Tag: Sprinter Camper Van

The last leg

On By MashleyIn Camper van, Europe, france, travelLeave a comment

Packing up for the third time we made the 2.5 hour drive north to Camping Acapulco in Saint Jean de Monts which is a 5 star rated campsite.

Compare to our last stop there were very few motorhome / camping pitches, maybe 20 or so I counted, the rest of the park is a mix of residential and park owned luxury caravans, our pitch was nestled in amongst some of the caravans.

To be fair it was a generous sized pitch with our own water tap, our neighbours were a Dutch family who were very friendly and gave the girls an ice pole each, they had two kids as well though they were out a lot so our girls didn’t really get to hang out with them.

The big attraction here if you have kids is the water park, there are a bunch of slides for smaller kids and then some mad ones for slightly larger ones, there is also a wave pool which the girls really enjoyed in their rings, this is the view from the main pool looking at the slides for the younger kids.

Interestingly the water in the pool was really warm so nice and easy to get in. We didn’t really do much here aside from hang about the pool, cook food and drink a few beers.

Most evenings were spent chilling by the van.

We did venture to the beach one day and it was heaving, didn’t bother taking a photo. The sea was quite rough as the tide came in as well, not ideal for younger kids.

Soon enough it was time to pack up again and start the 5.5 hour drive to Dieppe, it was long, hot and uneventful.

We parked up at one of the Aires a short walk (10 mins) from the quayside restaurants, Dieppe is really busy at night which makes a massive change from all the towns and villages we drove through that always look deserted.

We found an awesome restaurant which had some interesting live music, a very mixed age range band with a female singer coving everything from Eurythmics Sweet Dreams to Nirvana Smells like teen spirit!

Our crossing to Newhaven was at 06.30am, the Aire was 5 mins drive from check in which was handy, got up at 04.30 which nobody was a fan of!

As I finish writing this post Lauren and Arielle have gone for some breakfast and Stella has some internet on her iPad so is watching something which to me looks completely pointless, there is a tired kid crying and the boat is swaying gently on it’s way back to the UK.

As it’s so early we were treated to a beautiful sunrise only marred by the digital zoom on my phone!

In terms of the places we’ve seen it’s been a good trip, the kids have been testing with more arguing and fighting than we’d like, probably due to tiredness more than anything, not entirely sure we’d go away with them for this amount of time again, it’s been quite stressful for everyone, the kids said they had a good time however!

We’ll be home for about 11.00 in the morning, enough time to unpack the van, have a shower, put some washing on and then get ready for work Monday AM, 04.30 start, can’t wait!

Le Beach

On By MashleyIn beach, Europe, france, holiday, travelLeave a comment

After a few days at Lac Du Parloup it was time to pack up and head south. Before we came out here I fitted a bike rack so we could bring out bikes and a trailer for Arielle, the idea being that when we got down near the beach we could use the bikes to venture out if we wanted to. Clearly I am not used to how long this additional item makes the van and I managed to snag my rear wheel on a tree.

I’m not going to lie, I did swear and was really annoyed at myself. It transpires that 26” MTB wheels are extremely difficult to come by so that was my bike and the trailer out of action for the rest of the trip.

The drive to where we were staying next, Dunes Et Soleil Marseillan plage took a couple of hours, the kids were well behaved even when we stopped at Lidl, the temperature was noticeably warmer.

Check in was easy and we’d initially booked for a few nights, within no time at all we were setup.

The beach here is lovely, entry to the sea is a very gentle slope and you can wander out a long way and still be only up to your waist which is great for the kids, finally they got an ice cream from the man who walks along the beach with an ice cream trolley, Stella remembered this from the last time we came to France and she was dead set on getting one!

We ended up extending our stay here for another 4 nights at a cost of 70 Euros which is great value. There is an onsite bar that does amazing burgers and Pizzas plus the main drag is well within walking distance as is the local fairground I suppose is the best way to describe it.

There were plenty of rides for the kids and at around 22.00 they’d spent all their tokens and we headed home to be greeted by our first storm.

I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been, the water wasn’t an issue but the wind whipped up pretty quickly, luckily Lolly saw what was going on and came out and held on to the awning while I put some straps in to stop it blowing away, that did the trick and next day everything’s was as it should be, still attached to the van!

We had a great time here and probably would have ended up staying till we went home, we had lovely neighbours from Germany, Belgium and the UK and I even found a working three way fridge someone had chucked which came in well handy for keeping my beer cold!

What we didn’t have was a pool. I don’t mind hanging at the beach but the pool is a nice thing to mix it up for the kids so after seven nights we packed up again and headed to Vias Plage.

Le Tourondel

On By MashleyIn Europe, france, Self build camper van, travelLeave a comment

Since arriving in France we’ve been staying at Lindi and Ian’s place in Le Tourondel. We haven’t got up to loads as it’s nice to just chill.

A few of Lindi and Ian’s friends have stopped by including the owner of a tractor which Arielle enjoyed.

We’ve gone for a few wanders, in the local woods and down to Argentat to check out the market and dip our feet in the river, it’s a really beautiful spot.

There is so much wildlife on your doorstep here, so far we have seen massive hornets who continually try to break into the house of an evening, an Owl, birds of prey, a dead snake, edible door mice, field mice and loads of lizards,

Today (Saturday) we visited Tour De Merle which is a settlement from about the 1300’s if memory serves me right, it looks like a castle but is in fact a load of individual dwellings.

Accidentally I found a really good spot to park the van, you could see it from literally every part of Tour De Merle

We also came across a live snake hanging about at the entrance, I chucked it over a hedge so it didn’t bite anyone.

The kids had a great time at the castle, especially when we saw some bats and one of them pooed on Lauren, Stella is sitting here in the room just before we saw the bats.

It’s a load of walking up and down and by the end of the day the kids were ruined!

Tomorrow is Ian’s birthday, we’re taking the kids to the pool, getting some supplies from Aldi and then doing something in the evening to mark Ian’s birthday. Monday we are on the road starting our journey down to Cap D’Agde and hopefully some proper sun.

Le start

On By MashleyIn Europe, france, road trip, Self build camper van, travelLeave a comment

After a couple of years of lock downs, travel bans and any travel made so laborious it would put you off the world has opened up again and for us that means a long overdue trip to France.

I’m driving the van and lolly and the kids leave a day later catching a flight from stanstead to Brive. As always we head to Lolly’s parents which is about 10 hours drive including stops for fuel which would be no fun for the kids, planes are much more fun.

Once I hit Calais my overnight was in a place called Chatres, there is a nice cathedral to visit however by the time I got there all I wanted was some food, a beer and to chill out. Our Aires book is well out of date and according to them there are no aires in Chatres. I have an app called park4night which lists places you can stop that’s added by its community members, it came up trumps, a nice little spot by a quiet road and free for the night, rue de launay for anyone interested.

Just round the corner is a car park with a supermarket, washing machines, car wash, gym and a pizza kiosk.

There was a slight bit of confusion with my order but ended up with two free beers, the pizza I ordered and 10 euros in cash, the universe had my back. It was pretty quiet and I got a decent nights sleep.

The following morning I was up at 6am to drive do Brive to pick up Lolly and the kids, it’s about a 4 hour drive so I left at 7am and with a few stops arrived at midday.

Once they arrive it’s an hour to Lauren’s parents place and our holiday together begins 🙂