Out and About At Parc Verger, France.

Just back from a great three weeks in France. We did the Portsmouth to St Malo crossing which was perfect. As usual , a fabulous meal in the restaurant and a smooth crossing. I am always amazed by the boat crews and how they fit you on the ferry.

Billie our motorhome, behaved perfectly, as we were towing Smartie we are always a little apprehensive with all the ramps and bumps. We were right at the front and they actually put the bow doors down so we could creep forward and reverse back in a space. An interesting exercise with a car on tow, glad Den was driving !!

The trip to Parc Verger in the Haut Vienne ( just North of the Dordogne, in central France) was fine though rather long. If we go again we'll stop on route. A toll free relatively straight forward journey, we travelled on a Sunday so hardly any traffic!

The camp site was great, even though we were woken up most morning by Monsieur Chanticler, crowing merrily at his merry band of hens.

Pitches at Parc Verger were huge, we had a gravel RV pitch with our own drainage, water and loo emptying drain. The toilet block was small but perfectly formed and very clean. The owners live on site and run a tight ship so it feels very safe.

Pitches at Parc Verger

 

 Loads of room for the biggest RV's.

 Plenty of room for Billie, Smartie and the trailer.

 It was so hot we actually got in the pool which on one day was 24degrees!

Billie was more than happy with all the space we had!

 

We spent the time sitting in the sun, although we did manage a few bike rides along the cyle track which ran near the campsite and was perfect. In both directions two lovely little villages and a peaceful ride through the trees.

 

 We actually rode the whole 12k in bits, although it was so hot , that was an effort. Nice restaurant on the way, so we will have to go back next year and try it.

We really enjoyed this part of the country, there were so many beautiful man made lakes within driving distance. St Esteph was another one where we managed "lapin" for lunch!

 St Matthieu, 15 min drive from Parc Verger.

Mielet, another walking and picnic spot.

If you find yourself in the area, visit Oradour St Glade, the French village distroyed by the Germans during the war. We had been many years ago and went again this time. Always a haunting experience and time for reflection.

 

 

So much to see here, if you want chateaux, they are there by the bucket full.

 

Will we visit the Haute Vienne again ? Yes, with an overnighter on the way down we,ll be back next year. We need to go back for another meal at Dino's in the village and to try out the restaurant on the cycle track. Au revoir!! 



Choosing A Campsite

Choosing a campsite is very personal. Some people choose the destination and then the campsite , others choose the campsite and then the destination!

We tend to hover between the two but our main criteria are:-

• Flat with hardstanding if possible
• Decent toilets and showers
• Easy access in and out
• Things to do nearby
• Electric hookup

This is not a definative list and 3 out of 5 is OK!

Other criteria on our "wish List" sometimes include:-

• Adults only
• Near a small town with shops
• Nice walking or bike riding country
• Not too crowded
• Near water
• Eating establishments near by
• Spacious pitches

Two weekends ago we were looking on a Friday afternoon for somewhere to go for the weekend. We wanted somewhere within an hours drive and not south on the M5. Doing a quick trawl around, I found The Apple Tree near Gloucester.

"Have you vacancies for this weekend, like this afternoon?" 
 "Yes"

" Have you a hard standing, we have a 25 foot motorhome?"
" Not sure will get someone to look, no hardstanding but the grass is very firm underfoot, it will be fine!"

"Is it flat?"
"Flattish, we have loads of motorhomes here"

We booked. To be fair, it was a very well kept site with a beautiful and immaculate toilet block and lovely well mowed grass. It wasn't flat, far from it. There were gravel pitches but they were all in use. Communication with the customer needs to be improved! Why campsites can't be honest in their answers is a mystery. Was it too difficult to say we only have a grass pitch available on a slight slope you will need chocks!

Not a site we would use again because of the very loud road noise from the nearby motorway, but could be handy for anyone travelling up the A38 and needing an overnight stop. Lots of campers there and regular stayers, it just wasn't a site for us. "One man's meat is another man's ............"

The toilet block was new, very clean and modern with great washing up sinks and very hot water. local eateries within walkingish, distance. Bus stop outside the site, lots of room for kids to play.

We did wander up the main road a way and spotted this very interesting travellers camp on the roundabout!

We were in luck, the sun god shined on us, so we had a nice weekend, we were just pleased we were well stocked up with vittals! We even managed to put out the awning and have a BBQ, so not a total failure, infact quite a restful weekend!

Costa Del Brean

A bit of sun works wonders! We have been so lucky this weekend and had our second weekend away and a bit of beach time.

After the "shake down" trip last weekend with a promising weather forecast we decided to go for our second weekend on the coast. With bikes packed and being more organised this Friday I had even got some food on board!  We arrived at Unity in beautiful sunshine and were quickly settled in the Yellow Field backing onto the golf course. We had taken the bikes so did a quick trip around the camping fields which were remarkably full. The telly tuned in with no problems and a pleasant evening quickly passed.

Saturday morning dawned with a beautiful cloud free sky. A bit windy but sunny, we decided to give the bikes a good try out on the beach and see if we could ride from Berrow to Brean Down. Fine for the young and hearty a marathon for us! The beach was really like the Costas without the crowds, warm, sunny, a bit windy but beautiful!

We even spotted another Bailey on the beach! Brave person!!

It was a lonnnng, ride but we made it, cycling into the headwind on the way down the beach was "challenging" riding back was fun. We had a quick coffee in the cafe at Brean Down but enjoyed the sunshine and even got the sun! I got a new picture for my facebook page!

 

Yes it is England in June! The tide is out but the sand is golden and clean, not sure if I would want to try the water out though!

 

We rode back to camp after a nice lunch in a local watering hole.

 

 

A very successful weekend!!

First of the Season

After a very long , cold miserable and soggy winter, we have finally caught up with summer.

Billie has had a wash, buff and service and we are ready for the sun!!

The winter passed fairly uneventfully for us, a silver screen on the front and an oil filled radiator inside, kept Billie warm and cosy. We put a solar panel on the roof and that works well when the sun shines and saves us plugging in the electric in the summer. A first service and habitation check got Billie in the "summer mood".

We did the usual "start of the season" tank sterilisation saga, a bit of light hoovering and dusting and we were ready for the off. The major body clean was completed and a good polish with the dry wash, worked really well and was a lot quicker to do than Mer! We will wait to see how effective it is! The new bikes were loaded and as they are so much lighter and easier to put up, hopefully we will make more use of them. Not to mention the exercise. Weight reduction takes on a new meaning here!

We did a short first weekend away last week and hope to do another trip this week.

Strange, but after the winter we did need to think about how to do certain things again. Tuning in the telly was fun, but we think we have it sorted. We had a brief play with the Wi-fi Booster and may have another go this weekend. We have a ferry booked for France this summer but need to do a few little jobs on Smartie's trailer first and take him out for a run! We are still thinking around innovative new ideas to do with chairs and trailers, watch this space for further developments.

We are still considering an  A-Frame for Smartie's stablemate Heidi the Hyundai and we did investigate a few more types last weekend. For the moment, the jury's out on the best system. Electronic, brake buddy, heavy or light, everyone you speak to is convinced their system is the best, so we will rely on the trailer and Smartie on tow for now! New European regulations come out in 2014, so that may make up our minds for us.

All in all, the last weekend away reminded us how pleased we are with Billie! A great nights sleep too and a perfectly dry and un soggy comfy and cosy bed to sleep in. Too much food, too much drink, a bit of biking ( round the campsite once ) a bit of walking and a bit of sun. Perfect!

"The Soggy Mattress Saga"

"In the Bleak Mid Winter " or a damp February!

 I guess it's about time I did an update on Billie and the crew! Now joined by my nifty little Hyundai i10 just named Heidi, because we need another girl in our family. Heidi, joined the family back in November, when I decided I really didn't want to keep driving a Volvo estate to the shops. New and shiny she was a treat to drive and kept Smartie company on the long winter evenings, until a drunken driver shattered her equilibrium and ours by smashing her in the back end!! Still, following a bit of R&R, she is now fully recovered. The plan is possibly to fit her with an A Frame and turn her into a Toad, perhaps a handsome prince may then whisk her off to foreign climes. We'll see, although Smartie and the trailer may feel a bit put out, so we will have to give them a few outings too.

Back to the main story, "The Saga of the Soggy Mattress".

When we first took delivery of our van, I thought the mattress was a bit, well dampish. I put this down to the fact that it had probably been stored in a warehouse somewhere and with a bit of an airing it would be fine!  Victorian housewifes knew a bit about airing things, we just open the windows and wash the bed clothes regularly! However, being a bit old fashioned I have a nose for a bit of damp. In France last year and during the summer everything was fine. Then in October we went away for a weekend and had the heating on low overnight. On our return we prepared Billie for his winter hibernation and noticed the mattress felt wet in places.

Following lengthy explorations and propping the mattress up to let the air circulate, it still felt very damp! We put the damp down to the fact we were sleeping over the boiler in an enclosed space with the windows shut, saunas are fine in their place but not in our van! We looked at ducting and air vents and finally got a pair of mini humidifiers. We keep an oil filled radiator on low during the winter but the rest of the van and all the other seating , cushions and fabrics were bone dry. While we did all this, I guess we were not totally convinced that the dampness should have happened in the first place. Finally, we kept turning the mattress and propped it up in the middle of the van, the next plan was to take it into the house. Den contacted Bailey's to see if they had noticed a problem, customer services replied in less than a helpful manner!! In the end, Chipping Sodbury Caravans and Tony to the rescue!

Yes, there was a problem said Tony, bring the mattress in and we will get it sorted! Our mattress went back to be refilled and recovered and arrived back this weekend, clean bright and DRY!! Ready for the new camping year. The problem had been the fire retardent filling which had been used by the manufacturer in the mattress had been retaining water. This had meant it had acted a bit like silica gel and absorbed all the moisture from the van and us.......nice, and retained it like a sponge! We suspect a big problem for someone, especially when the vans wake up from their winter hibernations. It only seems to be some mattresses and cushions in caravans and motorhomes that were affected, glad we spotted it when we did. Checked this morning it's still dry! Better get the bed clothes back on and get off for a weekend.

Billie "Struts" His Stuff!

You kind of know in your heart when things are not going to go well! This weekend was just one of those times. We sort of planned not to go away because Den was in crisis at work and thought we may get the "phone calls", he was right. We decided to go anyway and try the Caravan Club Site, Cirencester Park and explore Cirencester a bit more.

So , we left in a bit of a rush, without the usual preparations  and I forgot to pick up the left over curry we were going to have for tea. Fortunately, as it was a CC site, the sign by the toilet block said "Fish & Chips, from 5.30!"  Nothing for it then, fish and chips. Our luck was in briefly, as we got the last two fishes from the van, they were obviously also having a bad day! The rest of the queue had to make do with anything that wasn't fish.......at least the chips were still on the menu. Disaster number 1, averted, for us!

The site was excellent, quiet and really well laid out with loads of hard standings. It was busier than we were expecting but we still had a good choice of pitches. A third of the site which were the grass pitches, were closed for re-seeding and the second toilet block was being up dated. Time for the bunnies to have a ball, but beware the bunny holes, health and safety elves at work. The existing loo block was excellent and up to the usual CC standards ( when and if,you can get a pitch on one of their sites of course.) Even the telly picked up a signal, although the phone was an issue, but more of that later.

 Billie at Cirencester Park.

 The walk into town takes about 20 minutes, via the scenic route through the Bath Hurst Estate Park. We put on our walking boots but there were lots of paths so shoes would have been fine.

Beware, the gates shut at 5.30pm. I wonder how many people they lock in every year?

 Next time we will walk up to the monument!

Check out the park http://www.cirencesterpark.co.uk/


Saturday morning dawned as a bright dryish day. The van was really cosy as we had used the silver screens overnight. To be on the safe side, we had run the heating on low to take the chill off. The overall heating system in Billie is great and it can be used on gas or electric, 1 is fine for overnight.  We decided to walk through the park into town. As we lifted the bed to get out our rucksacks, the strut  holding the bed up stuck and before we realised what had happened, it damaged the laminate panel under the bed as we tried to close it. Den removed the mattress to check what had happened and climbed under the bed. Just as all this was going on the phones started ringing, it was a work problem. Getting to a phone with a sprung mattress propped up in the middle of the van was entertaining. It was then we realised that the phone signal here was very iffy, three mobiles and a signal that kept dropping out on all of them. Eventually, we had to go and use the actual "phone box", fortunately being a CC site they still had one that worked. Miracles of modern technology!!!   NOT.

Finally, after a very stressful hour or so, all was calm. The work problems were solved until Monday and the bed was useable. Den removed the strut and would repair the damage when we got home. We did have a lovely walk through the park into town, lunch at a very nice pub and a stroll around the shops. We just made it back to the van before the rain came down. The X Factor on the telly and a bottle of wine, another exciting evening.

The drive home through the Cotswold was lovely with the Autumn colours just starting, an hour and we would be home. Not likely, M4 closed for an accident and an hours drive became two. Just another one of those weekends! The good news was Den repaired the strut damage and a new one is on it's way! Advantages of having a local dealer, a quick call to Chipping Sodbury Caravans and  Billie will be back to normal, very soon.

Next weekend the Motor Caravan Show at the NEC Birmingham. Time to look at more extras. Tickets have been bought, the work phone can stay at home. Billie can have a weekend off, we'll take the car this time.

Billie Goes On A Roman Weekend

Of course we left it to the last moment to book! Needless to say, "there was no room at the inn. " I tried about 6 sites on a Friday morning looking for a hardstanding and had almost given up when I stumbled on Mayfield Park. With great trepidation I phoned and while waiting for rejection, was most surprised to hear they had spaces and on a hardstanding! Even more cheering was the price, £32 for the weekend!!!

By 3ish on Friday afternoon we were off. Not far we thought. Well it should have taken around an hour, it took a bit longer, but we did get a "Cotswold  Grand Tour", Tom Tom never found the site, but with a trusty map and a bit of manoevering we did. The site was a bit sloping but with the chocks, we were soon installed on a flattish gravel pitch, behind some tall trees, that's put paid to the telly viewing then, back to Kindle! On the positive side the campsite was not crowded, we had water on our pitch and it was dry!

 Billie enjoying a spot of morning sunshine.

The back field at Mayfield Park.

The next day dawned with a clear blue sky and the sun trying to come out. Armed with a map we set off for Cirencester via the scenic route, down the country lanes. Around an hour later we made it. Slight detour through the woods, over a few styles ( some managed better than others) and braving the local livestock in the fields, we had a great walk though some beautiful countryside. We were really pleased we were prepared with walking boots or we may not have been quite so happy, some of the fields were very muddy.We were really lucky as the sun came out and it was quite warm.

Beware the wild animals!!! Well there were a lot of sheep in this field!












We finally found our way over this stile and out of the woods. Fortunately did not encounter any livestock here.











Took a while to work out the instructions for the "walk", but we made it in the end.



 

On the way to Cirencester.

The end in sight, only one more field to tramp across, fortunately the cows we were expecting to find in the field were having breakfast elsewhere. Phew!!!












We whiled away a few hours exploring Cirencester, having lunch, coffee and going around the museum, well worth a visit.Those Romans were really quite clever! Cirencester  actually had some great little shops, I was amazed how many tea and cake shops there were!. We bought some very nice chicken parcels from the local butcher and caught the 51 bus back to the site. In the absence of telly, it was dinner, reading ,wine and bed, all that walking had worn us out!

 Certainly worth a visit, although I would be tempted to try the Caravan Club, Cirencester Park site next time. Mayfield would be a good place to go if you fancied walking as there were loads more walks we could have tried. Perhaps another weekend soon, but not in the summer the noise from the road would not make for a peaceful evening outdoors.