Yes, dear blog followers, we have actually made it! I am sitting (on Monday) in Stan on our beautiful caravan pitch under pine trees with a glimpse through them of the Med. It is 31C!
Our trip down was fine and we spent 3 overnight stops in service stations which put ours to shame. We got over on Thursday earlier than we had booked which gave us a few bonus extra hours motoring before we stopped for the first night. We parked in a lovely quiet spot on the edge of the area with nice trees and grass around. As the night progressed, more and more lorries came in and eventually we ended up sandwiched between 2 juggernauts with the TGV roaring by near us. Needless to say, we slept fitfully and woke up to rain, rain and more rain. By the time I had got back from the shower, I was as wet as before I'd used the towel to dry myself!
But everything was about to get better; as we headed South, the sun came out and we were able to drive with the windows and sun roof open. After a few heart-stopping moments with Steve needing nerves of steel navigating the Paris peripherique, we hit beautiful countryside and enjoyed a lovely few hundred miles.
Our second night stop was on the Massif Centrale at an idyllic special caravan parking area in the service station; we had our own shower/toilet block and wonderful views - all for free! We were able to have our tea sitting out as the sun went down- washed down with a G & T, of course! Had a calm night, enjoyed by all of us.
The third day we hit the road and were traveling through mountains which made towing a bit scary; even though we were on motorways and main roads, there were very narrow, bendy bits and very steep ups and downs (most scarey going down when you're towing and frightened the caravan is going to snake). Our trusty Espace had to work really hard and spluttered a bit on two occasions giving us the heebie-geebies, thinking he was going to conk out on us. He kept going though, like a real trouper, and we managed to get to the last service station in France to spend our last night. Again, this was set in beautiful fir trees and was quiet and great for the dogs.
Sunday was our final travelling day; we had 70 miles of driving to do. All went really well, as we both remembered the locality from previous trips here so we found the site no problem. We were shown to a pitch and left to get on with it! 'Fraid we haven't been too impressed yet by the people running the site; they seem a bit sullen and don't volunteer information you really need unless you go and ask them. Had a few problems getting set up which could have been avoided with a bit more help from them.
We booked the largest pitch possible and it is HUGE! The site goes up the mountain side and so has terraces going up it for the pitches - we have a whole terrace for ourselves! We have just washed the door side of Stan and are going to try putting up the awning soon - then Peps and Bud can run around, though it is probably too hot for that! They have been absolutely brilliant the whole journey and I think they are going to enjoy their holiday as much as us...
Well, time to get on with the awning but more news soon!
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