Montville to Mayet

Bokkie in the Aire in Mayet

We had a fairly good night’s sleep by our standards, a light breakfast and then spent some time finding a route that avoided the narrow bridge and windy road.  The satnav program we use (its free so we can’t complain too much) tends to use the shortest possible route and not the most sensible one.  We managed to get out of Montville without much fuss and hit the road. 

Much nicer weather today and no drama until we came into Rouen and accidentally turned off into the city centre (the low sun was making it impossible to read the overhead signs and the sat-nav likes to keep us guessing when travelling through city centres).  Roadworks compounded an already tense situations resulting in us turning into a height-restricted lane.  At 3m tall we were never going to make it and rattled the overhead warning pipes - but we had luckily spotted the problem by then and could escape through a narrow gap into the correct lane.  The only damage was to our pride (and our heart rates!)  and we found our way back onto track.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, loads of sunshine between the cloudy spells made it rather a pleasant day. We are travelling on some of the main toll roads, as it’s the fastest down south, but not the most scenic.

Long shadows on our afternoon stroll

We found our way down to another municipal Aire in the village of Mayet, South East of Le Mans.  We had a lovely walk around the village which is very rural and authentic.  We have settled down with some French wine (thanks to Ett & Debbi) and some local French cheese. 

Tres bien J

We are in the Loir Valley

Bokkie's butt, Proudly South African

Typical station for Aire services, power, water & waste disposal available

I am still working on getting the photos to go where I want them...

Travelling to Montville

On Wednesday night (28^th Nov) we had a real taste of the storm with the van rocking in the wind through the night.  We were warm inside but didn’t sleep very well; big day tomorrow.  We set off at 08h00 on Thursday morning to restock our supplies as we would be travelling quite long distances for next while, the plan is to hightail it through France to get to the North Eastern coast of Spain as soon as possible.  Driving in the UK has done a lot to manage our expectations though, as we move quite slowly so we will probably take around a week to do it.

We were lucky enough to get moved onto an earlier train when we arrived at the Channel terminal and it wasn’t long before we were boarding.  The entire operation is very slick although it is quite daunting driving the buxom Bokkie down the inside of a train.  

About to board

Driving a wide motorhome down a narrow train

A quick 35 minute trip under the English Channel and we emerged into (brief) sunshine in Calais.  We are avoiding Paris and driving down the East of France.  Today we planned to go as far as Rouen.  The wind was directly from the front for most of the way and the very aerodynamic (not!) Hymer really felt it, especially on the hills.  The countryside is beautiful, the roads much quieter and trucks seemed much slower.  The only issue was with the wind direction we would get a real tug each time we overtook a truck, it must have looked quite comical from behind.

We are still getting used the apps and maps we are using to get around, and decided to head for a free municipal Aire in the village of Montville, just north of Rouen.  Once off the highway things got quite interesting with the narrow village roads and we ended up blocking access through a narrow bridge for a while, angry Frenchmen behind us and grumpy ones from the front refusing to give us a gap.  We had to mount a pavement to get past another van and then drove through the centre of town to get to the Aire, quite a scary experience.  The Aire has another two GB vans and a handful of French.  It is in a lovely site alongside the indoor swimming pool and some sports fields with kids playing footie and men playing petanque. Very French!

Lake and river alongside the Aire

Montville

Office of the Marie in Montville 

Bokkie in her night spot.  No, it's not our satellite dish, it's the fancy van behind us

It’s quite intimidating being so far out of our comfort zone, we were getting used to the routine on UK campsites so it is quite strange to be completely self-sufficient staying in such public spaces.  It may take some getting used to, hopefully easier once we are somewhere warmer.  Most of the local campsites in France are closed so this is the only way to tour; it’ll be fine once we settle into a routine. 

Onward and upwards!

The Final Countdown

We spent the weekend at Cornish Farm and cycled into Taunton on Sunday, well time, as they had their Christmas market set up in the town centre.  It was very cold but we spent most of the day wandering around and cycling a short way along the river Tone.  On Monday we had to drop the van off bright and early so we cycled into town again and spent some time in the library, sightseeing and had lunch at The Cosy Club which was very atmospheric.  

 

When we got back in the afternoon we were able to get the van for the night with the news that they would need a couple more hours in the morning.

Once everything was finished up, we were trained up and Bokkie’s new alarm is now giving us the peace of mind we want.   We set off from Taunton in constant showers, not very nice driving.  We stopped at The Swan in East Ilsley as they let motorhomes stay in their car park if you have a few drinks or meal in the hotel.  We did both and had a good night’s sleep, in spite of the rain.  The next day we left early and had breakfast in the car park at Chievely Services outside Newbury, oh the glamour of international travel!

We pushed on, driving to Black Horse Farm camping site in Densole, just outside Folkestone.  It was grim driving in terrible weather, the worst of UK traffic and trucks dicing down the motorway.  Storm Dianne was making her presence felt and it was belting down and blowing a gale.  We’re booked in for the Eurotunnel in the morning and will do a final Lidl shop before we catch the train.

Preparing to leave the UK

We finally finished cleaning the house and organising the handover for the new owners, and then decamped in Bokkie to Swiss Farm, a lovely touring park just outside Henley on Thames.  We were not expecting the park to be so full at this time of the year – but it was Remembrance Weekend (and the 100^th commemoration of the end of WW1 on Sunday, 11.11.18).

Autumn colours along the Thames

We stayed in Swiss Farm from the 8^th of November until the 16^th – mainly as Toni still had a final day of work left, and also to sell up the Mini.  It was a good ‘shakedown’ opportunity in the Hymer, a chance to organise all our stuff, and see how well we would settle into being nomads….so far so good!

On Friday the 16^th we headed out to Commons Wood, a touring park just outside Welwyn Garden City, mainly to spend some time with Charmaine and Chris.   

Ettienne & Debbi came to wish us well for our travels on the Saturday, and we spent a lovely afternoon together.  Burgers are fairly easy to make in the Hymer for a crowd, so will become a staple going forward!

Sunday was Charmaine’s turn to be with us.... and burgers again after a quick trip to Lidl. We will miss our kiddo during our travel, but we have WhatsApp and Skype so will be in constant contact. 

Monday the 19^th we headed out to Taunton, as we had an appointment with an alarm specialist to sort out Bokkie’s alarm system. No point in pushing our luck, driving with a dodgy alarm.  This was the first long trip in her - 190 miles - and we are amazed at how smoothly she settled in to the long drive; not many creaks, squeaks or rattles….yet! 

Camping with the sheep at Cornish Farm

Some of the sights of Taunton

We stayed in Cornish Farm, right next to the alarm workshop, from the 19^th until the 23^rd.  The weather has suddenly turned frigid – winter has definitely hit the UK.  Our heaters are coping beautifully though, and it's lovely and cosy inside.

Unfortunately our alarm problems turned out more serious than we had hoped and we have booked in for a new installation next week.  We thought about moving out for a few days but with the weather forecast looking gloomy we decided to hunker down and finish off the last bits of admin and repairs.  

Hopefully we will get sorted early next week and and head off to Folkestone for a train trip under the Channel.