Latest Update:  6 October 2009.  

Covering 14 to 24 Sep. This completes the Blog.

Please see:

http://roger-the-lodger.blogspot.com/

Our plan originally posted here on 7 June 2009:

Introduction - The Plan

To celebrate retirement in just over 2 weeks time we are making a 3-month tour starting in France and then taking in parts of Germany, Luxembourg and the Ardennes. We thought it would be fun, and we hope interesting to record our experiences in a blog! This will be our first big trip abroad in our motorhome since we bought it in September 2008.

For this tour we will be towing a Smart Cabriolet on a Brian James trailer behind our 7 metre Bessacarr E560 so we'll be a long outfit - about 11 metres total length. We leave home (near Carlisle) on 29 June and return on 24 September. The middle part of our holiday will be in the highest of the high season, and we suspect that with the trailer/car we will not be able to make much use of aires because of the space we would take up. So we have pre-booked campsites in the South of France (not the coast!) for what we think will be the five busiest weeks, while for the rest of the time we hope to use a mixture of accommodation from friends (with room for us and our outfit) and the France Passion scheme; perhaps also some campsites in the less popular areas and outside of the busiest weeks.

The planning and any booking are pretty much done now and we are getting excited. We will post our diary in more detail as we go along, but this is just an introduction and here are the main aspects of the trip:

• Dover-Dunkerque with Norfolk Line 2 July

• Pre-booked campsite near St Omer for 2 nights to 4 July just to have a relaxing start

• Making our way to La Rochelle via parts of Normandy and the Loire Valley to arrive there on 9 July to visit our friends for an 8 day stay. We've nothing booked between 4 and 9 July and hope to use France Passion as much as possible (numerous choices in the Loire)

• Leaving the MH at friends' house in La Rochelle (plenty of room there) and going with them to the Ile d'Oleron for a big Bastille Day party on 14 July

• Leaving La Rochelle on 17 July and making our way gradually to a site between Rodez and Albi where we've booked for a week from 23 to 30 July. Nothing has been booked between 17 and 23 July but our intended route is through Charente (Cognac!), Limousin, Correze and Cantal, relatively quiet places, so we hope not to have a problem with getting in either at FP locations or at campsites as long as we arrive fairly early each day. For our (booked) week in the Aveyron we intend to use the Smartie to explore this wonderful area.

• On 30 July we move on to a site at Millau in the Cevennes (well-known, at the S end of the Gorges du Tarn) - this is pre-booked for a week to 6 August when we move a fairly short distance East to another pre-booked site at Le Vigan. The idea of this is that it should allow us to explore (using the Smart again) the complete span of the Cevennes from West to East including the gorges and the very different landscapes around Mont Aigoual. It's an area we know well and a big favourite with us. We hope to do lots of walking in this area, just using the Smart for access. The Le Vigan site is booked to 13 August, when we move on to Provence.

• We have booked two further sites in Provence. The first is just NE of Orange and we are there just 4 nights - we chose the location because it is fairly near the Ceze and Ardeche gorges which we want to re-visit. On 17 August we move on to a site just E of Avignon where they encourage you to take your clothes off! We discovered this kind of thing in the former Yugoslavia in the 70s and especially enjoyed swimming "au naturel" and getting all-over tans. Not to everyone's liking of course and we're not as young as we were then - but it's quite an encouragement to slimming!!! We'll be careful about any photos we post from there!

• We start the Northward leg of our journey on 24 August and for this there is much less planning and so less detail. Basically we have to be with friends near Rouen on 21 September and what we do in that 4 weeks is up to how we feel at the time - nothing is booked at all and we hope that things will be quietening down enough, especially as we move into September, for this not to present us with a problem, even though we are towing. Our preferred routing would take in the Rhone Valley, Burgundy, Alsace, the Black Forest, the German Hunsruck (between the Rhine and Mosel), Luxembourg, the Ardennes and then via our friends to catch the (pre-booked) Norfolk Line ferry at Dunkerque on 23 September. We should get home on 24th.

Well that's just about it! But you know what the Scottish Bard said about "the best laid plans o' mice and men"!!!

We don't intend using toll autoroutes any more than we can help (though we may succumb at times I suspect) and we intend to do plenty of self-catering, especially barbecues. But I'm sure there will be some eating-out treats too!

There will be photos on the entries too; also reviews of campsites and FPs and tales of the many adventures that lie in store!!! We will try to (and hope to) avoid the dreaded D(isaster) word.

Roger and Marian

Comment By: doogle
Comment: Wow, I am green with envy. I have been talking about doing a tour like this for a while now. Sounds like heaven. I look forward to hearing how you get on. Regards, Doogle

Comment By: emps
Comment: Interesting read. My wife and i who are also retired are arriving in the UK on 5 Aug to pick up a motorhome we are commited to purchasing,spending 6 weeks in various parts then off across to Europe to spend 6 months hopping about over there. If u sense some naivety there dont worry we have done this before and have experience. This time i intend to report our experiences via blog,emails to our "club" in Australia the The campervan and motorhome club of Australia (CMCA). Hope you both have a great time,Cheers Derek and Helena Winter

Comment By: vonny
Comment: well sounds great my hubby and i have just bought our FIRST m/h never camped before but like the idea of just saying were to now we are touring france for 3 wks in september with our 2 dogs a greatdane and a lab we are hitting a few of the places that you are going to hope you have a great time. from a newby vonny x

Comment By: rockontommy
Comment: Goodluck on your trip around europe hope you have a trouble free three months

Comment By: Paradiddle
Comment: Go for it. I have just come back from 3 months in France with a little excursion into Spain. and a few days in Holland and Belgium. I took my Hymer B584 and just myself and spent most of the time in South West France.I am thinking about writing it up later. I did keep a detailed Log book to help the memory and my map is covered with route marks..

Comment By: Marvin
Comment: Hi We are buying a E460 and thinking about a Smart car to tow. How has been your experience. Marvin

Comment By: Roger7webster
Comment: As per my previous comment "a great read with many really good pics Roger

Comment By: homebird
Comment: Hope you had a good trip. I am leaving on the 22 sept til Dec 8 on a similar trip, will try to read your blog while in France. All the best

Comment By: john-A
Comment: Hi Roger, My wife and I have been following your blog with much interest and envy. We intend to get a motor home when we retire we have had a caravan for many years and towed it through France but like us its getting old and stays at the windings in Telford now. We will be in touch to pick your brains in the new year but it will be a few years before we can attempt anything like your adventure. Thanks again for updating us all with your three months adventure, I will be re-reading it over the long cold winter to keep warm.