Aussies on Tour in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy & Switzerland

Martin and Pam Williams
Summer of 2018

Introduction

In the unusually hot summer of 2018, motorhomers Martin and Pam travelled over 7,780 km (4,860 miles) touring seven countries in Western and Southern Europe, starting and ending in the UK. Their wide-ranging introduction is followed by a day-by-day account of their journey from 24 May to 31 August, when they flew back to their home in Perth (the one in Western Australia). Moving on almost every day, they avoided formal campsites and always found a free or inexpensive place to stay for the night. In every case, they give the co-ordinates of the place, the distance travelled each day and many links to relevant photographs or further information.

Their Marquis Majestic 125 served them well as they continued their love affair with motorhoming in Europe. They write: “Even if the roads are a bit challenging at times there is a fantastic variety of countryside and scenery, a fascinating mix of architectures, cultures and culinary treats! You don't really have to travel that far to appreciate the mix that's available.”

Links to equally full descriptions of six of their previous motorhome journeys in Europe (2011-2014 and 2016-2017) can be found on this website in Fellow Travellers.

Holiday 2018 - Some Background

When we bought our new Marquis Majestic 125 motorhome in 2016 we travelled over 10,600 km around France. Last year we covered over 13,500 kms which included a return to Norway for about 8 weeks of our 4-month absence from our Western Australian home. This year we had a slightly shorter holiday of 15½ weeks, travelling 7,781 kms through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and France, with short sojourns into Luxembourg and Switzerland. A fabulous clockwise tour of some fantastic destinations. 

As we came off the Dover to Calais ferry on 24 May this year, after a dead flat crossing, we drove into heavy rain, very heavy rain as we headed to our first planned stop, the Bergues Aire inland from Dunkerque. Once we had arrived it stopped and it seemed that after that the summer started and from then on it just got hotter and hotter.

So was it hot or was it HOT !?

Apparently the European summer of 2018 did break a few records including being the hottest since 1986 and one of the hottest on record, give or take 0.03ºC or so. Based on quite a few years' experience, the European summer pattern is like a sine wave - a few days up, some average days, then a few cooler days. It used to be that when it did warm up it did so over a period and that that warming was associated with an increase in humidity as the clouds built up later in the day. That warming trend was usually broken by a big storm which cooled things off for quite a while. This year it just seemed to stay hot and on the few occasions that it did rain or storm it quickly returned to being hot. There seemed to be no relief. The other factor is the very long days - more than 16 hours of sunshine on many days in the middle of summer. Add the inland humidity and it feels even hotter; hotter than summers seem at home in Australia!

So yes, barring a few days of very heavy rain it really was a very HOT summer, especially when travelling in a motorhome. There were very few places to escape the heat.

Check out the European meteo temperature map from the Strasbourg DNA newspaper of 25 July 2018.

More warm weather did mean more cooking outside and a lot more flies and insects - more bites and more itches, although interestingly we saw very few mosquitoes. Perhaps it was just too dry for them to find water to breed in!

Where to go, how to get there and where to stay

We love touring Europe in our motorhome. Even if the roads are a bit challenging at times there is a fantastic variety of countryside and scenery, a fascinating mix of architectures, cultures and culinary treats! You don't really have to travel that far to appreciate the mix that's available.

The plan this year included:

Belgium: revisiting Ghent, then checking out the copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper at the abbey in Tongerlo.

Germany: Touring down the Moselle and up the Rhine and revisiting old favourites on the Romantische Straße.

Austria: Travelling through the Tyrol.

Italy: Checking out some of the back roads of northern Italy, in particular the magic of the Dolomites.

France: Enjoying some more French fun.

How we got there was easy. We used our trusty old Michelin road atlases of France (1:200000; 1 cm to 2 km) and of Europe (smaller scale), supplemented with SatNavs - one in the van, our usual Garmin, this year adding the OffLineMaps App to my 'phone - so we had three maps to choose from! They didn't always agree on the route!! We tended to use both the Garmin and the 'phone app and then check their routes against the atlas but we still fell for a few mad short cuts. One in the Dolomites led us down a narrow track and over a bridge with a bend that was 2.2 m wide; our van body width is 2.14 m. Lots of manoeuvring and care got us through! Another SatNav short cut was in Laudes in Italy, where our side of the road went through a 2.5 m high arch under a church!

Whatever the SatNav said there was always the additional dimension added by the traffic controllers and the local authorities who threw in a few curved balls - French déviations and German Umleitung's - we had quite a few of each to put up with!

One of our favourite places on the whole holiday was the tiny village of Santa Maddelena in the Funes valley of the Dolomites. It is one of those places that we'd seen pictures of many times and this year we finally got there and stayed a couple of days. This amazing view of the valley is from the SP163, a really steep road that starts in San Pietro. Not that it was an easy road to find check it out; it started at a really narrow entrance with lots of damage to the buildings on both sides!!

Where to stop was frequently solved by using the French Camping Car Infos resource, although they have recently begun to ask for donations of 15€ or 20€ for a year's access. We bought a downloaded copy of their January data and used that throughout the holiday, supplementing it with the Park4night app on the 'phone, which was really useful. In reality we visited a combination of known stops and new Aires - check out our stops here.

Reflections on a Great holiday

When you come back from a long holiday there are the usual questions: 'which were the best places' and 'what was your favourite place'. Call these reflections if you like. And of course there are lots of them and many of them were actual reflections. OK I know that it's a bit cliché but here is a list with links to some of our favourites:

·         Dinkelsbuhl

·         Alken - on the Moselle

·         Col de Mt Cenis

·         Barrage de Roselend

·         Strasbourg

·         Bouillon  and  its Bridge

·         Givet

Other favourites images include 'graffiti' (Augsburg), 'roundabout' (Stams, Austria), 'Mountain Pass' (The Stelvio in Italy), 'Stained Glass Window', hat! (one of Dame Ednah Everage's). Favourite Street Art! has to go to Bitche and our favourite 'squeeze' was watching the fire truck getting through a gateway in Conflans near Albertville.

Some thoughts - on the Road

With the summer heat we spent a lot of time as high up in the mountains as possible. We didn't use vignettes in Austria or in Switzerland, we just set the SatNavs to 'no tolls' and we avoided the Autobahns and the 'gazetted' roads. Not sure what we'll do next year in Germany when apparently they may start charging for their Autobahns.

Of course spending more time in the mountains meant that we saw a lot more of the bikers charging up and down the mountain passes and the challenging roads. It was particularly crazy at the weekends. We did witness two motorbike accidents (Stelvio Pass and Cormet de Roselend) which involved air ambulances but most of the riders were very professional and very skilful; you did have to keep your wits about you though as they rushed up behind the van and shot past at speed!

At one early stage our trip seemed like a tale of several rivers - up, or was it down the Moselle (or was it the Mosel?), down/up the Rhine, along the Neckar (at Heidelberg), past the Wörnitz (at Oettingen) and on to the Danube/Donau (at places like Donauwörth).

It doesn't sound like a big deal - dropping the speed limit from 90 to 80 kph - but the new limit in France on two lane, non-dual carriageway roads really made a difference and it was really frustrating in many places. One of the worst was the Route National 145 which we took near Montluçon, south of Moulins and Maçon before heading up to Beaune - it was a nightmare, so many variations of speed and so many trucks

and off the road .. .. we saw some fantastic scenery such as Kühtai (with the alpenrosen in Austria), Oetz, Puez Odle NP (Italy), Lago d'Ampola (Italy), Prariond/Val d'Isère and Gorges of the Ardèche in France. In Luxembourg sometimes there were just too many options.

Motorhome Mumblings

We've been avid motorhomers for decades and generally we have witnessed other motorhomers behaving very well, respecting the Aires, leaving no litter and keeping a low profile. It's amazing to me how quiet a large Aire can be overnight, even when there are 20 or 30 vans present.

In recent years the number of large motorhomes has increased but it hasn't changed the dynamic too much. Some of the websites and blogs complain that the parking spots are not big enough for their 'buses' but generally vans are low key and not intrusive.

This year we did see a lot more situations where motorhomes seemed to be very much more obvious, more intrusive and 'in your face'. At Pierre Percée in the Voges the whole lake front was taken up with motorhomes, awnings out, tables and loungers all over the place, just like a campsite. Nowhere for the locals to park their small cars. Several vans were Dutch - try doing that in Holland, you can't stop anywhere there. Why spoil it for the French!?

The other place that surprised us was Beaune where the Mairie supplies an Aire - six or so spots with electricity. By about 10 pm there were more than 30 vans there parked at all angles, littered across the marked parking spots. Presumably the authorities didn't mind too much as they had swung back the low barriers to several areas of the car park. At least most of the vans did disappear quite quickly in the morning. Come on you guys, lift your game!!

Language Barriers or Culture Barriers?

I wrote earlier about the different cultures experienced across Europe and it's interesting to see some of the dynamics of this in action. In Flanders we heard absolutely no French spoken. The Flemish areas seemed 100% dedicated to retaining their culture and their language.

In areas of northern Italy, both German and Italian are spoken, particularly in the Dolomites around Bolzano, but we also saw big notices complaining about the Italianisation of some 8000 Tyrolean names and the need to reintroduce the older names.

Other cultural thoughts. In Germany there seemed to be two things in abundance. The first was churches and overt signs of religion, such as roadside crosses and shrines. The other thing was smokers and cigarette machines in the streets. So much for plain packaging and under-the-counter sales. We did not see so much overt electronic smoking paraphernalia around this year though.

The influence of and attitude to religion and the commercial impact is always intriguing. Shops like LIDL open on Sundays in Italy but are closed in Germany, Austria and France.

Europe still doesn't seem to have got its act together with recycling. The attitudes, approaches and practicalities are so different between countries. One would think that with the European Union there would be a high degree of standardisation, but apparently not!!

Final thoughts. 'Take only photos and leave only footprints' has drifted and morphed a bit into 'take what you can for free, leave lots of fag ends, empty bottles, coke cans and lots of tyre tracks' and promote wild places and oneself on Instagram: that will soon spoil the place!!

Communication 101

I have to admit that we did use free Wi-Fi for email and WhatsApp to keep in touch with family and friends. There are so many more places now offering free Wi-Fi that this year we found that we didn't need to rely on McDonalds as in the past!! We tended to use free Wi-Fi, typically in larger towns and shopping centres, and in many tourist offices.

Link here to some pictures of our trip and where we stopped overnight – more details below.

Not Had Enough Yet!? More Details of our trip

The following represents another level of detail, sitting somewhere between information for motorhomers and a diary!!

Another 18½ hours flying some 14,750 kms with Qatar airlines got us to the UK, this year flying into Manchester. We seemed to dodge any jet lag and we had the van out of storage, cleaned, organised, packed and off to the ferry within a week. We had already taxed and insured it and renewed the Tracker subscription either on-line or by 'phone.

Thu 24 May 18  Oxshott – Dover- Bergues 188 km

We said farewell to our friends - we'd driven down from Derby and stayed there overnight - and headed off mid-morning with only a few minor hold-ups on the M25. We did some shopping at Sainsbury's in Folkestone and discovered that one of the locks on the rear tailgate door was jammed in the locked position.

We made good time to Dover and were in the ferry queue by 3.45 pm. The ferry was off at 4.55 pm, a bit late. Good crossing, but we were met by atrocious weather at Calais for the drive to our planned first stop at the aire at Bergues. N 50.96510 E 2.43638

Fri 25 May 18  Bergues - Ghent 120 km

A very quiet night in a fullish Aire - about 18 of us. We changed our clocks by an hour, then discovered our second problem: one of the hot water pipes located in the cupboard under the sink in the toilet had leaked, so we had lots of wet towels and clothes that had been stored there. Drove off to the local Aire at Hondschoote to check out the windmill. Very misty and quite cool.

Drove into Veurne, parked in Kaaiplaats and checked out the stylish town. Used Wi-Fi at the tourist office in spite of the noisy parrot!!

Drove on to Ghent and parked with about 16 other vans. I walked into town about 9.30. The place was heaving.

CCI Aire #21293 N 51.04614 E 3.70281

Sat 26 May 18  Ghent - Zwijnrecht 75 km

Both walked into Ghent - about 35 mins and did most of the sites - great place. Got back after 8.30 to find the Aire cleared out and taken over by a Triumph motorbike rally happening from 6 am Sunday. We ate quickly and left. First hope was to stay at the old Aire at Ghentbrugge but that was definitely a no-no with signs everywhere. We hedged our bets between Lier and Mechelen and headed north but ground to a halt a few km south of Antwerp. We eventually left the motorway and stopped overnight at a Total fuel station, after checking they are closed on Sundays!! N 51.20636 E 4.33903

Sun 27 May 18  Zwijnrecht - Kortessem 105 km

Off up the motorway on a very hot and humid day and around the Antwerp ring road - no sign of what the hold-up had been. Drove to the Tongerlo Abbey and walked around the super site until the Last Supper museum opened. Checked out the church and walked around the site again after a brief but heavy shower. Checked out the Hasselt Aire before driving on to the nice Aire at Kortessem. Did a tour of the town about 8.45.

CCI Aire # 3646 N 50.85751 E 5.3915

Mon 28  May 18  Kortessem - Colmar-Berg 192 km

Headed for Esch-sur-Sûre which was very motorhome unfriendly. Filled with fuel and headed to the restful Aire at Colmar-Berg, opposite a cemetery. Walked around the local château periphery before a late electrical storm hit.

CCI Aire #3946 N 49.81026 E 6.08862

Tue 29 May 18  Colmar-Berg - Longuich 99 km

Walked around the local park. Deviated to Beaufort Castle and followed the 2-hr walk down the gorge, which was really nice. Headed down to Echternach checking a few possible stopping spots. Walked around the town - nice basilica. Problem finding a stopping spot so ended up in a parking area in Longuich. N 49.80535 E 6.77181

Wed 30 May 18  Longuich - Bernkastel-Kues 52 km

Drove up the Moselle valley - Trittenheim looked nice - lots of cyclists. Stopped in Brauneberg and parked on the service road parallel to the main road. Re-parked behind the tourist office and had lunch under the trees. Used their Wi-Fi. The vines up the hillside were amazing; so steep!

Drove north through Bernkastel-Kues and up to Berg Landshut. Stopped in the upper car park for the night. N 49.90904 E 7.07466

Thu 31 May 18  Bernkastel-Kues - Kröv 55 km

Heavy rain overnight. We were joined by a Sinbad bus for their breakfast with cocktails and later by the local bright yellow tourist bus, which looked like an overgrown toy! The town road was blocked by cross-bearing, canon-firing, singing groups which forced us to go south to cross the river and approach town the other way. We parked free on the road and used the vidange. The van parking was €1.20/hr. Toured the nice, half-timbered town. Fabulous scent from the lime trees or lindens. Went for LPG but their tank was too hot in the sun; we had to wait for it to cool off. The Kelter-Erden Roman site was interesting. Spent the night in a large car park by the river behind a wine convention hall with a few others. N 49.97876 E 7.0897 

Fri 1 Jun 18 Kröv - Senheim 51 km

Very heavy rain overnight with some thunder and lightning - the river looked a lot fuller than the night before!! Checked out the tourist office/bureau at the hall. Walked around the town where a small market was happening and bought a belt. Big event planned at the hall that night so we headed north. We stopped by the riverside near a big tractor rally. N 50.08978 E 7.19929 

Sat 2 Jun 18  Senheim - Burg Eltz walkers' car park 60 km

The noise of the day was a guy recycling hundreds of wine bottles and the sight was a trailer that held thousands of bottles in a cage of 10x10x20. The markings showing past flood levels were interesting - the half-timbered house bearing a 13th century date must have been under water a few times. Parked outside Cochem and walked in - great place but full of tourists!! On through Klotten; stopped to cook dinner at Müden then turned up the Burg Eltz road. Paid 2€ to park overnight in a walkers' car park intending to walk to the castle the next day. N 50.19824 E 7.34044

Sun 3 Jun 18  Burg Eltz walkers' car park

I awoke with vertigo so the day was a write-off. Couldn't stand, couldn't eat. We just sat it out, well laid actually, put some more money in the Parkschein, watched the walkers come and go and did some exercises to clear my ears. N 50.19824 E 7.34044

Mon 4 Jun 18 Burg Eltz walkers' car park - Alken 33 km

Felt much better but didn't want to walk in the heat so we drove down to the main Burg Eltz car park and paid our 4€. We ignored the shuttle bus and walked down the hill; probably as far as from last night's stop!! Great castle – this is the view from the top. We re-parked in the shade and ended up having lunch outside, after which we had a quiet and picturesque drive down to Alken where we found an Aire 'nur für bis 6 m'. Only 1 other van joined us. CCI aire#22127 N 50.25114 E 7.44595

Tue 5 Jun 18  Alken - Lahnstein 63 km

Left about 3 pm and set SatNav for Deutsche Ecke where the Mosel joins the Rhine in Koblenz. Mostly Parkschein but we found a free spot to leave the van for a few hours. Tricky series of Umleitung diversions before we later found the chosen Aire. A cold and windy evening walk included barges, trains, castles, churches, roses and the local campsite! CCI aire #21650 m N 50.3135 E 7.59338

Wed 6 Jun 18  Lahnstein - Kamp Bornhoffen 22 km

After a walk into town we headed south but not far, it was too hot. We stopped by the river, almost in the shade, and we just stayed there and relaxed. CCI aire #16511. N 50.22137 E 7.62034

Thu 7 Jun  Kamp Bornhoffen - Kirchheimbolanden 174 k

Drove south after walking through town - somehow missed the Lorelei!! - and on to Kloster Ebernach. Bit of a problem crossing the Rhine - had to deviate to Mainz. Drove into Bad Kreuznach but failed to find the bridge; next time maybe? Stopped at another CCI Aire - could get Wi-Fi in the van. CCI aire #6518 N 49.66623 E 8.01357

Fri 8 Jun  Kirchheimbolanden - Eberbach 115 km

Skyped the family then headed off for Heidelberg - very flat countryside. The Autobahn was like a racetrack at times. Parked near the river bridge with lots of other vans, some with infringement notices on them; turned out they were the ones who had been there overnight. They looked very unofficial but they were verified after calls to the mayor's office. We decided against stopping! Spent a superb day in Heidelberg, really nice place. We eventually left loads of vans and even a caravan by the river and headed off to the castle. A big storm rolled in just as we left, which made it hard to drive for 35 mins with our dipped 'UK' lights. We headed for CCI Aire #21470 - a few places to choose from; we used N 49.46163 E 8.97785

Sat 9 Jun 18  Eberbach - Dinkelsbuhl 171 km

Navigated our way past lots of Umleitung diversions on our way out of town doing a tour of supermarkets. Couldn't decide where to head for so we picked an old favourite, Dinkelsbuhl. Stopped in a car park we'd used many years ago, billed as a 'long stay car-park'. It cooled quickly from 29 C to 18 when it started to rain and hail heavily. Walked around town and saw the night watchman on his tour. N 49.0718 E 10.32026 

Sun 10 Jun 18  Dinkelsbuhl

Heavy rain with thunder and lightning overnight. It was wet inside too, as we found another water leak under the bathroom sink. This time I glued it and wired it tight. Spent a lot of the day re-exploring the town - really superb place. A great place to spend a weekend. 

Mon 11 Jun 18  Dinkelsbuhl - Oettingen 39km

We farewelled Dinkelsbuhl at 10 am by which time the car park was filling up. We headed down the "25", the Romantische Straße, but it wasn't long before the dreaded Umleitung appeared, so we headed east along the "18" and "21" and found ourselves in Oettingen. The Aire looked good and there were storks around so we stopped by the river and walked into town where the tourist office gave us a map of the storks' nests!!

We fell asleep in the hot sun after lunch before going for another walk around town until we got caught, and drenched, by a big storm - torrential rain for 3 hours. Still not sure what the storks do with all that lightning! CCI aire #15265 N 48.95644 E 10.60981

Tue 12 Jun 18  Oettingen - Donauwörth 43 km

Got trapped in LIDL by a huge storm; the car-park was like a lake. Not safe to drive far so we went back to the Aire and had lunch. Drove south via Harburg Castle to the Aire at Donauwörth. Had a brief evening walk around town but driven back by the rain. CCI Aire #12096 N 48.71469 E 10.77913

Wed 13 Jun 18  Donauwörth - Friedberg 60 km

Toured the town after getting brochures at the tourist office in the Rathaus. Nice place, very clean. The Baroque Church was quite something. Walked around the walls and used the Wi-Fi at the library; not easy to find. Drove to Friedberg and checked out a couple of Aires before settling on the one nearer to town by the church - more baroque. Walked into town which was a bit of a non-event. The church looked nice when floodlit. CCI aire #11258 N 48.35768 E 10.99093

Thu 14 Jun 18  Friedberg - Kaufbeuren 81 km

Big discussion re where next? I wanted to see Augsburg and even suggested getting a bus! In the end we drove there, parked in the Aire and walked in past the best piece of graffiti of the holiday and also the most bizarre fountain. The town had some nice bits but it was too busy with lots of traffic. The tourist office had a water dispenser with a carbonated water option - really up market! The main square was nice with the Rathaus and Perlach square, the Dom was really nice but they were tuning the organ!! The HofGarten was good and the trams added character. We left and stopped at Kaufbeuren - out of town but well set up. CCI aire #20907 N 47.89921 E 10.61636

Fri 15 Jun 18  Kaufbeuren - Schöneck 157 km

Went to LIDL where the car-park was being dug up!! Headed south with nice views of the Alps. Füssen was very busy. We entered Austria with no vignette but the SatNav kept us away from the toll roads. Fabulous views at the Fern Pass and down through Imst. On through Landeck to Schöneck. N 47.00165 E 10.58767

Sat 16 Jun 18  Schöneck - Umhausen 122 km

Loads of traffic up our small road: bikes, cars, motorcycles and buses. Glorious day, we got fuel at Landeck and turned up the Oetz valley towards Timmelsjoch. Stopped at the closed Oetzal tourist office and eventually had lunch under their sunshade with a couple of bikers from Cologne. Drove up to Solden and had a walk at Längenfeld where a wedding was happening outside the church. Couldn't find a stopping spot and eventually drove about 500 m up to Köfels, only to find the parking was paying! Slowly back to valley level where we stopped in an abandoned adventure playground by the river. N 47.12099 E 10.92958

Sun 17 Jun 18  Umhausen - Kuhtai 33 km

A walker and a cyclist explored our stopping spot. We drove back to the Oetzal tourist office which was still closed. Their Wi-Fi still didn't work so we used the neighbouring restaurant's network. Eventually set off up the hill to Kuhtai, which was a crazy climb. We stopped next to a glorious blue lake; a dam. We walked around it and up the next valley. The cows were a feature of the place and were fun to watch from a distance! N 47.21298 E 11.00185

Mon 18 Jun 18  Kuhtai - Umhausen 34 km

Drove up to the village but not much happening except renovation work - it really is a winter resort! Used tourist office Wi-Fi - they actually closed while we were there but they were too polite to tell us!! Moved the van for lunch and watched some snowboarders on the remnants of the snow before walking up to the dam - well I did; Pam went back, only to be haunted by the cows. We thought about staying for a 2nd night but decided that an evening descent would be easier and cooler for the brakes. Superb view of the valley at Oetz. We returned to our spot of two nights ago where the local fire brigade were holding a drill. N 47.12076 E 10.92925

Tue 19 Jun 18  Umhausen - Umbrail Pass 172 km

Headed east towards Innsbruck to check Stams Monastery - a place we'd stopped at a few years ago en route to Greece before heading through Imst and Landeck, with its interesting student id boards outside the school, and on towards Italy. Worst case of rising damp we've ever seen! As soon as we entered Italy the 'no motorhome' signs started. Took side turning off the SS40 through Laudes and nearly got rammed by an aggressive tractor driver just before the road disappeared under a church on the SS41! We entered Switzerland before turning up the crazy Umbrail Pass road at Santa Maria in Munstertal - lots of 1st gear work. We stopped just outside the National Park. N 46.5704 E 10.43718 

Wed 20 Jun 18  Umbrail Pass - Gampen Pass 116 km

Quite a bit of traffic up and down including a Grenzwache (Border Watch) vehicle that paid some attention to us. We warmed the van up carefully before setting off up the hill. Talked to a Dutch couple on a motorbike that they had towed from home. On up to the unmanned border with a 1914-18 memorial - a joint 3-country display. We headed up to the top of the very crowded Stelvio Pass and stopped at the first viewpoint. The view from the van as we drove along was unbelievable - down some of the 48 tornante (hairpin bends). We stopped there ages - first to watch a team of Ferraris come up the hill and then because of an accident. The ambulance could be heard for a long time coming up the hill; the helicopter had nowhere to land.

We eventually set off slowly down the hill; round the bends. We stopped a couple of times - first for the views back up the hill and then, when confronted by a bus coming up, we took the escape road and stopped there for lunch! Great views. We took it easy - still steep after the 48 bends. Stopped at Laces for LPG and food at a very non-standard LIDL. We headed for a spot we'd used a few years ago but ended up on a pass with another Italian van. Cooler on the pass than the humid 30ºC+ in the valley. N 46.52893 E 11.11162 

Thu 21 Jun 18  Gampen Pass - Sanzeno 45 km

A coachload of walkers arrived so we followed them after a while. We took the flatish option until the weather changed; back to the van for a brolly! After lunch in the van we headed down through apple orchards, past ravines, dams and old villages. We stopped in Revo which was really nice. The pink influence of the Tour d'Italia cycle race was very much in evidence. We used the library PC for Wi-Fi - the librarian presented us with a chocolate each! The other good thing was an email from Sainsbury's waiving our parking fine. We stopped after Clés in a spot we'd used years ago, quite near the road. N 46.36084 E 11.07417

Fri 22 Jun 18  Sanzeno - Santa Maddelena 118 km

Nice steady drive up the Mendel Pass (1363 m), then a fabulous descent in 2nd gear most of the time. Dumped loo in Bolzano Aire and off up the SS12 heading for our final destination. The SatNav took us all over the place - SP82, SP145 - an unnecessary climb then a descent! Then SP141 instead of the SP27 and down the crazy narrow road and over that bridge! Had late lunch in Sta Maddelena, walked to the Nat Park office and walked up to St Johann's Church. We walked up to the town church - the views of the peaks in the setting sun were fabulous. The last few days have been amazing. N 46.63851 E 11.7183

Sat 23 Jun 18  Santa Maddelena - San Martino 39 km

We walked to the Nat Park office/display which had a fabulous vista of mountains. Off through San Piedro - missed the turn and had a tricky recovery. We thought about aborting the road but were rewarded with amazing views to the Santa Maddelena village and the mountains. Very steep and narrow with more amazing views. Down the Erbe Pass and past the fortified church at San Martin de Tor. N 46.69159 E 11.89084

Sun 24 Jun 18  San Martino - Pordoi Pass 42 km

Drove into Badia - big bike race happening - parked and used the Tourist Wi-Fii for ages. On through Corvara and Arabba and up the 33 tornante of the Pordoi Pass where we stopped. Quite cold and threatening. Superb spot though. N 46.48775 E 11.80978

Mon 25 Jun 18  Pordoi Pass - Lago d'Ampola 194 km

Very cold but better weather as we headed off down the 26 hairpins, made a bit more tricky by the coaches charging up the hill. We stuck with the SS48 and at Vigo Fassa we took the SS481 up a small climb - great lake at Caressa with a long descent to the S12 - great ravine and a new tunnel. The SatNav threw a wobbly and we had problems navigating through Bolzano to the Aire. Set off for Lago di Ledro and drove around the lake - tricky narrow road. Parked in town for a while before heading off to the next lake and the Bioto nature reserve. Still a great place. N 45.87329 E 10.65386

Tues 26 Jun 18  Lago d'Ampola - Alzano Lombardo 216 k

We did the lake walk and the visitor centre - 7 years on. A glorious relaxing oasis. Drove down to Storo for lunch, stopping for a picture of the waterfall before town. On via Brescia to Lago d'Iseo with the air conditioning on. Not very impressed with the road up the west side of the lake. It was narrow and at the top it disappeared into scary rock-cut narrow tunnels before Castro. Turned left through Levere onto the SS42. Frustrating drive - loads of towns all with several 50 kph radars. Checked out the 2 listed CCI Aires - neither very appealing - too late for other options. CCI Aire #10790 N 45.73162 E 9.72072

Wed 27 Jun 18  Alzano Lombardo - Candelo 210 km

We were awoken early by a hefty team of strimmers and mowers. The grass did need cutting but why today, why us!? We left them to it and went for a walk around the nearby cemetery; really stylish.

We should have headed west but instead we went to Lecco, Como, Varese and on to Lake Orta. Looked nice enough but nowhere to stop except the 20€/day, 5€/hr Aire at Orta [CCI#5225]. We checked other likely places and headed for Biella - shocking journey with so many villages, so many speed limits (seemingly arbitrary - was it 50, 60, 70 or 90 kph?) It was really haphazard and very wearing with lots of ribbon development and a roundabout every few hundred metres. We ended up stopping at Candelo which was a real find! Not that navigation was easy in the town with its new one way system and lots of road works. Magic floodlit evening walk around town. CCI Aire#21593 N 45.546 E 8.11619

Thu 28 Jun 18  Candelo - Susa 153 km

Had another walk around and through town - really nice place. We moved the van a few times trying to get some shade. We reluctantly left, although the SatNav kept trying to get us back there!! Nice towns along the way but still tedious with varied speed limits - one 60 kph corner threatened us with 3 demerit 'punti' as we shot through it! We headed for an old favourite - the main square in Susa - and had a good walk around town. N 45.13947 E 7.05133

Fri 29 Jun 18  Susa - Col du Mt Cenis 33 km

A disturbed night with idiots banging on the side of the van at 2 am. We headed up the col to 'Francia' and stopped by the Lac du Mt Cenis pretty much where we'd stopped in 2015. There was a lot more snow around this year - apparently it had been a cold winter. We had lunch outside before it cooled off. We went for a walk to the tourist office / Visitor Centre - my wife called it 'tedious'. The flowers in the alpine garden were good but there were better ones across the hills. At least the walk back was mostly downhill!! The cows came and went - with lots of flies which kept their bells going! Great mountain reflections in the dam as the wind died and the surface flattened. N 45.24521 E 6.93142

Sat 30 Jun 18  Col du Mt Cenis 4 km

Glorious bright day, cool at that altitude with very few clouds. We had a restful day after I went for a long walk along the lake - superb flowers; did some reading later before driving up to the Centre and then walking up to the Fort de Ronce. Moved back to the lakeside - we were lucky to get a spot with about 25 vans there. N 45.24521 E 6.93142

Sun 1 Jul 18  Col du Mt Cenis - St Charles Bridge 64 km

Very crowded - half of Susa must have driven up from the valley to avoid the heat. We headed off the other way, in 2nd gear most of the way down to Lanslebourg where we stopped in the shade behind the tourist office - closed but we used their Wi-Fi. We got our table and chairs and sat inside their entrance - quite cool. Had lunch and a quick walk in Bonneval, before charging up the Col d'Iseran. So different to the sleet, snow and poor visibility of 3 years ago. Much more snow but it was a sparkling day. The road surface wasn't good though. Got pulled into a local motorcycle group photo at the top before heading slowly down to another spot we'd used before. N 45.45469 E 7.03781

Mon 2 Jul 18  St Charles Bridge - Les Chapieux 57 km

In spite of the heat and dust we headed up the walk to the Refuge of Prariond. We were stopped by a big stream coming from under a dodgy looking ice bridge. We waited with lots of others and watched the attempts to cross. Some of them had obviously pre-paid for lunch at the refuge. We got back to the van about 3 pm as the weather started to change. We headed north through rain and hail to Bourg St Maurice. We decided not to hang around - very muggy with a threat of more rain - and drove up the tricky road to Les Chapieux - another of our favourite spots. N 45.69589 E 6.73552

Tue 3 Jul 18  Les Chapieux - Roselend Barrage 17 km

Heavy rain about midnight with thunder and lightning around the surrounding peaks. We thought about the notice re 'les inondations' so didn't sleep too well! Went for a short walk up the valley, put the awning out, had lunch and discussed the next steps. Drove up and checked the col and some of the walking options before driving down to the Barrage du Roselend and parking with about 10 other vans overlooking the dam. Superb views. N 45.69119 E 6.63076

Wed 4 Jul 18  Roselend Barrage - Albertville 48 km

Bright blue-sky start, hot even at 11 am. Drove back to the Cormet de Roselend and did the 40-min walk. Quite flat with great views across to Mt Blanc. Really odd bubbling 'feature' at the end - well the end for us, as it was snow after that point. Did another circular walk to look at the meanders. Also saw a motorbike accident attended by police, fire brigade and ambulances - air and vehicle. Some paragliders about avoiding 'les orages'. We dropped slowly down to Beaufort - much hotter at the bottom. Tricky drive into the sun. With that and the heat we stopped early at Albertville, in the shade near Conflans. CCI Aire#28319 N 45.67399 E 6.39683

Thu 5 Jul 18  Albertville - Privas 242 km

Walked upto Conflans where 'Les pompiers' were testing out the very small entrance to town. Great driving - much easier to park in the aire. Headed west for lunch at the Le Cheylas Aire. The new 80 kph speed limit really seems to slow one down. We were heading to Privas to meet my cousin but the Aire had closed - they were building a new swimming pool and the alternative stopping place in the market square had been covered with thousands of tonnes of sand for a beach soccer tournament!! We stopped by the vidange - the parking was chaotic. N 44.73744 E 4.60103

Fri 6 Jul 18  Privas - Chomerac 9 km

My cousin took us to see the Gorges of the Ardèche which were great - last time we tried to drive down there the roads were blocked solid with bouchons! It was still busy but the Pont d'Arc and the lookouts were superb. Had a very late lunch at Orgnac before seeing the virtual cave, too late to do justice to the real cave. Crazy drive back to Privas where we managed to extricate the van from the morass. Drove off to the Aire at Chomerac just down the road. The whole town was being dug up but the Aire was OK. CCI Aire#24628 N 44.7072 E 4.65814 

Sat 7 Jul 18  Chomerac - Le Puy en Velay 130 km

Another cloudless very hot day. We had breakfast outside serenaded by cicadas in full voice! The SatNav got us lost trying to find the D2 and in the end we spat the dummy and went via Aubenas. Long but nice journey to Le Puy along new roads - fortuitous as we filled with really cheap fuel in Lalevade. Le Puy seemed busy. One Aire was full and we parked at Aiguilhe under Le Rocher St Michel. Walked up the hill near the hospital for the classic view over Le Puy en Velay - and strolled around town later. Great projections on several buildings. CCI Aire #28256 N 45.05081 E 3.88229

Sun 8 Jul 18  Le Puy en Velay - Tourzel Ronzières 110 km

Walked into town on another hot cloudless day. We continue to be impressed with Puy. Left town and had lunch soon after the view of Polignac on the N102. Called in to Brioude but it was too hot to stop and we moved on to Issoire; another super place. Loved the church colours and painted interior. The park had a good display with 'Les Arbres en Couleurs'. Again too hot in town so we headed out to the cooler countryside. N 45.53009 E 3.13468

Mon 9 Jul 18  Tourzel Ronzières - St Rémy de Blot 115 km

Not sure who or what woke us up - could have been the neighbours leaving or the jet fighter or even the March flies!! Took the A71 autoroute until just north of Clermont-Ferrand before heading up D227 and then D109 up the unimpressive Sioule Gorges. Detoured to the Chateau du Rocher before stopping nearby at St Rémy. N 46.07715 E 2.93181

Tue 10 Jul 18  St Rémy de Blot - St Chatier 169 km

Heading for a music festival - problem getting LPG - ended up backtracking to Auchon at Montluçon. We drove to the festival site but the festival didn't start until Thursday pm. We were allowed to stop with lots of empty space around us which did not last long! N 46.60003 E 2.00412

Wed 11 – Sun 15 Jul 18  St Chatier

Features of the Festival

The Site: stalls  our neighbour  the exit road

The Camping:  a transition from  space  to  hemmed in

The Château:  by day  by night  &  at the end

The Stalls and the instruments:  pipes  hurdygurdies  flutes  strings  organic!

The Friends:   one  two  & three

The Jamming:  one  two  three  four  &  five

The Thursday concert:     Monde de Bohas   Galndum Galundaina

The Friday concert:           Carte Blanche à Julien Desailly take 2

The Saturday concert:       San Salvador Trio Petrakis, Lopez; Chemirai

The Sunday concert:          Arquebuse   Northern Company

Mon 16 Jul 18  St Chatier - St Sévère sur Indre 26 km

The revellers were still trying to put the festival to bed at 5 am. We slowly cleared up and had lunch in the shade of the van just before it rained! Headed for town, parked in a blue zone - OK on a Monday apparently, si vous êtes bien garer! Town was easy to enter but not easy to leave with a 2 m high bridge, very narrow streets and a crazy one way system.

Headed to St Sèvere - nice town and nice Aire - very Jacques Tati. Google 'Jour de fête'. N 46.48774 E 2.07071

Tues 17 Jul 18  St Sévère sur Indre - Thiel sur Acolin 175 k

Much cooler day; we moved the van and plugged in to free power next to a lady who'd been at the festival - still had the arm-band on. She was practising her new hurdy-gurdy! We charged the leisure battery, then moved the van under the trees for lunch. We did the town around some of the Jacques Tati film locations. Some messages by the church.

Checked the route to Strasbourg - we're due to meet friends there in a few days - and set off. Nice drive along good secondary roads that crossed three Regions: Berry, Limousin and Auvergne. Took the very busy N145/E62 - very much upgraded since our maps were printed - through some classically French towns. The road became a 2-lane 80 kph horror, with so many trucks and so many radar traps. We'd had enough and stopped at the 2nd Aire that we checked. Still stiflingly hot. The town had some messages for Macron,the President N 47.01767 E 4.83694

Wed 18 Jul 18  Thiel sur Acolin - Beaune 138 km

We headed off through Dompierre to do battle with the trucks on the N79 with its stupid 80, 90 and 110 restrictions. Nice drive past the canal and through Écluse to Beaune. We stopped close to the vans in the Aire - the low barriers had been opened - and had lunch in the shade behind the van. Went into town quite late - superb Hotel de Dieu, the hall, the beds, the toffs area and the kitchens - all magic. Was there a way out? When we left we did a long circuit of the superb town. We bought a farandole metal sculpture at a really stylish exposition. Returned to the van with its 30 new neighbours. Walked around town after dark for the light shows, tower and floodlit church. N 47.01762 E 4.83683

Thu 19 Jul 18  Beaune - Belfort 218 km

Closed the rear door while packing to leave and the rear number plate fell off! How lucky was that? Could have happened anywhere on the road and we'd never have seen it! Fixed it with some duct tape cadged from our Scottish neighbours. Headed off to Belfort ignoring all the SatNavs. The Aire was very full with 26 other vans - many parked very selfishly. Obviously no chance of the free electricity! I picked some blackberries and we had a meal with our German neighbours who had a vintage bus. Walked through town later. N 47.64227 E 6.86584

Fri 20 Jul 18  Belfort - Obernai 131 km

Hot and humid start. Thought about going to Bergheim but in the end went to Obernai - very heavy rain on the N83 Autoroute near Colmar. Checked out the town and walked around the ramparts and back through the centre later. Lots of noisy motorcycle activity. N 48.45974 E 7.48534

Sat 21 Jul 18  Obernai - Kilstett 52 km

23ºC in van overnight - lots of larrikins on small motorbikes until midnight with screamers and wheelie nuts until 2 am. Checked that the rear number plate was still attached and set off into the rain, heavy at times. Met up with our friends and then drove to Imbsheim for their annual dance evening. Some Belgian flag wavers - the Mexican Group were good.

Sun 22 Jul 18  Kilstett

Breakfast and lunch in the garden. Off to Seebach near the German border for their "Streisselhochzeit" the Traditional Wedding Ceremony. Many people dressed in black - they were lucky with a cloudy day; still quite warm though. Nice village, grand houses typical of the region.

Mon 23 Jul 18  Kilstett

Some discussion re next steps: Brittany too far, Black Forest too hot. I had a swim to cool off. Went into Strasbourg in the evening to savour the city and check out the new son et lumiere at the cathedral. Great reflections. Back well after midnight.

Tue 24 Jul 18  Kilstett - Falkenstein - Kilstett

Off to Château du Falkenstein - parked after Philippsbourg on the N62 near a Maison Forestière and did the Chemin Kugelthal. Lunch at interesting picnic table; down to Tourbières, to the Lac du Hanau and back along the Chemin Kachler: about 6 km. Back after 5 pm.

Wed 25 Jul 18  Kilstett

BBQ in evening.

Thu 26 Jul 18  Kilstett - Val-et-Chatillon 109 km

Tried but failed to book the ferry back to the UK. We headed off before lunch, towards the southern Vosges with the promise of some cooler weather. We finally booked the ferry at McD's in Hoenheim. Through Schirmeck up the D392 and D993, up a col (Deux Donons) and through Cirey to Val-et-Chatillon, most of which seemed to be for sale: houses, school and warehouses. CCI Aire#24979 N 48.56058 E 6.964

Fri 27 Jul 18  Val-et-Chatillon - Val-et-Chatillon 78 km

Very hot all day; fresh in the evening. Off to Pierre Percée - disgusted by all the vans spread over the lake front. Walked up to the town and picked some apples and blackberries. Moved the van to the Trois Sapins picnic area - flat and in the shade under the trees. Went for long walk without many views of the lake. Went for a tour of a few Aires; Celles-sur-Plaine was a big drive-through car park with loads of vans there; Alarmont was a private house which we didn't fancy. We returned to last night's spot - cooked and ate outside. N 48.56058 E 6.964 

Sat 28 Jul 18  Val-et-Chatillon - Walscheid 28 km

Cooler day; rain overnight with lots more rain later, culminating in a massive storm in the late afternoon. Decided to head to Walscheid on the way to Saarlouis, one of our key stepping stone destinations. On the way we stopped at Quirin 'un des plus beaux villages de France' two stars. Great little place although the tourist office was closed. Had lunch by the local étang. Parked in Walscheid by the lake and watched the swimmers until the storm suddenly hit at 5.10 and built until 6.20. We closed up for dinner in the van before walking into town for Wi-Fi later. CCI Aire#21900 N 48.64561 E 7.15681

Sun 29 Jul 18  Walscheid - Bitche 82 km

Left late after talking to various neighbours. After a few false starts we went to the castle at Lutzelbourg where a fashion shoot was happening. On the way to Bitche we followed small roads with lots of zigging and zagging, passing places like La Petite Pièrre that we'd visited before. The Aire was full so we parked opposite the Citadel in the shade. It turned out there was a firework display on at 10.30 which was good. CCI Aire#12742 N 49.05502 E 7.43433

Mon 30 Jul 18  Bitche - Saarlouis 80 km

We woke to great views of the Citadel. Walked into town to check Wi-Fi, visit the community garden and wonder about the Bitche street art!!. The drive to Saarlouis went well until a huge Umleitung at Saarbrucken. The Autobahn was shut - really slow going and really hot at 35ºC. We eventually settled in to the Aire and set about picking a couple of kilograms of blackberries some of which we stewed with apples picked on Friday. Too hot to eat a lot - we cooked pancakes outside. N 49.32166 E 6.7423

Tue 31 Jul 18  Saarlouis - Bouillon 206 km

Very hot; 32ºC as we headed to LIDL for a 'German' shop - it's amazing how their stock varies by country. This time it was Apfelstrudl, Mosel wine, sorbet and Favorinis. Headed to Schengen in Luxemburg to get cheap LPG and diesel. Looking for a lunch spot we followed a 'park & ride' sign and found ourselves back in France. We ignored the 'route barrée' sign and headed for the car park of the château at Preisch, which turned out to be a field. We parked in a small shady bit and had lunch - at 35ºC. We followed the wrong road, then got stuck in a jam caused by an accident on the road we should have been on!! Headed for Bouillon at Pam's suggestion. There were 23 vans there. Cooked some blackberry and apple, had dinner and headed to town for the great reflections. CCI Aire #1832 N 49.79049 E 5.0572

Wed 1 Aug 18  Bouillon - Givet 56 km

Filled a few waters, dumped the loo and left about 11.20 past the river and along the very straight D89 and N95. The riverside at Givet was very full of vans and we took our place on our ramps with awning out. Walked around to town. Great views of the town. N 50.13432 E 4.82589

Thu 2 Aug 18  Givet - Bergues 236 km

Due on the ferry on Friday, so we need to move. For a change we went via Phillipville, Maubeuge (where we got lost on the ring road) and Valenciennes where we picked up the normal route. Called in at Bavay for lunch, a walk and shopping. Arrived at Bergues after a very civilised journey. Thirty other vans there - never seen it so full. Had late walk into town where the Belfroi was covered in scaffolding, the entrance gate looked nice. N 50.96523 E 2.43645

Fri 3 Aug 18  Bergues - Calais -Bournemouth 348 k

Set of before 10 am. A minor hold-up on the autoroute as they were mowing the central reservation. In Calais there were longish queues at passport control and border control. The ferry was off on time for a crossing like a mill pond. All went well in the UK, except taking the wrong route out of Dover, again!!

Over the next few days we stayed with rellies in Bournemouth, had a few days near London and about a week at our base in Derby before heading off to North Wales to test how easy wild camping might be. It turned out to be relatively easy.

A few pictures from London: V&A - statues, quadrangle, costumes, jewellery in the round and plaster cast hall - where I got told off for leaning on this exhibit!

Eros at Picadilly, Horseguards Parade and Westminster Abbey.

Fri 17 Aug 18  Derby - Pentre Broughton 130 km 

Sat 18 Aug-Mon 20 Aug  Pentre Broughton

Went to Shrewsbury for a wet day around the town. Interesting mix of old and new. Memories include The Dell, Market Square, the castle area and Charles Darwin.

Tue 21 Aug 18  Pentre Broughton - Llanberis 109 km

We checked out the canal at Pontcysyllte where the car park was full, although not as full as the canal basin! Llangollen was very busy, so on through Corwen, past Swallow Falls and the Ugly House. We did find a few places that were likely stopping spots but we settled near Llanberis after descending the Pass. The weather was unkind but we did do a walk to the village of Nant Peris. We watched a coastguard helicopter take off and we crossed a bridge made of a huge piece of slate. Our layby, listed in Park4night, ended up with eleven of us parking for the night!!

Wed 22 Aug 18  Llanberis - Llanddona 83 km

We awoke to typical mountain weather and tried to sit it out but the weather won; very heavy rain by 11.15. Drove to the RSPB area at Foryd Bay - the tide was way out and it was squally and wet. We stopped, overlooking Caernarfon Castle which looked good even in the drizzle. We got Wi-Fi from across the inlet and sent some pics via WhatsApp. Crossed to Anglesey, checked a place near the Sea Zoo at Foel before heading to Beaumaris Castle and Llanddona. Settled on the beach, although we got stuck later on the stones when trying to turn the van around!!

The weather wasn't great but the light was good for photos. Nice view, nice sunset and nice flat sea - the tide was coming in. Restful sounds from the high tide at about 11 pm.

Thu 23 Aug 18  Llanddona - Foryd Bay 83 km

Went for a 'bracing' walk along the beach, towards Red Wharf Bay. Back about 1 pm - picked a few blackberries. Heavy rain about 2 pm and we left about 4 pm up the tricky and very steep hill (35% the sign said!). Drove to Lligwy Beach, checking the evocative ruined chapel, burial site and the old settlement on the way; then anti-clockwise up the A5025 as far as Amwlch before retracing our steps. Big squall with great rainbows as we went past the castle to stop at our lunch spot from yesterday. Superb luminous clouds and rainbows as we arrived. Aligned the van with the very strong and blustery wind. It was 14ºC and we watched a couple of wind-surfers thrashing up and down the bay. Rather them than me!!

Fri 24 Aug 18  Foryd Bay - Derby 241 km

Up about 9, watched a kite-surfer screaming up and down before leaving at noon. Good drive - dual carriageway from Bangor until after Chester. Weather was OK until we passed Stoke and then it was very heavy rain until Derby.

Sat 25-Thu 30 Aug 18  Derby

Lots of cleaning, clearing, packing, listing and winterising. Days that also included jigsaws and making marrow soup and stewing blackberry and apple - and eating it!

We stored the van on 30th Aug in its new spot.

Day 109 Fri 31 Aug 18  Derby – Doha (Qatar) - Perth

Home again - with jet-lag and a cough picked up on the tedious flight!

Some driving stats

Overall we drove 7781 km, so once again it was not a very 'green' holiday. We noticed that there is a big move in Europe away from diesel cars. It will be interesting to see over the next few years where this leaves motorhomes. Will we ever see electrically driven motorhomes? They'll have to get much smaller first!

An analysis of our driving distances, by country visited:

Distances Travelled by Country

and distances travelled by day

About 90 km per day on average but with a large range - from zero up to nearly 350 km per day.