Uncategorized – Motorhome travel Around Europe and beyond

June 2023 trek around Europe

Alan — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:03:00 +0000

Working on the web pages to show our route I thought it would be interesting to make a T-shirt of our route, so here it is. I don’t normally wear anything except plain T-shirts so no doubt I will have to endure a certain amount of comments from other members of the family.

Not a flattering photo of me, in fact I really don’t like the photo.

Our route across Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany then through the Alsace.

2023 June – France 2,000 miles plus in Hymer

Alan — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 16:33:43 +0000

Another long trek around Europe, calling off at Colsterworth in the UK for an American Square Dance campout weekend with flyovers by a Lancaster and Hurricane aircraft, through the tunnel to Calais then to Lake Annecy via Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. On the way we sampled wines in the Alsace and filled our lockers with wonderful wines that you just can’t buy in the UK.

From Lake Annecy across to the Lateral Canal of the Loire, followed that for a few days then back to Calais via Chartres and Neufchattel.

As soon as possible the detailed pages will be on the website with information about where we stayed and photos.

Google maps amazing statistics

Alan — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 08:54:42 +0000

We use Google maps a lot for our navigation, and as a way of putting something back both of us are Local Guides, so we add reviews, locations and other information to Google Maps as we travel. Here’s an example, I suggested a change of name for one of the aire de camping cars that we stayed on, to make it easier to find. Google accepted the change, in 2 years that change has been seen over 900,000 times, that ‘s an average of over 600 times a day.

I find that amazing . . .

Google statistics

Spain tour of Roman and Moorish sites webpages available

Alan — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 15:51:49 +0000

Another long motorhome trip to Europe converted to web pages with photos, a memorable journey to meet friends in the south of Spain, visits to La Alhambra, Madinat Al Zahara and many Roman remains including the aqueduct at Segovia. The aqueduct is nothing less than stunning, and these days it takes a lot to impress me.

Feel free to browse the pages and share our trek through Spain.

Spain – Roman and Moorish sites a motorhome journey

2 years ago we were heading for home chased by covid

Alan — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 17:50:11 +0000

2 years ago we were driving through France, heading for the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais, behind us the chaos of lockdown and ahead of us the uncertainty that we now know as lockdown. France and Spain were already in panic mode, everything closing down. As we made our way across France there were less and less facilities open to us, even the water taps were locked off so we could not fill up and the usual places. Fortunately we know where there is an alternative supply, which we’re keeping to ourselves in case the emergency need arises again.

All the aires seemed to be closed, so it was extremely difficult to find somewhere to spend the night, we did and eventually arrived at Calais, spend the night and got the train through the tunnel and back to England.

When we arrived there was no sign of the lockdown or empty roads that we had experienced throughout Europe, everything appeared normal. It would be a little while before lockdown began. Now we can look back and wonder what has happened to those two years. That’s two years not just for us, but for everyone else, and it’s not yet over.

We are wondering whether it’s still possible to make some of the trips in our motorhome that we planned, such as overland to Greece, and the artic circle in Finland. Will we be able to go?

We certainly hope so but . . .

Watch this blog and we’ll share our thoughts as time goes by.

2 years since our escape from Europe at the start of lockdown

Alan — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 12:35:53 +0000

When I began my journal entry for today I was reminded that it’s 2 years since we arrived in Spain for the start of what should have been a road trip through Spain and Portugal, heading for the Atlantic coast. We had thought long and hard before setting off, yes there was Covid in Italy, it seemed to be ravaging there, and a little in Spain, but all the reports indicated that it was localised and not really a great issue. How wrong we all were!

We set off as normal, taking the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, then making our way across Spain in a leisurely fashion. The trip ended rather suddenly when Portugal, Spain and France all went into lockdown, to be followed by the UK a lot later than was prudent. Our ferry crossing was cancelled, rebooked then cancelled again, so we had no alternative but to drive from near Lisbon to Calais, then take the tunnel back to the UK.

This account makes it sound fairly normal, but it was anything but normal, and as we all know, now there is a new normal.

Read all about the trip here.

Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé

Alan — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 15:26:53 +0000

Wolfberger Cremant d’Alsace

Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé
A delightful deep pink rose colour, with very small bubbles. A light crémant with a powerful taste of strawberry and raspberry. This one stands out from the crowd.

September 2019 journey through France completed

Alan — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 13:01:55 +0000

Our trek through Normandie and the Lot Valley is now available here on the WordPress website, a summary page plus the 19 days of the trek, each day has a screenshot of our route taken from google maps, a selection of photos from the day and a summary of the miles, fuel consumption and hours driven.

2019-09 Normandie & The Lot Valley

Overall a comprehensive record of the journey. It’s been really interesting to revisit all the places in France and refresh my memory, unfortunately it’s also reminded me that we have lost a full two years of trekking around Europe in the Hymer and awakened the wanderlust that tells me it’s time to plan another journey.

Where will it be? Some things that we have in mind are, overland to Greece; the arctic circle in Norway or Finland, revisiting Chateau Moyau in the Langedoc to stock up on their wines. Watch this space.