How's Your Free Spirit Doing Katrina??
Thought it about time I get this blog up to date again! For my own benefit more than anything. So here are the highlights of what has happened since I last updated in case anyone else is interested too.
France - September 2014
France - September 2014
In September 2014, the duo that is Wharton and Wallbridge decided to take on another adventure together, this time in the form of a road trip around France. No set agenda, we'd just drive until we found a decent looking campsite and just see what France had to offer.
We decided to take Katrina's car, her logic being "it's more likely to break, so I might as well run it into the ground"... In hindsight I'm not sure this was the best logic to apply for a week that relied upon the use of a functioning car, but we went with it anyway (and it was fine - the car's recently been sold on in fact)!
On the first day we met in Dover at stupid o'clock in the morning and transferred all the food and camping gear you've ever seen into the back of Katrina's (tiny) car. That was a mission in itself but we did it and Katrina expertly drove us off to the ferry where we could catch up on some Z's and start planning a route for our epic road trip.
Next thought was who would drive us off the ferry - I've driven in France before, but not in Katrina's car, whereas Katrina's more confident at the map reading than I. So that settled it, I would start the driving, Katrina would get us down to a nearby town and then we'd take stock and start a bit of itinerary planning for the day. All was going swimmingly until..... The ferry docked in Calais and by the time we got to the car the ferry doors were already open and we were holding up everyone else trying to get off the ferry. No time to swap drivers, we just had to go! Katrina was driving (eek) and I was navigating (more eek). Still, we'd find somewhere to pull over soon enough wouldn't we?? Hmm, nope! We kept going for a while and then found a nice spot for lunch. Success so far - and both our fears out of the way with no accidents so far, yay!
After a stressful drive through the city of Boulogne (several times round I think) we picked a spot on the map and attempted to head for it, sure that we'd find a campsite nearby. And we did, another success! The tent went up and the camping stove came out. We were really doing this camping/road trip thing... Until the mosquitos came out and we retreated inside and watched iPad to protect ourselves from the outside world! So perhaps it wasn't all countryside bliss but this was only Day 1! The next day we headed for the shop to buy them out of all their insect repellent items - citronella candles, bug-catching strips, post-bite cream, mosquito-repellent - if they sold it, we bought it! We weren't taking any risks, there were loads of the little critters (see Katrina's last blog post if you think we're overreacting - http://katrinasbigadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/final-chapter.html)!
Because I'm writing this retrospectively I can't remember all the places we went over the next few days, but we travelled down through Normandy and down to Brittany. We never booked anything in advance, we embraced our free spirits and just went with the flow. The deeper into Brittany we got, the more my French skills were called upon. We found a lovely spot though, expertly asked for in pigeon French. In the middle of the countryside, not too far from the coast. We were sharing our field with just two other caravans, one that had a cute little dog called Simba. Simba was a character and loved to run over to us to play and investigate, his owners would frequently have to come and get him back. It was at this point I realised my French did not stretch to complimenting Simba's owners on their cute little chien!
Once the tent was set up, citronella and insect repellent included, we nipped out for some basic food supplies. This was when we discovered that going with the flow may not always be as free as it sounds. Turns out that in France one does not just 'pop to the shop', I think one might actually plan their weekly shop and only between the hours of 9-5?! We drove around for ages looking for a shop that would at least sell some milk. No corner shop, outrageous! And then I saw it.... A sign for Lait. Excellent! I know what Lait means, milk! My French skills were back in the game.... All was not lost after all! Except... Well... My friends will know my love of milk and this sign wasn't for a shop, it was for a MACHINE! Personally this is the best machine I have ever seen in the world! It dispenses milk from this metal tube that looks like... Well, like a metal udder actually... But it was amazing! A machine dispensing as much milk as you could carry!! We just needed to find a bottle to carry it in. We're resourceful, we emptied a squash bottle and voila! We had milk! Back to the campsite we headed for the evening safe in the knowledge we could once again have coffee, tea and cereal.
We stayed at the campsite for a couple of nights and visited the local sites, beaches and a little further out, Le Mont-Saint-Michel. Hadn't been here since my school trip to France, but it still seemed the same (except the extortionate price to park). Had a lovely walk and wandered around for some French crepes (well, rude not to really 'eh?).
After a few days of unplanned meandering around France we decided we'd best start heading back up in the direction of the ferry. This had been a brilliant tonic for our free spirits. We picked a rough area to drive to and figured we'd find a campsite as easily as we had every night so far. Except... we didn't. It got later and later and we couldn't find anywhere! To start with we may've been a bit fussy after being so spoiled by our other choices so far in our trip. But we soon threw fussiness out the window and were prepared to take anything that came our way. Nothing! They were either full or closed! I remember asking Katrina how her free spirit was doing... I think that's the closest we came to a falling out! Her look said it all, we had to find somewhere quick! We considered Gites rather than a campsite, but again passed nothing. The SatNav came out to help in our search. It was getting dark and we were near to giving up hope, the latest resort would be to head back to the ferry port and catch an earlier ferry, or sleep in the car. This may not have been the safest idea as this was a time when migrants were trying to get into the UK and cars were being searched. In the nick of time we found a campsite that was still open for a further 3 minutes. They didn't speak a word of English but with the help of my best GCSE French and some helpful pointing we found somewhere to take us in! Finally! As the sun was setting we found somewhere to set up the tent for the final time ready for our departure the next day. By far the most stressful day but also the funniest to look back on with the best memories! I don't know that Katrina agrees though....
We made it home, migrant free. It was quite a sight though. Immigrants are quite a hot topic still at the time I write this, but to see it first hand with crowds of people walking miles towards the ferries, and the French military dotted around to control it, it was quite something. And it makes me very grateful that we found a campsite to spend our last night in, but if we hadn't the worst case scenario for us is that we would still have had the car. Some people aren't so lucky.
We decided to take Katrina's car, her logic being "it's more likely to break, so I might as well run it into the ground"... In hindsight I'm not sure this was the best logic to apply for a week that relied upon the use of a functioning car, but we went with it anyway (and it was fine - the car's recently been sold on in fact)!
On the first day we met in Dover at stupid o'clock in the morning and transferred all the food and camping gear you've ever seen into the back of Katrina's (tiny) car. That was a mission in itself but we did it and Katrina expertly drove us off to the ferry where we could catch up on some Z's and start planning a route for our epic road trip.
Next thought was who would drive us off the ferry - I've driven in France before, but not in Katrina's car, whereas Katrina's more confident at the map reading than I. So that settled it, I would start the driving, Katrina would get us down to a nearby town and then we'd take stock and start a bit of itinerary planning for the day. All was going swimmingly until..... The ferry docked in Calais and by the time we got to the car the ferry doors were already open and we were holding up everyone else trying to get off the ferry. No time to swap drivers, we just had to go! Katrina was driving (eek) and I was navigating (more eek). Still, we'd find somewhere to pull over soon enough wouldn't we?? Hmm, nope! We kept going for a while and then found a nice spot for lunch. Success so far - and both our fears out of the way with no accidents so far, yay!
After a stressful drive through the city of Boulogne (several times round I think) we picked a spot on the map and attempted to head for it, sure that we'd find a campsite nearby. And we did, another success! The tent went up and the camping stove came out. We were really doing this camping/road trip thing... Until the mosquitos came out and we retreated inside and watched iPad to protect ourselves from the outside world! So perhaps it wasn't all countryside bliss but this was only Day 1! The next day we headed for the shop to buy them out of all their insect repellent items - citronella candles, bug-catching strips, post-bite cream, mosquito-repellent - if they sold it, we bought it! We weren't taking any risks, there were loads of the little critters (see Katrina's last blog post if you think we're overreacting - http://katrinasbigadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/final-chapter.html)!
Because I'm writing this retrospectively I can't remember all the places we went over the next few days, but we travelled down through Normandy and down to Brittany. We never booked anything in advance, we embraced our free spirits and just went with the flow. The deeper into Brittany we got, the more my French skills were called upon. We found a lovely spot though, expertly asked for in pigeon French. In the middle of the countryside, not too far from the coast. We were sharing our field with just two other caravans, one that had a cute little dog called Simba. Simba was a character and loved to run over to us to play and investigate, his owners would frequently have to come and get him back. It was at this point I realised my French did not stretch to complimenting Simba's owners on their cute little chien!
Once the tent was set up, citronella and insect repellent included, we nipped out for some basic food supplies. This was when we discovered that going with the flow may not always be as free as it sounds. Turns out that in France one does not just 'pop to the shop', I think one might actually plan their weekly shop and only between the hours of 9-5?! We drove around for ages looking for a shop that would at least sell some milk. No corner shop, outrageous! And then I saw it.... A sign for Lait. Excellent! I know what Lait means, milk! My French skills were back in the game.... All was not lost after all! Except... Well... My friends will know my love of milk and this sign wasn't for a shop, it was for a MACHINE! Personally this is the best machine I have ever seen in the world! It dispenses milk from this metal tube that looks like... Well, like a metal udder actually... But it was amazing! A machine dispensing as much milk as you could carry!! We just needed to find a bottle to carry it in. We're resourceful, we emptied a squash bottle and voila! We had milk! Back to the campsite we headed for the evening safe in the knowledge we could once again have coffee, tea and cereal.
We stayed at the campsite for a couple of nights and visited the local sites, beaches and a little further out, Le Mont-Saint-Michel. Hadn't been here since my school trip to France, but it still seemed the same (except the extortionate price to park). Had a lovely walk and wandered around for some French crepes (well, rude not to really 'eh?).
After a few days of unplanned meandering around France we decided we'd best start heading back up in the direction of the ferry. This had been a brilliant tonic for our free spirits. We picked a rough area to drive to and figured we'd find a campsite as easily as we had every night so far. Except... we didn't. It got later and later and we couldn't find anywhere! To start with we may've been a bit fussy after being so spoiled by our other choices so far in our trip. But we soon threw fussiness out the window and were prepared to take anything that came our way. Nothing! They were either full or closed! I remember asking Katrina how her free spirit was doing... I think that's the closest we came to a falling out! Her look said it all, we had to find somewhere quick! We considered Gites rather than a campsite, but again passed nothing. The SatNav came out to help in our search. It was getting dark and we were near to giving up hope, the latest resort would be to head back to the ferry port and catch an earlier ferry, or sleep in the car. This may not have been the safest idea as this was a time when migrants were trying to get into the UK and cars were being searched. In the nick of time we found a campsite that was still open for a further 3 minutes. They didn't speak a word of English but with the help of my best GCSE French and some helpful pointing we found somewhere to take us in! Finally! As the sun was setting we found somewhere to set up the tent for the final time ready for our departure the next day. By far the most stressful day but also the funniest to look back on with the best memories! I don't know that Katrina agrees though....
We made it home, migrant free. It was quite a sight though. Immigrants are quite a hot topic still at the time I write this, but to see it first hand with crowds of people walking miles towards the ferries, and the French military dotted around to control it, it was quite something. And it makes me very grateful that we found a campsite to spend our last night in, but if we hadn't the worst case scenario for us is that we would still have had the car. Some people aren't so lucky.
posted by wobblepop at 7:55 pm
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