Monday 10th - Tuesday 11th August 2020 Well, that day didn't end where we expected! We woke up on Monday morning with a clear plan to track west(ish) exploring several sites recommended by our YouTube Community. From there the "plan" (it was a very loose plan) was to head north(ish) before returning to the UK at the end of the month. But we woke to news, alerts, messages and even phone calls from family and friends warning that France was about to be LOCKED DOWN. As a family we were relatively comfortable that we were no higher at risk in France as we would be in the UK. We had no problems with social distancing, mask wearing or hand hygiene, but we were concerned that if new Quarantine rules were imposed, the boys would miss the start of the new school year. So, we evolved our plan - again. Rather than heading west, we would start to drive north back towards Calais. In 2015 we had fallen in love with a family owned Chateau and campsite. Just over 3 hours north of Camping Ardèche, Chateau Le Grange Fort would be a lovely stop off along the route. So we set off. Driving north Steve and I were still discussing options. What about heading to The Netherlands, and taking the ferry home? What about exploring north in to Scandinavia? If we head to a "low risk country", and on our last day drive directly back to EuroTunnel without stopping, would we still need to quarantine when we arrive? But as we talked through all our options, it became clear that at some point, all countries could be deemed high risk, and 2 weeks quarantine would seriously impact the boy's return to school. The British Government seemed to be making announcements on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons to be implemented in the early hours of Saturday morning. Would it be the same for France? Or would any new announcements be similar to Spain? Announced and implemented with immediate effect? As we wound our way north we became resigned to the realisation that this was no longer the mid-point of our trip, and infact this was the last few days. Although we were pretty sure we had enough time for one more stop, as we approached the pull off junction for Le Grange Fort we didn't stop. I picked up my laptop logged on to our EuroTunnel account and brought our crossing forwards. I would love to say that the journey north was uneventful, and mostly it was until we hit Paris. Approaching from the South, we have only ever turned right and travelled easterly around the périphérique (outer ringroad). But Google Maps flashed up with a "YOU CAN SAVE 5 MINS BY CHANGING ROUTES" message. We had been driving for 6 hours at this point and blindly followed the newly suggested route. If you only take 1 thing from following our adventures, please let it be this. NEVER HEAD AROUND THE WEST SIDE OF THE PERIPHERIQUE IN ANYTHING TALLER THAN A CAR. The ring road is partial tunnel, and by partial, I mean several huge chunks. The height limit is 2m and there is no clear, obvious route above ground. Our 5 minute saving cost us over 90 minutes in additional driving time. AND the worst thing about this debacle; at some point in the past we had both known this! Urgh After 10 hours driving, mainly on toll roads we pulled up in the dark at a quiet, unmarked aire just south of Calais and went to sleep. If you would like a hack for saving money at tolls - click the link below and watch our latest adventure. Chateau Le Grange Fort: https://www.lagrangefort.eu/?lang=en What3Words link: https://w3w.co/grained.icicle.length Aire at Nouvion, Somme, Hauts-de-France, France, 80860 What3Words link: https://w3w.co/competitive.flexes.motivational
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Sunday 9th - Monday 10th August 2020 Huge THANK YOU to "Bad Neck" for this recommendation When we first arrived in France we had put a request out to our YouTube community to give us recommendations for their favourite places to visit. "Bad Neck" strongly recommended Camping Ardèche, part of the Camping Domaine Les Ranchisses group, and as this was the "mid-point" of our 6 week trip, we decided to push the boat out and explore a new area of France. Nestled along the banks of the Ruisseau des Chabasses and surrounded by ancient woodland, the pitches at Camping Ardèche are spacious and have wonderful natural shade. We pitched up quickly, and all the boys went off to explore the swimming pools while I stayed back to knock up a chilli for dinner. Everything about this site oozed 5* loveliness. The toilets blocks were beautiful, spacious and cleaned every hour. The Swimming pools were large and clean with a couple of slides. There was an adult only pool, a wellbeing spa, a 5* restaurant and a snack bar. Even the onsite shop was stocked with high quality local products (as well as the usual loo rolls and toilet chemicals!). For a few hours we were able to escape the the growing sense of unease that BBC & FCO alerts kept pinging to our phones. After a fab dinner of chilli and salad, as the boys were washing up the dinner plates, the sky grew dark and within 5 minutes the heavens opened. What a downpour! George, Harry and I had a wonderful time dancing in the rain before turning in for an early night. Knowing that each night cost €100, we decided to stay one night and see how we felt before committing to a second night. I had hoped we would get a chance to "mess about" on the river on one of the many canoes and paddle boards available. But we woke up to even more alerts and notifications. The tone of news from the UK was changing again. Covid-19 numbers in France seem to be spiralling out of control and the UK press were speculating that France would soon be returning to the "Do Not Travel List". It was an easy decision to leave in the morning, but where exactly should we head to? Track West along a route of sites recommended by our community, or start tracking North to get ahead of the impending quarantine rules? https://www.lesranchisses.fr/ What3Words : https://w3w.co/tickle.tall.primes Friday 7th August - Sunday 9th August Our kind of heaven! Since arriving in the South of France we were becoming more and more aware of the sheer numbers of other people who were also in the South of France. As we pulled out of Montpellier Plage we decided it was time to get away from the crowds and head an hour inland. Camping Municipal Le Grillon is small campsite owned by the local village. It was small, quiet and perfect. The site had really generous pitches all with lots of natural shade. There was a snack bar and gourmet restaurant onsite, and lovely pool big enough for 17 people to enjoy safely. When we talked to the boys about why they loved this site so much, it came down to the small size and "community" feel. They made friends with french children who were also staying at the site. They went swimming, played table tennis, climbed the climbing frames and hung out with other tweens and teens. On the big sites, the children and young adults often gravitate in to "packs" that it's difficult to join when we are only onsite for a day or 2. The toilet blocks were clean; solid 3 star facilities and absolutely adequate for what we needed. On our second night at the site, Steve and I went for a romantic meal in the restaurant - it was exquisite. Absolutely delicious local produce cooked and presented in a classic French style. For just €30 per night, Camping Municipal le Grillon was our favourite site of the 2020 Summer Trip. Camping Municipal le Grillon: What3Words: https://w3w.co/gardener.hating.permitting Friday 7th August - Saturday 8th August Osssh, it's gettting too "People-y" After a couple of days of relaxing on small quirky aires, we decided it was time to change gear again. Before we left Les Peupliers we picked a beautiful looking campsite with a glorious pool and stunning beachside location. Unfortunately, as we were finding more and more in the South of France, the site we picked was full. Sooo, we shrugged our shoulders and continued along the coast towards Montpellier. Between the city of Montpellier and the Mediterranean Sea is a series of ponds (small lakes) and a spit of land called "Palavas-les-flots". The Palavas-les-flots had 3 campsites dotted along it, all had swimming pools and on paper looked more than good enough to us. When we arrived at the first one reception was closed and we were told to come back in an hour. So we moved on to the next one. Camping Montpellier Plage was a solid 3 star site. There were a couple of fast food restaurants/take outs, a couple of shops and a nice enough pool area. The toilet and shower facilities were good, totally in line with 3*s. BUT it was huge and dusty and so so busy. Everything about the site was fine, but we didn't fall in love with it, so we moved on the next morning. Camping Montpellier Plage : http://www.camping-montpellier-plage.com/ 95 Avenue Saint-Maurice, 34250 Palavas-les-Flots, France +33 4 67 68 00 91 https://maps.app.goo.gl/msHFFqHpDfcfGJoA6 Wednesday 5th August - Friday 7th August After the hustle and bustle of Camping Florida & The Mouth, it was time to slow the pace (and the budget) right down. We made the most of our last morning on the campsite, with the boys fitting in one last swim. Before we left the campsite we had spent some time researching our next destination. We found a lovely looking aire, about 2 hours up the coast, with a pool and nice looking bar. BUT, when we arrived it was full, AND the pool was close due to "Covid". The beauty of travelling the way we do is that we can change our plans and adapt to new recommendations. Usually it works out really well for us, but sometimes it makes life a little more complicated. After the first aire was full, we tried a campsite just a few minutes up the road. This was also full. Actually, technically there was one pitch left, but it was small and awkward and a long way from the site amenities. This whole area was incredibly busy, so we decided to push on and find somewhere else. Aire de camping car Les Canoës is aprox 1.5km from the sea and nestled on the bank of the Herault river. It's a quirky place with lovely pitches with plenty of natural shade. Dotted around the site are several water features, a table tennis table and a lovely communal sun lounge which would be fabulous in non-covid times. The toilet facilities were basic but perfectly adequate, especially when you consider we only paid €15 for the night. We all slept well and even George caught up on some of the sleep he missed during our late night at the funfair. When we woke in the morning, nobody really had a huge appetite for moving too far. Looking on Google Maps Steve spotted another aire, less than 200m away that also had it's own pool. So we packed up and moved on. Les Peupliers turned out to be more than an aire. It was a campsite with a Motorhome Aire near the entrance. We arrived and pitched up in the first free motorhome space and the site manager arrived on a golf buggy to take €12 for the night! Steve and I were both surprised that the price was so low for such a great location with access to the pool. Within 20 mins of arriving we were pitched up and ready to hang out at the pool. It turns out that the pool was only really for use by the Campsite visitors - D'oh! After a couple of minutes of confusion, rather than move to the main site, we offered to pay the difference and just access the pool. The lovely lady at reception decided that was unnecessary and we spent a couple of hours swimming. As soon as the pool started to get busy we left so the campsite people could enjoy what they had paid for. These two aires proved to be the perfect "slow down and chill" stops! Aire de camping car Les Canoës: https://www.campinglescanoes.com/ https://w3w.co/passers.thanking.belong Les Peupliers - http://www.lespeupliersdelatama.fr/ https://w3w.co/invalidate.soundman.prevailed. Monday 3rd August - Wednesday 5th August Time to push the boat out and have some fun! So what exactly does €90 per night get you? Well, at Camping Village Florida & The Mouth it gets you gorgeous pools, a water park, a spa, evening entertainment, boutique shops, a couple of restaurants, an airstream take away pizza parlour, access to a pristine beach AND it's all dressed up as a 1950s American Theme Park Experience! The campsite itself was fabulous, the only downside were the crowds. At this point, the Covid-19 numbers in France were still low, and while we didn't come across many British, German or Dutch campers (as we usually do), there were many many French people enjoying a staycation. France is much busier than Spain was, AND there was very little respect for masks or social distancing. The evening entertainment was provided by a professional Animation Team. The theme for the first night was The Greatest Showman, with some dubious notes and eye popping dancing. BUT the Michael Jackson tribute act on our second night was brilliant! MJ's make-up was spectacular. After the MJ show we took a 10 minute walk to the Fairground just up the road. It was a late night, especially for George, but we had so much fun! Campsite: https://floride.fr/en/ Sunday 2nd August - Monday 3rd August Wow! What a stunning location! Our next stop as we tracked towards the Mediterranean was at UNESCO World Heritage site; Carcassonne! Carcassonne is a hilltop town in southern France's Languedoc area famous for it's medieval citadel; La Cite. Arriving in the late afternoon, we decided to park up in an aire instead of paying for a campsite with a range of facilities we would not have time to use. There are two aire's in Carcassone, one with and one without services. We picked the one with Services and arrived at a glorious automated aire. As we pulled on to the site we immediately paid €15 in to a barrier machine. The machine issued a ticket with a unique code that we would need to exit and also access 15 mins of water - perfect for topping up the tanks before we left! That evening we took a stroll down the river and through a park in to the main "new" town. By "new" we mean that this part of the city dates back to the middle ages rather than ancient medieval times! There were plenty of perfect "wand" sticks, so George and Harry zapped and cast spells as they ducked and weaved around trees. The area was also prime hunting ground for Pokemon! In town we found a Moroccan restaurant where George earned the nickname "Kebab Destroyer" (Thanks AutoDub for the name - it really is perfect for him). The next morning we were up and ready to explore La Cite, and so was the whole of the rest of Southern France. We had planned to explore the inner city streets but the crowds were huge and very few people seemed concerned with masks or social distancing. Instead, we walked around the inner lices discovering numerous watchtowers between the double walled fortifications. The first walls were built in Gallo-Roman times, with major additions being made in the 13th and 14th centuries. Automated Aire: Aire de camping car Carcassonne What3Words: https://w3w.co/cricket.teamed.expand Saturday 1st - Sunday 2nd August Bonjour Tout Le Monde! On our very first morning in France we woke up with our heads literally in the clouds! The Pyrenees were shrouded in mist as we set out down the mountain to our first stop at an aire in Saint Jean Pied de Port. Costing just €9 for 24 hours we parked up, plugged in and headed in to the town to explore the ancient streets. Translated, Pied de Port means "Foot of the Pass". And Saint Jean Pied de Port is a popular starting point for the French Way Camino Francés, which weaves through the Pyrenees across northern Spain to shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Although the town itself was a little busy, we had a lovely couple of hours wandering through the medieval streets, soaking up the atmosphere of modern day pilgrims on their own personal journeys. When we returned to the van a Fanta Orange incident saw Steve and Harry head off to find a launderette, while I cleaned the van and Eddie and George played table tennis at the table next to our pitch! What a perfect stop in an incredible location! What3Words: accompanying.premixed.areas Aire: Fronton de Saint Jean Pied de Port Thursday 30th July - Saturday 1st August. Watch this adventure here With the UK Government's sudden announcement that Spain has been placed back on the "All but essential travel" list, we decided to head to France to enjoy at least 2 weeks exploring a country we only ever really drive through. We decided to avoid the Covid-19 hotspots in both Aragon and Catalunya regions by tracking up to the East side of the Pyrenees mountains 10 hours away! We broke up the journey by spending the night at Camping Cuenca. Arriving at around 6pm in the evening, the boys all headed off to the pool (complete with it's own cave) for a lovely swim! This campsite has the most beautiful toilet block we have seen so far on this trip - in fact, only the loos at Camping Krk in Croatia are more beautiful! The next morning we set off early and tracked North West towards France. I chose an incredible point to cross the border based primarily on the outline of the road snaking up on the map (don't tell Steve, he thinks I did loads of research!). My instincts were right though, with that many hairpin bends and switch backs, the aire at the top had incredible views. Steve got some pretty amazing drone footage and an early morning time lapse video of sun rising over the misty mountains. What3Words: nasally.duck.bottlers Tuesday 28th - Thursday 30th July Watch this adventure here Villaricos has one of the prettiest marinas I've seen in Spain, and our great friends The Howards, own a glorious villa just across the road! We arrived early afternoon on Tuesday and the boys immediately hit the pool while the "Grown Ups" (snigger - right), caught up over a beer or two. We decided to BBQ for lunch and Graham and Sue rustled up a feast fit for an army - which is good as between us we have 6 children (3 of whom at teenagers)!!! After spending most of the day in the pool we moved the motorhome to the closest campsite we could find. We had hoped to wild camp at one of the nearby beach spots, but it was just too hot. Our big boys sleep "uptop" in the bed over the cab, and this area is always at least 5* hotter than the rest of the van, and in 32* temps, they would have really complained without aircon. Moan free kids = happy holidays! So we moved the van to a campsite called Cuevas Mar Cuevas Mar felt quite tired, and the pitches were pretty tight and dusty. Many had shade sheets hanging above the pitches, but not hanging high enough to get our van under. Eventually we found a pitch that was long enough and Steve shimmied us in. Within 45 mins we had all showered and were ready to head in to the village for dinner at Lucky Bar. Although all the food was good the Moussaka and Calamari were amazing! I had actually been craving Calamari since arriving in Spain. We had planned to head to the beach on Wednesday morning, but a series of late nights had caught up with little George and we had a slow start to the morning. We arrived at the Howards around lunch time and knocked up sandwiches from yesterdays BBQ leftovers - top top lunch! We all spent much of the rest of the afternoon in the pool. For dinner Sue made the most amazing paellas, 1 fully seafood, and one chicken and chorizo. Oh my goodness, thinking back on them now is making me hungry again. Mmmmm A couple of days before we arrived in Villaricos the UK Government removed Spain from the "Safe to Travel" list. Graham runs his own business, and so the Howards had decided to cut short their holidays to ensue he could return to work on time. If you haven't read our previous blog posts, this is why we skipped Benidorm and rushed down the coast so quickly. Anyway, as you can imagine, we were receiving messages, phone calls, texts and also being tagged in posts all about the Government's revised advice. AND we were already signed up to the FCO travel alert emails, because that seemed a sensible precaution before we left. Although the revised travel advice only applied to future travel, and the FCO were not advising anyone already in Spain to return home we faced a tough decision. Another factor impacting our decision was the mutterings that France was considering closing the Spanish boarder. So, in an epic Plot Twist; we decided to head to France! Monday 27th - Tuesday 28th July Watch this adventure here On Monday morning as we set off to Benidorm we received a call that changed our plans! We had always intended to meet up with friends at their villa in a weeks time, but the changes in quarantine requirements had forced them to reevaluate and cut short their trip. Instead of having more than a week to get to them, we had just a couple of days. We still drove down to Benidorm, and enjoyed cruising around but it was really quite busy. Rather than pitching up, we continued down the coast towards our friends. To break up the drive we found a glorious beach side Aire, with stunning pitches and quirky facilities. You can't get much better than a Beachside Aire for just €8 per night - except free I guess? Actually, we parked for €8, and paid an additional €3 for electric, we could have paid a little extra for water too, but we just didn't need it! The toilet and shower facilities were spotless! Who knew a shipping container could be so fabulous? The beach was less than 1 minutes walk away from our pitch, and the restaurant on beach looked clean and surprisingly large. The only fly in the ointment was, well the flies. The area around this part of the coast is an agricultural area and there seemed to be a lot of flies. Probably nothing that a decent repellant wouldn't ward off, and certainly not something that should put anyone off visiting. What3Word Location: https://w3w.co/retitled.waxing.pump ///retitled.waxing.pump Sunday 26th - Monday 27th July Watch this adventure here When we pulled out of Xeraco it was only a quick 45 minute hop down the coast to our next stop! We picked Camping CalpeMar purely for the photos of it's lovely pool! Based right in the centre of town, Camping CalpeMar is a stones throw from lovely sandy beaches, and also a pretty old town. The pitches were quite small, and it was tight manoeuvring around the site, but Steve was his usual amazing self and got us on a pitch with only a bit of tooing and frooing. The pool was quiet when we arrived so we all went for a lovely refreshing swim. After our swim we decided to take a walk in to town. The beach was busy!! Wow, I was not excited to join all those people on that crowed beach. As we walked through town every person we saw was wearing a face mask and trying to keep a good social distance. We ended up having KFC for dinner - here is a tip. Use the digital menu ordering board thingis to find the "promotional offers". We managed to order more food than we really needed for about €30 - and that included ice cream sundays for everyone! The shower and toilet facilities were clean and fresh and actually very nice. This would have been a good base for a few days exploring the Costa Blanca. Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th July Watch this adventure here From the Glorious Camping Malverrosa de Corinto our plan was to mosey down the coast and eventually meet up with friends in Villaricos. First stop should have been Valencia, but we couldn't find anywhere we were comfortable parking the van and leaving it for a few hours while we could explore the town. So, we did a drive by!! As we drove through the city I pointed out the dried up river bed that is now a city park, we were entertained at traffic lights by juggling street performers and we saw the beautiful architecture of the old town. After a couple of nights at the beach side campsite we were ready for a pool. We thought we had found an aire with a pool. Reviews seemed to suggest that this aire would cost €22 per night. In fact Camper Area Xeraco actually €50 for the 1 night. I feel I need to explain a little more here. Aires, are usually just parking places. Sometimes they have services. Basic services include areas to empty toilet cassettes and maybe a water tap to replenish your water supply. Other services can include Electric Hook-Ups, Wash-up areas and Showers... the list can go on. Now we were looking for somewhere with an electric hookup so the boys sleeping "up top" (above the cab), would not melt in the 36* heat and maybe a pool. When we pulled up on the site, we were met with an incredibly clean manicured area. I was shocked when Steve returned to us explaining he had paid €50 for the night. The shock was only partially as he is a tight assed Welsh man, but also because my expectation and first impression of Camper Area Xeraco was that this was a nice, but sterile, parking lot. It did not take long to find the gorgeous pool and the stunning showers and toilet facilities. Obviously a lot of money has recently been spent upgrading the aire facilities to create a beautiful camper site. As for my sterile first impression; it will not take long for the hedges to mature and create a glorious sense of space and shade. It was actually really sad to see such a lovely area so quiet and under utilised in the height of the tourist season. Steve had a conversation with a British guy who had been there throughout lockdown. He was tucked way back in a corner of the site, he was fully self sufficient so he didn't need an electric hook up, just somewhere safe to park with access to water. In the evening we popped across to a pop-up night market that we spotted being set up when we arrived. Although it was an open air event, we were impressed that the were people at each entrance with hand santitiser. EVERYONE was wearing a face mask, I only spotted a few small children with out them. Even with these safety precautions, it didn't take long before we started to feel very uncomfortable with the sheer numbers of people in the same area. In the end George bought a new toy gun, and we escaped back to the safety of our van bubble. So yeah, on reflection, this Camper Area for €50 was WELL worth the money! Thursday 23rd July - Saturday 25th July Watch this adventure here Oh my goodness, we found a Gem. We had planned (ha, as much as we ever do!!), to aim for Valencia and combine a city break with a seaside stop, but I couldn't seem to find "just the right thing". I expanded my search area and found Camping Malvarrosa de Corinto 30 miles up the coast to the north. With over 13 years on the road we have learned to trust our instincts. Some times we pull up at a place, have a bit of a look around and pull away without really stopping. Sometimes we pull up and get a tingling... This place was the latter. The drive up to reception was quite tight, with trees and bushes narrowing the tight bends further. Rustic! Reception itself was quite rustic but they handed Steve a map with a couple of options on and within a few minutes we were on the site looking at potential pitches. Two of the pitches we were offered were right on the beach front. Obviously we picked the one closest to the Tapas bar!!! The toilet block was fine, nothing spectacular, and there were a couple of washing machines too. BUT the facilities really aren't very important when the location is as amazing as this. The beach was a mix of shingle and sand, the waves were absolutely perfect for bodyboarding and wave jumping. We spent the next 2 days splashing, and BBQing and drinking and relaxing and having a wonderful time. Oh, I also did the first load of washing of the trip. On Friday night we took the HUGE walk (ha ha no more than 30m) to the Tapas bar. To celebrate 1 week on the road we ordered the daily specials with bread, salad and wine. They were delicious. This is one of my own Top 5 sites, not for the facilities (they were perfectly adequate), but for the fabulous location. Tuesday 21st - Thursday 23rd July Watch our adventure here 2 hours south east of Burgos we stopped at a campsite near Soria. Camping Fuente de la Teja was all that we needed. Clean, fresh toilets and showers and a huge, lovely swimming pool for the boys to play in. We arrived with the sun beating down, but really high humidity. After a couple of hours (and just as dinner was cooking) the rain caught us out! Good grief, the clouds came in fast, and the rain even faster. After an early night, we were back on the road again heading south east. Our next stop was Camping Albarracin. Nestled in the hills at the edge of Albarracin, the campsite features 2 tiers of pitches. The top tier was home to large open pitches, fabulous for the length of our van, but awful for shade. Steve managed to shoe horn us on to a smaller, but shadier pitch on the lower level. Soon after arriving we headed down to the municipal swimming pool to cool down and play. Municipal Swimming pools are owned an operated by the local authority. This one was about 5 minutes from our site down a winding road. For the bargain price of €1 per person we joined locals in a lovely large pool and enjoyed the last of the days sunshine. The rest of the campsite was fairly standard, with good clean facilities and a nice looking bar. Besides being conveniently positioned for our trip, Albarracin is also an incredibly beautiful town. It's overlooked and protected by medieval walls and right at the top is a 10th Century Tower. There are also ruins of an alcazar, which is a Moorish castle, and the 16th-century Catedral del Salvador features a bell tower built on the remains of a Romansque temple. Albarracin is a wonderful town to walk around, but even more stunning when captured by drone! Monday 20th - Tuesday 21st July Watch our adventure here Setting off from Santander, we drove south for 2 hours to the town of Burgos. We picked Camping Fuentos Burgos as our home for the night. When we arrived, the reception staff gave us a map with quite tightly packed pitches, but the site was so quiet we were able to pick our own pitch with plenty of room to spread out. We were unsure how "open" Spanish Campsites would be, and we really were relieved when we realised that all the wash rooms were open! Also open were the bar and most importantly the Swimming pool! There were plenty of "Social Distance" signs, but luckily (for us) they were unnecessary as the site was so quiet. With temperatures in the 30s the boys were very grateful for their first swim of the holiday! Tuesday morning we woke up, packed up and headed into Burgos to visit the Museum of Human Evolution. Parking proved a little trickier than we expected, the aire we planned to park in had been changed to "Coach Parking" only, but Steve managed to find road side pay and display. George coped well with the short walk and we had a great time exploring the museum. I really enjoyed learning about the local geography and how it contributed to our understanding of Evolution. The boys particularly enjoyed the Darwin exhibition, including walking around a replica of his ship The Beagle. After a couple of hours mooching around, we headed back to the van for a quick sandwich and a family chat! Together we decided that we needed to skip Madrid. As great as it was around the museum, George's foot just isn't ready for a full day of exploring. Instead we decided to change course and head towards Valencia. Saturday 18th - Monday 20th July Watch this adventure here We have had the most perfect 24 hours in Plymouth! The Plym Family Robinson were amazing hosts. After 5 minutes of teen/tween awkward mumbling, our three boys settled in for an evening of chat, table football, XBox and fun with Eva and Clara. Jill and Mel prepared a wonderful chilli, with Jill's world renowned guacamole and salsa. The wine flowed freely and we caught up on the last 4 years. Steve took George to bed around 11pm and the big boys I were right behind at around Midnight The next morning, after a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and good bread, we booked a taxi in to town to explore! The taxi dropped us at Tinside, Plymouth's iconic outdoor pool, and Jill regaled us with stories of her lifeguarding youth, which almost impressed the boys as much as her "Jason Statham in her Wardrobe" story. George travelled in the Robinson car with a festival cart that the Teens enjoyed pulling him around in. From Tinside we walked up the hill to The Hoe. We admired the Lighthouse, posed for BeetleBum photos and learned about Nancy Astor, the first woman MP to take her seat in Parliament. We walked back down the hill and mooched around the Barbican area. After a pitstop for coffee and Cola at Cap'n Jaspers we headed back to Tinside and the South West Coast Path to watch the Pont-Aven arrive in to port - I don't think we fully appreciated how large the ship would be! After the ship swept past Drake Island we headed back up the hill to use the lovely shiny clean new toilets. Unfortunately, they are still being built, so we used the filthy, rotten portaloos that were desperately overdue a bloody good clean. Shudder! Having stayed a bit longer than planned watching the ship arrive, we did two trips in the Robinson car back to their house. The advance party of adults and George arrived back first. While George settled in to play Fortnight, Steve and I took the Motorhome to fill up with fuel and snacks! We arrived back at The Robinson's at the same time Jill returned with the Tweens & Teens. There was just enough time to meet the lovely Greg, and say hurried goodbyes before we set off to catch the ferry. Plymouth ferry port is very close to the town centre so it didn't take long for us to join the boarding queue. It did however, take over an hour to reach the front of the queue! When we did finally reach the front, our ticket and passports were checked, we were allocated to "Group Blue" and waved on through. Boarding the ferry we were directed on to the lowest car deck (only slightly grinding the van out as we descended), and sent straight to our cabin. When we had booked a "Wheelchair" accessible cabin we weren't really sure what impact George's broken foot would have. At best we hoped it would help us stick together, at worst, it would provide us with the space we need for more accessibility if needed. I know that Brittany Ferries have really upped their cleaning game, but I still took a couple of minutes to wipe down all the surfaces with anti-bac before the boys entered the cabin. When the pandemic hit, we could so easily have chosen to cancel or postpone the trip, and in fact until just 2 weeks before we left we were certain we wouldn't be travelling. However our ferry was never cancelled, and we received lots of reassuring videos and guidelines from Brittany Ferries and the FCO updated travel advice, sooo the Roaming Radfords decided to head back out on the road with an open mind and a whole new level of hand hygiene. The ship was really interesting. There was no questioning of the mask policy. Masks were worn by everyone in all public areas, and there was plenty of hand sanitiser gel available in every key area. The onboard pool was closed and empty, and the cinemas were open but with reduced capacity. Although we were all strongly advised to stay in our cabins as much as possible, all bars and restaurants were open. We ate a picnic dinner in our cabin and had an early night. Everyone slept surprisingly well. When we woke up the next morning we headed to the self service restaurant for the most disappointing "Full English" ever. The croissants looked really good, so we've decided to stick to the continental breakfast for the return crossing. A little later than planned (mysterious technical issues and strong currents apparently), we arrived in to port at Santander. In stark contrast to the embarkation, the corridors and stairwells were much busier. It was a lot more difficult to maintain social distancing returning to the motorhome than leaving it. Before we were allowed off the ferry, a lovely man with a carrier bag for completed Covid-Declaration forms and a temperature gun checked our temperatures were below 37.5°. Thankfully we all passed that test, had no issues with passport control, and were waved through customs and out in to the glorious Spanish Sunshine. Friday 17th - Saturday 18th July.
Pyle, South Wales (Uncle Si & Auntie Lucy's driveway). The trip to Wales was smooth and uneventful. His broken foot needs to be kept elevated, so George has appropriated a front facing double seat. Eddie and Harry, his older (and significantly larger) brothers are travelling backwards together. I'm not sure how long this arrangement will last, or if bickering of bone healing will prompt a change in seating arrangements - I'm sure ill keep you updated! We parked up on Steve's brother's drive and enjoyed a lovely evening with Uncle Simon, Auntie Lucy and cousins Max and Joseph. There may have been some wine and vodka consumed. We had half planned a nice long explore of the local Margam Country Park. But George's foot ended that plan. Also, it was raining early on, and we haven't brought coats! All the boys played beautifully, especially Eddie who is lovely with his young cousins. Around 11am on Saturday the weather brightened up (stopped drizzling at least) and we went to Margam Park for a picnic (Gregs) and kick about. Before leaving South Wales we managed a quick visit to see (from a safe social distance) Nanna and Grandpa who are both in their 70s and shielding. Naughty Grandpa may have slipped the Radford Boys some holiday spending money!! By 2pm we were on the road again! Next Stop : Plymouth! (Robinson Residence) PS - we still haven't spotted any "forgotten items". Coats don't count as we didn't put them on the list, and we never need them in Spain. The last week before leaving on any long trip is always a little bit manic! This week was no different, but added to the usual mix of work, (home)school and packing we also squeezed in a BBQ Pizza night with great friends, a mini MK food tour with Darren; The Urban Motorhome, and a couple of appointments for a nasty foot injury!
Baring in mind our standards have slipped since March, home schooling started off really well this week! On Monday George's new teachers sent him a letter introducing themselves and asking him to write back. He worked really hard to produce a lovely letter which answered all their questions. Our week took a bit of a complex turn on Tuesday afternoon. I'd spent the early afternoon making and proving pizza dough ready for a socially distanced pizza party with the lovely Marchants. 10 minutes before his bast mate Alex arrived, George's bare foot had an entirely predictable "coming together" with his scooter. After reminding him of all the warnings I'd issued over the preceding 3 days, we drugged him up, and RICE'd it assuming he'd sprained it and enjoyed the pizzas, wine and great company. The next morning he came crawling on his hand and knees for our usual snuggle. As he struggled to stand I decided we needed a trip to A&E. It was odd going in to the hospital when it's so quiet. But we both put our masks on and I piggyback carried him from the carpark to Childrens' A&E. We were triaged really quickly and sent for an XRay. Within an hour and a half we had it confirmed that George had a nasty sprain, but a couple of weeks of rest, ice and elevation and he would be back to normal (except wearing shoes when riding anything with wheels). On Wednesday, Darren and his motorhome arrived. Back in February, he and Steve had had several conversations weighing up the various pros and cons of different restaurants and burger joints. They hatched a plan to try out some reliable favourites, and although the Covid-19 crisis delayed the plan, they never forgot! On Wednesday we took Darren for George's favourite 5 Guys burger! Thursday was all about German Donner Kebab, and Friday before we left Milton Keynes we had to make sure we visited Caz Bar. It was all delicious, but I think it has took two days to emerge from a meat coma. Friday was quite dramatic, the Caz Bar trip was nearly cancelled! At 11.03am I was sat at the dining table filling out Covid-19 Declaration forms for our entry to Spain, surrounded by piles of "last bits" that need taking out to the Motorhome, when a Milton Keynes number called me. After staring at it in horror for 10 seconds I actually answered it. A lovely lady from the fracture clinic was calling me to check in on George and explain that the consultant had reviewed his XRay and spotted a fracture We had a lovely chat about managing the next couple of weeks (more rest, ice and elevation) and she suggested that he needed a nice sturdy pair of shoes to support the foot as it heals. I explained that we are leaving to go travelling for 6 weeks and would make sure that while we are away we find him some new shoes as he only has a single pair of sliders that still fit him. She didn't judge, she probably has her own feral lockdown children. By 11.20 we were at the fracture clinic having a boot fitted. We left at 11.52 complete with new boot and walking practice! We were home less than 1 hour after receiving the phone call. Our NHS is amazing. Thankfully we arrived home in time to join Darren and the boys for Caz bar. Steve and Darren both had the world famous CazBarBurger, which I understand is all the meat and some breakfast bits precariously balanced in a big soft roll. Harry opted for a "normal" size burger, Eddie and George had their usual Chilli, Chips and Cheese, and I stuck to my favourite Peri Peri chicken salad wrap. After lunch I finished the Covid forms, the boys helped load up the last items in to the motorhome and finally at 3pm we rolled off the drive with our fingers crossed that we haven't forgotten anything. Lynds x |
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May 2022
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