14/08/11 Early Reflections

In all we covered 4,840 miles, of which 3,423 were the route i.e. getting from place to place. We averaged - I make it - 4.66 mile per £ which I think is roughly 27/28 mpg in all conditions.

We visited - some more than others - 10 countries, in order, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Italy, Switzerland, France 

Neither the Pathfinder or CRV put a wheel wrong, so big thank yous to :

Mr Honda for building such damn reliable cars, despite thunderstorms, pulling 1000kgs of trailer up a 15kms mountain pass in 30C, or just grinding along autoroutes at 100/120 kph it just went & did whatever. It deserves its 125,000 mile service next week.

To Peninne for making such a good camper-van, extremely comfortable, leak proof despite sever testing, and bake proof too, everything worked perfectly.

To Brian & Helen Stockton for looking after the Pathfinder so beautifully since new and then our good fortune to acquire it from them. It will be cleaned and minor blemishes fixed over the next few weeks ready for next time. 

14/08/11 Home again

After a good night's sleep, up and away by 9.30 ish. Easy run up to Calais by 10.30, but what is this - a queue to get into the ferry port. Never had this before. Finally get through border control and to P&O booking in but we are 10 minutes late for boat - even though it actually leaves 15 minutes late itself.


So onto next one, back in Dover by 1pm and reasonably uneventful run home arriving just after 3.30.


So after 4,840 miles we return home, everything intact.


No doubt in a couple of days reality will kick back in, meantime not sure we really realise we have done it and are back. Was it really seven weeks ago we drove off to Dover to start this little escapade ?

13/08/11 Day 49 Mersault to Grosnay

Yesterday's weather arrived this morning !! Nice an easy pack up for last time and headed off about 10.30am, after fuel stop onto autoroute. Only went about 100kms and it became generally cloudy although still around 25C. Until we got to Reims and turned north towards Calais, when it promptly started raining and dropped to 19C. Getting us ready for tomorrow.

Arrived at hotel - Best Western, Metaire, Grosnay and what a find, looks like a converted old chateau & distillery with 3 restaurants attached. Room lovely, bathroom excellent, have booked one of the restaurants - The Distillery. Only £79 for the room for the night on Expedia, a steal.

Meal was excellent, bit pricey but worth it. Need to check this place out more as it is only one hour from Calais and well worth another visit, need to find out what there is to see / do in the area.

12/08/11 Day 48 Mersault

Bit of an anti-climax, like the cricket today, Meteo France, which is usually reliable, still insisted at 10am that there would be sun, some cloud and 24/25C, so why is it overcast, and a bit chilly at around 18C ? As we were committed to Saturday hotel and Sunday ferry not much we could do about it now, so c'est la vie.

After a slow morning got on bikes and had a look at Mersault, quite pleasant and with some shops, bars, restaurants etc quite bustling for a french village. We carried on down the road some 5 kms to the next village and apart from a restaurant doing good trade, back to normal i.e. very quiet and few people.

Back to campsite, tidied up ready for tomorrow, and what's this, 7pm skies clear, sunshine and everyone in pool, only about 10 hours too late. Nice meal in campsite restaurant and then bed.

11/08/11 Day 47 Canal de Bourgeone

After the chateau back to Pont D'Ouche and time to have a look at the towpath and canal de bourgeone. Again very pleasant and easy to ride on, please please BWB take note, so lots of cyclists. This time more boats and locks as well. Some of the locks would make lovely holiday homes, being very rural, yet not far from civilisation.

All in all Burgundy is getting the thumbs up and is on the list to visit again. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but it will be the last day, Saturday and Sunday will be taken up with returning to the UK. 

Got quotes of £60 for ferry and £214 for tunnel, guess which one we will be using. Now just need to find a hotel.

 

11/08/11 Peter / Anne have you moved ?

We saw this sign and wondered if you had moved and started another business !!

 

11/08/11 Day 47 Chateauneuf en Auxois

Another hilltop town, but this one is very good, very pretty and just a couple of bar/restaurants, one hotel and a couple of shops. Otherwise neat and tidy and a lived in village. The chateau itself is also very good, with fantastic views across Burgundy. I was impressed, add to your list !!

 

10/08/11 Chagny is twinned with Letchworth

Here is the proof. Paul & Zoe as great wine lovers why have you not capitalised on this connection for some great trips to Burgundy ??

 

10/08/11 Day 46 St Leger sur Dheune

Hurrah the blue sky & sun are back, all right not quite the 30C but at least back into the 20s. Having found the Canal du Centre in Chagny we went back there with the bikes.

Lovely towpath nice smooth tarmac -BWB take note - but it would seem the Canal du Centre is not a popular one as despite several villages on the way, no facilities i.e. bar, cafe, restaurant. Until St leger sur Dheune, a lovely canal village, with a port, some very nice houses and bars etc. So we stopped for lunch and very good it was. Conscious we had to cycle back the 13kms it had taken to get there we only had a salad and small beer. On way back found two more nice camp sites which have been logged for future ref.

Back at Mersault able to get long wave so could listen to England thrashing India at the cricket, even if weather sounds naff. So on with the barbie !!

 

09/08/11 Vino

Burgundy is a very important wine growing region, we know this. On the ride back from Beaune we followed the wine route, basically the wine growers roads through the vine yards. As you ride alomg all you see are amazingly straight rows of vines with either plummy or bright green grapes, that go for miles in all directions. Do we really drink this much of the stuff, we could not guess how many thousand bottles we were looking at.

 

09/08/11 Day 45 Beaune

Morning was overcast and not too brilliant so thought we would try out Chalon sur Saone, also not too brilliant, so went to hypermarket and did some shopping. On way back spotted Canal du Centre which according to map went through Chagny - which by the way is twinned with Letchworth, Paul & Zoe did you know this ? - after some minutes we eventually found it, but no nice cafe / bar to sit at. Oh Well !

For afternoon weather brightened up so cycled to Beaune, very pleasant. Visited the hospice, very impressive, well worth a visit. After a coffee back to Mersault, but sun decided enough for one day & hid behind clouds for the evening. I think it is getting us ready for England because we find 20C chilly now, back to Croatia anyone ?

 

08/08/11 Day 44 Buochs to Mersault

Sadly we decided to leave Switzerland, after almost seven days only one had been good, weather wise, and the forecast, whilst improving, was not strong and one always had the fear that the mountains could have an impact as well. So we headed into France and Burgundy to a camp site we had stayed out overnight many years ago, on one of our french trips with the boys, Le Grappe D'Or at Mersault. 

The weather forecast for here is definitely improving as the week goes on, although right now while the sun is shining there is a very brisk breeze which is cooling things down. Anyway off to camp site restaurant tonight to try out some french nosh again.

Our pitch is probably the biggest we have had during the whole holiday, and it will be the last. Whenever we leave the next time the tent is put up will be in England to clean it out. Our last night will be in a hotel somewhere near to Calais so we can catch an early ferry back, and return home by mid afternoon - day still TBD. So kids start sorting out the house we will be back soon !

07/08/11 Switzerland

Switzerland is very lovely and scenic and jolly nice to visit. It is also expensive, not just because it has a high cost of living anyway. When we last visited in 2004 £1 would buy SFR 2.10, now only SFR1.25, that means anything bought in 2004 would cost 70% more just due to the £/SFR rate devaluation, before you add inflation. So I'd guess getting for 100% more than in 2004.

It is also very green and the weather we have had since arriving must be why. All things considered though it does remain on the 'Visit' list.

07/08/11 Day 43 Buochs / Ennetburgen

Pre dawn rain carried on till 10am ish. We had not planned on moving on but the weather decided that anyway, the tent was too wet to take down. By 11.30 though a nice blue sky patch had developed and it was sunny and hot. In between laundry washing we cycled around the locale. 

Very pleasant but we could not understand where everyone was, it was so quiet, few people and few cars. There are plenty of house and appartments so either everyone stays indoors, or they are empty holiday lets, shame as it is very pleasant here. Had nice lunch by lake side in the sun.

Not sure if this is a bell ringing 'centre for excellence' but in the morning there must have been 6 churches or so all competing to get us sinners to service.

Late afternoon more clouds and wet stuff, could do with a reasonable night, so we can move in the morning.

Still undecided whether to head for home now, not over keen as 4 of last 5 days have been grey and wet which is not what we want to remember. The forecast for central & northern France is good from Tuesday to Friday so we may try and get some last minute sun before heading home.

Either way we will be back in Andover by next weekend.

 

06/08/11 Day 42 Gudo to Buochs

It was not our plan to travel today as we had read the St Gottard tunnel could be a problem at weekends - correct as it turned out. However the weather forecast for the Maggiore area was rain later, more overnight and then heavy rain (up to 5cms) on Sunday. Either go back south to med coast or push further north where it was to be cooler but drier were the options, so we chose the latter. Late decision so did not leave campsite till just after 11am, at 12.15 we hit the queue and 2.5 hrs later finally got into the tunnel.

 The other side was lovely, warm, sunny and very scenic so we decided to stop at Buochs, after a mere 85 miles in about 4 hours. Unfortunately it is not far enough north so we are now enjoying more rain with more due tomorrow.

After just over 5 weeks this was not how it was meant to end, still you never know northern France may yet come up trumps.

05/08/11 Day 41 Gudo

Morning washed out due to thunderstorm and continuous rain, bit like England, but still warm. Bike ride to Locarno and drive up to gorge put on hold whilst we waited to see which way weather was going to go.

It did not really improve so we drove up Valle Verzasca which was very pleasent, better still had sum shone. Nice apple & raspberry cakes at Sonogno. Back down and quick stop at dam which apparently hs the bungee jump down in the James Bond film 'Golden Eye', Pierse Brosnan I think but I cannot remember the jump. Anyway at £180 or thereabouts a time blow that, I mean this is meant to be enjoyment.

So back to site and more rain, looks ,like we may be coming home sooner than we thought.

 

04/08/11 Day 40 Bellagio

After thunderstorms back to normal service i.e. 30C & sunshine, yippee !

Having been to the false one in Las Vegas thought we should see the real one. Bit of a drive back to Lugano, around Lago Lugano to end then across to Lago Como and to Cadenabbia, then ferry to Bellagio. It is lovely, I can see why so many people rave about it, but (look out getting on soap box) there are too many shops. They are all selling the same stuff - silk, lace, jewellry, nic-nacs, but nothing specifically from Bellagio.

The views across the lake are gorgeous and it should be on your list of places to go. Nice drive back around Lago Como then back to site for a swim - circa 7pm and still 30C - lovely.

 

03/08/11 Panic

I have had 3 BSODs & lock ups while trying to update the blog –using MS Word on laptop first before uploading.

After trying various other options, which did not seem to cure problem, a system restore back to last week before the AV update seems to have sorted it – fingers crossed. I hope it can last out another week or so until we get home.

Update, MS Word locked again, so have switched to Wordpad and .rtf format to see if that solves it. I suspect MS Word at the moment !

03/08/11 Day 39 Luino

For afternoon we drove down eastern side of Maggiore, but you cannot see much as there are houses on the lakeside of the road blocking most of the views. After a while went back into Italy but no one on border appeared interested in looking at passports etc.

Houses disappeared replaced by trees then a road works, OK our way but the queue coming back was huge so we decided to return a different way once we reached Luino. Luino was teaming, market in full flow, people, traffic everywhere, ugh we turned round and headed back out of town on alternative route back.

As we got nearer to Locarno the sky became very dark and guess what, another thunderstorm – I will have to count up how many we have had some time. Decided to eat at campsite restaurant in view of ‘dampness’ outside. Very good, pricey being Switzerland but excellent for a campsite, their speciality looked very interesting – a French party were enjoying it greatly, 4 bottles of vino consumed by the time we left !

03/08/11 Alan & Yvette we saw these and thought of you.

We passed these on the way back and thought they would go well in your garden. However they were too big & heavy to strap to the roof of the CRV and bring back (even 1) – sorry.

 

03/08/11 Day39 Bellinzona

So we did, and jolly good it was too, a nice flat ride inland from the lake to Bellinzona. As we rode in to the town we were greeted with a McDonalds ! Anyway we cycled on and found the centre. It was not very big, but was very pleasant.

The church was very good I deduced as our resident expert on churches – Maria – was very impressed.

Although we are in Italian Switzerland there is no doubt we are in Switzerland, very neat, clean and tidy, no trash.

 

02/08/11 Day 38 Tabiana to Gudo

Our original intention had been a site on the shore of Lago Maggiore at Taberno, but they were mainly full – 1st time this has happened . When we looked at them, everyone was jammed in and on top of each other and there was little shade.

We drove up the road about 10kms and found a smaller site, which was not full, and is lovely, lots of trees, very nice pool, clean loos, and peaceful. Our neighbours arrived whilst we were setting up – and they were English !! We had a good chat during the evening as for both parties it was the first time for a while we had someone else to talk to apart from each other.

There is a cycle route at end of lane so we are going to explore tomorrow.

01/08/11 Day 37 Parma

Thought we would look the town over as we were near. Not sure if we really found the centre or not, but it is a very nice town, added to by the fact that traffic in the centre is very controlled. Just buses, taxis and the locals who live there. So there were more bicycles & pedestrians than traffic, which made moving around very easy, safe, and quiet.

The river Taro ‘flows’ through the middle, except at this time of the year there is very little to flow.

01/08/11 Day 37 Pellegrini

Went for a drive out into the country south of campsite, and very lovely it is. In fact what I thought Tuscany would be like, so you can deduce what I have seen of Tuscany has not lived up to expectations.

However we are surprised that we neither saw nor heard any animals, cows, sheep, goats, or pigs, yet go to Parma and there will be Parma ham and Reggio cheese in abundance. So what, we wonder, do they use to make them.

At the spot from where the photos were taken there was almost silence, no animals, no traffic, no birds, strange but equally pleasant.

31/07/11 Day 36 Sarteano to Tabiano

A transit day using the autoroute via Firenze & Bologna to Tabiano just past Parma. We are about an hour from Milano.

An area we have never been to before but the countryside looks lovely. Campsite is largish with lots of facilities including 4 pools – 2 for all, 1 for little ones, and 1 for water slides, plus shop, bar, and restaurant.

  

But, oh dear, again the WiFi is not working. I cannot believe these days that these ‘hotspot’ operators cannot ensure their ‘hotspots’ remain up. If the site owners just let everyone log onto their routers and charged a connection fee and cut out these internet ‘touts’ life would be so much easier.

Oh and despite a lovely sunny evening, it’s also raining, so currently inside the van sipping vino, at least it is still warm and hopefully we will be back outside soon.