Week 7 – 20th January 2024 – 26th January 2024 – San Jose to Mar Menor (129 miles)
Saturday 20th January 2024 – San Jose Day 3
Last night we had an horrendous storm, well it felt horrendous in our little space. The wind was moving the van about and the rain was just lashing down. Storm Juan is passing through the south of Spain, and it’s bad. It’s so bad that we lost the electricity a few times, not for any great length of time, however.
Our well equipped gym
Rain has stopped play
We have woken up again to a pretty miserable day. The wind has changed direction to a north eastish direction so it’s cold as well. Oh, and it’s raining again while we have breakfast. Lovely. A day locked in the van. Probably.
There is a gym here at the camp, so Hayley takes advantage of it and does an hour. Not much else happens today as the weather is not cooperating.
Tonight “H Paella“
Sunday 21st January 2024 – San Jose to Palomares(52 miles)
Today we are moving on. Our journey continues north to Palomares where we are hoping to go off-grid for a night or two. However, the place we are going has become very popular since we were last there so it may be packed. We shall see.
After breakfast we pack up, do a service and set off, after buying the smallest pack of butter from the camp shop for nearly 4 euros!
The weather is cool and grey, with no wind, or rain for a change. Our drive will be about and hour and 20. We have turned the corner and arenow heading north. After a bit of rough motorway we arrive at Palomares, which contrary to what we were led to believe, is actually ok. It’s busy but there is space. We find a place but a stones throw from the beach. Tonight we will be off grid. With a full tank of fresh water, an empty grey tank and fresh toilet we can do a maximum of three days.
The weather has cleared up. Clear blue sky and, a slight breeze, so we get the bikes down and set off for a nice cycle to the nearest town called Vilaricos.
We have been there before, very cute. We arrived just as a Sunday market was wrapping up, which is a shame.
We feel better for having done some exercise and head back to the van, we get our chairs out on the beach for a chilled beer, and read, sitting right by the sea edge in the sun. Fabulous. This is what we wanted…
Late afternoon we pack up and get properly settled in. It’s a fabulous dinner tonight and an early to bed.
We have no plans for tomorrow, we shall just see how it goes.
Monday 22nd January 2024 – Palomares Day 2
Del is up at 8 am and catches a beautiful sunrise. It’s going to be a lovely day.
The sea is flat and calm and the sky is clear blue. We hear a car horn blaring out quite loud. We think that someone might be in distress, but soon realise that it’s an enterprising baker in a small van selling bread and breakfast pastries. Hayley dashes out for a stick of bread and a croissant for breakfast.
There is a great supermarket nearby so we set off and do a massive shop. 112 euros worth. It should last a day or two. We can stay off-grid for two days sometimes 3. It’s so nice here on the beach that we have decided to stay for another day. No rush at all so we do some walking, read and just relax.
A smashing non-eventful day. The wind has built in the afternoon making it a bit chilly but pleasant all the same.
We do have a good walk in the afternoon as the wind is dying out. The beach stop is getting busy for a Monday.
It seems that everyone in the world is out on a camper van.
Tuesday 23rd January 2024 – Palomares to Crevillent (108 miles)
Today we are setting off. We are heading further north towards Alicante. We need a stop near the airport as Del is flying off to Berlin for 4 days to do some work. Hayley finds a new campsite called Camping Severin. It is owned and run by a Dutch couple. There are only 5 spots and we have been lucky to get one for one night
On route, we fill up with LPG and diesel and we give Jess a bath. She needs it! Hayley likes to keep an eye on her new tyres so we stop to check the pressure. (5.2 bar at the front and 5.3 at the back. She says).
All freshened and pumped up we set of for the two hour drive. It’s a lovely warm day, 22 degrees with some fabulous scenery on route. We arrive at the campsite and are welcomed by the owners Micheal and Naomi. We find out that they have only been open since September.
They can only offer 5 places but are working up to 15 after they have applied to the local council to expand. It’s a long-term plan and already it really is a fabulous place. It gets great reviews.
We are given a great spot and get settled in quite quickly. We have an early dinner, a fabulous fiduea made by Hayley.
Del does the cleanup while Hayley sets off for a shower. We looked at the facilities earlier and the shower is better than home! However, there’s a problem when Hayley takes her shower – ice cold water. Jess saves the day – she has a nice hot shower on board.
Del reports the cold shower. Michael is very apologetic, resets the boiler and Del is able to take advantage of the luxurious facilities.
We are packed up and ready for a 07:30am departure tomorrow. Del’s flight is at 10:10am, Hayley will drop him off and set up camp at Mar Menor.
Wednesday 24th January 2024 – Crevillent to Mar Menor via Alicante Airport (99 miles)
We are up the earliest since this trip started., 6:45am. It’s dark so getting out of the site is a bit tricky. Can’t see a thing! Today Del is off to Berlin to do a job, coming back on Sunday. Hayley will drop him off at Alicante airport and do the 1-hour drive to Mar Menor. On time Del is dropped off at the airport at 8:30am, he checks in and sits with a coffee for his 10:10 flight.
Hayley is setting off for a campsite in the Mar Menor after a couple of circuits of the airport trying to find the exit. The journey goes well but the tolls are a pain having to get up and lean out of the opposite side of Jess to pay them. There is quite a lot of laundry stacking up so once in and settled into a nice large space, she gets on with it. It’s a beautiful day here on the Mar Menor. Once the domestics are done, it’s time to settle down with a drink in the sunshine.
It’s clear blue skies and high temperatures, unseasonably high for the time of year by all accounts so Hayley gets a bit of exercise done with a 4 mile walk through the tall grass and along the shores of the Mar Menor.
Del has an uneventful flight, thankfully, up until the last 30 minutes. Berlin is experiencing the most appalling wind, so the approach and second attempt of landing is a bit on the rough side. The wind is so bad that Del has to help a lady up who gets blown over in the wind with her cases. Poor love. It is awful. He gets an Uber to the hotel, which is 30 minutes away, and is in his room by 2:45.
Some work has already started
Not much to do today. Dinner with all the crew.
It’s a large event with a vast crew. It’s so good though to see so many people from over the years gathered in one place. Such lovely people. It will help ease the time away and make it a very pleasant few days.
Thursday 25th January 2024 – Mar Menor / Berlin Day 2
It’s another beautiful day in Spain, this whole area is getting hotter than usual weather. There’s a fabulous beachside restaurant here that we visited last time we stayed, so Hayley makes a beeline for it for lunch. They do a set menu for 25 euros, more expensive than your usual Spanish set menu, but this place is something special.
The lunch is delicious, by the beach and served with a glass of cold white wine. Poor Del, wish he was here. After lunch, she walks up to the nearby military runway where some very noisy F5 jets are taking off.
Hayley does love a noisy jet (seeing the film Top Gun at the cinema as a teenager probably has a lot to do with this).
She’s hoping to see the Spanish version of the Red Arrows (Patrulla Aguila) rehearsing as this is their base. Unfortunately, after the last jet leaves a team of resurfacing trucks move in and start re-laying the runway. That’s the end of that then!
In Berlin meanwhile, it’s all pretty full on. The venue is large and is split in half. During the day it’s a conference for over 2000 people, and in the evening the room opens up to provide a full dinner and entertainment for the delegates.
It is a large room and difficult to explain the size, but if you have ever been to see a concert in an arena then you are quite close to imagining how large it is. It’s huge. Lots of lights, sound, set and large screens, and it all has to be done in a day and a half!
Friday 26th January 2024 – Mar Menor / Berlin Day 3
It’s blue skies again in Spain and Hayley is off cycling to the mud baths in San Pedro del Pinatar at the end of the Mar Menor. There are great cycling lanes much of the way and she ends up cycling to the strip that separates the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean Sea.
No one is partaking of the mud baths as it’s a bit too early in the season but the views are fabulous. The nearby towns are proud of their aviation connections – there are statues of planes everywhere and the benches are made in the style of aircraft wings.
Back at the van she puts her feet up after a total of 17 miles of cycling and sits in the sun reading.
It’s the penultimate day today before the Berlin event. Del is programming the plenary conference for the daytime and another programmer is taking care of the evening show. Between them, they have to take turns programming their own areas. The pressure is on to meet the deadline for the rehearsals and there is a lot to do, but it’s all coming together.
Week 6 – 13th January 2024 – 19th January 2024 – Balerma to San Jose (186 miles)
Saturday 13th January 2024 – Balerma Day 3
Del, proud of his now clean, shiny van.
Our last day here today. It’s a warmish start so after a bowl of bran flakes and fruit we sit outside, chatting and reading before finally setting off for a local walk, nothing too strenuous. It’s a lovely day.
We don’t plan to have dinner tonight. Instead, Hayley puts together a very typical Spanish spread of tortilla, tomato bread, Jamon Serrano, chorizo, salad and the biggest prawns ever dipped in alioli for a very late lunch while the sun is still out.
Fabulous. Needless to say, it didn’t stay on the table for very long.
It’s a quiet afternoon. As usual, it gets quite cool from about 4:30 onwards so we wrap up and just relax.
Tomorrow we are going a little more west towards Nerja. Still in Andalucia, this will be as far as we go west before turning round and heading back towards home. We still have just under 4 weeks to go to do it.
Sunday 14th January 2024 – Balerma to Nerja (70 miles)
Lemon tree behind Jess
The camp parrot!
We are moving on today and heading west to a nice little place that we visited two years ago, Camping Cortijo San Miguel which is just outside the town of Nerja, famous for its caves.
A nice drive today, short, just over an hour.
It’s a busy place but luckily we booked ahead for our two-night stay.
We are given a nice patch surrounded by lemon trees, avocado trees and bird of paradise plants. Very nice, very peaceful – perfect.
Once set up we are off to find lunch. There used to be a very nice beach restaurant here. It was a bit on the rough and ‘rustic’ side but the food was very good and very cheap with good simple service. We found that the old place has now closed down and the owner has built a rather flashy ‘block’ on the beach.
It’s an excellent location and looks trendy. Of course this means that it’s full. We are asked for our name and asked to just have a drink and wait for our table.
Fresh Paella. Made on the beach
We get one of the best tables in the place, outside, in front of the building with a full open, unobstructed view of the sea and beach. Smashing.
There’s a small accident as we are getting settled when Del manages to knock his beer over all over Hayley. She stinks like a brewery for the rest of the afternoon.
First he has it……then she gets it!
We eat half the seabed. Calamaris, sardines, fried bouqueroes and paella. Quite a feed. The place is rather hectic, probably slightly understaffed, but all good.
Pair of van visitors
The bill finally arrives with bits missing, so after letting him know what he’s missed we settle the bill and leave with an ice cream to finish off.
We have a peaceful afternoon back at the camp in the sun with a coffee. We do have a couple of visitors – a black cat and a tabby cat, who think it might be a good idea to inspect the van. There are a few cats here wandering about who are very friendly.
They all look well fed, which is thanks to the campers feeding them. They aren’t daft. They are very nice, just wandering around letting people fuss them and feed them.
It’s movie night tonight. We watch the first two episodes about the postmasters/Post Office caper. Bad that, very bad.
Monday 15th January 2024 – Nerja, Day 2
The weather this morning is not what was advertised. We were supposed to get warm sunny skies, low 20s. Instead, it’s cloudy, with a slight breeze and mid-teens. Oh well, no matter. We have a morning on Jess before going for a walk to the town of Nerja.
The wind has built up, the sea is totally different from yesterday, it’s really chopping up. Not what was expected.
Del’s ‘expensive’ new shades
The sky is dark and threatening, but soon we are in the town square of Nerja and the sun comes out. Del buys a new pair of sunglasses for 12 euros! Bargain.
We find a bar with outside seating and enjoy two small beers while discussing next year’s adventure. Where shall we go? What shall we do?
A very pleasant afternoon in the town of Nerja. The walk back feels long as we battle the strong wind, face-on, back to Jess. A nice evening at the van and a lovely dinner.
Movie night again tonight. Ricky Gervais – Armageddon. Very entertaining. We also watched the last two episodes about the Post Office scandal. Mr what’s his name etc.
Tuesday 16th January 2024 – Nerja to Cabo de Gata (112 miles)
Well, today is the day that we now start to turn back, keeping the sea on our right. We have just under 3 and a half weeks remaining before our ferry on the 9th of February towards home.
It’s a very pleasant uneventful drive, which you always want… We are retracing our steps for the first part and staying at the Cabo de Gata campsite. There’s not much to do around there but the campsite is excellent, lots of facilities with an excellent restaurant. Once we get checked in, it is indeed time for lunch, so we take advantage of the menu of the day, 13 euros each for a full three-courses, drink and a coffee.
It’s that time of the week when Jess gets a full clean inside. Doors and windows are all opened up and the whole van gets a full wipe-down and the floors are washed. We also get a pile of laundry done. The weather is a bit unpredictable today; wind and rain with bits of sunshine. It’s still warm though so it’s not all bad.
No dinner tonight after the big lunch. Early night!
Wednesday 17th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata Day 2
Another day of unpredictable weather today. Indeed just after breakfast, we get an hour of heavy rain.
Rain streaming down the windows
The Spanish won’t be complaining, they have been short on rain down here for a while. In the summer they saw temperatures of high 40s to low 50s celcius, so a few heavy showers will be welcome. We don’t mind, we stay in Jess, pottering, reading and planning trips for the future. Do it while you can!
The wind is blowing hard but the rain has finally stopped with some sunshine trying to get through. We take our chances with the lull in the weather, and get a jacket on and take a walk to the sea which is a good 2km round trip.
We get to the sea edge and it’s blowing hard, straight from the southwest, force 8 and building! It’s good though, quite invigorating. After a while we get fed up with the wind and the noise and make our way back for a cup of tea. We have another cat visitor.
This time a small black kitten, who is just terrified of any movement or sound. We managed to calm the poor thing down for a while with cat treats and some milk. Poor thing,
We get a nice sunny break later in the afternoon, but we still have the howling wind. You can get fed up with it… Del is currently reading books from the British Library Crime Classics series, so escapes to the bar to read a couple of chapters while sampling a ‘Cafe Cabo‘, which is a local version of the Canary Islands Cafe Barraquito.
A very quiet day today.
Thursday 18th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata to San Jose (12 miles)
We only have a short drive today, probably 30 minutes. We are going across the Cabo de Gata, the small sticky-out bit at the bottom right-hand side of Spain, to a place near San Jose called Camping Escullos. A short service for Jess today – grey water empty and a fresh toilet and we are off.
The countryside changes quite quickly. Soon we are away from the acres and acres of plastic sheeted greenhouses, and soon we are at the heart of a national park which is quite spectacular, with its high hills and roads carved into them going for miles. Very nice. A short but rather nice drive.
We arrive at the camp, which we have pre-paid, but although they can find our reservation, they can’t find the deposit paid. Of course, Hayley has all this info at her fingertips. No problem, we are not to worry and just pop in on our departure day and hopefully, the banking system will have sorted itself out.
We are given a small but nice pitch, really tucked in with just enough space. It’s nice and private.
The wind is still blowing hard but it’s a lovely warm sunny day. Without too much of a do, we shut the van up and set off for a walk to the beach. It’s a good mile or so of a walk but worth it when we get there. It has a lovely sandy beach, which because of its distance from anything and the coolish weather, we are the only ones there. It’s a small bay or cove so the wind is not too bad.
We have a good look around and get a good walk in, discovering a fort built right on the edge of the rocks. It’s all rather pleasant and we have to remind ourselves that it’s the middle of January as we stand under the sunny blue skies, looking out to a dark blue sea.
By the time we get back to Jess, we have done a good 3.5 mile walk and feel rather good for it. We have a small snack and a beer in the afternoon sun behind Jess.
Tonight there is a band on at the camp restaurant with fish and chips for a staggering 7 euros! We’ll give that a miss but probably go and see the band.
A relaxing afternoon takes us up to 7:30 pm when we go to check out the band. They have already started. It’s a little odd.
It’s an Irish band, a 5 piece band which without a doubt, might be the worst we have every seen (and heard). None of them can crack a smile, their singing is mumbled and it’s hard to hear who is playing and what they’re playing. The funny thing is that the audience, who are now full of cheap fish and chips and cheap wine, seem to like it.
We sit at the bar and it turns out to be not too bad a night after all. We have some locally made Pacharan, a nice drink over ice – homemade by the campsite though. Tomorrow might be interesting,
Friday 19th January 2024 – San Jose Day 2
Poor quality sleep last night. Hayley complains of a bit of a headache and our mouths feel a bit ‘furry’ from the moonshine last night. A short simple breakfast today. It’s a bit miserable here today. It’s cold, cloudy and rainy. It’s far better than our home country which is experiencing a real cold snap, but it is winter…
We stay indoors until lunchtime and have a rather splendid lunch at the local restaurant. Very pleasant. It’s not rained for a while and seems to be holding steady, so we decided to set off for a walk, similar to yesterday, just to get some exercise. Because of the threatening rain, we take caution and put a good waterproof coat on, just in case.
It’s good to be out in the fresh air. We set off and the surrounding hills are quite spectacular. But what’s this? As we progress through our walk, which isn’t very far, the skies grow dark and dramatic.
Storm clouds are gathering around us
But very dark. At the first feel of the first drop of rain, we decide to turn back. Just as well…
Within minutes the heavens open up and dump a heavy shower of heavy rain on us. The wind has also built up and we are walking right into it.
The wind is so strong and the rain so heavy it stings your face. Hayley has to put her glasses on to give her self some “eyeball protection”.
We laugh and curse all the way back to Jess, get the wet clothes off and have a cup of tea. Guess what…? It’s stopped raining… Typical. Suddenly it feels like Filey on a Tuesday afternoon…!
We will be staying in for the rest of the day and night. Tomorrow is another day.
Today we do a 6 and something hours of driving. The upside is that we are now in the warm part of Spain where the daily average temperature is 17 degrees. That’s cooler than it’s been recently – the week before we arrived it was in the low 20s but Europe is having a bit of a cold snap.
The motorways are free in Spain, apart from some shorter newer routes and even then it’s cheap. We follow the coast until we pass Alicante and Hayley finds us, what on paper, looks like an excellent campsite called “La Fabrica” or The Factory. The reviews talk of vegan cooking classes and oboe concerts, Del is a bit dubious but these quirky stops make for an interesting trip. It’s off our route by a couple of kms but we think that we will give it a go. We drive through a town called Dolores which is dead, not just quiet, but dead, nothing there. It feels very odd. We find the campsite which is equally dead and closed but looks, on the outside, how it is described on its website. It’s worth just clicking on their website to see what we mean.
We park up while Del investigates. It is definitely closed apart from one run-down camper van with an old Spanish guy sitting outside it spitting. Nice. We give up and set off. Del finds a Whatsapp number for the owner who replies to Del’s text saying that it is the right place but that they are full.
We drive off to rejoin the motorway, it’s all starting to feel like a bit of a slog now after 6 hours. We head to the Mar Menor where there are two cheap camper parks. One of them doesn’t open until 6pm and looks full, the other is full so we end up spending 40 euros for a place in the nearby campsite for the night.
Sunshine… finally
We are put into a tight space which is basically the campsite carpark with some wire running to it for electricity. We decide to change and move into the campsite for the same price but without electricity. It’s more spacious and quieter. The other pitch had a group of revellers playing music extremely loud and having a BBQ and we were downwind of it. We like the new space. Nice, but very expensive. It’s high season here. We are amazed that the two cheap camping parks are full, between them there are 215 spaces and they are all full! Most of the spaces in these parks and campsites are filled by huge German motorhomes in a completely different league to Jess, they are the size of coaches and some store a car inside them. We do some research and find a Morelo Empire Liner for £686,000! We’ll stick with Jess.
We settle in for the night. Tomorrow is another day.
Sunday 7th January 2024 Mar Menor to Cabo de Gata (136 miles)
The wind in the Mar Menor is strong. We are getting quite fed up with it, it’s cold as well, so we finally decide that after breakfast we will move on further south to find some winter sunshine. We set off, Del is driving while Hayley does her best to find us a place. We, text and email sites as we go along, all of which have “no room at the inn“. It’s a busy time of year, this is where the warm weather is and this is where everyone wants to be. Just like us!
The white bits are plastic greenhouses…
Finally Hayley does find us a place. She is really good at scouring the camping apps and maps and finding us places. We have finally broken free of the windy weather and the skies are blue. We are heading south towards the Cabo de Gata. It starts to feel like a bit of a slog but it is well worth it. We have booked and paid in advance and we are welcomed by a very nice chap who gives us a space. Finally, finally, we have found the sunshine.
There is not much around here at the Cabo de Gata. We remember it from our sailing days when we sailed from Almerimar to Barcelona and back on a couple of occasions. This area of Andalusia is considered the poor part of Spain, but it is also where most of Europe’s fruit and veg are grown.
Miles and miles of land are covered in plastic greenhouses. It is said that after the Great Wall of China, it is the second largest man-made thing that can be seen from space.
We have a great pitch and get settled in quite quickly.
The have a restaurant here on the site serving local stuff at a good price so without too much delay, we are sitting down to a cold beer, a huge salad, fried baby squid and some fries on the side. We also have a cold glass of rose to help it along all enjoyed in the wind-free sunshine. Finally.
It is still winter here so it does get cold from around 5 pm. We are well fed and watered and content to be where we are. Fabulous. Could the days of long drives be finally over?
Monday 8th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata – Day 2
It’s a nice bright, but chilly, day this morning. We slept well – it’s so quiet here. Breakfast is outside today in the cool winter sun. We have some winter tops on as it’s a chilly morning . It’s so nice though. We enjoy our breakfast. Laundry day today. It has to be done.
The bikes are at last coming off the back of the van, after 4 weeks we get them down. Hayley gives them a good wipe down, oiling and tyre pump up and we are off, no idea where, but we are off. We find our way to the beach. It’s not really a beach for spending the day on but it’s the beach. It stretches for miles to the left and to the right of us.
The sea is calm and it’s warm in the sun. We are the only people for miles too. We sit on the beach looking out to sea reminiscing about our boat trips along these waters. We sit there for a while just chatting. It’s lovely.
We set off again. We can see a town a few miles off along the coast, and following a dusty road we arrive at the small town of Cabo de Gata. It’s dead. There is no one here. We cycle through the empty dusty streets. It feels strange.
Cheers…
We make our way to the sea front and find a small bar with a couple of people sitting out to enjoy the afternoon sun. Why not we think, and sit down to a small glass of Coke and two small tapas. Lovely.
Our 7 mile cycle
Not realising the time we head back to the campsite, again another dusty, pot holed, winding road to join the main road back to the campsite, we end the day sitting outside in the afternoon sun and just like yesterday it starts to cool off around 5 pm so we pack up and get into Jess for a nice hot cup of tea. We liked it today, lots done including a good 7 mile cycle.
We like it here so much that we ask if we can stay another two nights. No problem, so here we will stay for the next few days, in the Cabo de Gata, in the province of Andalucia, Spain.
Tuesday 9th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata – Day 3
We have woken up to a cloudy, cool morning. The sun is trying to break through but not quite making it. Breakfast indoors today. Crumpets and poached eggs! Nice. We stay around Jess today, planning our next few weeks, booking what we can ahead, if we can.
It’s mid-afternoon and the sun has pushed away some of the clouds, it’s quite warm. We get the walking boots on and set off for a walk. We walk past a lot of the greenhouses that cover many miles of the Andalucian area. Some are left to rot and decay sending massive sheets of plastic to blow around the countryside, eventually making it into the sea. There is also an issue with poor conditions for migrant workers, which we all tend to ignore, so long as the tomatoes are cheap! See the wiki here, and some photos.
This area is littered with the greenhouses that supply Europe with fruit and vegetables
An hour or so later we have done 4 miles. Back to Jess. The clouds have gathered a bit more heavily now, rain is threatening. We pack everything away and pop the bikes back on the back. We are moving on tomorrow.
The rest of the day is spent on Jess. It’s so still outside, grey and cool. Dinner on board.
Movie night tonight. Groundhog Day. A 90s film about a bloke who’s a bit of a git, wakes up everyday to the same thing and becomes an alright bloke. It was ok.
Wednesday 10th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata – Day 4
There was some rain overnight, just a shower. This morning the sunshine is back. Clear blue sky and it is warming up nicely. It’s bacon butties and coffee for breakfast today. We are leaving today to make an overnight stop along the coast. Just as we are having breakfast Del gets an email cancelling our reservation. Nice. We get into a bit of a flap as the day is already planned. It’s a short-lived flap though as we decide to stay put just for one more night. It’s nice here so we don’t really mind.
Camping Cabo de Gata has everything and it has a nice easy going feel about it, clean and well maintained.
It has really warmed up now to a balmy 17 degrees so we sit outside jess reading, writing and chatting. It’s that good we finally get our shorts on and just relax for the rest of the day.
The camp restaurant does a fabulous 13 euro menu of the day, so we take advantage of that. Fantastic value for money and enjoyed in the afternoon sun.
Back at Jess we rinse and repeat the mornings activities. It’s all go! We discuss and part book a trip away for the summer.
No dinner tonight but we do play one of our EXIT games.
Tomorrow we will definitely be moving on. Maybe…
Thursday 11th January 2024 – Cabo de Gata to Balerma (50 miles)
We have liked staying here in Camping Cabo de Gata. We have stayed longer than we thought. There is not much around here, you can go out on a bike and do some walking, which is nice, it’s just that the campsite has a such a nice feeling about it which is hard to describe, it’s relaxing, care free and has everything you need including an excellent restaurant and bar. We will probably call in here again for another night or two on the way back home in a couple of weeks.
We do finally leave today. After a massive breakfast. “A clear out breakfast“. Getting stuff used up that will be soon out of date. Del knocks up a poor man’s tortilla using up some eggs and potatoes. There’s ham, cheese, jam and bread. We go a bit mad really. We do a full service on Jess and set off west along the southern coast of Spain. It’s a lovely day, 18 degrees and all’s right with the world. We are heading for a campsite called Camping Mar Azul in the town of Balerma. It’s a short 50 mile drive and on route we stop at the Spanish version of Tescos – Mercadona. A fabulous supermarket. Never thought we would say that “It’s our favourite supermarket“, but they are rather good. The fridge and cupboards in the van are jammed with stuff that should last us a good week or more.
Finally. A cheap wash for Jess
At the campsite we find that they have a van wash! Jess has not had a decent wash since the start way back in Switzerland. For 3 euros, yes 3 euros she gets the best wash ever! So, so cheap.
We get checked in and get to our pitch and settle in very quickly. The site must be occupied by at the very least 98% Germans. It’s mad… No problem with that, they work hard, they buy all the toys, they move about and enjoy using them. It’s a nice place here, we have a walk around to find out where all the essentials are, toilets, showers, stuff like that.
Cute visitor.
We walk along the front to the town of Balerma. It’s quite sad really. This area of Spain is the poorest area. There are so many construction sites that have started and have been abandoned. Blocks that are occupied but are starting to fall apart. The town is almost deserted. Eventually though we do find some life. Two seafront restaurants that are busy. We stop at one of the places for a “Tinto Verano” (Red Summer). Red wine mixed with lemonade and lots of ice. Very refreshing.
Hayley’s Fidua
We make friends with the restaurant’s local black cat while studying the menu which is excellent. We decide that we will come here for a late lunch tomorrow. Back at Jess, we half heartedly plot the rest of the trip out before showering and having a fabulous dinner on board. Hayley does do a an amazing Fidua.
Early night tonight…
Friday 12th January 2024 – Balerma Day 2
It was a good night’s sleep, we were in bed by 9 pm! Bacon and avocado butties and coffee for breakfast this morning. It’s windy today, much more than yesterday. You can get fed up with wind. Today we plan on a bike ride and a late lunch. After breakfast we sit about chatting, get the bikes off the back and off we go. We plan to go to Almerimar which is east along the coast, a 10km cycle, 20 round trip. We set off but the strong wind is dead in our face, it slows us down and the roar past our ears is getting on our wick so we forget all about it and cycle back in the other direction and take lunch a little earlier.
It’s nice afternoon out and the time goes quick. We end up at a restaurant with the best sea view, its very quite and peaceful here and our cat friend from yesterday puts in an appearance.
Late lunch beginsThe end!
For 13 euros we have a menu of the day, which is quite extensive. Salad, fried aubergine with honey, followed by paella and a local stew. More food comes; calamari with some fries, a local dessert and coffee. Del has a splash of brandy in his coffee (carajillo).
Back at Jess, Hayley does some planning for a summer trip while Del does nothing! In the end we did manage a staggering 7 mile cycle…
Another day here tomorrow, the last day before moving further along the coast to Nerja.
Week 4 – 30th December 2023– 5th January 2024 Interlaken, Switzerland to Benicarlo, Spain. (889 miles)
NOTE: You can now see where we have been with Jess on our travels since we started. Click here for a Google map that will allow you to move around in the usual way.
Saturday 30th December 2023 – Interlaken to Lucerne. (45 miles)
That’s Christmas out of the way… We have been based in Interlaken for 6 nights, one of the longest stops. It has been very good here, we’ve seen and done quite a lot and enjoyed ourselves. The campsite was excellent, very cheap and very handy for facilities and with the help of the free bus pass from the campsite, we were able to get out and explore.
Time to move on now though. We intend to bring in the new year back at Lucerne. We stayed for one night there last week. It’s a city, so very busy, but they are having a huge fireworks display on the lake on the 1st of January and we would like to see that. The campsite works on a first come first served basis and as it’s the new year with this big firework thing, we think it will fill up, so we need to get there sharpish.
Jess is packed up, serviced, and ready for the off. We need some LPG for heating etc, we have gone through a whole bottle! We are also down to our last bits of food so on the way out of Interlaken we find a garage and top up with gas and later a budget supermarket (which is still more expensive than Waitrose). We are fully stocked. The drive is about an hour and a half to Lucerne.
Look at the road, please!
It’s a pleasant drive. Hayley is at the wheel today.
There’s lots of twisting and turning and steep climbs, she pulls over to let people pass, and about 30 cars go by – bet they were cursing us. The weather is fair with some sunshine as we make our way back through almost 20km of tunnels to get to Lucerne.
Pick a space
We arrive at the campsite which is closed for lunch, but they have left a sign with the available spaces, which aren’t many now, so you are encouraged to pick your spot from the remaining and cross the pitch number from the list. Whew!
We bag a space. We are going to be here for 3 nights, leaving on the 2nd January 2024! We get settled in and have a cup of tea in the cool afternoon sunshine. Nice.
Dinner in tonight after a lovely dusk walk by the lake. It’s cold. Snow is expected on New Year’s Day. We shall see.
Sunday 31st December 2023 – Lucerne – Day 2
Well, folks, it’s the last day of 2023.
We are up late but we have a good hearty breakfast and spend some time in the van chatting and reading, all very nice. Time for a walk though. We take the bus to the centre of Lucerne and have a good walk around town.
It’s a very nice town, lots of history here and lovely buildings. We do manage to get some chocolate here in Switzerland!
Chocolate swag!
We put together a small bag of Lindt chocolate balls from a high street chocolate shop, which on reflection are a bit sickly, but it doesn’t stop us from scoffing some of them down!
Rain is threatening so we decide to walk back to the van around the lake. By the time we get back, it has started to rain properly, not heavy but just enough to get you wet. In total, we walked a good 5 miles.
Very good. We feel better for doing it.
The rain is now gently pattering on the roof of the van.
It’s cosy in Jess though, with nice lighting and the heating on while we enjoy some crumpets and a tea, and later a glass of pre-New Year Champagne. We want to spread it out a bit you see rather than drink the whole thing in one go!
Crumpets and tea. Well, why not?
Hayley does a fantastic dinner tonight of turkey, red cabbage, and spatzle, all very local, washed down with a small glass of red. To kill time until midnight we play an EXIT game. These are games that are like escape rooms but on paper. They’re good fun, sometimes they can be tricky but they’re entertaining. We’ve done many of these games and enjoyed them very much.
Well, folks 2023 is fast coming to an end. We are off to bring 2024 in with the rest of the fizz and maybe nip across the road to the water’s edge of Lake Lucerne if the rain stays off.
We would like to wish you all, family, friends, and acquaintances a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.
Del, H and Jess…xxx
Monday 1st January 2024 – Lucerne – Day 3
Today, the first day of the new year, we get up very late.
It was a very nice night last night. We played and completed our EXIT game with an hour to spare before midnight.
EXIT games. We have done probably 10 of these.
On the stroke of midnight, we were outside Jess with a glass of fizz in hand counting the seconds. The locals had gone crazy with the fireworks. The sky was alive with them. We did the short walk to the nearest park where the public is just allowed to let off as many fireworks as they like, and they were. It was mad, but great to watch.
Back at the van we did some phone calls and texts, watched the London fireworks and were in bed by 2:00 am.
The rest of the new year’s day we spend mainly indoors. It’s cold today. We have seen Lucerne now. We are here for the “official” fireworks later tonight.
We do manage a short walk to the Lido across the road where we just missed a group of people doing a swim in the cold lake. Mad.
We relax back in Jess waiting for the evening fireworks. It’s cold tonight as we make our way to the lake which is just a couple of hundred yards from the campsite and pick our spot for the display.
They didn’t disappoint. The display was at the town end of the lake but we still had a very good view along with the couple of hundred other people that turned up to see them. Excellent.
Tuesday 2nd January 2024 Lucerne – Leysin (142 miles)
Today we are heading south and slightly east to a place called Leysin. We are going there because there is a Tobogganing Park that Hayley wants to try out. It’s 1300m above sea level and the forecast for the area is predicting cold temperatures and snow.
In the line for a service
We get packed up and do a full service before we leave as we will be off grid today, so everything gets charged up, full tank of fresh water, fresh toilet and we are good to go.
Alpine Micky Dees
It’s a very nice drive today with some spectacular views as we climb higher. The temperature gets to 3 degrees and we start to see snow, not fresh falling snow but snow from previous falls. Del is driving today and in need of a coffee so we stop at a service area which has a McDonald’s.
20 quids worth of Micky Dees
Well, why not? 23 Swiss francs later we have a bag of food (not much for 20 quid) and are sitting in Jess having “a lunch”.
Back on the road and climbing higher. After some tight twisty narrow driving, we arrive at Leysin. It’s 4 degrees. We get a good spot and set off for a walk. There has been no fresh snow here for a while but the park is open and only 8 of the 13 runs are operating. We have a good walk and find some good snow to walk in.
On our way back to Jess it starts to rain, which is quite heavy by the time we get back. We get in the van and get the heating on, cup of tea and settle in for a quiet evening.
Tomorrow is our last day in Switzerland.
Wednesday 3rd January 2024 Leysin, Switzerland to Volte-sur-Rhone, France (245 miles)
It rained for most of the night last night. There were only small gaps in the rain, but for the most part it just rained! It was supposed to be freezing with snow. When we look out of the window this morning, it has finally stopped raining and is quite pleasant but a lot of the surrounding snow has dissolved. Fortunately, the Toboggan Run is made of lots of compacted snow and ice so it’s still there and still open but with only 6 of the 13 runs working.
We have a lazy breakfast as our session is from 12 midday. You get 1 hour 50 minutes on the slopes. After breakfast we get togged up in lots of layers and off we go. It’s just a short walk to the check-in, Hayley shows the ticket and we are both given a quick 3 minute safety lecture and handed a crash hat and our inner tube that we will sit in and then be pushed down an icy slope on!
Great fun!!! There is a ‘magic carpet’ that takes you to the top, which is just a fancy outdoor travelator. You sit yourself in the ring, cross your legs and get pushed!! It is pretty fast with a few twists and turns and banked corners cut into the snow. Sometimes you end up going backwards, spinning and so on. We got about 10 goes in our allocated time slot, which was plenty. Fabulous.
Back at Jess we pack up and set off just before 3 pm. We have a possible long drive ahead of us today. We are just east of Lake Geneva and we have to get to the south of France.
Goodbye Switzerland
The route is either over a high pass on very twisty roads and then dropping down into Chamonix which will take hours, or to go around the top of Lake Geneva and get on the French motorway system which is less time but a longer distance.
We take the second option. 5 and a half hours later, 42 euros on tolls and another 70 euros on diesel we finally arrive in the southern half of France, south of Lyon and north of Marseille. Hayley has a little app that allows us to book spaces in advance in France using “Camping Car Park”. You find the site, pay the small pitch fee and that’s it. What’s more, it worked. We arrived at the site where a French van was sitting outside, as we approached he signalled to us that it was full, but we just drove up to the barrier, swiped the card and the barrier opened. We are in. We did feel a bit sad for the French who couldn’t get in, but only a bit…
We are about a 2 hour drive from the French Mediterranean and we are aiming to be in Spain by late afternoon tomorrow.
An enjoyable but very long day, we are wiped out. Once we get settled, which is very quickly, we have a cup of tea and we are done. Night!
Thursday 4th January 2024 Volte-sur-Rhone, France to Capmany, Spain (240 miles)
Today we are up quite early, have breakfast, and are off and on our way by 10 am. It’s a bright cool morning. Another long day today of driving lies ahead. We want to get over the French/Spanish border and down to the south as quickly as we can. So we would like to get there quite early today. Looking at other campsites in Spain they are all full, mostly with Germans. They seem to be having an extended Christmas holiday, or doing what we are up to, and escaping their country for the winter.
We can either go by national, none toll roads, which will take forever and we will use up a lot, but a lot, of diesel. Or we can get there quicker use less diesel but pay a fortune on French toll motorways.
We go for the second option. We get a shop done as we are fast running out of supplies and soon we are off again and on the French motorways. They are very expensive but they are very good. Well maintained, clean and spacious.
Cork trees on the way to the campsite
After 58 euros on tolls and 5 and a half hours on the road we are in a charming Spanish campsite called Camping Albera just over the border in a small village called Capmany. We have been here before. It’s very pleasant. The sun is shining and it is 18 degrees!
As soon as we are parked up, the chairs are out, Hayley has a t-shirt on and a cold glass of white wine in hand sitting in the sun.
Within 24 hours we have gone from the Swiss Alps to the Spanish med.
Yesterday!Today
A bit of a downer on the horizon – Spain is expecting some very rough weather soon, that could last 10 days. We shall see. Dinner tonight was all homemade, all very nice, especially Hayley’s Tartiflette.
After dinner we manage a good walk out into the village of Capmany. Sitting in the van all day for almost 6 hours, we feel we need to stretch our legs a bit and get some blood flowing. It was well worth it. A very nice place indeed.
Capmany by night.
Friday 5th January 2024 Capmany to Benicarlo (230 miles)
Another long drive is planned for today, but hopefully, this will be our last one for a while. We are trying to get as far south as possible to get some sunnier, warmer weather. We have had a very pleasant stay here in Capmany, a very quiet place, but when we wake up this morning the site is almost empty, completely different from our arrival when the site was almost full. Lots of German motorhomes in transit, but are they going north or south?
It’s a grey overcast day but a nice temperature. There has been some light rain overnight. We need diesel and gas so we set off for the chaotic La Jonquera. It lives up to our description – chaotic. It is on the main motorway between France and Spain on the border, all road freight goes through here as well as tourists. It’s badly signed where everything is, the roads are in a bad condition and you have trucks, in the main, and tourists milling around. How there is not an incident we have no idea. Maybe that’s it. Maybe too much regulation and direction causes more accidents? Anyway, we give up filling at one place as we can’t get in. All kinds of height restrictions and bollards.
Finally we get to a petrol station after going around a roundabout or two while dodging Lithuania trucks, French tankers and German camper vans. Great fun…
We are on our way. The weather brightens up, it’s a lovely day as we head south on a FREE Spanish motorway. It’s busy as we pass Barcelona. The weather over the next few days is not great. Very high winds are expected, very high, we can already feel the start of it as Jess gets pushed about a bit in the wind. Hayley books us into a campsite called Camping Alegría del Mar for the night which is located south of Tarragona near a town called Vinaros.
At 3:30 pm we finally arrive having left Capmany at 11:00 am. We get a nice welcome that includes a free drink from the bar and a very nice spacious pitch. The stony beach is a two-minute walk. We can’t resist walking there as soon as we arrive to look at the Med and a rather stormy sky. It’s good to be here, we like it. We look out to sea and remember fondly the amount of times that we passed this spot when we had our boat, Stargazer.
The campsite has a nice, warm friendly feel to it, so much so, we will dine in their restaurant tonight and maybe try for another two nights here and stay for the weekend to sit out the winds. It’s Kings’ Day here tomorrow so it might be tricky. We shall see.
We decided that, yes, we would have dinner tonight at the local campsite restaurant and it was well worth it. A very nice friendly atmosphere with a mix of English, French and some Spanish. We had a lovely dinner with a salad, chiperones (fried baby squid), fiduea (paella but with short noodles) and two glasses of red. All for under 50 euros. That would have only got us a main course for one in Switzerland.
What a feed!Bingo!The prizes!
They had a few games of bingo, which we joined in and Hayley won a bottle of red, and Del won a bar of chocolate. All in all great fun and a lovely evening.
Week 3 – 23rd – 29th December 2023 Muggenbrunn, Todtnau, Germany to Interlaken, Switzerland. (133 miles)
Saturday 23rd December 2023 – Muggenbrunn, Todtnau, Germany to Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. (85 miles)
We woke up this morning to silence. No more rain on the roof. We were starting to get a bit fed up with that. Peering out of the window it’s foggy and damp but at least it’s not raining.
Muddy, nasty slush everywhere
We are moving on today to Switzerland.
Outside the snow that was here when we arrived has turned to slush so everything is muddy, when you walk out it’s muddy, everything you touch is muddy, the electric cable, the ramps that we are on to keep us level are all wet and muddy and have to be stowed away in plastic bags.
Finally, we are packed, we pay the lady and set off down the hill where the snow is getting less and less but it’s also drier. We stop to do some shopping and fill up with LPG for the heating and cooking. Christmas here in Germany is a different thing. The shops are not packed and people aren’t panicking to get their turkey order in before a certain date, no it’s just like any other day, sure people are putting different things in their basket, but it just feels like any other day. Also, Christmas Eve is the “big day/night”, and there’s no such thing as Boxing Day.
We are stocked up and ready to go. The sat navs are programmed up. We have two, a Google map and a Tom Tom map, but we also have good old-fashioned paper maps and books. You have to really. The weather has improved, the sky is clearing, it’s dry and it’s turning out to be a lovely morning.
With all our maps of different types and our two brains, we can’t find Switzerland. For some reason, we keep on seeing the same junction and roundabout. Very frustrating, funny the first time, not so funny the second, and annoying by the third. Finally, finally, we find the right road and we are on our way.
All Swiss motorways require a toll and it’s usually paid for by buying a sticker to put on your windscreen. You pay 40 something euros and the sticker lasts just over a year. We bought one when we did a shortcut through Switzerland on our last trip out so it’s still in date meaning we just glide over the border and just carry on through Switzerland.
It’s fabulous. The roads are clear and smooth, well maintained. The weather has improved dramatically with blue skies and a baking temperature of 8 degrees. As we drive along the motorway we can see, in the distance, the snow-covered Swiss Alps shining in the sun. Quite stunning.
We are heading to Luzern or Lucerne or however many different ways there are spelling this place. We are staying in a campsite called Camping Lido Luzern which is right on the famous lake. We arrive just before dusk and get a pitch for a staggering 49 euros for the night. (That’s cheap. Some are as much as 70 for the night). It’s not often you go to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland so whilst we groan about the price, we feel it’s worth paying.
A bit of a Jess clean up
Before we go anywhere, we need to clean up the mud and gunge that we accumulated in the Black Forest.
We need a walk after being locked up in the Black Forest so we set off along the pathway by the lake that leads from the campsite to the town. What a fabulous walk. The temperature is just right, the sun is setting behind a snow-covered mountain and the sky is breathtaking.
Our fabulous walk by the lake to the town
We do a good 40-minute walk to the town which is beautiful. The Christmas trees and decorations are very classy and understated. Lovely.
Needing the toilet, we find one. That’s changed – it’s no longer ‘spend a penny‘ but £1.35, and you can pay by card now!
Need the toilet? Get your card out…
Of course there is a Christmas market here, yes our third one so far, so we head for that. It’s busy, very busy.
A busy Lucerne Christmas market
We have some wurst and rosti and later a pot of spatzle, all very tasty all very expensive. It’s getting too crowded now and people are still coming in so we elect to leave and walk back but not without having a gluhwein which is probably the best one yet.
Finally, we are back at Jess. A great day in a great place, so much so that we plan to come here for New Year.
There is a huge fireworks display on the 1st of January, hopefully we will get a place here for a three-night stay.
Sunday 24th December 2023 – Lake Lucerne to Interlaken (50 miles)
A great drive to Interlaken
It’s a beautiful sunny morning this morning, cool and crisp and dry! Today we are moving on to a place that we have stayed at before in Interlaken called Camping Alpenblick, between Lake Thun and the Bernese Alps where we will spend Christmas. The weather is truly messed up, at this time of year, it’s expected that there will be snow, but we have a temperature of 6 degrees, grey skies and expect rain later. It must be a little worrying if you run a business that relies on the seasons behaving as you expect them to.
The drive is very pleasant driving through the town of Lucerne and out onto the very scenic motorways. We stop to fill up will diesel and keep the LPG topped up, just in case.
35 Swiss francs of chocolate. Well done Del!
Del gets ripped off for chocolate, in Switzerland no less. A box of Lindt chocolates (made in Switzerland) 16 Swiss francs (14 quid) that cost 6 in a UK supermarket! Nice one Del. At the garage is a car wash big enough for Jess. It’s reasonably priced so should balance out the cost of the chocolate. Jess gets a well-deserved wash, she’s filthy but comes out 8 Swiss francs later looking showroom clean.
Jess getting her first wash for this trip
It’s only a short 50-mile drive but very up hill and down dale so it will take us an hour and a half. The passing scenery is wonderful despite the lack of snow or sunshine. There is a 3 pm check-in at the campsite and we are over an hour early so we get parked up and have a cup of tea while we wait to be let in.
Once checked in our very nice hosts invite us to some mulled wine heated over an open fire. It’s delicious.
A welcome from our host
We are given a very nice pitch right next to all of the amenities including the bar and restaurant.
We plan on spending Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day here to get properly settled in.
Our home for Christmas and the next few days
As we are staying we get some lights out on the van along with some Christmas cards that we received before we left. Jess is looking festive.
We start Christmas Eve off with a Christmas special of the Royle Family and a Catherine Tate Christmas Special. ‘We are not bovver’ed‘. Dinner onboard tonight.
Monday 25th December 2023 – Interlaken – Day 2
‘Merry Christmas everyone, with our very best wishes“.
Merry Christmas all…
It’s a beautiful day here in Interlaken. Lovely blue skies and 12 degrees. Breakfast is a simple affair as we would like to go into the town of Interlaken for a walk. Everything is on a Sunday service, so the bus into town is busy, as is the town. Lots of tourists milling around enjoying the Christmas Day sunshine. There is a small wildlife park nearby that has a collection of Ibex. Of course, we can’t not go and see them. The park is just on the edge of the town, a short walk. Worth going to see them, they’re odd creatures with rather large, difficult-to-manoeuvre, horns…
We spend a good couple of hours in the town ending it with a glass of wine for Hayley and a coffee for Del in the sun watching the paragliders landing in the park opposite a hotel.
After the bus back we open a bottle of Cava and take a couple of glasses and a plate of Schwarzwald smoky ham to the closed campsite restaurant terrace where we sit in the low sun. A lovely afternoon. Very relaxed and very simple.
Our Christmas dinner will probably be no different from any other dinner on board Jess. Hayley is knocking up one of her Paellas, something she did comment is that she has probably made more Paellas at Christmas than turkey dinners. We usually seem to be in Spain at Christmas or out and about on Jess.
Jess set up for Christmas stay
Merry Christmas to all our friends and family, we hope that you all had a great day whether you are with family and friends or alone. Our very best wishes.
Tuesday 26th December 2023 – Interlaken – Day 3
A bright morning with more sunshine forecast today. We have spent a bit of time this morning discussing what to do for the next few days. There is plenty to see and do in the Interlaken area, but we want to be in Lucerne for the 31st, or thereabouts, for the New Year fireworks on the 1st. We make a rough plan of what to do over the next few days and write it down. Probably no point as we will change it as we usually do.
We decide to visit Grindelwald which is a bus ride and then a train. We rush through breakfast and the clean up and get to the bus stop with a few minutes to spare when suddenly Hayley asks if the heating on the van is off. Neither of us knows how we left it so we sulk off back to the van. The buses are every hour so it’s a bit of a wait for the next one. With that in mind, we decide to just do a local walk around the lake, it doesn’t go well with us unable to find a decent path and by this time the next bus is due so we get on and decide to go to Lauterbrunnen, just like that. So glad we wrote out a plan.
Train climb from Interlaken
In about 10 minutes we are in the train station of Interlaken East with a good 20 minutes to spare for the train to Lauterbrunnen. The train leaves dead on time and it has to do a rather steep climb. The scenery is amazing. The mountains are so high and imposing and all of them have a good covering of snow on top. No snow where we are of course, the snow is proving to be a bit elusive.
As the train climes, it changes to a cog system to help get it up the hill. Soon we are arriving into the town of Lauterbrunnen bang on time.
The town of Lauterbrunnen
The town is very quaint and Swiss. There are 72 waterfalls here to be seen on a long walk down into a valley. It’s not long before we come to the first one. It’s quite something to see. The water looks like it’s falling in slow motion as it’s so high. We walk for quite a while and see a few waterfalls, although not as many as we thought – because of the lack of snow there are fewer than there should be. It’s such a nice walk with rolling green fields and chalets in the hills. We see the train climbing the hill in the distance – the whole scene looks like a model.
One of 72 waterfalls. 71 to go!
Along the walk some enterprising houses are selling local produce, using an honesty system but using contactless payment. Another one has a proper vending machine. It’s all very new to us and different.
Check out the contactless honesty box
After a good few kilometres, we decided to turn back and head home. The trains are every 30 minutes and the bus back to the campsite every hour. While waiting for the train back to Interlaken we decide that we will return to Lauterbrunnen to catch the cable car and mountain top train to Murren which is a good kilometre higher. Apparently, there are no cars in Murren, but there is snow.
The journey back is timely, of course, and we are back in Interlaken with some time to spare enough for a small local beer in the street before catching the bus to the campsite.
We have decided to stay until Friday 29th December so pop in and pay in advance. The campsite is excellent at giving good value for money at 23 Swiss francs a night (£21), a lovely spot, all the facilities we need, laundry and excellent internet. Compared to the usual 45 to 50 francs a night, where we are is excellent and good value. Oh, and they even give you a free bus pass which allows for a discount on the trains.
Proper ‘Internet of things’ in action.
We get back to Jess for a tea and get some laundry done before dark. The laundry system here is all high-tech and controlled via an app – you reserve your machine and then you can track it online as it happens with a notification when done. It will even message you when a machine is free if it’s busy.
A few weeks later you get an invoice and your card is debited. The price per wash/dry is very reasonable. We liked that. We liked that a lot.
Hayley is knocking up a ‘German feast‘ for us tonight. We shall see.
Wednesday 27th December 2023 – Interlaken – Day 4
Hunting for snow!
Today we are in search of snow. There is no snow where we are, which is very unusual for the time of year, so we have to go to it. Hayley has done some internet research and found out that Murren has snow – it’s not snowing currently and hasn’t done for a while, but the last fall was quite large so there’s a lot of snow lying about.
To get there we must take a bus to Interlaken train station, a train to Lauterbrunnen, a cable car up to Grutschalp, and then a small hilltop train to Murren.
We set off late morning just in time for the bus and we are off. As usual, the trains are on time, but it’s busy, very busy. It’s the peak season, but despite the lack of snow falling there are lots of people heading for the higher slopes to find it and Murren is one of those destinations. The trains and the cable car are packed with people tottering about in snow boots and carrying skis along with a large contingent of non-skiers of which we are a part.
The cable car to Grutschalp has to make a steep climb. The scenery is spectacular and for just that it is worth the trip. An amazing view of the surrounding mountains and deep valleys makes us feel really small. It really is one of the best views we have seen. We have done a lot of busy cable cars in the past on various trips, but this one is full, capable of taking 100 people and freight as there are no cars in Murren. A large industrial fridge is loaded onboard as we watch concerned about all this weight.
Once at the top, we all fall out of the cable car and onto the small train on a narrow snowy track heading to Murren which is very picturesque, very beautiful, and ‘traditionally Swiss‘.
It’s not a huge town but it’s big enough to spend a couple of hours of walking, or rather slipping about on the frozen old snow. There are some lovely hotels perched right on the edge with spectacular views of the mountains. One hotel is called Hotel Drei Burge or Three Peaks Hotel in reference to the stunning view of the Eiger, Jungfrau, and Monch mountains (we won’t be staying here as it’s £400 a night, we are quite happy with our £21 a night campsite and lovely Jess). We walk to the other end of the town to watch the skiers finishing their journey from higher up only to get back on the cable car and go back up to do it all again. Exhausting.
During our walk we find a place that is hiring sledges and at the rear of the shop is a fantastic slope with plenty of people sledging and skiers coming off the slopes. (Del says he’s not interested but as soon as the lady offers us a double sledge he changes his mind and is soon dashing down the slope giggling to himself – see video). It’s brilliant. Well, why not – for 12 Swiss francs you can hire a two-seater sledge for the day. We are off…
Sledging… first time in many, many years
We are a bit apprehensive at first, as we haven’t done this kind of thing since we were kids, but after the first descent, we can’t wait to get back up and do it again. It is hard work and soon we are in need of a drink. We walk around the town looking for a place with a view and a drink. Shops and hotels are equipped and ready for customers who turn up with skies and sledges, all very civilised and easy going. After searching for a particular place that we saw when we started our walk, which we couldn’t find again, we decide to go to the Hotel Drei Burge which has a fantastic panoramic view of the mountains.
What a place, what a view. We order two mulled wines with a dash of vanilla. Very tasty.
Suitably refreshed we pay, pick up our sledge, and off we go back to the slopes for another couple of runs. Very enjoyable, great fun.
Time to get back as the last bus back to the campsite is quite early and we can’t afford to miss it. On the way to the cable car, we stumble upon the cafe/restaurant that we were looking for earlier and we are lucky to get a great table right on the edge with a phenomenal view of the mountains and the valley.
Eiger
In order left to right: Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau
An absolutely amazing place for a coffee and apple strudel.
We found snow! and we joined in…!
Hayley has a check of her email only to receive some very sad news regarding the passing away of her uncle. Very sad news and our thoughts are with family tonight. After taking in the sad news we do raise our glasses to remember him.
Thursday 28th December 2023 – Interlaken – Day 5
Today we are off on another train trip, this time to the town of Grindelwald. This is another town that has some snow, not as much as Murren yesterday as it is at a lower altitude but there is snow all the same. But first Jess needs some water and her grey water tank draining. We manoeuvre to the service point 10m away, the cold is stinging our hands while we fill up and after some time and discomfort, Hayley reverses back into our space. All good, until we try and get back onto our leveling ramps. Getting up them is okay but once Jess’s handbrake goes on the ramp slips, rather alarmingly, from under us on the icy surface. We try a few times but eventually give up to catch the bus, we will sort this out later on.
After a 30-minute train journey that has a steep climb, we arrive at Grindelwald. Again, it’s very busy with skiers as there is a rather expensive cable car that takes them much higher where there is plenty of snow. There has been no fresh snowfall here for probably two weeks and this is peak season.
We take a walk up a rather steep path to a place where there is some snow.
4 year old on the slopes!
Because of the lack of snow, there are a lot of people crammed into this small place. Great to see though, especially kids as young as 4 years old on skis and doing a good job of it too.
Back down in the town, we have a local traditional donut called a Berliner, which is just a fresh jam donut with icing sugar sprinkled on it. Nice though and very light. We have done another good walk today and again our eyes ‘hurt’ at the spectacular views of the mountains, the same as yesterday but of course from a different view.
This time we get an amazing view of a glacier frozen on the mountain. The blue ice just looks so precarious.
Huge glacier dripping down the middle.
We get the train and the bus back to camp and manage to get Jess back on her ramps as the ground has defrosted a little. Tonight we are eating at the campsite. We are going to have a Swiss fondue. They have a small, cute, wooden hut here with a wood burner in the middle, we are not sure how that goes together but it does, a wooden hut with a fire in the middle.
It’s very cute and cosy inside with the log fire on and just us and another two couples. We are given our table and the service is very good, as is the cheese and mushroom fondue that we have with two glasses of red wine.
We settle the rather large bill (well this is Switzerland) and walk the 10 metres back to the van. It’s getting colder and cloudier.
Tomorrow is our last full day here, On Saturday we are driving back to Lucerne for the new year.
Friday 29th December 2023 – Interlaken – Day 6
It’s our last day here today. We will have done 6 nights – the longest time we have spent in one place. Jess needs her weekly clean-out which doesn’t take long but has to be done. She gets a full airing, bedding changed, dusted down, wiped down everywhere inside, and a complete freshen up. There is also laundry to do today so we’ll be kept busy on-site.
It takes most, if not all, of the day to get the laundry done, but we are fully laundered as if we have started again. It’s always a good idea to do laundry if the facilities are there as you never know from one day to the next if you will get the chance.
Finally, we do get all of the jobs done on Jess, she’s all freshened up for another week. We get out for a reasonable walk of about 40 minutes by the lake. It’s a lovely late afternoon. The sun is just setting behind the mountains and the air is cool and clear. Lovely.
Once back at the campsite we go to the lounge and have a very tasty mulled wine, this could be the last in this trip who knows. We have only just discovered the lounge at the campsite. Its fabulous.
Del caught enjoying the moment
The lounge is all wood with fur-covered rocking chairs, with fantastic views over the lake and the mountains on the other side. A great place to enjoy our mulled wine and to toast our last night here at Camping Alpenblick.
A friendly robin during our walk
It has been a good stay here. The campsite is only 23 Swiss francs a day. We had a good spot right next to all of the facilities, a free bus pass to get into town and the best internet of any campsite we have been at.
Week 2 – 16th – 22nd December 2023 (Solre-le-Chateau, France to Muggenbrunn, Todtnau, Germany. 400 miles.)
Saturday16th December 2023 – Solre-le-Chateau, France to Zweibrucken, Germany (204 miles)
We woke up this morning to a grey still day, sounds miserable but it’s not really. We are in our little home on wheels, it’s warm and cosy and there is no better place to be. Breakfast is coffee and Spanish tortilla.
Today we are heading to stay in Luxembourg in either a campsite or another free aire. It’s a couple of hours as we have to go through a bit of Belgium and head south east to Luxembourg. Once we are cleaned up and ready we set off. We are already quite close to the Belgian border and it’s not long before we are on their shocking roads. We complain a lot about UK roads, but Belgian roads are quite something. Badly maintained, full of holes and fissures. Even the newish built motorways are rippled and bumpy. The van is rattling like mad as we make our way through Belgium.
Finally we are in Luxembourg where the roads are much better. Whilst on route we decide to give our stay in Luxembourg a miss and press onto Germany.
It’s not long before we are on the German autobahn. Wow! These roads are something else. Smooth, clean and very well maintained, the M6 it is not. Hayley has found us a ‘parkplatz’ in the town of Zweibrucken (Two Bridges). 16 euros a night next to a river and a fantastic restaurant with only a short walk to the town. The parkplatz is run by the local hotel, the Rosengarten. Smashing.
Arrival requires a check-in at the local hotel who take your 16 euros a night. They have here, without a doubt, the best showers for motorhomes ever! They are amazing. It’s like walking into a 5-star hotel bathroom. Wonderful. There is a lovely Christmas-ready restaurant right next door to us which we will take advantage of at some point in the stay.
Our local restaurantready for Christmas
Amen!
It’s a short walk into the small town of Zwiebrucken where the Christmas market is in full swing. We go to the local church where there is an Advent celebration on, as it’s all in German we don’t understand anything, but the church is nice, the choir is excellent and it’s all very nice so why not?
A dodgy Green Day style band.
Once the service is over we have a good walk around and have a bowl of currywurst and some gluhwein (mulled wine), all very tasty and just in time for a band to strike up on the small stage.
We didn’t stay for long, we were tired and it was getting cold. If you like the band Green Day then the band were for you, but not for us. The third song sounded just like the first so we make our way back to the van. It’s cold, very cold.
Cheers all…
Sunday17th December 2023 – Zweibrucken 2nd day
It’s boiled eggs and the remainder of the Belgian bread from the farm for breakfast. It’s cold this morning, it was the coldest night yet outside, minus something or other and it’s only going to get colder, but in Jess it’s just right.
We are staying another night so we can go to the Christmas market again in the day and have dinner at the local restaurant next to us. The day is spent doing some van jobs like replacing the dash cam and getting the blog up to date. We get wrapped up and set off for the town. The sun is out and it’s a beautiful day.
H trying out her winter wearA lovely walk out
We have a good walk around the town and finally arrive at the square where the Christmas market is. It’s in full swing. Kids are dancing on the stage, there is a best dressed Santa Claus competition and it’s all very nice. One thing we can’t but notice is that there is nobody in a high vis vest, no security, no police, nothing. It just feels safe and everyone is there, singles, couples, families and they are all there for the same thing, very refreshing.
We have a cup of gluhwein each, one with rum and another with Amaretto. It’s very, very tasty, a very nice afternoon. We walk back to Jess in the setting sun as the temperature is falling. Tonight we will dine locally.
Dinner tonight is at the local restaurant, Valantins Beer House. We have quite a feed there, plenty to eat in a lovely atmosphere followed by the last gluhwein of the day in the little cabins that have been put up for the festive season. It’s all starting to feel a bit like Christmas.
We are leaving tomorrow for either Baden-Baden or… we don’t know.
Monday 18th December 2023 – Zweibrucken to Baden Baden (88 miles)
We have woken up this morning to another very sharp, thick frost, oh and some fog too which is slowly clearing. We have decided that we will go to the German spa town of Baden Baden. It’s a 90 mile drive so not too bad, and it is now that we turn south to go through the Black Forest.
We say goodbye to Zweibrucken which was a lovely stay and gave us our first German Christmas market which was really nice. On the way out of town we stop at an LPG station to top up with gas as the cold nights are chewing up the gas. Whenever we get a chance we will top up with gas, diesel and of course, water as some of the facilities get turned off in the cold, winter travelling certainly requires a bit more forward planning. What we need is a watering can so we can fill up our tank whenever and wherever we can get it.
The weather has improved, the fog has lifted and the drive to Baden Baden turns out to be beautiful. A chilly, but sunny day. We get clear blue skies for the most part of our smooth German motorway drive. Once off the motorway the drive through the start of the Black Forest is lovely. We find a small garden centre and buy ourselves a nice big 10 litre watering can.
Our new emergency fill up can!
The Baden Baden stopover is a very tidy motorhome “parkplatz” that has a nice easy connection by bus to the centre of town where there is an enormous and spectacular Christmas market, the second of the trip. Hayley makes us an early lunch of steak and her homemade Dauphinoise potatoes.
H’s Dauphinoise potatoes
These are the business, really good, tasty and perfect with a rare steak and broccoli.
We do some research regarding bus times etc and set off for the town just as it’s getting dark. We are just in the rush hour so it’s a bit slow. We can’t help noticing how immaculate the buses are. They are fantastically clean and with no adverts inside them. Sounds like an odd thing to put in a blog but when you think how grubby your home buses are, that’s when you notice it!
The town of Baden Baden is wonderful. It looks very classy and festive, with trees and lights everywhere with all the lights in the same colour which makes it look special. The Christmas market is huge, so big that guided tours are offered to go around it.
Filled with small cabins selling everything from sweets, food and clothing the place is full and vibrant. There are small dining igloos beautifully set out for dinner and a large stage with a band playing to a healthy crowd which we join while having a gluhwein and bratwurst, finishing with a cherry crepe.
We take a short walk around the town just in time to get the bus back home and to a rather chilly Jess.
All in all a rather enjoyable day. That’s two Christmas markets in less than a week. Where to tomorrow?
Tuesday 19th December 2023 – Baden Baden to Triberg (66 miles)
We wake up this morning not really sure where we are going to next. We have a few options, still in Germany, but nothing really that makes us say “yes, let’s go there” until Hayley finds an interesting place to stay for a night or two in the Black Forest town of Triberg.
Having given Jess a full-service at the Baden Baden stop, we set off further south heading towards Triberg. It’s a lovely drive climbing steeply into the Black Forest where the temperature falls in parts to -1 in the day and we get our first glimpse of snow, old snow at the side of the road, but snow all the same. Jess is filthy, but too bad. There is no point in a wash as the weather is predicted to be rain for the next week or so.
We start to drop in altitude towards the town of Triberg. It’s a lovely little place set in a valley and has a rather unusual place to stay.
A very new and unusal campsite
The location is an old steel factory that has been converted into an indoor camping site. They provide a selection of caravans and campervans to hire, inside a warehouse, that are beautifully decorated. For visitors with motorhomes, the spaces are outside either next to the river or on a top deck parking area which is the roof of the once-old steel factory. This we have to see.
Triberg Indoor campsite.
We arrive at camping daHeim after a very lovely drive into the valley of Triberg and we are welcomed by a very nice lady who books us in for two night at about 25 euros a night which includes a place, electricity and water. With your stay you get a ticket that allows you on the local trains and buses as well as entrance to 4 attractions in the town. There are only another two vans here so we can park where we like. We chose the top parking deck rather than downstairs in the yard as the river running by is very noisy as a result of the famous Triberg waterfall, which we shall be visiting.
Our spot for the next two nights
We get parked up, plugged in and settled before setting off for our first look at Triberg. We are going to take a look at the waterfall here which is supposed to be the biggest waterfall in Germany. We shall see. It doesn’t disappoint.
The Triberg waterfalls. We will miss the fireshow by days!
It is quite spectacular, high and moves fast as it cascades amongst the rocks, and through the town. They are preparing for a fireshow on the 25th December so there is lighting and lots of dangerous gas canisters around. It’s a good steep walk and continues up for quite a while but we stop just before halfway and take the nature walk back, the long way into town.
We find a rather formal and dark hotel for a beer. We are the only ones in there it seems. It look like the set of a 1940’s movie, very clean, very tidy, but we can’t help but think that Marlena Dietrich will come down the staircase asking what we want to drink. We have a beer and move on, this time to look for some dinner which we find quite easily and settle into local dishes of venison stew with spatzle (German egg noodles) and a traditional schnitzel. All very tasty in a very pleasant traditional dark wood, warm, cosy restaurant. They do the whole Christmas decoration thing here very well.
Back to Jess and Hayley is to call an old school friend from Germany that she has not spoken to in 35 years! Fantastic. They spend a good hour and a quarter on the phone and agree to meet somewhere, sometime in the new year.
All in all a good day.
Wednesday 20th December 2023 – 2nd Day
The rain has started. It kept Hayley awake at times in the night, Del slept right through it. After breakfast we are off into the town to use our free passes to some of the attractions.
The first is a model railway exhibition. Sounds dull? Not at all, it’s excellent. Situated on the main street and very modern, it consists of 12 large tables with an excellent model of a town, city or countryside scene all perfectly crafted with moving trucks, cars and trains.
A very fine model exhibition
The English-speaking lady is very pleasant and helpful and tells us all about the fireshow. The town will be crowded from the 25th of December for about a week. They have already set up park and ride spots in advance.
Probably a good thing that we are moving on, although from the model here representing last year’s show it looks spectacular.
Next is a rather strange attraction. A large, open, glass-windowed space which is divided up into areas that you can step into and take your picture for your instagram……!!!! why!!!! We give it a go and take a bunch of pictures all the same. We are probably 30 years too old to understand this one, but it makes us grin all the same.
Am I not stunning? it says.An Instagram fest…
Around the corner from the hi tech “photo booths” is the Schwarzwald Museum. The area is famous for… wood, cherries, ham and clocks, of the cuckoo variety. An interesting place which tells us a lot about the area. Very interesting and well worth the visit. It has the world’s smallest cuckoo clocks! So they say.
As it says..!
After seeing the world’s smallest cuckoo clocks we take the bus to see the world’s largest!
Biggest!
A 5 minute bus ride drops us off at a massive clock shop that sells every kind of clock from old cuckoo clocks to modern digital clocks. We arrive just in time to see the clock strike 3!!! Very funny and yes it’s very big. We pay an extra 2 euros each to go in and look at the clock in action.
It’s mostly made of wood. Very impressive. The cuckoo alone is 2.6m long and weighs 150kg.
The world’s largest cuckoo clock at work
We get the bus back and do some shopping for local fayre. Local Schwarzwald ham, cherry chocolate and a traditional Christmas bread – Stollen.
Men only parking ladies…
The car park here at the Edeka supermarket once made the world news with ABC and NBC, among others, reporting a strange story: when the car park was built the corner was cut off to accommodate the shape of the river next to it. This resulted in a strangely shaped car parking space which they kept and labelled, for a joke, ‘Manner parkplatz’ or ‘men only parking space’ due to its difficulty of access. It is now graffitied (presumably by women) with various slogans. For the full detailed story, you can also read the wikipedia page.
The ladies, it would appear……don’t approve!
Once back at Jess we get warmed up, we are expecting snow tonight by all accounts. After our showers we try some of the local Schwarzwald ham with a cold German beer. Very nice, the ham is very, but very, smokey.
We would have liked to have done a good railway journey around the Black Forest while we are here but time is not on our side. We have to move on tomorrow.
A good day today, despite the cold weather. Dinner on board.
Thursday 21st December 2023 – Triberg to Muggenbrunn (41 miles)
Last night the dinner was an all-German affair. Local Schwarzwald smokey ham with a cold beer to start, followed by schnitzel, spatzle and green beans. This was finished off with an Underberg – a small herbal digestif. A very pleasant dinner, when in Rome and all that…
Today we are planning to go to another Black Forest town that we have been to many times. The town of Todtnau is a place that we have enjoyed as it has a good place to park overnight, the town is pretty and it does the very best Black Forest gateaux. Hayley pops into town for some shopping before we leave while Del prepares the van for departure.
The drive is challenging in parts, as we go up and down in altitude in the Black Forest we encounter plenty of snow, clear roads, but the snow has been heavy here and has settled.
There is also dense fog in parts, but Hayley is at the wheel today and does and excellent job of getting us to the “parkplatz” in Todtnau. Just in time as well as we need to empty our grey tank, load up with fresh water and change the toilet!
We are a bit lower down now so most of the snow is all but gone, but there is rain and a very strong wind. To add to the misery we find that the place where we are going to stay has ramped the price up. 5 years ago it used to be 10 euros which you just dropped in an honesty box, now it’s 10 euros for a place, 3 euros for electricity, which you cannot use for heating, and 3 euros for 100 litres of water which, because of the winter months, has now been turned off. Finally, it’s 5 euros to empty your grey tank, or toilet or to get rid of a bag of rubbish! To top it all your every move is watched on CCTV. We decide to ditch the idea of staying and instead make our way into the town, park up, and have the excellent cake before moving on to somewhere else.
We get into town only to discover that parking is almost impossible. You either have to have a permit, be a resident or pay a fortune, and the town is empty! This is not going well. Del scoots off to buy the best cake ever as a takeaway item. We orbit the town and fill up with diesel.
Hayley has booked to stay at a campsite nearby for Del’s birthday tomorrow as she has booked a dinner at a nearby hotel high up in the Schwarzwald, so we might as well go there a day early. We set off and start to climb up through the Black Forest to the area of Muggenbrunn situated 1050 meters above sea level. As we get higher the snow is starting to get deeper by the side of the road, lots of it. There is also a dense fog now, it all looks rather wintery as the wind is also building up.
This is the first time we have done snow in Jess. So far, so good, as we arrive at the campsite for what will now be a two-night stay. There has been heavy snow here. There are a lot of permanent caravans in place that only get used in the summer months and have snow piled up against them.
We get settled in with a coffee and we get stuck into our Black Forest gateaux, which is still delicious and doesn’t disappoint.
The best cake in the world…!
There is a washer and dryer here so we get some laundry done as you never know when the next chance will be. It’s nice in the van as we read, play games, update the blog and watch a couple appear with a caravan, struggling to get set up in the driving rain, wind and cold. The tea in Jess is nice as the heating gently whirs away. Never mind eh!
The lady at the site is very helpful and gives us a good space. We do a full van service and get settled in. It’s heavy rain for the rest of the day with a threat of snow overnight.
First time in the snow for Jess.
Staying put tonight. The weather is nasty out there!
Friday 22nd December 2023 – Muggenbrunn, Todtnau, Germany – 2nd Day
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEL…!
It rained all night last night, but really rained, heavy, but heavy. It always rains here in this area. There has been a lot of snow, it’s piled up everywhere. Heavy snow is expected later, we shall see.
Del’s birthday is today so it has been a lovely morning. A full continental breakfast with salmon and champagne, tucked up in Jess with a view of the snowy hills and trees. Lots of cards to open.
My favourite champagne…Happy birthday!
Many thanks to all of you who sent a card and text. The cards were intercepted and saved for today, squirrelled away by Hayley.
Hayley’s Blue Peter card. Mega!
She even went to he trouble of making a hand made card which is wonderful. Very, very nice. Traditional fuzzy felt and glitter on card. Fantastic.
Jobs still need doing
Hayley has a birthday special for Del, more on that later. However the usual van jobs have to be done, so Hayley volunteers (well it is Del’s birthday) to do some chores. The bins need emptying and the grey water has to be dealt with. It’s raining again so the full gear is put on and off she goes, returning 20 minutes later.
The rest of the morning is spent on Jess staying warm and dry, reading and wittering.
Hayley has brought us up here for a reason. She has arranged a surprise for Del’s birthday. She has us booked into the Waldhotel Notschreipass for a spa afternoon, massage, and dinner afterwards. Wonderful. There is a bus stop right outside the campsite, it’s still raining very hard so we have to get togged up with all the gear and take bags with us for the spa and the dinner. Being Germany the bus arrives on time and drops us right outside the hotel. It’s a lovely place. The spa area has fantastic views over the Black Forest. Even though it is shrouded in fog and rain it looks spectacular, most of it is still covered in snow despite the persistent rain. It’s a fabulous afternoon nipping in and out of the sauna to the steam room and dipping in the pool until the time comes for the massage.
Hayley has a half an hour massage while Del has a full hour with mountain oils and the works. Excellent, just what we needed.
The dinner is absolutely fabulous. Set in a cosy dark wood restaurant with excellent service, Hayley has the venison while Del has the goose. 1 glass of red is enough, especially after the champagne earlier and ‘Kir Royal’ we had for an apéritif.
Our ‘amuse bouche’ before the meal.
We get finished just in time for the last bus back to the campsite at 8:30 and by chance the rain has actually slowed to a drizzle for us to stand about in the freezing fog. Within 10 minutes we are back at Jess and settled in just as the rain starts drumming on the roof again. We have absolutely had it now with the rain. Even the locals are complaining that it should really be snowing but instead we have had persistent, non stop rain since we got here and it’s very noisy on the roof of Jess.
All in all, it has been a rather splendid day for Del’s 60th birthday, with thanks to Hayley who did all the research and got us here. Despite the rain, it’s a lovely place, we have enjoyed the “Schwartzwald“, we have seen a lot in a week and enjoyed every minute of it.
Tomorrow we leave Germany behind and head for Switzerland, where the weather is a little brighter and drier. The plan, at the moment, is tomorrow in Lucerne, Switzerland, Christmas in Interlaken, Switzerland, and then back to Lucerne for a couple of days where we will celebrate the new year. After that…? No idea.
Week 1 – 13th – 15th December 2023 (Home, UK to Solre-le-Chateau, France. 345 miles)
It has been a while since we did a good long van trip. A lot has happened since our last one back in July 23. Since then we have moved from a house to a flat and renovated it, which was stressful, and we have kept on working throughout all of it. It’s behind us now, time to move on, and our attention is now to look forward and get out on Jess for a long winter getaway.
Snow chain fitting… in the dry and the relative warmth. What will it be like in the cold and the snow?
We have had our little van for over 5 years, so she has had to have some upgrades. A new cam belt has been fitted, a full service, new tyres, a thermal windscreen cover and a new hi-tech dash cam. Because of where we are going and travelling through, we have also bought some snow chains, which we need to practice putting on.
We even bought her some silver slippers for the tyres for when we hit the hot temperatures (and the cold) to protect them. Yes, what Jess wants, Jess gets. She is now ready for our next outing.
The plan, the loose plan, is to get to Switzerland for Christmas day and spend a few days in Interlaken. We will probably spend 10 days in Switzerland altogether, it’s probably all we will be able to afford! We will then make our way west towards Spain, and go as far south as we can before turning around and heading north and home for mid-February. Well, that’s the plan. For now…
Wednesday13th December 2023 (Home to Waverley Park. 1 mile!)
An easy load up!!
As usual, we are staying at a local campsite in East Cowes, it makes life nice and easy and we are ideally placed for our early ferry tomorrow morning at 08:00 to start the journey to Europe. Now we are in a flat the load up is so, so easy. We can drive the habitation door right up to our patio doors of the flat and just move everything in one go. Easy.
Once loaded we do the half-mile drive to Waverley Park and get settled in for an easy night having tested everything: water supply works, gas works, heating, cooking, etc. All good.
Thursday14th December 2023 (Waverley Park, UK to Poperinge, Belgium. 229 miles )
It’s a cool morning, and dark when the alarm rings out at 6:45 am. No breakfast, just a quick coffee. We pack everything up and set off.
The first ferry out
For once the Wightlink ferry leaves on time for Portsmouth. It’s nice and quiet and empty, mainly truck drivers. 40 minutes later we disembark and we are off heading for Dover. Breakfast is a rather splendid McDonald’s breakfast. We can get quite scathing about fast food and “Micky Dee’s“, but sometimes they are rather good. Especially this morning.
Goodbye UK. For a bit anyway
We arrive early at Dover and we are ushered rather quickly onto the next ferry with thirty minutes to spare, but we are leaving an hour and a half before our booked ferry. Excellent.
Again another quiet ferry. No kids running around like it’s a playground and no parents screaming at them, ignoring everyone else around them!
We pay 14 quid each for the premium lounge upgrade. We are the only ones in there. It is lovely.
Drinks and food are all included with a lovely view of the white cliffs of Dover fading away into the distance. So far it has been one of the best travel and crossing days we have probably ever experienced since having a van, and we have done this trip a few times now.
We disembark at Dover after a lovely crossing and we set off for a place we stop at regularly because it’s open all year, has everything you need, it’s easy to get to and has a nice collection of Belgian beers and traditional home-cooked food. Stal ‘t bardehof is a small farm in Poperinge, in the West Vleteren area of Belgium. Belgium is not really a place that you hear of people going for their holidays but there are some very nice places and this area is one of them along with the town of Ypres which is a short drive away.
We get settled in just as it’s getting dark and the temperature is falling fast. We get the new thermal window cover on, get the gas on and plug in to the power and in no time we are toasty in Jess.
We get ready for dinner, which consists of putting on a warmer heavier coat and set off for a local dish of Grootmoeders Stoofvlees, a small salad and fries, served with a good Belgian beer. Wonderful. The Stoofvlees stick to your ribs so you leave full and warm. Perfect.
Friday 15th December 2023 (Poperinge, Belgium to Solre-le-Chateau, France 90 miles)
A bright morningin Poperinge
It was a peaceful night last night. We pack up and set off for France. This could be our only stop in France as we are heading for the Black Forest in Germany. It’s a grey cold still day. A bit of a sad sky but we are quite happy trundling along the dreadful Belgian roads to our destination. We decide to stop off at the town of Ypres for a walk. It is where the Menin Gate is and it’s a lovely town and looks very festive. The next and final stop is Solre-le-Chateau to a free aire. Aires in France are a big thing for campers. Most of them are free and some have facilities like electricity and water, where you may have to pay a small fee. Camping aires are very popular and in the summer can get quite full quite quickly, but this aire is almost empty. 23 spaces with only 5 campers of which we are one. Once settled, we take the short walk to the town which is quite delightful, and decorated for Christmas.
A rather bent steeple.
It has a church, Eglise St. Pierre, built in the 15th century, with a rather dangerous-looking steeple.
All very pleasant and free!
Tomorrow we will either do another night in France or maybe Luxembourg or maybe even Germany….
How quickly has 2023 passed us by, and how much has happened this year? While we have both been working we have moved house, we’re still on the Isle of Wight but in a smaller, more manageable place with a home that we can just ‘lock up and leave‘.
We are going to try just that with our next trip, a long one…
We are planning to leave in mid-December, going through Belgium, a bit of France, and down through Germany, taking in the Black Forest, on to Switzerland then back west through the south of France and into Spain for some warmth, eventually heading back home sometime in February 2024. So it will be a winter tour in the snow and the cold ending with, hopefully, our shorts on with some winter sun somewhere in the south of Spain. We shall see.
Jess has been fitted with some brand-new tyres. We promised her new tyres after the last trip so considering where we intend to go we thought it wise to fit her with some Continental VanContact all-season tyres. There you go. Have a look at them they are the best! Hayley did days and days of research to find these, comparing them to others with these coming out on top. A good all-round tyre.
Enough of tyres…
This is our personal travel blog for our family and friends, we are not selling or endorsing anything, it’s just our way of saying “hello” from where we are.
Our first post will be next Saturday when we will be out on the roads somewhere in Europe……
Week 4. 8th to 15th July 2023 – Port Lesney to Home. 780 miles.
Saturday 8th July 2023 – Port Lesney to Savigny-lès-Beaune. 65 miles.
We are truly making our way back now that we are into the last week. It has gone very quick.
We didn’t sleep very well last night. We ate too much, and drank too much and it was very hot overnight. 28 in the van, the lower 20s outside, and the frogs in the river kept Del awake! It’s a cloudy morning this morning but expected to clear up. It’s already warm. We packed up last night, no breakfast just coffee and off we go. They want more money from you here to do a service so we decide that we can make do.
We have seen lots of these. They look great in the sunshine.
By 11:00 am It’s already 31 degrees. Today we are setting off for a free overnight place right by the canal where we can get the bikes off and go for a good long bike ride. We like the river and canal stops, there is always somewhere to cycle. Hold on though. Today the temperature is expected to get to 33 or 34 degrees and the stopover has no shade. We do a quick re-think and Hayley finds us a nice shady campsite next to a stream. Off we go.
A new route is plotted! Despite the heat, we have a lovely drive through the French countryside. It is quite beautiful in parts. Our route takes us through some very charming towns and villages, one of which is having a parade to celebrate their local fire station?!
Jess is not looking her best right now. She badly needs a wash. We find a newly opened place that allows camper vans to not only wash your van but there is a platform for washing the roof! 20 euros later, yes 20 euros,
Full Jess wash. Best ever!Robot Carwash…
Jess is looking like new. It was dear but well worth it. You brush on a hot mousse then a proper powerful jet rinse followed by an anti-streak rinse. She rolled out looking like the day we bought her!
Proud of our shiny clean van we trundle off down an empty motorway to Savigny-lès-Beaune which is just south of Dijon. The site we are going to will allow advanced bookings so while Del drives, Hayley is making a reservation, which she just finishes as we park up outside the site.
We are let in and given a very nice shady spot. No electricity today so we are on the solar panel which will see us through especially today with the wall-to-wall sunshine. It’s hot all over Europe today. Tomorrow we are going to Chablis which has a temperature today of 36 degrees!! Murcia in Spain, 40 degrees. It’s far too hot to do anything today so we sit by the van. Hayley plots our route for the next few days, Del does the blog and spot cleans the van. (He’s proud of his van).
This is the campsite with the running stream behind us. Guess what? It’s not running anymore. It dried up just over a month ago.
It’s bad to see, it really is bone dry and it’s only recently happened.
Dinner tonight was a simple salad, Hayley’s van salad followed by some blue cheese and honey with a slug of port.
The best salad, EVER!
It’s hot tonight!
Sunday 9th July 2023 – Savigny-lès-Beaune to Chablis. 84 miles.
It was so hot in the van last night, we don’t think it dropped below 30 until about 5:30 am. we slept well though, when we woke up it was certainly cooler. Today we are going to the town of Chablis. We have been there before, once when we hired a van to see if we would like it, and again with Jess on her first European outing 5 years ago. It has a great campsite there and town is lovely to walk around.
After some boiled eggs, toast and coffee, we pack up, do a full service and off we go, via a supermarket for some supplies. At 11:30 in the morning, it’s already 35 degrees! Hayley is at the wheel, but because she gets bored on motorways, we swap over. We run into a few heavy showers of rain but nothing major. We are on a toll road for the most part, and when we exit, it costs us 14 euros! The toll motorways here in France are expensive but they are excellent. They are clean, spacious, and well maintained with hardly, if any, roadworks. They just work.
We are returning to the same campsite which has now been taken over by ‘pass etapes‘. We like these sites, they are online so you can see, live, how many spaces are remaining. Pay for the premium service and you can reserve a space. We arrive with 12 spaces remaining. We choose a nice shady spot and set up for the day. It’s a lovely place, very calm and peaceful. Once set up we lock up and walk into town. Being a Sunday most of it is closed, but we do find a ‘Cave’ sampling and selling… Chablis of course.
Chablis swag!
It’s a lovely cool and dark place with a young chap behind the counter who is more than accommodating as we sample 4 Chablis and walk out with the same, one of which is 2018, the last time we were here with Jess!
Very nice. Poor fellow undercharged us, but we did fess up, he was so pleased that we owned up to the error that he gave us a very nice corkscrew. Which was nice.
The rest of that afternoon is spent at the van, reading and chatting away while we enjoy half of one of the Chablis. Very nice. What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon! It’s late now but we get stuck into another EXIT game.
Chablis in Chablis….…and an EXIT game
We like these. They are a great way to kill a couple of hours. The game takes nicely up to dinner of steak and chips with a pepper sauce and a nice Bordeaux. There is not a breath of wind and it’s a warm balmy evening. A perfect way to end a busy week!
Monday 10th July 2023 – Chablis to Sergines 66 miles.
The van was like a hot box again last night, but we managed to sleep with the help of our small 8-inch fan. Today we are going to another place that we visited not only on our trial trip but also on Jess, to Saint Julien du Sault. It’s a small town almost in the middle of France near Auxerre.
A smashing breakfast
Before we set off we take a short walk into the town and to a typical French bakery for pastries, namely 2 croissants and two pain aux raisins.
Leaving Chablis
We take them back and have them back at the campsite with Jess with fresh coffee. It’s a very fresh morning but we can feel the heat building. Off we go, it will take an hour to get to Saint Julien and the roads are quiet, eerily quiet. It’s 11:00 am and already it’s 27 degrees.
We arrive at the free overnight spot which has not changed in five years. We lock up and walk into the town. It is just your typical, classical French town but there is no one about. It’s very strange, everything is closed and we are the only people walking about. It’s a nice town and you are done walking around it in about 20 minutes so we head back. We have made the decision not to stay and instead set off and find a campsite.
Hayley gets to work finding us a place and comes up with a campsite called Camping Beauséjour or Camping Beautiful Stay. It’s another 30-minute drive which is fine. An easy drive through some beautiful countryside, as usual, to the campsite. We arrive and Hayley calls the lady running the site, a very friendly lady who once she has taken 20 euros for the night opens the barrier and allows you in to park wherever you like.
It’s a wonderful place. There are small park homes around the perimeter and the middle is free for motorhomes. The pitches are huge and very private. We choose one and get settled in. What a place. We have the whole site to ourselves but can’t believe or understand why. Granted there is nothing in the surrounding area, no walks or bike rides, the town is small, but it is so peaceful and so tranquil. On the camping apps, it gets fantastic reviews and is highly rated. It’s located just 70 miles south-east of Paris. What a find. We love it.
We have a cold beer under the shade provided by the trees.
The Jones’s are in town!
There is a washing machine here so we get a pile of laundry done for just over 3 euros, and get it out to dry. It’s van clean day again, so the van is aired, stripped and cleaned out. Once all the work is done we spend the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shade and just relaxing in this wonderful place. We are wondering though if we will get more visitors for the night. We shall see.
Dinner is outside and what a lovely evening it is too with just the sound of birds and distant combine harvesters.
Dinner… Oooo. Sausage!
It really was a lovely evening, staying out until gone 10pm reading and chatting. A lovely day followed by a lovely evening.
Tuesday 11th July 2023 – Sergines to Epernay. 74 hard miles.
Not a cloud in the sky this morning, fresh air, birds singing. Lovely. We should have a nice relaxed breakfast outside again and have a leisurely morning. Not likely! Hayley has found a campsite in Epernay, “champagne central“. There is a municipal campsite on the banks of a river with cycling into the town, so like grease lighting, we are packed and off as campsites in France have a habit of closing early for lunch and not opening until late afternoon, so no breakfast, we didn’t even brush our teeth, we are packed, Jess serviced and off…
It is a long hard drive today. We only have to go 70-odd miles to Eperney, but there are no motorways just “A” and “B” roads and some of those are questionable. Hayley is at the wheel today. She has it all under control, but having no breakfast she is desperate for the loo! Too bad. We want to try and get there before midday if we can. We have been diverted en route because of roadworks but we do arrive at the campsite at 11:55 am only to find out that they are open from 8 in the morning until 10 at night! Typical. We are also the last van in. While Hayley is in the office paying, a chap comes out with a board saying “COMPLET“. We made it. Just in the nick of…
We get a nice spot in a corner, get the bikes off the back and set off for a nice cycle by the river into the centre of Epernay, the champagne capital of the world. Well, it is not to be. There is no cycle track along the river to the town, so we have to take to the busy roads in the 32-degree heat, navigating the heavy traffic and the roadworks.
Roadworks everywhere in Epernay!
5 years ago we came here in Jess and we left because of roadworks, they are still at it. It’s a mess…! We finally reach the Avenue de Champagne.
This road is the most valuable road in France, more so than the Champs Elysee in Paris, because all of the big-name champagne producers are on this road with a complex tunnel network underground storing their champagne. Mercier champagne has 18km of wine cellars and that’s just one producer. Some of the houses offer tasting in nice ornate gardens, but the price for a small glass is just outrageous!!!!
The man who started it all!
They make it here!!! Sure they don’t want to give it away, people will just take advantage, but having a system of cheap first glass and subsequent glasses may be more expensive.
Del especially loves champagne and has sampled many types from cheap as chips to the most expensive, but he’s not impressed with Epernay. It’s “poncey” in his words. Champagne is a drink to be enjoyed by anybody and everybody, but here in roadworks filled Epernay they are just taking advantage and ripping people off. Oh, and it starts to rain as well, Nice.
Probably the best bit of Epernay! Sorry.
We did have a very nice cycle through the park that lasted all of 1 minute, it was very nice but very short-lived. We’ve had enough and cycle back through the roadworks and the traffic back to the site just in time for dinner.
Epernay…? Drive on… (Get your champers from a good local vineyard or just go to Waitrose!)
There is a nice pop up restaurant here on the site, Hayley reserved us a table in advance so we are the first in and on time. The service is ok, the setting is wonderful, right on the banks of the river.
The food is excellent, but as the place starts to fill up the service just goes downhill, with many people waiting a long time to be served, get a drink or pay. Bad… no matter, we were in first, got seen to, ate, enjoyed and left…
Wednesday 12th July 2023 – Epernay, France to Reutenbeek, Belgium. 171 miles
Last night was the hottest night so far, for Del anyway. The last couple of weeks have been very hot in parts of France. Today we are heading north to a paid overnight stop called Vireux Molhain, and this will probably be our last French stop. After we get packed up we set off after a quick van service.
Hayley has thrown a spanner into the works. There is a theme park going north, Walibi Belgium.
Just when Del thought his bag-carrying days were finally over, it would appear that we are going to another European theme park. Great. After a quick re-routing, we are now heading towards a campsite near the town of Reutenbeek in Belgium just southeast of Brussels. It should be interesting as it’s a part of Belgium we have never been to.
Del’s at the wheel today, it’s a pleasant drive as we see the last of the lovely French countryside pass us by, the weather is pleasant and the temperature is much cooler today. Very nice. We see the blue square with the ring of yellow stars ahead denoting the border between France and Belgium and instantly the roads change. For the very worse…!
Without any doubt, and with no offence intended, Belgian roads are just the worst roads in Europe. A combination of slabs of unsealed concrete, potholes that have been filled in multiple times, and deep cracks in the surface just make the whole experience shocking. Bad though, so, so bad. The van is getting rattled, bumped and shaken for about an hour and a half. A terrible trip. We have bad roads in the UK, but these roads here beat the UK hands down. We have mostly driven around the west part of Belgium where the roads are again a bit ‘iffy‘, but here, south of Brussels, they are much worse,
Finally, finally, we arrive at the campsite, Camping Druivenland which is basically just a large field where you just pitch where you want, after you have paid a rather heavy fee and then they would like you to pay extra for wifi and showers. Fortunately, we don’t really need any of that, we have a shower on board and we just use our mobile for wifi access. To be fair it’s actually not a bad place.
Yes maybe a bit pricey on what we have been paying over the past few weeks, but it’s peaceful and not too bad at all. The only reason we are here is because it’s a ten-minute drive to Walibi Belgium.
Tonight Hayley did a very special pasta dish made from scratch, her lovely Spaghetti Puttanesca. Very nice, served outside in the cool summer evening. The rest of the evening is spent with Hayley scouring the internet for reviews about the theme park and Del trying on the bag for size. Again.
Thursday 13th July 2023 – Reutenbeek to Poperinge. 131 miles.
Del the bag carrier
A cool fresh cloudy morning this morning. A marked change from the hot steaming weather of the past few days, but a good day to be traipsing round a theme park. Great, thinks Del to himself. Can’t wait. Hayley has us ready to go at the gates for opening at 10am. She is straight onto the 164ft tall main coaster called Kondaa, and has soon done 3 goes on it.
Jess parked up with the buses at Walabi
As usual Del is carrying the bag, but now has a new addition of Hayley’s coat. She does like a theme park and is soon quickly walking between all the different rides, getting in the queue and being hurtled around at high speed. She loves them. Her interest in rollercoasters was rekindled in Todtnau, Germany 4 or 5 years ago. Got to have a hobby! It is a nice park Walibi Belgium, they have another in Holland called, surprisingly, Walibi Holland. The European parks are done very well, spacious, clean and with a good selection of food and drink, even for Del, they are quite good.
By 1:30 her brain has been rattled around long enough, and exhausted she decides that she has had enough and we can get going.
We leave Europe on Saturday morning for the UK so we like to get ourselves as close as possible to the ferry port, just in case.
Today we are heading for what we consider now our ‘second home‘, Poperinge at the campsite/ farm Stal t’ Bardehof. We thought that we might go back to France for one more night then Belgium for our last night but in the end, we decide to just go straight to Belgium and spend two nights there. The ferry will be just 40 minutes away.
It’s a long drive today though, 2 and a half hours made up of dodgy Belgian roads and motorway. We want to stock up with some French wines first to take back home so Hayley is trying to find us a route that will take us briefly into France to a supermarket then back into Belgium. It’s proving to be difficult without burning too much fuel and time so in the end we just stop at a big supermarket in Belgium.
Hayley’s favourite beer.
Hayley leaves Del with Jess while she makes her way into the shop arriving a good 40 minutes later with half a dozen boxes of mixed wines which we have to try and store and survive the journey home. All shopped out we finally get going again and just before 6 we arrive at the farm in Poperinge.
Hayley’s favourite goat!
We get a nice welcome from the lady there, who shows us to our spot for our two-night stop.
Once parked up we waste no time in going to the bar for two cold Belgian beers and a rather hearty dinner. A quiet night back at the van. It’s cold.
Friday 14th July 2023 – Poperinge – Day 2 (last day).
Today we will do a de-prep of Jess which involves packing most of our stuff into bags, clearing and cleaning out cupboards, bagging up clothes etc. It just makes the arrival home quick and easy, we can get the van back into storage, do the laundry and have a quiet night back home.
The rest of the afternoon is spent bashing emails backwards and forwards to the UK. We are trying to buy a property and just as we think we are getting close, we come across another ‘issue’ that needs our attention, and of course, when solicitors are involved you can always rely on them to be slow, late or get it wrong, most of the time it’s all three!
We are now semi-packed so we get on our bikes for the last time and go for a 6-mile cycle. It’s a lovely evening, a bit windy, but after all the sitting about this afternoon we are glad to be out and it makes us feel much better.
Tonight we will eat at the farm again, and again another hearty feed with a generous helping of Belgian beer. They do know how to do it here. Delicious.
The alarm is set and we are in bed relatively early. Tonight though it’s hot again. There is a heatwave in Europe that is spreading north. Guess it has reached us.
Saturday 15th July 2023 – Poperinge, Belgium to Home, East Cowes, UK. 230 miles.
We are woken up rather sharply at 05:45 this morning. We have a ferry at 08:00 from Dunkirk, so no breakfast, no coffee, just get up, shuffle a few bags around and we are off. It’s a 40-minute drive from here in Poperinge to Dunkirk. It’s a lovely morning for our trip back home. Thankfully an uneventful drive to the port and onto the boat having had our passport checked twice and customs climbing aboard twice as well. The only thing they will find on our van is half a dozen boxes of wine and a box of champagne!
Going home. Sadly!
Caravan on a truck. Interesting.
Once we are in the belly of the ship and secured we eyeball a different camper van which is basically a caravan, spun around and mounted on a van chassis. We make our way upstairs and get a full English breakfast and coffee. A very pleasant crossing, not too busy, lots of Germans. An hour into the crossing it does start to get a bit ‘bouncy’. High winds are forecast which are forecast to be even higher on our Isle of Wight crossing. We shall see. Hayley staggers (because of the bouncy sea and not through drink) to see what’s in the duty-free shop and returns with a bottle of gin and Cointreau for only £25. Bargain.
In Summary
Some stats for this trip:
Diesel: 396 euros
Road Tolls: 95 euros
LPG: 5 euros
Total miles covered: 1700 miles (approx. We got lost a couple of times!)
Home, Champagne, French Alps, fun fair and home again
This has been one of our shortest Jess trips, three weeks and some days. Whilst it has been short it has been very enjoyable. We have visited some lovely places and tried lots of interesting food which is what our trips are all about. We are not adventure seekers, but we do like to see and feel as much of the local areas as we can. We loved the French Alps region, so much that we are already planning our winter trip which will be across Belgium, down through Germany to the Swiss Alps, back out through the south of France then from there pop into Spain and make our way down some of the east coast until we run out of time and have to turn around. That’s the plan, but you know what they say about best laid plans!
We do really enjoy going to Europe. It’s a great place, with so much variety and interest. Like the UK they have the same problems, not so high inflation, but shopping for food was expensive, and fuel is more or less the same as in the UK. The biggest difference we noticed was mobile phones. Hi-speed internet reception almost anywhere, even on deserted mountainsides and in long road tunnels. In the UK it seems that if you just walk down your own street you will get cut off. There is something wrong with mobiles in the UK, that we definitely noticed.
Jess does need some new tyres now. Hayley has been putting in the research and the decision has been made. We will get them fitted a week or two before we go away again in December.
There are also a few odd jobs that need doing on the van. Del has a list and will start on those in a few months. Nothing pressing, just general maintenance and up keep. We like to keep her in tip top condition, mechanically, inside and out!
In the meantime we now need to get back to work. It’s going to be a busy time for both of us now until the end of the year so we need to get our heads down again.
Thank you so much for following our journey, we do appreciate it and we do like to get your comments, and with that we would like to say cheerio for now, thank you and very good health and happiness to you all.
What diet has he been on?
We have done over 22,000 miles over 5 years, and too many Belgian roads, so it’s definitely time for the tyres to be changed. We have opted for the Michelin CrossClimate Tyre. We did think about the Goodrich BF All Terrain to give her a more aggressive look than she has already, but after looking at the pros and cons. We don’t do a lot of off-roading and the Michelins give better fuel efficiency, are quiet on the road and are designed for the correct load rating, so there you go. They are also 3PMSF rated, so good for snow, and ice and legal for the European mountains in the winter.
Is it us, or has the Michelin man lost a lot of weight over the years?
See more about the Michelin man and how he has changed over the years.
Week 3. 1st to 7th July 2023 – Thones to Port Lesney 240 (hard) miles.
Saturday 1st July 2023 – Thones to Le Grand-Bornand. 8 miles.
It was a lovely evening last night, a great dinner with a belting atmosphere. We sat and realised how lucky we are to be able to do what we are doing. If you have good health, and the most valuable commodity you have, time, then see and do as much as you can while you can.
This morning we wake up to a lovely blue sky so after a breakfast of scrambled eggs with salmon, toast and fresh coffee, we get our walking boots on and set off for a walk.
A clean fresh morning in Thones.
We have been here before, it’s a lovely place so we know more or less where we are going.
We are not sure why but Hayley gets eaten alive by mosquitos, but nasty ones. We press on and do a circle that brings us back into the town of Thones which is having a Saturday market.
Saturday market in Thones
It’s a vibrant market that winds its way around the streets of this charming little town. As you walk through you can smell the rich cheese, roasting chickens and stalls full of spices. The fruit and veg are bursting with colour and freshness. There are stalls selling homemade bread and cakes. Del can’t help being drawn in by a charming lady selling homemade muffins so buys a few to take back to the van to have with a tea.
It’s a lovely morning walking through the market but we have to get back.
A bit of homework via Zoom from Jess
Del has a work Zoom meeting to attend at midday, it should only take an hour or so, in the event 45 minutes, just as well as we start to hear the rain pattering on the roof. Again.
Today we are on a long drive, all 8 miles of it to Le Grand-Bornand, a place we have been to before, but this time we are going to a campsite there rather than the free overnight parking. We stop to do a service and fill up with 75 euros of diesel. The weather has changed. The sun has gone and the skies are grey, but it’s still beautiful as we drive through a valley surrounded by mountains shrouded with clouds. Wonderful.
The campsite is fabulous, we have mountains all around us, it’s gently raining, you get wet very quickly, but it’s like a fine mist. We are given a spot and get settled in. We have been out just over a week so it’s the big weekly van clean. After a good hour or so of ripping the van apart, emptying cupboards, pulling all the cushions out, cleaning and sweeping Jess is as new inside. It has to be done. We have power so we get everything charged up, all our tech and toothbrushes!
All done with the van we take a stroll into the town of Le Grand-Bornand. We have been here before, so we kind of know our way around now. It’s very charming and also very quiet which took us by surprise.
Yep, it’s still raining!
Back at Jess and dinner tonight is Hayley’s homemade tartiflette. (See her recipe here.) She did her own take on it last night, but tonight she is making the real thing from scratch along with a pair of diots. Basically a local sausage but they are very dense and very tasty, proper mountain food of the Savoie region which is where we are.
Hayley’s tartiflettewith local diots……and a spoon!
Served with a salad it was, once again, an absolute winner. Brilliant.
Sunday 2nd July 2023 – Le Grand-Bornand to Chamonix. 49 miles.
A grey morning this morning, but the surrounding views are still quite spectacular of course. We were woken up at 2 am last night by bangers going off, we thought that the current riots in France had spread here! Highly unlikely though it may be…
Another job for Del!
Before setting off we have to do a quick grey water empty and fill up with fresh. The French are good at this kind of thing, providing free services to camper vans.
A short drive in miles but because the roads are very twisty in these parts, it takes us a good hour and a half to get to Chamonix. We visited here in August 2020, covid restrictions had just been lifted, and we took the cable car to the top of Mont Blanc and another small one across over to Italy. Today we are staying at a small but lovely campsite called Camping Les 2 Glaciers. Once we are shown our spot and get settled in, we can see why. We have a spectacular view of two of the 4000 glaciers on Mont Blanc. They look amazing.
These arethe viewsfrom Jess the van!
We have a great spot and get settled in quickly. Hayley loves the glaciers and decides that today she will take lunch on the table with a full view of them while Del cleans the bikes.
Lunch with a view!
There is a little bit of planning to discuss regarding the next few days of our trip. We think that this will be the turning back point.
Hayley glacier spotting.
We will stay a few days here in the French Alps before heading back west into France and then northwest towards home. Maybe. Time to get the walking boots on and set off for a good walk. There are plenty of them here, all different lengths. We choose one that says it’s 1 hour and 15 minutes, it has a great view and coffee shop, so off we go.
We may have bitten off more than we can chew. It’s a very steep walk, but really steep as it twists and turns up the side of the hill towards one of the glaciers, not only that each time there is a junction with an arrow counting down the time to the end of the walk, we find that in actual fact the times are getting longer.
Worn out already!It was very steepGreat views though
We saw one that said “… 35 minutes”, ten minutes later another sign saying “45 minutes” ?!?! We plod on but decide that we have had enough, we are beaten so we about-face and start to make our way back to Jess.
Hard work but enjoyable all the same, good exercise which we could well do with. We get back to base camp and it has clouded over again and it’s a bit chilly. No matter we sit outside, Del does the blog and Hayley plans our route for the next few days.
Dinner tonight? Taking it easy tonight. A simple pasta dish, spaghetti alla puttanesca. Another Hayley speciality that she does well along with a salad.
Hayley’s ‘fancy’ pasta
Monday 3rd July 2023 – Chamonix to Passy. 40 miles.
Breakfast outside this morning, a proper continental breakfast, ham, “European cheese”, salmon and boiled eggs with fresh coffee. Ace. Sat at the table with a view of a slightly cloudy Mont Blanc. Today we are off to Passy or rather slightly higher to Plaine Joux Passy which is quite high up meaning a very twisty, bendy and probably dangerous road. We have been there before and we remember that it was a “challenging” drive, but well worth it once you get there. A popular place for paragliders to jump from. Not for us!
Click ‘play’ to watch crazy people jump off the edge…
After a full service, we stop at the local Carrefour to stock up with a few provisions as we intend to be offline for two nights up at Plaine Joux, Passy.
Busy route
Del is at the wheel today, and as we get higher, it gets more challenging, with hairpin turns, and narrow and rough roads in parts. It is well worth it, the view is stunning. Hayley does the business at the office when we arrive and we are able to choose a space wherever we like on a large grassy space which has the most spectacular view of the Mont Blanc Massif. Absolutely amazing, truly wonderful.
After a bit of messing about trying to get level (this is a beginner’s ski slope in the winter after all), we settle in and make ourselves comfortable with a brilliant view both when we are in the van and out of the van.
We plan to stay here for two nights, from here we are starting to turn back towards home and we have 12 days to do it. Easy. Still lots to do and see and eat and we intend to do as much of that as possible of the next 12 days.
Second one this trip
We take a walk around the location which is very popular with paragliders, in fact, we can almost see them launching from our van. There are a couple of restaurants here and good walks which we will save for tomorrow, today is a sit by the van day, with a glass of red wine. Del is doing the blog and some homework while Hayley is looking around on the internet to buy Jess some new all-terrain tyres! What has she got planned for our next trip? All this while sitting staring at the wonder of the Mont Blanc Massif. We hate Mondays!
Spanish night tonight. For the second time on this trip Hayley is doing her ever-popular paella, with jamon Serrano ham and tomato bread to start, along with the remainder of the red wine we started this afternoon.
Tuesday 4th July 2023 – Plaine Joux, Passy – day 2.
We woke up this morning at about 8am, and opened the blinds to reveal a full view of Mont Blanc. Wow! What a thing to wake up to. We don’t hang about, the coffee machine is on and within 5 minutes we are sitting in the bright sunshine just staring at the view.
The view from the bed this morningFirst coffee of the morning view!
Enough of that, time for some breakfast which we really enjoy. We just sit about in the sun wittering away about anything and everything. We do a quick van cleanup, some admin to catch up on then we are off for a good long walk.
Before we set off we have a look at the paragliders launching off the edge, which is just in front of the van. They are quite mad.
The paragliding launch zone.
We do just a short 2 and a bit hours of walking. It’s a good foresty walk, dense trees with dappled sunlight, really, really nice and peaceful. There are many walks in this area, so we choose just a short one which takes us to a lake called ‘Lac Vert’, The Green Lake.
We try and do a full walk around the lake which involves some climbing, something we are not really used to, walking and bikes yes, climbing, not so sure. We try but can’t find a way to get fully around the lake so we about turn and retrace our steps back. It’s a lovely place and very popular with walkers all eating picnics and just enjoying the peace and tranquillity of this lovely location. We carry on walking past the lake to a waterfall before turning back towards ‘base camp’.
We spend a lovely afternoon with Jess, reading, doing laundry and chatting away and before we know what time it is…, it’s dinner time.
An afternoon in the sun, doing? Nothing!
What shall we have tonight? We have many options to choose from. Hmmm. Fondue!!
Lots of cheese in there…
Last view of Mont Blanc as the sun sets.
Wednesday 5th July 2023 – Plaine Joux, Passy to Neydens. 50 miles.
We had a small shower of rain last night, not forecasted, in fact the weather has not been correctly forecasted for the past week! We wake up to a cooler, cloudier day today. Still feeling a bit heavy after the fondue last night, we elect to have a healthier breakfast of coffee and a bowl of porridge. Hayley is still studying tyres. GoodrichTA All Terrain or Michelin Cross Climate Campers. Decisions, decisions. Del does a little bit of homework as the darker clouds are gathering around us. That’s for real, not metaphorically, by the way.
We have been here for two nights, totally self-sufficient apart from the electricity and we still have capacity for another night. Jess could probably do three, or four at a push, days ‘off grid’ as long as there is some sunshine for the solar panel to keep batteries fully charged.
Tricky driving at times
Before taking the steep twisty roads back down, we drop the grey water and set off – less weight to travel is always better. Yep, it’s very twisty, midweek so it’s also busy. In parts, the roads are narrow so negotiating with oncoming traffic has to be carried out. We also come across some nasty roadworks on a tiny junction with cars and vans trying to get past each other with millimetres to spare. Hayley’s at the wheel today who, of course, manages all of it.
We are heading to a campsite that is supposed to be very nice, according to the reviews, it’s by a motorway but we are told that it’s not too bad. Getting there is a mess, driving through industrial estates, slip roads and goodness knows whatever kind of obstacle that could be thrown at us (including roadworks preparing for the Tour de France which is coming through here on the 18th) before we finally arrive at the gate of the campsite. Well not quite. The office is a bit of a walk. Hayley sets off to pay but comes back empty-handed. This place is just not doing it for us so we decide to head off and find somewhere else.
Our next stop is at an aire in a town called Bonneville but after winding through the tiny streets for 10 minutes we decide we don’t much fancy that one either, so it’s on to a very nice campsite near the town of Neydens, just south of Geneva, Switzerland. We only have 10 minutes to wait before the office reopens from lunch. Again the drive to get here felt rather challenging, but we have made it and we are given a very nice pitch for the night. After we get settled in we have a walk around the site and we have quickly come to the conclusion that this is a very nice, very spacious campsite but that it is also meant for families. We all know what that means… KIDS!!!
So far it’s very peaceful here, we shall see. We head back to Jess. Del’s not feeling too great today, says he feels like he has a hangover?! No… To be fair not much has been drunk recently so we will just take it easy today, especially after the excitement of Plaine Joux, Passy and Mont Blanc. Hayley knocks up some cheese and salad sandwiches and Del cheers up, he just needed to eat. We have a nice shady corner for Hayley to do some route planning and to finish off the rose champagne!
Planning ahead.Oh, look. It’s all gone.
Our pitch is very pleasant as is the weather. We just sit in the shade of Jess and read. Del asks a passing member of staff from the campsite if BBQs are allowed, and they are. We dive into action and finally, we can get the one item out that has just been stored in the back of the van, freeloading for the last few outings.
Betsy the freeloader.
‘Betsy‘ is the three-legged BBQ that we bought for a tenner two years ago. She has appeared a couple of times on short trips on the Isle of Wight but never in Europe, finally, she makes her debut here in Neydens.
The weather is perfect and we set a table up in the early evening sun full of goodies, Betsy is warming up and we have some BBQ chicken and local sausages. Hayley makes some excellent last-minute potato salad and puts together a green salad.
Betsy earning her rideAll gone. Brilliant!Don’t be fooled by the presentationMan makes fire!
All very, very nice. For dessert, Hayley grabs a banana that is almost past it, splits it open, fills it with peanut butter and some broken-up chocolate squares, wraps it in foil and throws it back on the dying embers of the BBQ for ten minutes. Well, it is just amazing. The presentation needs a bit of work, but it really is quite delicious, so much so another one is made up, this time though a little bit of salt is added which really gives the dish an extra boost.
All in all a really good day. Full of chicken and banana we settle down inside Jess and go to bed. Oh, and we have decided on the Michelin Cross Climate Camper tyre.
Thursday 6th July 2023 – Neydens to Saint Point. 80 miles.
A light shower of rain fell during the night, but not enough to wake us up. We have coffee and breakfast outside before packing up, and prepping Jess, and we are off again. We are on the turn-back route back towards home but with 10 days left to go. We have a choice. One choice is to pay 28 euros to go on the motorway, west through France. It’s an expensive toll because it goes through many mountains and hills so there are many tunnels and many miles of the motorway are built on very high concrete pillars in order to get across valleys. The other choice is to go briefly through Switzerland and pay 40 euros for a ‘vignette’ (a sticker that goes on your windscreen and allows use of the motorways). We go for the second option as the vignette is valid for a year and we are planning to come this way on a long winter trip in 2023/24 so there is a saving made.
Our 40 euro Swiss road pass
After arriving at the France/Swiss border, and with very little help from anybody, we pay for our 40 euro vignette and set off through Switzerland for the 1-hour drive that will pop us back out into France a little way north, then west to go across France and up to the UK. It’s a lovely drive. Everywhere is so clean and tidy, with lovely countryside. We are hugging Lake Lucerne which provides us with a great view of the mountains to the south.
We are heading to a municipal campsite in Saint-Point du Lac, which is located right by a lake. Once we arrive the office is closed but they leave good clear instructions about what to do and where to go.
Once settled in we set off for a short walk and a small glass of cold beer. When the sun is out it is hot, very hot. There is a lot of clouds about today which we prefer as the heat can be quite fierce.
What a feast…!
Dinner tonight is a simple modest affair. Hayley has a tray of big prawns that we had with ‘Alioli’ sauce (garlic mayo) with her ace van salad which consists of green leaves, Serrano ham, peaches, walnuts and blue cheese. It’s the best salad EVER. Once we clear up we play one of our EXIT games until dark and the temperature drops. It’s half ten and freezing by the time we finish. Well, we are over 800m up from sea level. Great day, great night.
Friday 7th July 2023 – Saint Point to Port Lesney. 37 miles.
A bright sunny day today. We have a simple, quick breakfast this morning because tonight we are dining in a Michelin Bib-Gourmand restaurant in the town of Port Lesney which is in the Jura mountains just south east of Dijon. We found the restaurant the last time we went there in August 2020 when the weather was absolutely miserable, foggy, raining, just foul. Not today. Today is a beautiful day, a complete contrast from our last visit.
August 2020July 2023
The restaurant is right across the road from the campsite. Port Lesney is a typical, quiet, charming French village, but has the Bistro du Port Lesney which is a bib-gourmand. The village also has a rather expensive 2-star Michelin restaurant but we don’t have the budget for that. Last time we were here we had a fantastic 3 course dinner at the bistrot with wine at a fantastically reasonable price, which is what you should expect from a Michelin Bib-Gourmand restaurant.
We get packed up and set off for the 35 to 40 mile drive to Port Lesney. We have had a few challenging drives and today is no exception. 15 minutes from our destination we come to a downward 14% hill for 1km! It also has 90 degree bends, oh, and some hills for good measure. We could actually smell the brakes. Even though we were using the engine braking in 2nd gear, brakes still had to be applied for the tight corners. We decided to pull over for 5 minutes just to let them cool off a for a while. We had no brake warning lights, but even so…
We arrive at the Port Lesney Campsite. Hayley pre-booked us in yesterday, a spot right by the river. It’s just beautiful here. We are just a couple of meters from the riverbank, all you can hear is the river running and birds twittering on. Perfect. We sit for a while and just appreciate our surroundings. Finally, after 5 years, Del has got around to putting up a photo of Stargazer, our lovely boat, that we had from 2003 to 2017. We miss her and still speak fondly of her. She was a great thing to have.
Stargazer – Our 34 foot sailboat.
In the afternoon we decide it’s time we had a walk. Bad mistake. It is so hot. 37 degrees inside Jess and probably 35 outside in the shade, but humid with it. We walk to the restaurant we are going to later, and to a river beach that’s located under the bridge going out of Port Lesney. It’s busy.
People are wading in the cool running water of the river but trying to shade under the bridge.
Too hot for this……some shade.
We carry on with our walk of the town, but we have to give up, the heat is too much for us so it’s back to the shade of the van with the view of the river. We spend the afternoon plotting our route, reading and chatting away.
We get a visit from a local duck who is friendly enough to feed out of Hayley’s hand.
Dinner at 7 across the road which turns out to be just ok the end. The service is very iffy, took three attempts and almost 30 minutes to get the bill, the food was good but not as we remember it.
Paris Brest
The dessert, however, a large Paris Brest to share is very good, but Hayley can’t eat all of hers so Del helps out… The evening is accompanied by live music which helps bump up the price of the menu!
Back home at Jess, it’s hot. Very hot. 34 in the van upper 20s outside, at that’s at 10 pm! It’s going to be a difficult night, full of food and drink and hot…
Tomorrow we start to move west into the middle of France. The weather forecast is saying very hot weather for the next few days.
Great to hear from you Paul. We trust that you are all well? Sad to be back but great to…