Wild camping - La Coruna

We were inspired by the elderly Irish couple we met in San Sebastián and vowed not to spend a fortune on campsites so we have been giving wild camping a go. Since Bilbao we have travelled 450 miles and stayed at 5 different wild camping locations. We were both a little apprehensive about wild camping to start with. We had heard all kinds of horror stories and managed to talk ourselves into staying on campsites at the beginning of the trip. Now we are feeling a little more adventurous we thought we would give it a go. It's been an eye opener to say the least. Before leaving the comfort of the last campsite in Gorliz (and the luxury of wifi) we did a bit of research through blogs and forums and found some recommendations.

Wild Camp 1: Santander, Cabarceno Safari Park 

It took us ages to find the right spot as the safari park had numerous entrances and was set over hundreds of acres. Finally we came across a small, quiet car park next to a lake, what seemed to be a disused overflow car park. We parked up and set about exploring our surroundings. The first sight we came across took us both by surprise. Elephants. Then wilderbeast and impalas, all roaming around in one huge enclosure. They had the run of two mountain sides, a vast open grazing area and a large watering hole, just like Madagascar. It was amazing and we got to see it all for free. There were seven other camper vans by the time we got back so we both felt quite safe knowing we weren't the only ones there. We were up early the next morning to take one last look at the animals before heading to the next spot. 

Elephants next to wild camp 1

Wild Camp 2: Gijon 

Essentially a car park, on a cliffs edge, in a town. Fairly busy with other camper vans, maybe ten or eleven and busy with locals. We parked up and went down to the beach to do some rock pooling. Not so successful as Oscar kept sticking his snout into the water and scaring everything away. It rained for most of the day so we spent the afternoon cooped up in the camper playing Yahtzee (loser made dinner). When the rain stopped we took Oscar for a walk along the cliff which was scary as he insisted on walking so close to the edge and peering over to the waves crashing on the rocks below. Our hearts missed a couple of beats and at one point we turned around to see he had disappeared, we both panicked and ran back to find him sniffing around on a ledge he managed to get to via some steps we had missed. We met another beagle named Debon who was ten months old, he and Oscar had a good play and ran around like lunatics for about 20 minutes. Oscar was barely in his bed before he fell fast asleep. The next morning we were having breakfast in the sunshine when we were greeted by an huge Dalmatian named Pongo. He was bounding around, hopping over Oscar and rolling about in the grass with him. We didn't notice anyone else around so decided to walk through the park to see if we could find his owner. Half an hour later and a slightly panicked and confusing telephone conversation in Spanish we hoped someone was coming to collect Pongo. A while later his owner came running around the corner, he barely even noticed her before she grabbed him to put his lead on to take him home. If Oscar and Pongo had their way they would have played all day!! Our good deed done for the day we set off for our next stop. 

Wet & windy coastline at Gijon

Wild Camp 3: Burela 

A nice town 5 minutes from the motorway although we were a little confused when we reached the coordinate points in Burela. This area consisted of four parking spaces in a line with a tap across the road, it was quite strange and we weren't sure if we were supposed to stay there. We left the van and walked along a busy high street, we weren't able to find the beach so went down to the marina where there were hundreds of little fishing boats all decorated with flags. To the left of the marina there was a fair, workers were buzzing about back and forth to their caravans on the other side of the marina, stalls were setting up and there seemed to be a buzz of excitement in the air. Using Burela only as a wild camp overnight stop we hadn't really done much research so weren't sure what was going on. Keen to make an early start the next day we headed back for dinner. Around 7pm some fireworks went off and Oscar jumped out of his skin, howling back at the loud bangs. There was music echoing through the whole town, we though it must have been a circus and when more fireworks went off at 11 we though it must have finished. Little did we know, this was in fact Itaca Festival, the music was pumping until gone 6am. The walls of our camper van are paper thin so it felt like we had parked on the main stage and were right in amongst everything. We didn't bother sleeping and set off for our next destination. 

Our view of someone's back garden in Burela (not our prettiest view) 

Wild Camp 4: Cedeira

This was a lovely town with a canal running straight through the middle. Having made a swift exit from Burela we arrived relatively early so were able to make the most of the day. When we arrived there was a street market selling shoes, clothes, bags, jewellery and food. We parked the van and decided to get down to the market for a good old rummage before it closed. It was Saturday so everywhere was busy and the place was overrun with children. We sat outside a bar drinking Estrella for most the afternoon, it was only 1.40€ a glass and we got to sample some more appetisers. Bread and salami with mustard and olive oil, bread and a meatball and more of the coleslaw/potato salad concoction. Unfortunately beer, snacks and sunshine all go rather well together and once again we were back at the camper and asleep by 6. We woke up early to the same devastation as before and tidied the van before setting off for our last wild camping spot.  

A quiet spot to wild camp in Cedeira 

Cedeira 

Wild Camp 5: Bentazos 

Similar to a kind of country park in England, there were around 30 spots separated by trees, a large area surrounded by bushes with huge brick BBQ's and a playground on the edge of the beach. This place was busy with locals enjoying the sunshine, some turning up with cars full of food for big family feasts. There was a group of 6 camper vans all parked in a huge circle enjoying lunch together in the middle with a few other camper vans dotted around. We spent all day lazing about in the sun watching people come and go. All of the other campers had left by 10pm so it was just us and one other. Neither of us slept very well as we were parked near an electricity pylon and the sound of electricity crackling through it was slightly annoying. 

The ONLY picture from Bentazos 

Unsure if the loud crackling pylon was to blame or if it was the sheer excitement of having a hot shower on a campsite after 5 days of wild camping we were awake and up at 5am en route to our next stop, Louro, Galicia. 

Enjoying a few days on a campsite with this view........

A Visit From Home - Bilbao

Our first visitors have arrived, we met Christine and Sophie at Bilbao airport on Sunday. Bilbao is a huge industrial hub with factories, warehouses and huge smoking chimneys everywhere you look (although they are trying to change this and make it a more appealing destination) we struggled to find many campsites so chose to stay 15 miles away in a town called Gorliz. To get here we traveling up and down and around the mountains witnessing some beautiful views and some terrifying heights. Travelling around sharp bends in a heavy camper van with nothing between us and the edge was less than enjoyable, it's all part of the experience though.

We took Oscar to the airport with us, he was waiting patiently in the arrival lounge and was the first to spot Sophie. He was so excited to see her, his tail was wagging so fast and he was jumping all over her planting wet slobbery kisses all over her face. She was just as excited to see him. From that point until we dropped them back to the airport three days later they were inseparable. 

Sophie making loom band accessories for Oscar 

Sophie & Oscar enjoying hot chocolate and Yahtzee

We spent the majority of our time wandering around the shops in the town and playing on the beach where Sophie, Jac and Oscar went for a swim. Sophie found some Loom Bands in one of the shops and made everyone a bracelet, she also made Oscar a cute collar and insisted he wore a bracelet too, he wasn't overly impressed though she made sure he wore it the whole time. The time they spent with us flew by and by the time we'd caught up on all the goings on at home and we'd had our cupboards stocked (good old mum) they were on their way home again. 

Oscar didn't know what to do with himself after Sophie had gone and was sniffing after her with his nose stuck right out the window as we left the airport. 

Across the Border - San Sebastián

Our first border crossing, slightly disappointing with no formalities what so ever, in fact you could blink and miss the 'Welcome To Spain' sign. However, we made it across the first border in our slightly unpredictable and at times temperamental camper van so we have that to be grateful for.

Crossing the border 

We drove 53 miles from Biaritz on the west coast of France to San Sebastián on the north coast of Spain. It looked a lot like Portsmouth at first, big university buildings and high rise office blocks, we weren't really taken by it. We drove around in circles whilst the sat nav continually told us to make a u-turn and directed us to the same piece of grass over and over again before we spotted a cluster of shiny white roofs with large satelite dishes and top boxes, an Aires. Only the second we've stayed on but we decided when we left France we would ease ourselves into wild camping gently. We found a spot a paid our €3.20 for the night and attempted to get settled (as settled as you can in a car park). Staying on an Aires is without a doubt a much more sociable experience than staying on any campsite, within 5 minutes of arriving we were approached by a long haired, wirey bearded slightly bedraggled looking man, he introduced himself as Mike and told us in detail about his long standing love affair with San Sebastián, although we'd only just arrived we couldn't see the fascination and were already planning where to go next. Mike asked where we were from and when he said he knew Fareham we were a little taken aback, he then went on to tell us that he was from Southsea, small world!! 

Next we got chatting to an elderly Irish couple who were making their way back to Calais to sail home after 4 months travelling the coast of Spain.  Obviously much more experienced than us they explained how they had only paid to stay on two or three campsites in the entire time they had been away, this came as a bit of a shock to us seeing as we had been spending 15-20€ per night since we arrived in France. It was then that we made the decision to wild camp as much as we possibly can all the time the weather is good and we are able to find safe spots to stay at. 

Finally we met another couple, around the same age as us, Claire and Scott. From Ireland but living in Australia. Much like us they are traveling Europe in an old camper, they planned thier route based on festivals they are going to in Portugal, Serbia, Croatia and Germany. We swapped numbers and hope to meet up again in a few weeks in Portugal. 

Still not enthrawled by San Sebastián we went for a walk to kill some time, as soon as we passed the university buildings and office blocks we found ourselves in a street lined with busy shops, cafés, bars and beautiful appartments. There were children absolutely everywhere, it's no wonder the Spanish are so good at football, no sooner than they can walk they're kicking a ball about using shop signs and cafe chairs for goalposts. We walked along the a gorgeous beach, prestine gold sand and aqua blue sea, under a bridge where an old man was playing the saxophone and through well kept gardens to the top if the cliff where you could see right around the bay. Thinking that we wanted to see more we decided to stay an extra night, the next day we walked through the busy streets down towards the beach again, there was a huge crowd of people gathered in the street and traffic police had closed the road, following the loud music towards the fuss we found a jive group dancing in pairs and encouraging passers by to join in. We were beginning to see Mike's fascination with the place.

The beach at San Sebastián

Pretty apartment blocks, San Sebastián 

We stopped at a couple of bars on the way back for a few beers and were delighted to learn than the Spanish are big on dishing out free appetisers. We were given some chicken wings and bread and a strange although delicious little concoction. A cross between coleslaw and potato salad which had olives, egg and prawns in it. This explanation really doesn't do it much justice but it was very tasty. We went back down to the beach with an ice cream and watched some surfers for a while before heading back to another bar for a couple more drinks. We went back to the camper and had dinner and some sangria before falling asleep about 7pm. 

Supermarket Sangria (2€) 

The next morning we woke to a scene that resembled The Hangover. Both bleary eyed, trying to piece together exactly what happened and how our camper van looked like a bomb had hit it we cleared up and set off for Bilbao. 

Il de Re, Biaritz & Au Revoir

After an unexpected week in the quiet village of Coulon, or the 'GreenVenice', with it's winding waterways, intricate bridges (and the unexpected camper agg) the sight of crowded pavements and busy bars was a welcome one when we reached La Rochelle. We checked into a municipal campsite in Port Neuf for two nights, the campsite was fairly expensive for 2* and definitely wasn't as well preened and pruned as others we've visited. We expected the cost to be a little steep as La Rochelle is on many peoples bucket lists.

We sat outside a small bar in the blistering heat people watching for a while and Oscar took a liking to a German man and continued to pester him for attention until he left. The French authorities are renowned for their no nonsense attitude, they proved this by plucking a car straight from its space on the side of the road, onto the back of a tow truck by hauling it through the air. Highly impressive when you've not seen it before but I can imagine the shame of the owner who was probably wishing they'd just have spent a couple of euros on a ticket. We took a walk down to the aquarium before heading to a couple more bars where we sampled some of the beers, ciders and unfortunately for Kayleigh one of the real ales. 

When we got back to the campsite after a stroll along the beach, (Oscar covered head to toe in sand, so much so it was coming out of his eyes)  some people camping in the pitch next to us were having an argument, all of a sudden a man came flying out of his tent and landed on his back, there was another man towering over him screaming something very angry sounding in French, with another man holding him back, if only we knew what he was shouting, needless to say, that man didn't stay in his tent that night. It was all very dramatic, never a dull moment!! All in all La Rochelle was spent enjoying the the beautiful sunshine and wandering around the historic harbour walls (and witnessing various domestics). 

The next morning were up early to get ourself to a beautiful little island just off the coast of La Rochelle called Il De Re. We didn't wake to very nice weather, it was overcast and there was no sun to be seen.  As we got closer to the 3km bridge that joins Il De Re to the mainland the sun shone down on the golden sandy beaches and crystal clear blue sea, a perfect postcard picture. Someone told us that Il De Re gets the same amount if daylight as the south of France (and by the looks of things the same beautiful weather) so we couldn't wait to get to the campsite and get set up. Another minucipal campsite, well kept with huge pitches and a new shower block we checked in for three nights. We made the most of the facilities and did a couple of loads of washing before taking a walk down to the harbour and stumbled across little lanes crammed with cute boutiques and patisseries selling every colour macaroon imaginable. 

Amazing Macaroons 

Lining every part of the marina were restaurants with the most amazing looking seafood platters on offer. It's amazing how much money having a dog actually saves you, being a beagle there's no way on this earth we would ever dare to take him to a restaurant full of people with all that food to steal from the tables, we'd be kicked out before we'd even looked at the menu. 

Il De Re Marina 

The next day we took the bikes and went for a ride down to the marina where we found  a large indoor market. There were stalls piled high with fresh fruit and veg, breads, pastries and cream cakes, cooked meats and prepared dishes like feta and olives or spicy chicken pasta and more cheese than you'd know what to do with! Both being huge lover of food we'd already spent a fortune in our heads but decided on feta, olives and fruit before leaving. There were lots of people out with their dogs, or riding their bikes with their dogs sat in a little basket on the front, all on thier best behaviour but Oscar couldn't be trusted we had to tie him to a lamppost outside, he sat there sulking the whole time, although still sniffing every persons bag who walked out the door to check if there was anything in there he fancied.

We enjoyed 3 days of glorious weather before the most spectacular thunderstorm on the last night, Oscar hid behind a cushion on the sofa whilst we watched for lightening bolts, huge bright white bolts over the sea. 

Enjoying the sunshine

Oscar didn't enjoy the thunder storm 

The next day we set off for Biaritz about 181 miles away en route we stopped at Intermarche for some essentials (a new beard trimmer for Jac) and stocked up on food and water. The following day felt like tropical downpours all day (no exaggeration) we were at a campsite just outside Biaritz in a place called Tarnos, we sat in the camper all day watching Game of Thrones (5 episodes, absolutely addicted) and eating white chocolate. When the rain eventually stopped we walked Oscar along the beach for a couple of hours and then headed back to the camper to do a bit of route planning. 

Next stop Spain, we only left home 5 weeks ago, suppose we'd better think about actually going further than France. 

Campervan Catastrophes - La Rochelle

Waking up abit blury eyed after our evening in Paris we got up, left the site around 12 o'clock and made our way south west to a small village called Beaumont-sur-Sarthe just 30mins outside Le Mans. This was our first experience on a camping Municipal, a campsite owned a run by the town or district (council). It was one of the cleanest, most picturesque sites we have been to. 

When we arrived the town was quiet and seemed deserted, there wasn't a car in sight until we turned down a narrow street and saw a flurry of people gathered at the end of it. There was a small bric a brac sale going on with all sorts of bargains to be had. Lots of traditional little French vintage gems, suitcases, children's toys, pieces of furniture and so on, if we weren't so tight on space (and on a budget) we definitely would have been buying. 

The La Sarthe river ran alongside the site and beyond that were cow field upon cow field, which made a pretty decent view for breakfast. Camping municipals are notoriously basic and relatively cheap to stay on, this one cost €16 per night (inc electricity and the dog) compared to the €42 per night we paid in Paris. The facilities at this campsite were really good so we decided to make the most of them and the good weather and do all our laundry whilst we were there. 

Perfect Laundry Drying Weather 

The next day we walked with the dog into the village which seemed much busier, there were people all over and a little market selling fish and vegetables. We carried on through to the outskirts of the village and along the La Sarthe where we saw a huge bridge with some beautiful houses lining the river. Beaumont-sur-Sarthe was a lovely place to stop for a couple of nights but any more than that and you'd probably find yourself pretty bored. The next morning we got up and set off for the next stop La Rochelle (this is where the fun starts). 

La Sarthe River 

We started the 5 hour journey to La Rochelle, making good progress along dual carriage ways and A roads, trying to avoid any road tolls. We stopped at an Intermarche to stock up on food along the way and were set to reach our next stop around 6 meaning we'd have plenty of time to get set up and settled before dark. Little did we know......bumbling along through a village doing about 50km/h (30mph) we heard 2 loud popping sounds, we looked at each other perplexed but put it down to noise from a yard we'd just passed, as we pulled up to a set of traffic lights we heard a scratching noise coming from under the bonnet. We pulled over up the road and had a look around the engine (neither of us being particularly savvy on motoring) we sprayed a bit of WD40 and tapped a few pipes with a screwdriver and continued along the journey believing we had probably solved the problem. A little further up the road travelling about 80km/h (50mph) there was an almighty rummble which sounded like we were about to take off. We stopped at a busy industrial estate in the hope we might come across a) help and b) somebody English who would understand us. One panicked phone call home to dad later we determined that a bearing (or two) had shattered on the water pump belt meaning that the chances of the engine overheating and cooking itself (again) were pretty high. Due to the fact that our poor little camper blew up a few weeks back meaning we were delaying leaving the UK by almost a month we didn't want to chance it happening again so called the RAC. After a few conversations with their offices in the UK and Lyon they sent someone out to have a look. After almost two hours and with night time falling a recovery truck appeared in the distance, both so relieved we jumped out of the camper desperate to get the van fixed and get back on our way. This proved difficult as the recovery truck driver didn't speak one word of English (and our French is poor to say the least). With a translator on the phone he told us it was irreparable at the side of the road and we would have to wait until Monday to get it into a workshop. 'Would you like to be left in the car park at the industrial estate or would you like to be taken to a (closed) garage' the translator asked. We managed to persuade him to take us to the nearest campsite so we had somewhere safe to stay until we could find a garage on Monday. 

Our good fortune didn't run out there, after half an hours drive and a travel sick dog (won't go into detail but needless to say we were scrubbing the inside of the truck with disinfectant) we pull up outside an Aire. Essentially this is a carpark for camper vans and mobile homes to stop and sleep when making a long journey. It's almost midnight, we turn up in a dark, silent village, covered in dog vomit on the back of a huge recovery truck, flashing lights the whole shebang. Curtains were twitching and we knew we wouldn't be popular the next day. When we woke the following morning (although neither of us really slept wondering if we'd be on the next ferry home) all wasn't as it seemed, this Aire was actually pretty good. It cost us €7 to stay the night, there was drinking water, toilets and access to electricity if you could get plugged in quick enough and we even managed to get some free wifi. We walked about 10 minutes down the road and came across a 4* Campsite with an English speaking receptionist who offered to help us, she said she could call her mechanic first thing Monday morning and get them out to look at the van. 

Monday morning we arrived at the campsite bright and early checked, playing it by ear as to how long we would be staying. The mechanic arrived and with the receptionist with translating he told us we would need a whole new water pump. The mechanic said he could have the part a fit it the following day so we needed to arrange a recovery truck to get it to the garage 5km down the road. We phoned RAC EU to ask for help, a couple of arguments and £20 of credit later they agreed to pick the van up first thing the following morning. This was all we needed, we only left home three weeks ago!! 

The Mario Brothers Recovery Service 

We were intending on saving the box sets for winter when we are stuck in the van but with nothing much else to do without a van we decided to get started on Game of Thrones, we didn't leave the van for the rest of the day. The following day a recovery truck turned up to collect the van and take it to the garage, the recovery guy looked exactly like one of the Mario Brothers. He was loaded and off within 10 minutes and warned us we the van wouldn't be ready until this evening. With nothing else to do but twiddle our thumbs, the receptionist recommend we go on a 21 km bike ride. It went through 3 villages and lots of cow fields. 

Tour De Coulon 

We packed a survival bag of peanut butter sandwiches apples and strawberries and set off on our bikes, Oscar in tow. The route was easy to follow and there was loads to see, a couple of horses play fighting in a field, a beaver swimming round in circles in a river and loads of frogs (possibly toads) singing the loudest strangest tune you've ever heard, so much so it caused Oscar to jump straight into a stream full of cow poo. 

The Little Beaver

The survival bag only lasted us to the first village about an hour after we left, we returned four hours later with major saddle sore. We had a phone call to say the van was fixed and ready to collect, the receptionist insisted we took her car as it had started to rain so one of us needed to learn to drive a left hand drive on the right side of the road pretty quick. We collected the van and headed back to the campsite for an early night before finally settling off again the next day. We had a hamper of chocolate and wine made for the receptionist to say thank you for all her help.

The Thank You Hamper 

We arrived in La Rochelle to beautiful sunshine Thursday afternoon, time to relax after a crazy few days. 

City Hype - Brits in Paris

Before the roads were crazy

The journey into Paris was somewhat eye opening if not terrifying. There doesn't appear to be any sort of road etiquette other than to drive where you like at whatever speed you like changing lanes whenever you like with absolutely no warning! Although all the French seem fully aware of this well kept little secret so it's just visitors and tourists who don't appear to know what they're doing. We found the campsite (Campings Indigo) easily and were greeted by multi-lingual reception staff which saved the embarrassing, odd and quite frankly nonsense French/jibberish sentences we'd been putting together previously. The campsite had a restaurant, bar and shop with all the usual facilities and 2 hours free wifi a day which was a bonus. Just outside the campsite was a large field which had a running track and a horse track around the outside, we took Oscar over for a walk after settling in and caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. The field was full with people, some playing cricket, some playing football, some walking their dogs and a man flying some sort of drone type aircraft around his head. When we headed back to the campsite we passed a beaten up old transit van with purple velvet curtains, the front seats were piled high with junk. As we walked past the side door on the van flew open, and a lady who looked a lot like the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons (only a little larger) hung out of the door in some saucy underwear and a robe then started summoning us in French, I don't think she was inviting us in for crackers and wine. After seeing the tower neither of us could wait to get into the city the next day so we headed back to the camper, had pesto and mozzarella ravioli for dinner and settled down for the night. 

The following morning we woke to rain so decided to take our time pottering around and planning our route into the city until it had stopped. We left the campsite around 11 and walked through lots of green leafy lanes until we hit the chaotic, horn honking hustle and bustle of Paris City Centre around an hour later. First we spotted the grand apartment buildings, each apartment had beautiful window boxes packed tight with bright flowers to decorate the huge french windows and iron balcony edges. Then we spotted the upmarket stores you don't normally see on your local high street such as Joe Malone and Mac, then an array of cafés, bars and brasseries lining the streets with people eating, drinking and chatting, the flavours and smells spilling onto the street were incredible and Oscars nose was working overtime. He's never really been anywhere that busy with so many people so he was in his element. He wore a red neckerchief to look smart. One girl pointed to him and said to her friend 'ah look at the little French Beagle' and a French lady shouted 'J'adore Beagle', a few people took pictures of him too. He loved all the attention.

Oscar in his smart red neckerchief 

We started our sightseeing mission at the American University of Paris, we followed the River Seine down towards the Eiffel Tower where we took pictures from every single angle possible before taking retreat on a bench to watch the hordes of people milling about chatting excitedly in various languages. The Americans and the Chinese seemed among the most excited to be there!! 

At the Eiffel Tower (Obviously) 

From there we walked back along the Seine taking frequent shelter from the short lived heavy downpours to the Grand Palace, Place De La Concorde and The Louvre before crossing the 'Lovelock Bridge' the Pont des Arts where we added to the hundreds of thousands of locks with a message that read 'Kayleigh & Jac Eurotrip 2014'. 

Pont des Arts - Lovelock Bridge 

Kayleigh & Jac #Eurotrip2014 

Lining the river from start to finish were canal boats, some used as restaurants and some used as houses, there were artists selling their different interpretations of skylines, backdrops and landmarks, stalls selling souvenirs, postcards, fridge magnets and collectors editions of Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. Then there were the inner city street magicians and their network of helpers seen mixing with the crowds making a fortune from unsuspecting tourists, whom we would definitely have been included if we hadn't watched so many episodes of the The Real Husstle! 

By this time we'd been walking for about 6 hours so when we came across a little rabbit run of thin, winding cobbled streets we decided to stop for a Nutella Crepe and a drink. 

The busy backstreets 

We stopped and sat outside a bar people watching. Six rounds, a plate of nachos and complimentary olives and feta later we decided to leave to see the Notre Dame before making our way back. 

Taking a break from sightseeing 

Watching the world go by 

This obviously took much longer and required an emergency Subway stop for an Italian BMT after a few Coronas before it dawned on us that we'd drifted another couple of hours from our campsite throughout the day. We were unable to get a taxi or the Metro because of the dog and the bus routes were far too complex for us by then so we decided our only option was to pay a man called Pierre to ride us back on his tricycle. He told us he could only take us as far as the 'Gates of Paris' and we would have to walk the rest of the way. We chatted to him non stop on the way back and in the end he must have felt sorry for us so decided to take us all the way back. What should've been a 40 minute journey turned into an hour and a half of map checking and turning around and at one point we were forced to lift his tricycle over a barrier. 

Such a log day, but the best so far, so much to see and do. There's something about Paris and we'll definitely go back one day (hopefully en route back to the UK in a few months). 

Guard Goats & Tractor Folk (Northern France)

Finally, after every single delay possible and much anticipation we've set off. We are in Northern France and have spent the last week settling in making sure we have all the essentials we need for the next 12 months (ish). We set off from home around midnight Mon 29 April, travelled to Dover and hopped on an early morning ferry to Calais. Taking full advantage of the free wifi, unsure of when we would be able to use the internet again we found a campsite in a town called Licques about 24km south of the ferry port and headed straight there as soon as we arrived in France Tue 29. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at Camping Les Pommiers and tried not to get too used to the 4* accommodation and facilities that this campsite had to offer. 

Home for the next few months.

We met a cute elderly couple from Norfolk who were heading home the following day after doing a 7 week tour of France and Spain, needless to say we spent the next 4 hours firing questions at them. They were so helpful and we were gutted the following morning to find we had overslept and missed them leaving. They had left a gift outside our camper that will definitely help us over the next few months. A site guide and touring handbook with details of 4500 sites in France, Spain, Portugal and Andorra accompanied by a note saying nothing other than 'good luck'. So to the adorable old English couple with the Silver Smart Car, if you ever read this, thank you so much!! Later that day we walked 1.5km to Carrefour to stock up on essentials before heading back and falling asleep in the sun. That night we celebrated the beginning of the adventure with baked Camembert and a bottle of champagne. 

Camembert & champagne to       celebrate the start of an adventure. 

Wed 30th we decided to pack a picnic and get out in the sunshine to do some exploring. We followed a 12km trail which took us about 3 hours mainly across farmland and through orchards and vast countryside. Horticulture is huge in this part of France, there are more tractors than cars and more cows than people. When we got back to the campsite we had a quick omelette, put a film on and were all asleep within the opening titles. 

Thurs 1st May we woke up to heavy rain so decided to hang around the campsite and spend some time planning the next couple of stops on the map. We pretty much spent all day studying maps, atlases and grazing on bad food. 

Friday we were up at the crack of dawn packing everything away ready to head to the next stop. After checking in with family and doing the FaceTime rounds we set off towards Lille. We stopped around 128km south in a town called Aubers. We booked 4 nights on a 2* campsite called Camp des Roses and before setting up camp we went out in search of more food and a new gas bottle. We found a huge industrial estate with everything we needed. After another hour in Carrefour, a large queue at a drive through petrol station and some fairly embarrassing language issues we were soon on our way back to Aubers. We set up camp, did some hand washing (always learning), made some tea and spent the evening scrubbing up on our French...still none the wiser. 

Saturday we got up made a selection of sandwiches and were off out on another walk with Oscar to see what was about. We wandered around for about 2 hours, past some huge houses, no two were the same and every other house had a guard dog or sometimes a guard goat neither of which Oscar was bothered by no matter how much noise they made. Luckily enough we managed to find our way back to an open field, probably the only one in Northern France that doesn't home cows or horses so we could let Oscar off his lead. He was running around like a lunatic, as mad as a box of frogs before collapsing in a heap panting for water, think it'll take him a while to acclimatise bless him. 

We are adapting well to living in such a compact space and are learning how to make the most of the little room we have. Cooking isn't easy although we've managed a few home made meals including carbonara and chilli. 

We left Aubers yesterday morning and travelled 4 hours south to Paris via Saint Quentin. We are staying in Paris for the next few days, no doubt the phones, camera and iPad with be packed with touristy photos in a flash. 

En route to Paris, possibly one of the most terrifying journeys we've ever been on.