Hunters European adventure

This is the start of our 'blog' of our adventure to France & Spain.
This evening we (myself, my husband & our 5 year old) are enjoying the craic at Shanogue House & sharing our plans with Ally, Maurice, Dennis & Refus (the dog!) & have received lots of useful advice from Mark! (Thanks Mark!)
As promised I will write & keep you all in the loop about how we fair! I would say there will be plenty of laughs along the way! (& hopefully not too many tears).
We got our van at the start of March, a Hobby Siesta 600 but she is Molly for short.
We have enjoyed a few wee weekends here & there but our first adventure will take us to France next weekend ...watch this space to see how wee get on.

Bryan, Jill & Ella

5 days to go ...

Some of the top tips we have got (from those in the know) about our first trip to France -
In no particular order
1. Top up your fuel at the supermarkets (not at services on motorways) as it is cheaper
2. Have your insurance, fluorescent jackets etc. in the van (not packed away in a box in the garage! That might have been the location that our items were in until today) & the flourscent jackets on view for the police if possible! ie you could have your jacket on the back of your seat
3. French word for diesel is 'gazole' - this is particularly important as I might have made a wee mistake one time & put petrol in my diesel car ... thankfully my brother is a mechanic
4. Try (no matter how badly) to speak French, at least show to be making an effort!
5. Keep a diary (hence starting this log) of distances travelled, points of interest & observations along the way

And so the countdown continues ...

4 days to go ... Packing mode in full swing!
Bryan flat out tidying the garden before we leave ...

Clothes packed & Ella has picked the various toys she wants to bring ... Bryan keeps reminding me that it's not a forty foot trailer we are taking!
Of course you have to pack too much, it wouldn't be holidays if you didn't pack too much ...

What would you not leave home without in your motorhome?

2 days to go ...

Bryan updated the garmin sat nav this pm (took 4hrs!?!?!) & we are getting v excited!!

The garage is packed to capacity ... I'm going to give the van a quick once over this evening (when it is a little cooler)

& after that we are nearly at the stage of counting down the hours ...

Steaks & salad for tea tonight, the next BBQ we have will be on French soil!!

Thanks for the tip!! Much appreciated.
By coincidence Bryan emptied all the tanks yesterday!
So it's great to know we are on the right track ... Any other tips welcome ... Keep them coming please.

Ps excitement is an understatement at this stage

This time tomorrow we will be leaving!!

Ok, a cup of tea is an essential!!
Thanks

This time tomorrow we'll be on the dublin to holyhead boat ...

13.7.13

We have arrived at the boat & boarded, ready to leave at 9.15pm.
All good, slight detour on the road to Dublin but they have you back on in time to pay the toll!

Bryan is ready for the first big drive once we get off the boat!
Driving to Dover ... we estimate it'll take about 5 hours ...

Thanks Fat Controller! It took the 6 hrs & a little more ... Arrived Dover at 7.30am, we had one big detour off the motorway which added about 30mins. Bryan got his head down for a couple of hrs at the sea front. When we arrived there were lots of motorhomes & when we opened our eyes at 10 they were all gone! Slight panic when we read a sign right beside the van that we hadn't previously noticed ... You needed a ticket to park from 9am to 6pm & it didn't seem to exclude Sunday! We quickly gathered ourselves & made for the port ... When we arrived they asked did we want to go on the next sailing, of course we did & so we are leaving the White Cliffs of Dover now. Calais here we come

16.7.13

First campsite down - Vauban Plein Air in Gravelines, 30 mins from Calais.

What we learnt in the first half hour of arriving in France -

Have your sat nav pre set with the destination before leaving the boat, it's all a bit frantic in that initial 5 mins of needing to remember to drive on the right & whether we need to turn left or right to get to where we wanted to go ... of course we turned the wrong way!!! 9 miles down the motorway the sat nav told us to turn off & we had to pay our first toll €3.60!!
We then got to enjoy some lovely scenery in rural France as well as quite a few diversions because the towns were closed for Bastille day. We have now learnt not to go down a road with a yellow sign saying diversion!!

First campsite really nice, Bryan observed that the washing up area was a male dominated arena, they brought a portable plug with them, filled the sink with water & let the dishes soak while they enjoyed a smoke, a chat & time away from the wife & children. We could walk straight on to the most amazing & nearly deserted beach we have ever visited.

Our first journey took us 500 miles from home ...

We have moved today to a site 20 miles from Eurodisney, it took us about 4hrs to get here,all motorway, accompanied by a €30 toll & half a tank of fuel. Bryan thinks motorways are easier on fuel.

Weather amazing Let you know how Ella reacts in the morning when we tell her we are going to Eurodisney!!!

Disney was magic, Ella really didn't believe we were actually there! Two long days so today we relaxed, cleaned/tidied van & used the pool at the campsite we stayed at.

Second site - Les Etangs Fleuris, 30 mins drive from Disney

Excellent small site & suited our needs perfectly.
Great small pool with slide, plenty of sunbeds etc. & lots of others activities to keep kids busy! Trampoline etc etc.
Also seems to have good fishing, not that I have a clue but there seem to be plenty of other people doing it!!
Great central location for Paris, Disney, Asterix park & a big cats sanctuary. Plenty to visit but we will have to come back another year as our time here is up, moving on to Lyon tomorrow ...

Ventured on a really nice area yesterday evening, we could see deer in the forest as we were driving along & large owls at twilight, have marked it on the map as a place to return to.

NB It's €30 per day for a motorhome into Disney but you can stay until 10am the next am for that price.

On the last night of 3 at site about 70km from Lyon -Le Coin Tranquile, this is the busiest site we have stayed at so far with about 200 pitches. There are lots of Dutch who stay at this site for extended periods (1month+). The drive down was beautiful, amazing to move from the flat plains around Paris region to the mountains & valleys here. Even driving on the motorways it was beautiful!! Tolls added up to €60 this time!

Ella has enjoyed 2 days at the pool here & we have got the chance to chillax after the hectic of Disney.
So far we are climatising to the heat at night, the fan is never off in the van!

That's the first week over, time flies when you are having fun