Week 3: Nous entrons en France

 Sunday 30th August - Sunday 6th September

Where we have stayed:

-Sunday 30th August-My (Yvette's parents). I won't disclose the location incase their drive becomes a Mo Ho parking hot spot!!!

-Monday 31st August-Canterbury Aire.

-Tuesday 1st September-Montreuil Aire

-Wednesday 2nd September-Treport Aire

-Thursday 3rd September-Sunday 6th September-Camping Le Chant des Oiseaux, Trouville -Sur-Mer

What is a camping aire?

The literal translation is an 'area'.  But, in essence an aire is not a campsite. There are very few aires in the UK, but I suppose we have less land space (France is 2.3 times bigger than the UK) and we are not as pro Mo Ho as countries such as France.

Aires can vary significantly in what they offer but can be as little as a small space to park your motorhome and stay overnight with a safe way to empty the toilet cassette...to a place to park and stay with electricity, fresh water, bins, grey water emptying, a barrier, an outside area, and a designated space. 

Some aires are free and some you pay for, but they are usually cheaper than campsites. Whether we stay in an aire or campsite depends on whether it is a travel day (if we are driving most of the day and off early the next day, an aire makes more sense) and convenience of location. As it can be difficult to park the van, due to its height and length, we also sometimes park the van in an aire for the day, in order to look around a location but not stay overnight and move on.

Parents:

We spent Sunday at my parents...and this aire also had shower facilities, a washing machine and Sunday lunch!

The boys also loved the facility of stairs! Before we were homeless (:-), we lived in a bungalow and the most exciting thing for Bear and Yogi is to repeatedly run up and down the stairs. Yogi, the more athletic of the pair really enjoyed leaping from the middle landing to the bottom, in more dramatic fashion at each attempt. Bear, the bulldozer, just kept trying to head-but their upstair bedroom doors to see if he could get the doors open and then dash in to steal all the exciting things: socks, the panda bear, items from the bin, mum's eye cream... 

My parents said this was all fine??? I can assure you my brother and I were not allowed to behave like this as children. The dogs were put on harnesses and leads, with one of us holding or stood on the lead.

Both parents and dogs were exhausted when we left.

Canterbury:

On route to Canterbury we filled up with food, diesel and LPG Gas. LPG on the pump is more difficult to get in the UK, but when we are not on an electric hook up, the fridge, hot water and heating runs off of LPG. The van  is fitted with a locker for 2 gas bottles, which give us longer 'off grid'. Steve wanted to make sure both bottles were full before crossing.

There are also some of our staple foods which are more difficult and/or more expensive to get in Europe, so I carefully completed a strategic shop: Mexican microwave rice, smoked paprika, mexican powder, cheddar cheese, black beans...and don't worry I already have about 6 jars of chipotle paste in the van!!!

We then headed to Canterbury and parked up. This aire has tarmac, designated spaces which are wider than the van but not enough room to sit outside, bins, grey water emptying, fresh water, toilet cassette emptying, a barrier and is at the back of the park and ride. It cost £8 for 48 hours and includes the bus into Canterbury.

We went into Canterbury with the boys for a few hours and were amazed that Bear walked on four legs for the whole time. He struggles with busier places and gets both anxious and over excited and can think the other people are all there to say hello to him, is slightly fascinated with electric sliding doors and likes to look at his reflection in glass windows. We have spent hours training Bear to walk on a lead and to be calmer in busier places. Yogi, has had no training and just walks on a lead, if we stop he sits down thinking he can fit a little nap in.

France and Montreuil aire:

We crossed into France on 1st September. I was in contract with my last job until 31st August and 1st September, as Steve said: was my first day of unemployment. It was a great relief to be crossing into France rather than having the usual start of term anxiety and fear dreams...all teachers have these!

We crossed on the tunnel this time, as we are used to this and it is straight forward with the dogs. They have to have an AHC (Animal Health Certificate) to travel, at pet reception their microchips are scanned and paperwork quickly checked. As we were early and it was very quiet (...not a surprise, Steve is always early for a crossing/flights etc.) we were offered a crossing an hour earlier-which we took.

We then had about an hours drive to the first aire. We were just going to have lunch and move on. We have been to this aire and town before but just for the day. However, we parked up and both agreed it was really nice and decided to stay here for the night.

This aire: 5 desiganted spaces, each space was flat and paved, each space was very generous with enough space to put a chair outside if you wanted,  facilities for topping up water, emptying the toilet and grey water. It was a few minute walk from the town, in a quiet location and had a really nice walk around the old walls of the town across the road. It was also completely free to stay.

We were both able to fit in a run whilst here.

Getting on the train

Treport Aire:

We drove about an hour and half to get here. We have been to Treport before but stayed in a campsite on the other side of the town. There are two aires next to each other. One more rustic let's say...and the one we stayed in. Tarmac, a barrier, 12 designated spaces, some grass areas, emptying and re filling facilities and an electric hook up for 12 Euros for 24 hours. 

The aire is on top of the cliffs with lovely views and some nice walks. There are also sheep, donkeys and cows just across from the aire. We got the funicular into the town to have a look around. Steve was most upset that all the ice cream shops were closed. Seems the French had decided it was the end of the season and no more ice cream.

Camping Le Chant des Oiseaux:

We drove about 2 hours to get to the campsite but stopped on the outskirts of Dieppe to do some shopping and washing. We pulled up at the back of the car park and used the Revolution chain of washing machines. More of these have started to appear in the UK but in France, quite a few places have them. They are great when travelling in the motorhome as we can quickly and conveniently complete large wash loads. They are always clean and the dryers quick and effective. We completed a 20KG wash. Great to have all clean clothes, bedding and towels again. I think this would be thought of as very odd and unusual in the UK, but isn't here. As our home is with us, we sat in the carpark watched some TV, had lunch and read. Travelling isn't all glamourous.

We came across this campsite last year and loved it. When here last year, I also decided I need to leave my job, I just didn't know quite when or what I would be able to manage. I had said to Steve, that when we were travelling again, I wanted to come back for a week to read and look at the views. We are here and this is what we are doing.

More random bits:

-Now reading Tidelands by Philippa Gregory. Finished Wild, good book, really enjoyed it and easy/quick to read. Tidelands is more detailed and took a little longer to get into. It is set during the period of Oliver Cromwell/King Charles, which I am really enjoying and I studied this period of history for my A-levels. Half way, really enjoying it...not sure how it will end, which is a good sign.

-Need a new series to watch. Finished Missing. Watching Reacher and Vigil but having to wait for the weekly release.

-For some reason both dogs have been sick in the night. Not excessively and of course, on different nights. Both are a nightmare at eating stuff on walks and Yogi is partial to eating shite, rabbit poo is probably his most favourite..so that doesn't help. But at home I would then just chuck the messy item into the washing machine. In the van I'm trying to scrub it in the middle of the night and then put it out to dry the next day.

-I was very pleased to successfully bring my 2 blocks of cheddar cheese into France! Steve was more pleased that we got all the dog food across.

-I have a year's subscription to Fiit and I/we can do exercise classes on our pitch. Did a weight class this week. I tend to do this only when I have some privacy.

-I think there is a level of intrigue as to what we have in the van. I am going to do an A-Z of things we have in the van across my blogs (Steve and I do alternate weeks, the dogs are lazy arses and are just along for the ride)

A- aircon, air freshners, air assist on the suspension-something for Steve to explain!, antibacterial wipes, ash pan and broom.

B-books, bedding (with spare), bikes x 2 (1 is the boy chariot), beer and baking powder.

C-cheddar cheese!!! chipotle paste, curry powder, cables for charging phones and iPads, camping chairs, cameras-set up so we can see inside the van from our phones, candles.

D- dumbbells..I snuck a kettlebell in too!!! (much to Steve's annoyance), dobble card game, dogs: dog coats, dog treats, dog blankets, dog food, dog spare harnesses, dog different leads, dog drying towel, dog toys, dog tick remover kit, dog anti tangle spray, dog paw pad oil, dog shampoo, dog scissors, dog brush, dog toothpaste...they take up a lot of space.

Veggie ndjua gnocchi for dinner