Our route

This map shows the location of the places we stayed at this year.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?authuser=0&authuser=0&hl=en&hl=en&mid=zJwjyYPgvB8c.k9W8AadQwpH4

We're going home, we're going home.... :-(

I didn’t sleep well at all – knowing we had to get up and hearing people leave early was quite unsettling.  We realised that the woman who re-arranged our ticket actually put us on an earlier crossing than we asked for so we had to move quicker than we wanted.  

Flo spluttered to a start (a relief) and we drove around to check in – it always takes longer than we have patience for thanks to idiots working on booths and the people in front who didn’t have pet clearances etc.. we got around to the queue ready to get onto the boat – as per the other stages in the queues every other queue seems to be boarding before us and we’re just beginning to get very impatient .  Finally we were waved forward; Chris had left the engine running all the time to help charge the battery, but when he put her into gear she just died!!!  PANIC!!!  We were holding the whole queue behind us up and the little Frenchman was waving his orange flags at us frantically!!!  It was so embarrassing, everyone had to overtake us and nothing we did  could jump start her!!!  

We told the P&O guy and he said it wasn’t a worry as they could tow us onto the boat but 1^st he called the French Calais workers who arrived with a super battery to try jump starting us, the kid who was with him nearly electrocuted the old guy with it first before putting it on Flo!!!  Thankfully it started her so we drove up the ramp and we got onto the boat they closed the door behind us – we were the VERY­ last vehicle on!!  The P&O worker joked that we should tie ourselves to the lorry in front!!  We jumped out of Flo and went up the stairs into the lounge – as we walked in the captain was apologising on the tanoy for the delay in departure that we’d caused!!  It was SO stressful, we just could not believe that Flo had had the last laugh – and it wasn’t over yet!!  

The crossing was quiet, we went back down into the hold and Flo was once again as dead as a dodo!!!  Not a big surprise but still pretty frustrating!!  We told the P&O guy so he suggested we try push starting, he called over some cyclists, told them to ‘put down their push bikes and get pushing’!!!!!  they gave him a filthy look but did as he said – it didn’t work though so he called the Port mechanics.  By this time the whole load had driven off and new lorries were starting to drive on!!!  The pickup arrived and tried jump starting us again but this time the battery was gone so he gave us a tow and we jump started!!  At least that meant we could drive off, he said that he thought our starter motor had gone so advised us not to turn the engine off as it wouldn’t start again….not a huge problem when considering 1^st gear was still playing up so stalling was a very real reality and the fact that that we only had enough petrol to get us half way round the M25!!!

Traffic was ok, we researched the risks of filling up petrol and LPG with the engine running and although we knew it can be done we couldn’t risk it with the kids in the car so we pulled into the service station halfway round the M25 , filled up and prayed it would re-start – it didn’t!!! so, I called the AA and we waited for him to sort us out – he took ages checking everything but at least we were safe ie not on the edge of the motorway; and we could use the loos, buy cold drinks and lunch etc.  eventually he gave us a tow and we jump started again, praying for good fuel economy and no traffic we set off – unfortunately the M6 at Birmingham was bumper-to-bumper for about 10 miles, another very stressful hour as Chris is desperately trying not to stall without 1^st gear!!  


After hours and hours we eventually got home!!!! HORAY!!!!  We pulled into our drive but this time Flo wouldn’t go into reverse!!  So not for the first time I jumped out and pushed her back onto the drive!!!  

We left her running and emptied everything we needed into the hall and immediately drove her around to Ellesmere garage and left her there…………………….




Gad to be home? Yes!!  BUT what another amazing holiday we have had in Fantastic Flo!!! -  and although it wasn't the holiday we had planned we have made some super memories and were blessed hugely the whole time!!!

What will we do next year?!!!!

Too close to home...

I had rearranged the ferry crossing to Thursday at 09:50 with only a £20 admin charge so we decided to go to City Europe supermarket at Calais today and stay at the aire next to the port. 

We bought the usual stuff for the freezer and tinned bits for the cupboard as well as biere and vin.  It was pouring with rain, as it seems to be every time we are here and we got drenched putting it away in Flo!!

The aire is literally on the harbour wall and so we sat watching ferries go in and leave all afternoon!  We also walked out along the harbour wall and along the seafront.  Kids played in a park for ages once the sun came out.  

By the evening the aire got really busy, the boy who was collecting the money was really strict about only letting campervans and motorhomes in!  there were 2 other T25s in the aire; 1 had an old couple in who although friendly to the woman next to us didn't speak to us at all.  The 2^nd had a young couple in who didn’t speak to us until the late evening, not been impressed by the T25ers recently!!

When the kids had gone to bed I walked up to the fast food vans and queued for ages to order a chicken baguette from a Moroccan guy, it wasn’t good!!!

We do love to be beside the seaside

A beautiful clear morning, the forecast said it would be nice.  A boulangerie van came round at about 9am so I bought a baguette although it was a bit burnt.  

We decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Nautica, the national sea centre and aquarium that is just 5 mins from the aire.  They were so excited!!  No queues or crowds unlike many places like this we've been to in the past. 
 I hired audio guides again and they definitely make the visit more interesting as you don’t have to stand and read endless boards.  It being the national sea centre there was so much more than just an aquarium there; exhibitions about sustainability, world pollution, rising sea levels and fishing were really interesting and we were in there for hours which is unheard of for us in places like these!!  

The experience was a little over stimulating for Evan at one point – he appeared to get motion sickness from looking at fish, walking around and listening to his audio all at once thankfully we made it to the toilets in time!!!! 
Kids say the best bits were the sharks, tortoises, sealions and jellyfish, as well as the fishing simulator and being allowed to touch the rays in the petting pond!!  We left via the gift shop and the girls bought a fuchsia  pink turtle and a ray and Evan got a 500 piece puzzle – we've said he can do that with Grumpa at the caravan!!

After a late picnic lunch we went onto the beach (after first walking around the old town).  

Kids made sandcastles and Chris took them into the sea for a swim.  We all had a brilliantly full day, combined with the walk back up to Flo the kids were properly tired by the end of the day!!

Panicking in Paris

Evan and I were up early to collect our bread, so early that the owner commented on it – I like the way that she allows me to use my broken French with her and answers in French too, it’s the only way you can improve.  Saying we were ‘early’ is all relative as our elderly neighbours had left before we’d woken up! 

Jump started Flo -  again; it doesn’t worry me anymore although I'm sure Chris has had enough of the hassle of it.  Paid 130E for the 4 nights, I think this was quite expensive – the site was huge and obviously gave free access to the pool and mini golf etc. but it was old and definitely not maintained to an ‘excellent’ standard.  Still, we had had fun and it was so good for the kids to be able to play cricket and swim everyday so I would use them again if we were passing through the area for a few nights.

We began our usual journey north again, this time aiming for Champagne, it was going fine until Chris felt the gear stick wobble again!!!  ARGHHHH!!! NO!!!!!!  It was raining and the kids were quiet so we decided to just go north as far as we could as we were sure Flo was going to break again now.  However the very worrying part of this decision was that going north would mean that we would have to go through Paris and the though terrified us!! When we are travelling I always have the map book open as well as the satnav on because it often makes you go along random short cuts so I like to know where we are going, however Paris is so complicated that there is no way I could navigate with the map so we had to trust the machine.  We were doing pretty fine, getting closer and closer to the centre and before we knew it we were on the dreaded ‘periphique’-the nightmare inner ringroad!! That said, traffic was heavy but flowing steadily so wasn’t too bad.  We were all really shocked to see the Eiffle tower – never thought we’d be that close!!!  Evan tried to get a photo but we we’d entered into the tunnels where Diana had her crash and so we missed our chance.  We got to the north of Paris, saw the Stade-de-France and began to think how well we’d done…when suddenly the satnav let us down –BIG TIME!!!!!!  It took us off into a really dodgy neighbourhood up a huge never-ending steep hill with speed humps and traffic lights every 2 minutes – the absolute worse conditions for driving poorly Flo!! It was so stressful and an awful 45mins, how we got through it I don’t know!!

We finally left paris many grey hairs later and left feeling more than a bit sick!!  I looked for an aire that would be within walking distance of a town or village so we could have a few days without having to move again; we decided on Boulangne-sur-Mer, a seadside town about 20 mins from Calais.  It was a massive relief when we actually arrived; Flo had driven for 4 hours solid and through really difficult traffic but it was reassuring that we were so much closer to the ferry port now. 

The aire is on the cliff top looking down on the massive sandy beach and town.  When we arrived we found a space that was next to a Dutch couple (again), also in our bay was a German van and a Belgian van so very European!!  It’s now a beautiful clear sky and men are jumping off the cliff in paragliders, looked horrendous to me!!

As we’d been in the car for the vast majority of the day we walked the kids down the steep hill into the town and seafront. It’s a classic seafront with a huge sandy beach where kids are ‘sand sailing’ in classes and being towed back in a snake by quad bikes. There are rows of beach huts and a playground in the sand on the beach.  We walk around to the harbour and buy frites from a van as Evan points out its 4pm and we've not eaten anything!!!  Bad parents, mainly because there is no food in Flo!!  A steep walk back up to Flo where we all were well refreshed thanks to Flo’s amazing fridge!! When the kids go to sleep I walked over to a very popular van that had opened up and was selling snacks and frites.  I found that like the frite van earlier the vendors had no English – at all!! And they speak really fast – however, I’m pleased that my French has improved enough to have the confidence to go to them, I wouldn’t have done so in the past!!  They made us a beautifully fresh cheese and ham salad baguette called a ‘sandwich complet’, and very importantly I also bought 4 bottles of Leffe from them(!!!!!); I don’t know if Chris was more in shock from having driven through Paris or because we very nearly had a night with no alcohol!! – either way it was a real treat to have supper after the stress of the day!!

It was a quiet night, in fact every night we've been away has been.  I would so recommend to everyone the French aires.  They are such an amazingly clever and open way of allowing people to see parts of France that you would have never seen otherwise; the friendly etiquette of the aires where everyone says ‘bonjour’, ‘bonsoir’ etc. and the assumption that everyone has time and wants to talk to you allows for an amazing opportunity to show love, share experiences and make friendships (with people who in the UK you would never speak to) is amazing.  I actually prefer being parked in some cases less than 1m from another motorhome on an aire than being in my allocated plot on a campsite.  The uk is so profit driven that they can’t see the benefits that can be brought to a community of allowing between 4-40 vans stay for between 10 and 0 Euro a night.  In Turrene for example we stayed in the aire and bought bread and groceries every day, bought drinks in the tavern, bought regional products and paid to visit the castle, we added to the economy of that community and everyone else who stays there does too, so it’s good for everyone.  Such a shame the UK is only concerned with profit and making money so much so that people can’t stay anywhere at all.

Just chillin'

It started sunny and then poured all morning which was frustrating as I had washing still to do, thankfully it cleared at 3pm so I got it done.  

Took the kids swimming again where they enjoyed playing on a large float and Chris had tea ready when we got back.  A very relaxing, chilled out day!!

Mini olympics

This morning we went for a walk around the lake at the campsite, the resident swan and ducks have been up close looking for food so we took bread for them and a picnic for us.  

Evan, Chris and I had a few goes at table tennis, we’re all as bad as each other but to be fair Evan also needs to be taller! 

 We then moved down to the trampoline where the kids enjoyed playing for ages.  

After this we borrowed mini golf clubs from reception and we all had a go at their very uneven holes – kids absolutely loved this!!  
 

Finally, we made a visit to the park and made a quick stop to say hi to the local rabbit.
We also borrowed badminton racquets and shuttlecocks which Rennie enjoyed playing with.

A very old and frail Dutch couple  arrived next to us today, they said it had taken them 8 hours to get through Paris!!! CRAZY – this is why we went to Rouen when we were travelling south!!  They were towing a caravan, he had a motor to move it, a drill to put the legs down and he had a fold up bike that he balanced his water carrier on!!  I hope when we’re old we’ll still come away in our motor home!!

Swimming again!

A lovely warm clear morning, Evan and I collected our delicious bread from reception and we put a bottle of water in the freezer to freeze (very French style!) to help keep the fridge cold. 

 Kids played around the site for the morning.

 I took them swimming in the afternoon; We figured out that reception would give us wristbands meaning we didn’t have to pay at the municipal pool which was great!  The pool was an old 1970s pool but was in good condition, took me a while to work out the system of getting a cage, putting shoes in, going through changing room, handing in cage and getting a wristband before finally reaching the pool!! There are 2 pools; 1 is deep with 3 diving boards and 1 is up to 1m30 with a slide so perfect for us.  The lifeguard is dead strict about boys wearing trunks and no eating or drinking by the pool.  The water was really warm and kids loved it, bought ice lollies on way back; the Wall’s kid’s range all seem to be safe for Rennie.

Kids and Chris had a cricket tournament when we got back!  Great fun, they're really good! Chris is particularly impressed with Evan's leg-spin apparently.

Camping Le Grand Sologne

Kids are really in the swing of sleeping in Flo now, Evan and Morgan wake at about 8:30 and stay in their beds 'til 9 most mornings!! Amazing considering we’re all sleeping in such a small space!  After the wet and cold days in the Auvergne we have decided that unfortunately Flo is not really big enough for us all anymore; we’ll definitely get a motorhome when we get back.  We’ve told this to the kids and got mixed responses: Evan said “ok, when? What type?, how big? Where will I sleep?”; Seren got sad and was nearly crying because of how much she’ll miss Flo, she loves Flo, she doesn’t want a new motorhome etc.; and Morgan just says “Yey!!” So funny to see their different personalities reflected here!

Drove north again and took toll road for 1 ½ hours to a village called Nouan-Le-Fuzelier.  As we were driving we went through a village called Salbris which appeared to have a nice aire on the river – check this out for future years.  As we came off the toll road the Gendarmerie were waiting to pull us over…great!!!  Asked Chris for his licence and Flo’s registration docs which we gave him, he walked over to his mate and around Flo a couple of times to make us feel worried and then gave them back saying they were fine!! Phew!!!  Don’t know if I can take much more excitement!!!

The campsite we chose was called Le Grand Sologne and was 3*s with good reviews on ukcampsite.co.uk  Very friendly owners gave us a nice pitch (no.134) that was just set back from the huge lake on the site.  It’s a classic French campsite; huge, partly wooded with some sunny spots.  Our pitch was half shaded.  It was great for the kids who had loads of space to play football and cricket etc. without bothering anyone.  I bought a jeton for the machine a laver and put a wash on whilst we walked into the village.  There is a huge grand park in the centre of the village with roman statues, a bandstand; and a train station.  We stepped inside the village church which was very pretty as they all are and the shop was closed(!); on the way back Chris’ flipflops gave him a massive blister – the saga continues!!

Hung all the washing out and made us look like a Chinese laundry!! A British couple are fishing in the lake and have caught a massive fish.  The reception lets you reserve bread for the morning so I've requested 2 grand pain and also got wifi.  Lots of Dutch couples arrived in the evening who were obviously stopping off on their way south, Chris enjoyed watching people struggle to set up!! 

Camping by the canal

If it had been a clear day we would have stayed longer in Auvergne, we want to go to the top of Puy de Dome on the train and visit Volvic – however it was just as cold and wet as when we went to bed so we decided to leave and come back another year.

As we drove north we rapidly dropped over 1000m, the sky cleared and the sun came out – it was like being in another world.  The dark enclosed aire combined with the bad weather had really affected our moods, it was a definite lightening of our spirits as we saw the sun again!!

Drove onto the peage again to avoid start-stop traffic, we headed for a small town called St.Amand-Montrond.  The aire was alongside the canal about 5 min from the centre of the town.  People were fishing but only catching tiddlers. It was lunch time and much to Chris’ continued annoyance everywhere was shut for lunch! You’d think he’d have got used to it by now!!  That said, the Casino was open so filled up with bread and fruit – oh, and another pair of flipflops for Chris!

Ate lunch in a small square with fountains and then walked to the 16^th century fortress ruin in the town.  It was boiling in complete contrast to this morning at the Auvergne.  Unfortunately most of the fortress was fenced off but it was a pleasant walk with nice views across the town.

Back at Flo the kids enjoyed playing next to the canal – loom bands although very irritating because of the mess they make are an excellent way to occupy children for hours!!  

Pleasant French families were either side of us. It was nice spending the evening next to the canal, we even saw an otter swim past which is pretty cool I think!!

A cold night at the volcano!

The fog came down really tick overnight and it was cold, nearly caught us out after last year’s heat wave!!  I had a bit of a panic as I haven’t really brought many cold weather clothes!!  Jumpers, trousers and coats were thankfully enough to warm us up!!

We drove the steep, very slow 20 minute drive through thick fog to Volcania.  Chris was not happy about the drive and neither was Flo!!

Volcania is a science museum/theme park built in the hollow of an extinct volcano.  It is predominately an indoor venue and so as a result it was packed, thankfully we had decided to stay in the aire there tonight so we missed all the queues!  The aire is pricy at 10E a night but is massive and there weren’t many people there. 1^st obstacle was that the pedestrian gate was locked so I was shouting in French at a parking attendant who said he would come  but never did….big queues at all the booths  and it was expensive entrance cost of 82E for us all so we hoping to be impressed!

I hired 5 audio guides from reception and find out there is no English guide book.  The ‘rides’ and ‘experiences’ are simulations of eruptions; flying over super-volcanoes; travelling underground to a magma chamber and retelling legends of dragons; as well as being very informative.  

The favourite rides turned out to be ‘Mission Toba’ where a full surround floor and screen image simulated flying over the super volcano at Toba; we stood in pods which also moved and gave an excellent impression of flying.  Another favourite was in a 5D cinema, the ride was called ‘The Dragon ride’.  We wore 3D glasses, the chairs moved, water sprayed, heat flared, and the screen showed us travelling deep down a mine shaft into a volcano where there were horrendous dragons living who were chasing us!! All the ‘rides’ had health warnings and said they weren’t suitable for under 5s however we took Morgan on all them and she loved them, she’s feerless!!!  Another 4D cinema was ‘The awakening of the giants of the Auvergne’, this simulated what could happen if the major volcanoes of the Auvergne erupted today, it was another brilliant show using 3D technology, water and wind were sprayed at us from the seats in front and even straps underneath the chairs moved which felt like snakes biting our legs!!!I loved this one!! Morgan’s favourite was one where they simulated us going deep into a magma chamber (it was called ‘Magma Explorer 3); it said we had to hold the rail and they weren’t joking, it shock so hard Morgan nearly fell over and I had to put my hand on the rail so she didn’t repeatedly bang her head on it!!  She found it really funny!!  A more relaxing attraction was a straightforward 20minute film about our relationship with volcanoes in a 430m high cinema screen, one of the biggest in Europe!!  

Overall it was a really great attraction and the children loved it despite all the queuing, was also perfect for such a dank day!  

The kids all got gifts at the shop and said it was one of the best days they’ve had.

It was a really cold wet evening, the children watched films on the ipad and Chris made ravioli in Bolognese sauce which is the children’s new favourite ‘French’ dinner!!! – It was warm and they were starving so it went down really well.  Trousers, jackets and even Flo’s heater were needed to keep the cold away tonight!!

Volcano country!

Flo started this morning!! WHOOOHOO!!! It doesn’t stress me but I do hold my breath everytime Chris turns the key!!  We've been listening to podcasts by Jarrod Cooper, Dave Russell and Richard Taylor and Chris' old Friend Paul Hopkins these last few days.  They’ve preached on believing in the supernatural, expecting good things and the fact that God wants good things for us – he wants us to enjoy our holiday and as we learn to trust in Him and be grateful for every extra blessing we have in Flo!! AMEN!

It’s another misty start, we got up and drove to the Carrefour at Brive – it’s one of the massive ones so we took our time.  We drove northeast heading for the Auvergne; it is one of the few places that I have researched as a good place to visit because of it’s 110 volcanoes in a 30km stretch.  We again decided to take the toll roads so it would be less strain on Flo – it was a good drive until we got to the toll booth which was unmanned, when we put our credit card in it wouldn’t accept it!  As Flo is left hand drive Chris was having to do all the tickets and difficult gear changes at the same time so this was particularly  stressful – he ended up putting notes and thankfully it was fine!  

We drove to an aire in a village called Plaugnat which was at the foot of the Plaugnat volcano.  This was one of the first times when the aire looked nicer in the book than reality – we chose it because it was grassy but in reality it was a steep grassy bank that was heavily wooded so no good for the kids to play on.  It wasn’t great but it was only 20 minutes from the Volcania science museum which we really want to visit.  The altitude here is really high and as such the clouds are really low and the temperature has dropped considerably. We walked into the village but there wasn’t really anything, looked like it had war damage and then had been rebuilt 60s style. We all had to go inside for the evening as it had gotten really cold compared to other nights.  


We had been fortunate to have had a clear drive earlier as we were able to see the outline of the big volcanoes including the huge crater on Puy de Dome and the Volvic mountain which was amazing to see.