Monday 27-Tuesday 28 August
We’ve got tickets for 2 days for the Düsseldorf Motorhome show which is the biggest show in the world. Keith knows in his head and his heart what he wants but unfortunately his wallet will have the last say, which is no!
We walk over 10 miles during those 2 days in and out the exhibition sheds marvelling at the incredible motorhomes, caravans and trucks that are on show. We ventured into a few caravans and liked what we saw, but a caravan is a definite no no for us. The huge motorhomes most bigger than coaches are absolutely jaw dropping costing over 1.5 million pounds with expensive cars tucked away underneath, who the hell would spend that much money on a vehicle. We saw commissioned 4WD trucks which are awesome massive boxes of metal which we could have done with when we were in Morocco, some of these trucks costing as much as the luxury motorhomes.
Leaving the show armed with lots of brochures we now have a better idea of what we want, what we need and what we are going to replace Eugene with. Eugene is up for sale so if anyone is interested please give us a shout. Keeping him after this trip will be costly for us now that our main yearly holiday will be spent in Australia visiting our new grandchild.
The weather has really switched and it’s starting to feel like autumn is poking his nose in, we’ve had 2 days of rain, grey and cloudy weather, just as well we’ve been inside really.
But the kids are always pleased to see us when we come back from a day out lol.
We left the show and Germany and headed in to Holland, Keith wanted to get another country on the list lol.
Our stop for the night was a free camperstop without any services outside the town of Brunssum.
We walked into the town, but everything was closing up for the day so we headed back to the carpark and lazed about reading. We had a really quiet night.
Wednesday 29 August
It’s still really quiet cold 14 degrees and I’ve binned my shorts for a pair of jeans, Keith is holding out.
We left Holland and arrived in Belgium. We stopped along the way at the town of La Roche en Ardenne for some lunch before it started to rain and we had to hurry back to Eugene before it pelleted down.
Our spot for the night is a free Aire outside the town of Saint Hubert. The weather is threatening rain so we wait it out for an hour or so. The town has an amazing church that is need of a bit of love and care and a few other beautiful buildings.
After a quick pint we just managed to get back to Eugene before the heavens open and it absolutely pelted down for nearly 2 hours.
Thursday 30 August
Leaving Belgium we head towards the Champagne region of France. Initially we wanted to stop at the city of Remis but the city Aire was full and the other didn’t look that appealing so we carried on to Epermay.
There’s already 6 motorhomes here when we park up in front of a beautiful church with a boules game going on with the locals.
We head into town where famous champagne houses are all set in one road. We decide against the champagne tour it’s too expensive and you only get 1 glass for your money.
We head back to Eugene and settle down for the night. A flock of Chuffs are gathering themselves in the trees around us, they are making such a racket but it all goes quiet once it gets dark. We can hear the acorns dropping on the roof only to realise in the morning the Chuffs have been using our roof as a toilet.
Friday 31 August
We’ve had some real interest after posting Eugene for sale on various Facebook pages in Guernsey and Jersey and are hopeful we can secure a sale when we get back home.
This morning starts off cold and grey with some rain mixed in. We drive 2 hours south to a free Aire on lake de Chantecoq. We wait for the rain to subside, jacket and scarf on I kid you not it’s that cold and take a walk around part of the lake.
It’s a beautiful lake with swimming and fishing areas. We’re half way and the sun comes out kicks autumn into touch and it’s boiling hot. After a 7 km walk we head back to Eugene, change into shorts and t-shirts and get the pushangs out. A cycle around the lake is 38km so we take the challenge and so glad we did. The lake is stunning lots of birds but unfortunately we had the wrong camera lens on so couldn’t get any decent photos of them.
We met Adrian from Wales who is 4 days into a 2 week trip in his little motorhome, we have a great chat over a few beers.
Saturday 1 September
After a shower and wishing Adrian well on his travels we set off in search of free drinking water. The Aires that we have stayed on requires a token to operate the machine, but we are struggling to find premises open so we can get the tokens.
We set off it’s a chilly 13 degrees but this soon gets up to 22 now that’s more like it.
We drive 2 hours south, the scenery is stunning and the grape picking is well underway as we see masses of people in the vineyards.
We stop along the way at a small village Aire, buy a baguette and use the free WiFi before setting off again. We get to our stop for free water to find that it’s a token machine and the only place we can get one is the bakery which is now closed until 5pm.
We can manage without water for a couple more days so head to Noyers sur Serein. Our stop for the night is in the carpark of the museum which is a free stop.
Noyers sur Serein is like going back in time it’s a well preserved medieval city which is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France. Many classic French films have been made here and we can see why, it’s beautiful.
We walk round the town using a map and self tour which we got from the tourist information office. When we get to the church there is a wedding taking place, the son of the local restaurateur with 150 people attending which is the most of village, we can’t even get a coffee because everything is shut.
Being the only people in the village not invited to the wedding we were awake until 3am with the party in full swing with a live band going on in the field behind where we’re trying to sleep.
Sunday 2 September
Suffice to say we didn’t get up and leave the carpark until 11.30 am.
Our first stop was L’Abbaye de Fontenay one of Europe’s oldest surviving Cistercian monasteries. It looked beautiful but it was 10 Euros each, so we gave it a miss and take the photos from the carpark.
Next we took a fantastic drive to Chateau de Savigny les Beaune. Along the way we past the beautiful French countryside and passed through beautiful villages. We stopped to have our lunch in Sainte Sabine which had the most amazing church.
Arriving at the Chateau we parked for free in the grounds.
Entry into the Chateau was 11 euros each, ouch, but we weren’t here to see the Chateau really but the collection of 250 motorbikes dating from 1902-1960 which is considered to be the most important motorbike museum in France, the rare collection of 35 different models of the Abarth racing car, 100 fighter planes and helicopters, straddle tractors, fire engines and the Berlin hovercraft. The Chateau is set in 17 hectares of vineyards.
We set off again through a very small village which turned out to be a nightmare it was full of people who’d been grape picking during the day, trying to get Eugene through the village snooper was trying to get us stuck in a road we shouldn’t be anywhere near. With cars, tractors and funny grape vine tractors everywhere we had to turn around and leave.
Next we headed to Beaune, but the Aire was already overflowing and didn’t look that appealing so off we went again.
Eventually we found a free stop in a carpark next to a lake along with 6 vans full of young hippies hoping for a quiet night.
We’ve got a few more days before we bed down for 10 days in a house with beds and most of all a shower with as much water as we want, small luxuries in our lives these days. We’re heading to the beautiful village of Tremolat in the Dordogne where the mayor has given permission to allowed us to keep Eugene in the dedicated Aire for 10 days instead of 3.
Thanks for coming along, don’t forget you can follow us on a live map on Polarsteps.
A la Perchoine
Shirena and Keith
Xxxxx
