The obvious difference when you drive in France is the quality of their roads, no potholes and how quiet they are compared to the UK! The french seem to be very organised and cater for Motorhomes everywhere you go and you can travel for miles without seeing another vehicle. There are stopovers called Aires where you can park overnight sometimes a little longer, you pay minimal fee and you can dump your waste water and top up with fresh water some even have electric hook ups. There are also unmanned fuel stations where you can top up with diesel (gazoil) and clean your Motorhome too!
There are lots of German, Dutch and of course French motorhomes on the roads we haven't seen many English plates so far, I bet they are all in Spain!
Neil and i had our first tiff yesterday, a little bit of cabin fever i think as we argued over where we were going to sit on the beach! I said i would like to walk along a bit and get away from people but Neil wanted to just plonk himself down anywhere, trouble is he was right really as there were only about 6 people on the beach! We had half an hour of not talking to each other and looking in opposite directions both thinking I'm not going to give in but we soon made up, we can't fall out for long really I've got another 8 months with him and if thats all we have to argue about we must be lucky people!
Our Bessie.
I thought i would show you a little more of Bessie. A lot of Motorhomes on the forum i follow say you rarely keep the first Motorhome you buy because as you live in them your requirements change and the layout you originally thought would work, doesn't work out. We have only been living in Bessie for a month now and the only thing i would probably change is the kitchen. There is limited workspace although you do get used to it, the full size fridge/freezer is an essential. There is plenty of cupboard space and the cooker is good with one electric ring and 3 gas rings so if we are on electric hook up which is every site on this trip i will try and use the electric ring and Neils griddle to save on our gas. The oven and grill are gas so i am using those.
Bessie Kitchen
Bessie Bathroom
The fixed side bed with its Duvalay mattress is one of the comfiest beds i have slept in! And if spending long periods of time in a Motorhome like we are this also is an essential! I wouldn't change anything in the bedroom there are plenty of cupboards and a wardrobe with a little dressing table.
Bessies cosy Bed!
The awning doubles your living space and to us is another essential especially the inflatable ones that take 2 mins to blow up with just a foot pump! The French seem fascinated by our awning the question we always are asked is what if you get a puncture? The awning is made up of individual chambers that you can shut off and replace if you do get a puncture. I don't think this will help abroad as i wouldn't know if or where we could get a replacement. I suppose worst case we could get a new part sent out to the campsite from the UK either that or i bribe a friend to bring one out to us for free bed and board for a few days! Hopefully we won't get a puncture!
5th September
We have had a few nice days at Les Embruns Le Pouldu on the coast, there are more english people here now than when we first arrived most stop and have a chat which is nice and swap tips. Our new neighbours Keith and Janet are from Darlington we had a few glasses of wine with them last night and we are going out for Moules and Frites later, apparently this is the place to have mussels so got to have some!
We did a 20km bike ride to Clohars-Carnoet but all the villages are so quiet here and not much around them apart from a church and a couple of Boulangeries and Patisseries but as we munched on a fresh pizza and a chocolate brownie, a wedding party arrived at the town hall which was nice to see! The villages excitement for the day the wedding music in the town hall was broadcast around the village through speakers! Not sure why they did this as we were the only one in the village but it must be tradition.
Yesterday we were sitting around the camp when we heard a loud bang! An English Motorhomer had just come in and was looking for his pitch but just as he passed us he smashed into a tree! The branch of the tree was just sticking out and his top left corner smashed into it! It is your worst nightmare when you are so far from home, everyone got up and looked because it was such a loud bang. I hope it hasn't done too much damage, I think lots of Gaffer tape will be needed! That was another reason why we didn't opt for a high top this is usually where a second bed is for larger motorhomes and the front of the cab is then much higher than the back and can be hard to judge the height.
Last night we had a lovely meal with Janice, Keith, Robyn and Alf our English neighbours on the site, at a local restaurant. The Moules Marinere were really good but Janice had a twist with her mussels and opted for the mussels cooked in Vodka and lemon and wow were they good! We finished off with a crepe flambe with Grand Marnier so as usual a little alcohol was consumed!
Today is our last full day at Les Embruns, tomorrow we move south to a site near the city of Nantes. I hope we find a large supermarket to stock up, supplies are running low now the little shops here only supply enough for a few days and are limited.
Our other neighbours who are English but live in France have been cleaning up their caravan for 2 days now and i thought i had seen everything you could bring on a camping holiday but she pulled out a hoover this morning! A full size one! There is only so much you can hoover in a small caravan isn't there? I have a dustpan and brush and a little hand held hoover for the hard to reach places but a hoover has to go on my list of unusual things to bring!
It is a sunny morning and Neil has offered to make scrambled eggs on toast so i will do the washing up, hope he doesn't mess my kitchen up.
7th September
Today we say goodbye to lots of lovely people on Les Embruns especially Janice and Keith. Most of the English love to chat and invite you over. It took me 3 hours to do the laundry yesterday because i stopped off to have a few glasses of wine along the way!Onwards to the city of Nantes ,Tom Tom found us a Supermarket that you could do your laundry whilst you shop called a Lavamat! What a great idea, there was even a big machine for your duvets!
Bessie is now stocked up with food and drink and looking forward to City life for a few days.
Hi Hun, have finally found a minute to catch up on your blog. It sounds as though you are having an amazing time!!!! Loving all your stories. How nice that you are meeting lots of new lovely people. Take care, keep safe. Xxxxx
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