# Our longest trip away - a brief review!



## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

We got back on Tuesday after nearly 6 weeks away, through France to Spain, with most of March in Spain - a really special trip for both of us (and the silver machine!). 

You may have seen the details of Viv's problems, and as she got clearance for 3 months we decided to take a long break to get some sunshine - something we had been promising ourselves for a few years, but work and health problems had got in the way, so on 27th February we set off to the Tunnel, with an overnight at Calais, then stops at Beaugency and Millau, where we had a scare with the motorhome 8O ; the engine management light was coming on intermittently, and going up the mountains towards Millau we really struggled with a lack of power. The RAC was called, and we had excellent service from the Uk base, and the local depannage man. he guided us to a local Fiat dealer, but as it was Saturday the guy wasn't there; he was coming out at 12noon, but by then the warning light wasn't on & we decided to go on. We called the RAC and they said ok, we'll call in the evening to see everything was ok. It was, and they did - very re-assuring service from them. So no further problems with the van (apart from the step buzzer :evil: ). We got near to the border at Leucate Plage having paid nothing for the aires across France  

Into Spain, and we ambled south, stopping off at Benicassim to visit MHF friends Bryan & Rosemary (theSnails) and Vicdicdoc, then Javea to visit some friends form Bognor who were stopping there, we also met up with a friend of ours further south at Mojacar, and Viv's sister at Punta Prima. All in all we did some nice sites in Spain, most being on ACSI, one with Camping cheques, a couple of Semi-aires, the most expensive site being in Mojacar at €22.50 a night, and quite the worst site we used by far! The places we like most were in the Cabo de Gata, and Almeria - some quiet places, and some history. Obviously most of the coast is developed, and lost of it is pretty awful - we managed to avoid what we saw as the worst of the over-development, and enjoyed some lovely weather (but found that some clouds tended to follow us around!). 
We had to shuffle things around at easter because many sites don't take ACSI, but got on OK without having to pay peak rates. By Easter sunday we headed back across the border into France, and the weather changed!! The intention was to amble back through a lovely French spring, but they had similar weather to the UK, cold and wet! |But we still managed to find some nice places - Aveyron gorge, Sarlat on a sunny day, Loire valley, and a couple of nights to finish off in Honfleur (with sunshine ! - if a bit cold), then back to Calais for shopping and home...
All through it Viv has been fine - thankfully, and we've done some walking, cycling, sampling food & drink, and seeing new and old places. 
A couple of things that came out - for those going to spain, get a 2-pin electric adaptor - we only found one site with the blue continental plug. What a difference on bar prices between Spain & France!! You can get a beer or coffee in Spain form €1.50/60, with a mini tapas included, in France you pay from €2.50 upwards (without the nibbles). Tapas is great value for lunchtime snacks, or try the Menu del dia - most places under €10 for 3 courses and a drink! 
We didn't bother with TV, but it might have been useful for TV addicts. Diesel in Spain is more or less the same price as in France now. 
So would we do it again? Well, Spain we would do again, but would do the north west and Portugal in June or thereabouts. We would love to do a longer trip to southern Europe, - Italy & Greece, September time. We can't plan too far ahead because of Viv's medical situation, but with less work commitments we're going to make the most of it while we can 8)


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Thanks for the review Mike, sounds like you had a good trip, glad to hear Viv is keeping OK.

Greece sounds good in September, go on, you know you want to...

 

Pete


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

And will check out the experts' reports 8) :wink:


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Good to see you both safely back and that you had a good time, really pleased that Viv stood up to the rigours well and that you both got some walking etc in as well.

Totally agree about coffee in Spain - good, hot and MUCH cheaper than here.....

Lunchtime meals at working people's cafes called Ventas are strongly recommended - very good priced food, and lots of it, often including wine, lemonade (to dilute it) and three or four courses for €8 - 10 and really filling.

We only discovered how good they were when some rellies took us to several around Malaga - we were hooked from then on and used them all the way back to the Pyrenees.

I hope that you will have the time and the chance to write a more detailed lengthy account with some pictures - it would be of interest to many of us.

Welcome back (to the UK), next time you are going past here.......

Dave


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Envy, envy!! :wink:

Sounds like a good time was had by all, and delighted to hear that Viv was able to enjoy it to the full.

"_Doing it while you can_" is a very wise philosophy for all of us who have reached a certain age. You never know what's around the corner, but worst of all would be to live to be 100, wishing you had done all those things . . . while you could. 8O

Dave


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Zebedee said:


> Envy, envy!! :wink:
> 
> Sounds like a good time was had by all, and delighted to hear that Viv was able to enjoy it to the full.
> 
> ...


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain (and also the header on our website)

Glad you had a good time Mike! Welcome back.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Sounds a great trip and one we are planning to do next year.

Mike, did you book anywhere in advance or just travelled and turned up?
Chris


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Glad you both had a good time (with very little trouble)- spooky, coming out of the tunnel between France into Spain my step warning buzzer went off as well. . . Must be the shock of being in sunshine !

The one thing I found (& didn't like in Spain) was that they seem to dish up all food on a cold plate . . . I got round that by having the Spanish translation on my phone saying "please can I have my food on a hot plate"
-I got a few strange looks but got my hot plate !


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## carol (May 9, 2005)

Welcome home Mike glad you both enjoyed it. 

Any ideas why the Hymer played up?

Carol


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## lalala (Aug 13, 2009)

bognormike said:


> So would we do it again? Well, Spain we would do again, but would do the north west and Portugal in June or thereabouts.


Sounds a great trip. If you do decide to go to Northern Spain/Portugal look into the crossing from Nazaire to Gijon with LD Lines. I've just looked at the website and a return in an average size motorhome with a two berth cabin each way was about £400. We did it when the line opened and enjoyed the crossing - and it saved many miles of driving.
Lala


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

vicdicdoc said:


> Glad you both had a good time (with very little trouble)- spooky, coming out of the tunnel between France into Spain my step warning buzzer went off as well. . . Must be the shock of being in sunshine !
> 
> The one thing I found (& didn't like in Spain) was that they seem to dish up all food on a cold plate . . . I got round that by having the Spanish translation on my phone saying "please can I have my food on a hot plate"
> -I got a few strange looks but got my hot plate !


Michelle always moans about the cold plates in France and she's part french but we didn't notice um in Spain perhaps due to the weather. :wink:


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Very true comment - for some unknown reason only the UK seems to have thought that hot plates keeps the food warmer for longer.....

mind you food in the UK is also served hotter than elsewhere - not sure why, but that is an observation that we have made repeatedly. 8O 

Dave


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

chrisgog said:


> Sounds a great trip and one we are planning to do next year.
> 
> Mike, did you book anywhere in advance or just travelled and turned up?
> Chris


Didn't book anything - just turned up! We did get a bit nervous at Easter time, and tyrned up at the aire at Denia on the Saturday to find it full up 8O , but we soon found somewhere else.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

carol said:


> Welcome home Mike glad you both enjoyed it.
> 
> Any ideas why the Hymer played up?
> 
> Carol


no idea Carol, the light was on initially but no apparent problem, then after we struggled in to Millau and re-started next morning there was nothing else. I'll have it checked out on our next service.

The step buzzer started going when it got very wet driving through France as well; I looked at the connections and of course it's just behind the back wheel, and collects all the spray. The rubber cover is absolute rubbish, and water and crap had got in, the terminals were rusty and were catching together, so I disconnected it! A job to sort this weekend.


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## 100127 (Jul 20, 2006)

bognormike said:


> chrisgog said:
> 
> 
> > Sounds a great trip and one we are planning to do next year.
> ...


Nice to meet you both in a lay-by at Wrotham, hope the Tv is ok.

Bob


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

thanks bob, set up & fittings adjusted so the cupboard "door" can fit neatly. 8)


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

one thing I forgot to mention was communications. We had a toggle sim card, which was a bit of a faff to set up (especially if you try to do it from abroad when you have no internet connection!), but worked well - 3p a minute for calls and 8p for texts- we registered in Spain & France and had no problems. When we go again we'll have a separate cheap (unblocked) phone , and keep it in there, rather than having to switch sim cards. 
And Motorhomewifi's MIFI worked well (eventually!), once we discovered that you shouldn't download game updates on Facebook with a 100mb daily allowance for €2  . It charges €1 for every mb over that, so the credit disappears quickly!! A useful alternative when no free site wif if is avaialble, or a client wants an e-mail from somewhere on a French autoroute!


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