The journey back to the UK
We started this adventure in October and it is already December and we are heading east so that we will be in the Calais area ready for the ferry to Dover in a week or two.
1st Dec
Andy got up and retreived the trail cam but when he checked the footage all he saw was him setting it up the night before and collecting it this morning! That was disappointing.
We got ready to go and drove over to the service area and dumped our waste and then headed up the hill and out of town. We were going to a free aire tonight at St Germer de fly and we drove through some lovely villages and then along some fast roads and then into the town where we drove past the Abbey and the town square and into the very tidy new looking aire.
///mobiles.grids.kindly
We backed the van into a space at the edge of the aire and walked down into the town square where we got great views of the monument and the Abbey and walked through the arch to the front entrance of the Abbey, which was closed.
We popped into the convenience store and bought some wine and beers and sat in the wind rocked van watching F1 and Youtube.
2nd Dec
A quiet night until the farmers got their tractors out and started work, the road was 10 metres from us!
Two other vans spent the night here too, one panel van and one motorhome.
We got on the road after dumping our waste and drove past the Abbey again on our way to another free aire in Clermont, at the top of the hill in the Marie car park.
///motorboat.hippy.detours
There were no services here so we had topped up with fresh water before we left. We drove along some fast dual carriageways and through some beautiful villages including Beauvois and then we were entering Clermont, a very busy town with tight turns and steep hills and a restricted weight road (3.5t) which led us to the aire at the top of the hill and through some challenging gates which were just wide enough and high enough to fit through!
We parked facing the Marie and walked down the hill to explore the town, where there was an old stone arch, Porte Nointel which was built in the 14th century! It stands in the same cobble stone street as the church of Saint Samson of the 15th century.
The town was getting ready for Christmas and had decorations up everywhere.
We sat in the bar Le Bergerac on the corner for an hour or two drinking some very nice Affligem beers (7 euros each) whilst people watching and then walked back up the hill to the aire.
As the evening turned to night and we got to bed a car full of French teens pulled up and played their loud music until around 10pm and then left! Not really a problem but as Brits we tend to think the worst when this sort of thing occurs.
3rd Dec
A peaceful night, once the teens had moved on, and we awoke to a cold but sunny morning. We are heading off to do our washing and a bit of shopping today at a Carrefour supermarche in Soissons and then on to a Camping Car Park aire in Ciry Salsogne.
///quoted.entry.drenched
We squeezed through the gates and left the aire at the Marie, turning left and heading down the hill and past the bar, out of town and on to the supermarche at Soissons.
We pulled into the car park and found the Wash Me machines.
We got the washing started and popped in to the cafe for lunch, Salmon and chips (Saumon et frites) which was very nice and more than enough!
Then Sue went shopping and Andy sat in the van and programmed the Satnag for the aire in Ciry Salsogne which was only 20 minutes away.
We left the supermarche with all of our washing done and were soon arriving at the aire which was next to a large lake and looked really nice and well kept.
We topped up our water and parked, backing onto the lake and plugged into the 6 amp supply. Water heater on and we both had a shower and then settled down to watch the first 80 minutes of Les Miserables as Andy had never seen it, (he doesn't like opera or musicals) but he said that he would give it a go.
4th Dec
Andy got up and went to retreive the trail cam which he deployed last night next to the lake, which had no media of any wild life again! So he decided to try the drone and sent it up to get a birds eye panorama.
It was yet another really quiet night and we both slept well until around 9am. Andy worked on the website whilst Sue got the pork and veg hot pot on the go, slow cooking it all day.
We had a quiet day and a short walk around the site and then settled down to binge on the TV, we finished off the rest of Les Miserables and had the hotpot which was so good that Andy had seconds.
5th
A cold and misty morning, the trees were dripping the condensed mist onto the top of the van and once Andy was awake he couldn't nod off again so he got up and put the kettle on.
We are continuing our trip north east today and will aim for a free aire at Rozoy sur Serre.
///undervalued.talcum.smarten
We took on some fresh water and emptied the waste tanks and set off turning right out of the site as the Satnag couldn't make it's mind up which way we should go!
On the way we came across a couple of road closures and deviations which further confused it and it kept trying to get us to do a U turn, which we ignored. Eventually we stopped and had some soup and bread and reset the Garmin and it managed to get us to the aire.
The journey was very misty and we had the lights on all of the way. We drove through some lovely villages and past some beautiful churches and as we arrived at the town we drove past some burnt out houses, four in a row all had the roofs destroyed by fire. We hoped that the people were ok.
As we pulled into the aire Andy remembered that we had stayed here before! We parked and as Andy got out to turn the gas on he was greeted by about 8 goats of varying sizes, all hoping to be fed.
He got back into the van and realised that he had stepped in some dog poo....it was mentioned in the reviews for the aire that the farmer allows his dog to run around unchecked and do his business where he pleases, and doesn't bother to pick it up. We don't think that this is a good advert for the aire so beware if you visit.
So Andy washed and dissinfected his shoes and we threw away the 'puppy pads' which luckily protected our carpet and laid new ones.
Sue did a lovely pork chop dinner and we relaxed in the warm until it was time for bed.
6th
A quiet night until the cockerels started at 4am! It was raining but at least it had warmed up.
We walked into town and stopped at a cafe (Hotel) for a coffee but we were told that only the restuarant was open, so no coffee! The whole town seemed to be closed! We walked back to the van and made our own coffee so Ner!
So this aire was going to be purely a place to rest and move on tomorrow, some are exactly that whilst some are places where you can base yourself and then explore the town or villages history.
Whilst we were relaxing in the van Andy spotted a red squirrel passing 3 metres from the van, Sue got a shot of it interacting with a goat which obviously wasn't impressed with the squirrels bravado.
The red diesel was getting very low so we turned the heater off at 8pm as it would take an hour or so for the van to cool down before we hit the sack.
7th
That bloody cockerel!
It was raining again, it literally hadn't stopped for more than a few minutes for 5 days or so! We are getting bored now...
Today we are going to try to find an aire with a cycle way and/or a chateau, castle or monument to explore as we are fed up with sitting in the van or walking in the rain around boring, closed towns and villages. We have noticed that this part of France can seem empty of new adventures if you don't want to visit war graves, memorials to the fallen and bunkers etc. (There are plenty of them here).
As we were just thinking that we had got our heads together and things were looking up Andy discovered that the water filler unit (Bourne) had a female Bayonet fitting which required a male fitting that we didn't possess. Damn, no fresh water today. 😠Andy said that he will look for the fitting the next time we visit a supermarche.
Meanwhile he did manage to work out a fix, all be it temporary. He took the filler attachment which screws into the van filler port and pushed the short length of pipe onto the spout which was only about 80cm long. The fitting worked in the female bayonet dispenser but the van would have to be VERY close so that the pipe would reach!
It took a few attempts to get the van close enough without scratching the paint work but we managed to fill the van without too much faffing around and we hit the road.
We stopped at a supermarche about 40km away where Andy filled with diesel and topped up the heater tank whilst Sue went shopping, apparently there were no hose lock fittings in this shop.
Andy parked the van and bought a pizza from the vending machine in the car park and we ate that before heading off on the next leg.
VIDEO OF MISTY JOURNEY
The next park up was only around 11km away and we were soon pulling into the aire at Rocroy
///vocab.impassioned.madness
and we backed into the rather muddy pitch facing the fortressed town. Heater on, shopping away, coffee time. It was still raining so we sat in the van waiting for it to stop.
8th
It was nice and quiet last night and we woke up to find that we had neigbours. It was windy all through the night and the clouds were racing across the sky.
We got organised and went for a walk around the town and the fortifications and explored the tunnels and barracks.
VIDEO OF THE WALK
We ended up in the 'pub Le Napoli' where we had four glasses of 'Rocroy' brew and were charged only 9 euros! We couldn;t understand how that was so cheap and we decided that we would have a night out later.
PHOTOS OF BAR
Back to the van and the battery was getting very low due to the lack of solar so the decision to spend the evening in a nice warm bar was reinforced and we had some soup and bread and returned to the bar just after opening time, 6pm.
The Christmas lights were now twinkling in the streets and we walked to the bank where we withdrew some euros as the bar only took cash.
The drinks flowed through the evening and we made friends with the locals and the two dogs. Andy made special friends with one of the dogs as the photos below will show.
PHOTOS IN BAR, DOGS ETC.
A lady turned up and the dogs obviously knew her and they went mad, running around the bar and then one jumped onto Sue's lap and knocked her beer over smashing the glass and destroying the peace!
The owners came and cleared the mess up and bought Sue another beer and we carried on with our evening. After the dog had calmed down he came and sat with Andy again.
Later we got up to leave and our new friends wanted to explain something to us but it all got lost in translation, we asked for the bill for our eight glasses of beer.........18 euros! So cheap and it was lovely beer too, and wonderful company.
As we walked back to the van we took the photos of the Christmas decorations which you can see below.
PHOTOS OF DECORATIONS HERE
We got back to the van and discovered that the leisure battery had now shut down due to low voltage, so we went to bed!
9th
Andy woke up and the battery was still off and due to the misty and overcast day it was not receiving a charge from the solar panels so he started the engine and let it tick over for 15 minutes which put enough charge in the battery to run the glow plug in the diesel heater so we had heat!
We set off and stopped at an Aldi for supplies and whilst we were there we decided to stay at an Aire just around the corner at Erquelinnes, a Camping-car park Aire which looked brand new!
LEAVE AIRE AND ARRIVE AT ERQUELINNES AIRE
///yanked.snuffles.eater
We pulled up to the barrier and Sue swiped our membership card and the barrier swung up for us and we backed into a nice bay and plugged into the 6amp EHU.
We got the bikes out and cycles along the canal tow path for a while and past the marina which had some very expensive looking boats moored and then checked out the Chateau before returning to the van.
PHOTOS OF BIKE RIDE
A couple of cars parked in the car park next to the aire and played loud thumping music for a while but they disappeared later and all was relatively quiet, althought there was a railway a few hundred feet from the aire!
10th
A reasonably quiet night and then the teenage school kids passed the aire on their way to school at about 8am but that was normal so we got up and started our day.
We got on the road and headed for the next stop at Estaires another free aire closer still to Calais.
///stalled.luminairies.juror
It was a long drive to Estaires and we stopped for a break about half way at an Aldi and had lunch. It was a further 45km to the aire and as we entered the town of Estaires we saw signs for a low bridge at 2.6m (we are 2.9m) but luckily our route took us around the streets and into the aire without having to duck.
JOURNEY FROM ERQUELINNES AIRE
ARRIVE AT AIRE AT ESTAIRES
The aire was next to a doctors or small hospital and each of the 4 pitches had hedges between them and there were a couple of new looking composite picnic benches if you wanted to sit and have a drink or a bite to eat alfresco.
We sat in the van drinking whisky and hit the sack after a few glasses feeling very relaxed.
11th
It was colder this morning but the night was quiet. The diesel heater was put through it's paces and soon warmed us up to a reasonable 20 degrees whilst we had our very important first cup of Yorkshire tea.
We got togged up and went for a walk around the town discovering a small outdoor market and a very large church (NAME HERE LATER).
We took a few photos of the church which you can see below.
We got back to the van and had a coffee to warm up and then set off for the next stop, Watten, on the canal (NAME HERE).
///?.?.?
The journey was uneventful along some fast dual carriageways and through some small towns and villages and eventually we found ourselves driving down this narrow single track last for the few metres to the aire where we backed into the pitch facing the canal just as a massive barge passed by.
VIDEO
We walked to the Netto supermarche for bread and wine etc. and then back to relax whilst watching the boats. As it got dark the lights came on around the canal and we said that this was a nice place to spend our final night in France, tomorrow we will catch the ferry back to the UK.
PHOTOS OF NIGHT TIME AND LIGHTS
Another quiet night, we have neighbours, which is nice and they were quiet so that was good.
We got up and got ready to drive the few km to Calais and the ferry to Dover.
VIDEO OF LEAVING
We visited the services at the aire for the final time and headed off to Calais and our ferry back to the UK to spend Christmas with our family.
VIDEO OF BOARDING FERRY AT CALAIS
Next year 2026 we will be attending a few more rallies and festivals all around the UK so come back and check them out.
Merry Christmas everybody.