it. It was an hours drive but they were due to be closed for siesta by the time we got there so we took it easy and parked across the street until they re-opened. They didn’t speak much English and our lack of French meant google translate came out a lot. They had a regulator but didn’t think it was exactly the same and therefore wouldn’t work. They suggested a LPG fitting place around 20 mins away so we headed out there. When we got there we spoke to the manager (again via google translate as he spoke even less English than the caravan place). He put Jeff up on the ramps and figured out that the regulator was kaputt like we told him. There didn’t appear to be any leaks which we thought was a good sign but then came the issue, he didn’t have a regulator to fit. He phoned several places and asked if they had one to be told no many times. We were getting kind of desperate, given that the day was flying by and he was trying further afield, like Lyon and Grenoble. No one had the regulator but he suggested we go to a supermarket or decathlon where they should have it as its camping one and not one they use in the cars. We flew out the door and headed for the decathlon, which was back in the same town as the caravan place, but they didn’t sell regulators, we then tried a couple of DIY stores and a couple of supermarkets but again we were not finding the right pressure ones. We were getting desperate now as it was past 5pm but we remembered that the one at the caravan shop was the right pressure. It was not the right shape but he could work around that we were sure and it was better than nothing. We headed back and bought it, even though the guy told us he couldn’t guarantee it would work, and headed back. The guy said he would start it at 6pm and this was because most people were coming to pick up their cars. It was like piccadilly circus and the door/phone didn’t stop going. The poor manager didn’t have a receptionist so was running back and forth. Once it all calmed down at 6.15 he bought Jeff back in and started the work, although he was again interrupted a couple of times by people coming to collect or drop off cars. It took him about 30 to 40 mins and it was attached and he tested for leaks but all seemed good. We turned on the hob and the heating and both worked so we were happy and we paid cash with an extra tip for him as the garage technically closed at 7 but it was already 7.20. We jumped in Jeff and headed off to a local stop for the night next to a river and a small dam to have dinner and a beer (very much needed) to relax after a stressful day.

The next morning we got up and headed on another long drive to catch up for all the driving we missed the day before. We are heading south through France (our route dictated by us needing to go to those garages yesterday) and we drove for 4 hours with a couple of stops to a little village called Saint-Gengoux-de-Scisse where we are on an Aire with services to ensure all our tanks are filled, fix a small drip we had found (by draining the tanks, fixing it and then refilling the tanks), cook some food and do a little washing, get a little planning done and generally get ourselves sorted and back into the rhythm of travelling.

The next morning we had planned a run but we woke up to the gentle hum of rain hammering down so we decided against a run in the rain and instead got the van ready for the continued drive south. We continued south, past Lyon and down to our next stop which took a few hours. We finally reached a place called Treffort where we planned to spend the rest of the day and the night. The weather had finally improved and the sun was coming out so we set out on a hike I had planned. This took us up some hills and through woods around a beautiful manmade glacial lake called Lac de Monteynard-Avignot (which we are parked next to). Finally we got to the first of two suspension bridges which cross sections on the lake. There were a few people on the walk and on the bridge but overall it was a really peaceful walk. We considered walking the next 4km to the next bridge but decided against it and continued on the 4km walk back to the van.

When we got back we saw we had neighbours, having left the van all alone, and one neighbour in particular was our favourite as they had two beautiful maine coons who were out and playing. The larger one was very friendly and soon came up for some fuss and to see if we had any food, which we didn’t. We decided to get out chairs out and enjoy the view for awhile with a nice drink and we got to watch a number of kite surfers having a go in the lake.

The next morning we set off on a run and actually made it this time. It was a struggle as we are still at altitude and the run had some hills on it, which I walked up while Rich enjoyed the challenge, and we managed a full 5km run. Once we were back at the van we had some breakfast before getting the paddleboard out and inflating it. We carried it down to the lake to be told by a French fisherman something about the lake being closed or closed after the bar. We weren’t heading past the bar so we ploughed into the lake regardless. We paddled out to a pontoon which was just over halfway across the lake and it was choppy but fairly easy, however from the choppiness and the current we knew the paddle back was going to be a little harder. We relaxed on the pontoon for a bit and enjoyed the better weather before deciding we should head back as the wind was only increasing. It was a little tough going on the way back and, as usual, it did worry me that we wouldn’t get back to the right bit of the lake but we made it safely and carried the board back to jeff to have showers and warm up – that water was COLD! Once we were warm and showered we headed to our next destination and made our way south again for a couple or hours before finding a stop near a little river where we could hear the water flowing all night (and the rain coming down again).

The next morning it was still raining and we got up as today we planned to cross the Alps and get into Italy. The drive went up into the mountains which was beautiful and stunning with snow on the ground and white covered pines but was also getting snowy and slushy on the roads. We finally made it to 2,000 meters where the temperature was 0 degrees. It did get a little hairy at times but Rich handled it like a champ and we were soon descending back to through alpine villages and seeing less snow. At the top of the mountain we crossed from France to Italy with only one small sign and no mobile signal to tell us we had crossed the border. We continued on and headed to a little camper stop I had found but near the Italian town of Savona and when we got there we couldn’t find a spot which was unusal for this time of year. It transpired that there was an event on at the stadium and there were cars filling every spot available but eventually one became free and we jumped into it so that we could set off down to the coast. Another one then also became free so we moved as it was a much better spot and then finally we headed down the large hill to the beach. The temperature was around 20 degrees at 4.30pm so it made a really nice change from the rain and cloudy weather. We went and sat on the beach for a bit and just relaxed before exploring the beachside village and heading back up the hill for the night.

The next morning we again got our running shoes out and went for a beach side run which was a little easier as it was one sea level and only had small inclines. Afterwards we had to climb the hill back to the van for breakfast and a shower before heading further south in Italy towards Portofino. Our journey was not without issues, like the sat nav trying to take us on roads with a 2.5t limit which meant we have to drive through the centre of Genoa (I recommend you take the toll road around the city if you are over 2.5T) and lots of little villages before we finally got to our stop on top of, another, hill overlooking the sea where we currently are. We are going to chill here for the evening, maybe take a hike in the park behind us, before continuing south tomorrow.