This map shows the location of the places we stayed at this year.
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?authuser=0&authuser=0&hl=en&hl=en&mid=zJwjyYPgvB8c.k9W8AadQwpH4
The Garratt's Summer Holiday Adventures
This blog is a personal record of our summer holidays travelling around in 'Flo the campervan' and 'Monty the Motorhome'. It's meant for us, and our family and friends who are interested.
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Friday, 8 August 2014
Thursday, 7 August 2014
We're going home, we're going home.... :-(
I didn’t
sleep well at all – knowing we had to get up and hearing people leave early was
quite unsettling. We realised that the
woman who re-arranged our ticket actually put us on an earlier crossing than we
asked for so we had to move quicker than we wanted.
Flo spluttered to a start (a relief) and we
drove around to check in – it always takes longer than we have patience for
thanks to idiots working on booths and the people in front who didn’t have pet
clearances etc.. we got around to the queue ready to get onto the boat – as per
the other stages in the queues every other queue seems to be boarding before us
and we’re just beginning to get very impatient . Finally we were waved forward; Chris had left
the engine running all the time to help charge the battery, but when he put her
into gear she just died!!! PANIC!!! We were holding the whole queue behind us up
and the little Frenchman was waving his orange flags at us frantically!!! It was so embarrassing, everyone had to
overtake us and nothing we did could
jump start her!!!
We told the P&O guy and he said it wasn’t a worry as they could tow us onto the boat but 1st he called the French Calais workers who arrived with a super battery to try jump starting us, the kid who was with him nearly electrocuted the old guy with it first before putting it on Flo!!! Thankfully it started her so we drove up the ramp and we got onto the boat they closed the door behind us – we were the VERY last vehicle on!! The P&O worker joked that we should tie ourselves to the lorry in front!! We jumped out of Flo and went up the stairs into the lounge – as we walked in the captain was apologising on the tanoy for the delay in departure that we’d caused!! It was SO stressful, we just could not believe that Flo had had the last laugh – and it wasn’t over yet!!
We told the P&O guy and he said it wasn’t a worry as they could tow us onto the boat but 1st he called the French Calais workers who arrived with a super battery to try jump starting us, the kid who was with him nearly electrocuted the old guy with it first before putting it on Flo!!! Thankfully it started her so we drove up the ramp and we got onto the boat they closed the door behind us – we were the VERY last vehicle on!! The P&O worker joked that we should tie ourselves to the lorry in front!! We jumped out of Flo and went up the stairs into the lounge – as we walked in the captain was apologising on the tanoy for the delay in departure that we’d caused!! It was SO stressful, we just could not believe that Flo had had the last laugh – and it wasn’t over yet!!
The
crossing was quiet, we went back down into the hold and Flo was once again as
dead as a dodo!!! Not a big surprise but
still pretty frustrating!! We told the
P&O guy so he suggested we try push starting, he called over some cyclists,
told them to ‘put down their push bikes and get pushing’!!!!! they gave him a filthy look but did as he
said – it didn’t work though so he called the Port mechanics. By this time the whole load had driven off
and new lorries were starting to drive on!!!
The pickup arrived and tried jump starting us again but this time the
battery was gone so he gave us a tow and we jump started!! At least that meant we could drive off, he
said that he thought our starter motor had gone so advised us not to turn the
engine off as it wouldn’t start again….not a huge problem when considering 1st
gear was still playing up so stalling was a very real reality and the fact that
that we only had enough petrol to get us half way round the M25!!!
Traffic
was ok, we researched the risks of filling up petrol and LPG with the engine
running and although we knew it can be done we couldn’t risk it with the kids
in the car so we pulled into the service station halfway round the M25 , filled
up and prayed it would re-start – it didn’t!!! so, I called the AA and we
waited for him to sort us out – he took ages checking everything but at least
we were safe ie not on the edge of the motorway; and we could use the loos, buy
cold drinks and lunch etc. eventually he
gave us a tow and we jump started again, praying for good fuel economy and no
traffic we set off – unfortunately the M6 at Birmingham was bumper-to-bumper
for about 10 miles, another very stressful hour as Chris is desperately trying
not to stall without 1st gear!! After hours and hours we eventually got home!!!! HORAY!!!! We pulled into our drive but this time Flo wouldn’t go into reverse!! So not for the first time I jumped out and pushed her back onto the drive!!!
We left her running and emptied everything we needed into the hall and immediately drove her around to Ellesmere garage and left her there…………………….
Gad to be home? Yes!! BUT what another amazing holiday we have had in Fantastic Flo!!! - and although it wasn't the holiday we had planned we have made some super memories and were blessed hugely the whole time!!!
What will we do next year?!!!!
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Too close to home...
I had
rearranged the ferry crossing to Thursday at 09:50 with only a £20 admin charge
so we decided to go to City Europe supermarket at Calais today and stay at the
aire next to the port.
We bought
the usual stuff for the freezer and tinned bits for the cupboard as well as
biere and vin. It was pouring with rain,
as it seems to be every time we are here and we got drenched putting it away in
Flo!!
The aire is
literally on the harbour wall and so we sat watching ferries go in and leave
all afternoon! We also walked out along
the harbour wall and along the seafront.
Kids played in a park for ages once the sun came out.
By the evening the aire got really busy, the boy who was collecting the money was really strict about only letting campervans and motorhomes in! there were 2 other T25s in the aire; 1 had an old couple in who although friendly to the woman next to us didn't speak to us at all. The 2nd had a young couple in who didn’t speak to us until the late evening, not been impressed by the T25ers recently!!
By the evening the aire got really busy, the boy who was collecting the money was really strict about only letting campervans and motorhomes in! there were 2 other T25s in the aire; 1 had an old couple in who although friendly to the woman next to us didn't speak to us at all. The 2nd had a young couple in who didn’t speak to us until the late evening, not been impressed by the T25ers recently!!
When the
kids had gone to bed I walked up to the fast food vans and queued for ages to
order a chicken baguette from a Moroccan guy, it wasn’t good!!!
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
We do love to be beside the seaside
A beautiful clear
morning, the forecast said it would be nice.
A boulangerie van came round at about 9am so I bought a baguette
although it was a bit burnt.





Monday, 4 August 2014
Panicking in Paris
Evan and I
were up early to collect our bread, so early that the owner commented on it – I
like the way that she allows me to use my broken French with her and answers in
French too, it’s the only way you can improve.
Saying we were ‘early’ is all relative as our elderly neighbours had
left before we’d woken up!
Jump started
Flo - again; it doesn’t worry me anymore
although I'm sure Chris has had enough of the hassle of it. Paid 130E for the 4 nights, I think this was
quite expensive – the site was huge and obviously gave free access to the pool
and mini golf etc. but it was old and definitely not maintained to an ‘excellent’
standard. Still, we had had fun and it
was so good for the kids to be able to play cricket and swim everyday so I
would use them again if we were passing through the area for a few nights.
We began our
usual journey north again, this time aiming for Champagne, it was going fine
until Chris felt the gear stick wobble again!!!
ARGHHHH!!! NO!!!!!! It was
raining and the kids were quiet so we decided to just go north as far as we
could as we were sure Flo was going to break again now. However the very worrying part of this
decision was that going north would mean that we would have to go through Paris
and the though terrified us!! When we are travelling I always have the map book
open as well as the satnav on because it often makes you go along random short
cuts so I like to know where we are going, however Paris is so complicated that
there is no way I could navigate with the map so we had to trust the
machine. We were doing pretty fine,
getting closer and closer to the centre and before we knew it we were on the
dreaded ‘periphique’-the nightmare inner ringroad!! That said, traffic was
heavy but flowing steadily so wasn’t too bad.
We were all really shocked to see the Eiffle tower – never thought we’d
be that close!!! Evan tried to get a
photo but we we’d entered into the tunnels where Diana had her crash and so we
missed our chance. We got to the north
of Paris, saw the Stade-de-France and began to think how well we’d done…when
suddenly the satnav let us down –BIG TIME!!!!!!
It took us off into a really dodgy neighbourhood up a huge never-ending
steep hill with speed humps and traffic lights every 2 minutes – the absolute
worse conditions for driving poorly Flo!! It was so stressful and an awful
45mins, how we got through it I don’t know!!
We finally
left paris many grey hairs later and left feeling more than a bit sick!! I looked for an aire that would be within
walking distance of a town or village so we could have a few days without
having to move again; we decided on Boulangne-sur-Mer, a seadside town about 20
mins from Calais. It was a massive
relief when we actually arrived; Flo had driven for 4 hours solid and through
really difficult traffic but it was reassuring that we were so much closer to
the ferry port now.
The aire is on the cliff top looking down on the massive
sandy beach and town. When we arrived we
found a space that was next to a Dutch couple (again), also in our bay was a German
van and a Belgian van so very European!!
It’s now a beautiful clear sky and men are jumping off the cliff in
paragliders, looked horrendous to me!!



Sunday, 3 August 2014
Saturday, 2 August 2014
Mini olympics
This morning
we went for a walk around the lake at the campsite, the resident swan and ducks
have been up close looking for food so we took bread for them and a picnic for us.
Evan, Chris and I had a few goes at table tennis, we’re all as bad as each other but to be fair Evan also needs to be taller!

We then moved down to the trampoline where the kids enjoyed playing for ages.
After this we borrowed mini golf clubs from reception and we all had a go at their very uneven holes – kids absolutely loved this!!

Finally, we made a visit to the park and made
a quick stop to say hi to the local rabbit.
We also borrowed badminton racquets and shuttlecocks which Rennie
enjoyed playing with.
Evan, Chris and I had a few goes at table tennis, we’re all as bad as each other but to be fair Evan also needs to be taller!

We then moved down to the trampoline where the kids enjoyed playing for ages.
After this we borrowed mini golf clubs from reception and we all had a go at their very uneven holes – kids absolutely loved this!!




A very old
and frail Dutch couple arrived next to
us today, they said it had taken them 8 hours to get through Paris!!! CRAZY –
this is why we went to Rouen when we were travelling south!! They were towing a caravan, he had a motor to
move it, a drill to put the legs down and he had a fold up bike that he
balanced his water carrier on!! I hope
when we’re old we’ll still come away in our motor home!!
Friday, 1 August 2014
Swimming again!
A lovely warm clear morning, Evan and I collected our
delicious bread from reception and we put a bottle of water in the freezer to
freeze (very French style!) to help keep the fridge cold.
Kids played around the site for the morning.
I took them swimming in the afternoon; We figured out that reception would give us wristbands meaning we didn’t have to pay at the municipal pool which was great! The pool was an old 1970s pool but was in good condition, took me a while to work out the system of getting a cage, putting shoes in, going through changing room, handing in cage and getting a wristband before finally reaching the pool!! There are 2 pools; 1 is deep with 3 diving boards and 1 is up to 1m30 with a slide so perfect for us. The lifeguard is dead strict about boys wearing trunks and no eating or drinking by the pool. The water was really warm and kids loved it, bought ice lollies on way back; the Wall’s kid’s range all seem to be safe for Rennie.
Kids and Chris had a cricket tournament when we got back! Great fun, they're really good! Chris is particularly impressed with Evan's leg-spin apparently.
Kids played around the site for the morning.
I took them swimming in the afternoon; We figured out that reception would give us wristbands meaning we didn’t have to pay at the municipal pool which was great! The pool was an old 1970s pool but was in good condition, took me a while to work out the system of getting a cage, putting shoes in, going through changing room, handing in cage and getting a wristband before finally reaching the pool!! There are 2 pools; 1 is deep with 3 diving boards and 1 is up to 1m30 with a slide so perfect for us. The lifeguard is dead strict about boys wearing trunks and no eating or drinking by the pool. The water was really warm and kids loved it, bought ice lollies on way back; the Wall’s kid’s range all seem to be safe for Rennie.
Kids and Chris had a cricket tournament when we got back! Great fun, they're really good! Chris is particularly impressed with Evan's leg-spin apparently.
Thursday, 31 July 2014
Camping Le Grand Sologne
Kids are
really in the swing of sleeping in Flo now, Evan and Morgan wake at about 8:30
and stay in their beds 'til 9 most mornings!! Amazing considering we’re all
sleeping in such a small space! After
the wet and cold days in the Auvergne we have decided that unfortunately Flo is
not really big enough for us all anymore; we’ll definitely get a motorhome when
we get back. We’ve told this to the kids
and got mixed responses: Evan said “ok, when? What type?, how big? Where will I
sleep?”; Seren got sad and was nearly crying because of how much she’ll miss
Flo, she loves Flo, she doesn’t want a new motorhome etc.; and Morgan just says
“Yey!!” So funny to see their different personalities reflected here!
Drove north again and took toll road for 1 ½ hours to a village called Nouan-Le-Fuzelier. As we were driving we went through a village called Salbris which appeared to have a nice aire on the river – check this out for future years. As we came off the toll road the Gendarmerie were waiting to pull us over…great!!! Asked Chris for his licence and Flo’s registration docs which we gave him, he walked over to his mate and around Flo a couple of times to make us feel worried and then gave them back saying they were fine!! Phew!!! Don’t know if I can take much more excitement!!!

Hung all the
washing out and made us look like a Chinese laundry!! A British couple are
fishing in the lake and have caught a massive fish. The reception lets you reserve bread for the
morning so I've requested 2 grand pain and also got wifi. Lots of Dutch couples arrived in the evening
who were obviously stopping off on their way south, Chris enjoyed watching
people struggle to set up!!
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Camping by the canal
If it had
been a clear day we would have stayed longer in Auvergne, we want to go to the
top of Puy de Dome on the train and visit Volvic – however it was just as cold
and wet as when we went to bed so we decided to leave and come back another
year.
As we drove
north we rapidly dropped over 1000m, the sky cleared and the sun came out – it
was like being in another world. The
dark enclosed aire combined with the bad weather had really affected our moods,
it was a definite lightening of our spirits as we saw the sun again!!
Drove onto
the peage again to avoid start-stop traffic, we headed for a small town called
St.Amand-Montrond. The aire was
alongside the canal about 5 min from the centre of the town. People were fishing but only catching
tiddlers. It was lunch time and much to Chris’ continued annoyance everywhere
was shut for lunch! You’d think he’d have got used to it by now!! That said, the Casino was open so filled up
with bread and fruit – oh, and another pair
of flipflops for Chris!
Ate lunch in
a small square with fountains and then walked to the 16th century
fortress ruin in the town. It was
boiling in complete contrast to this morning at the Auvergne. Unfortunately most of the fortress was fenced
off but it was a pleasant walk with nice views across the town.
Back at Flo
the kids enjoyed playing next to the canal – loom bands although very
irritating because of the mess they make are an excellent way to occupy
children for hours!!
Pleasant French families were either side of us. It was nice spending the evening next to the canal, we even saw an otter swim past which is pretty cool I think!!
Pleasant French families were either side of us. It was nice spending the evening next to the canal, we even saw an otter swim past which is pretty cool I think!!
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
A cold night at the volcano!
The fog came
down really tick overnight and it was cold, nearly caught us out after last
year’s heat wave!! I had a bit of a
panic as I haven’t really brought many cold weather clothes!! Jumpers, trousers and coats were thankfully
enough to warm us up!!
We drove the
steep, very slow 20 minute drive through thick fog to Volcania. Chris was not happy about the drive and
neither was Flo!!
Volcania is
a science museum/theme park built in the hollow of an extinct volcano. It is predominately an indoor venue and so as
a result it was packed, thankfully we had decided to stay in the aire there
tonight so we missed all the queues! The
aire is pricy at 10E a night but is massive and there weren’t many people
there. 1st obstacle was that the pedestrian gate was locked so I was
shouting in French at a parking attendant who said he would come but never did….big queues at all the
booths and it was expensive entrance cost
of 82E for us all so we hoping to be impressed!


Overall it was a really great attraction and the children loved it despite all the queuing, was also perfect for such a dank day!
The kids all got gifts at the shop and said it was one of the best days they’ve had.
Monday, 28 July 2014
Volcano country!
Flo started
this morning!! WHOOOHOO!!! It doesn’t stress me but I do hold my breath
everytime Chris turns the key!! We've
been listening to podcasts by Jarrod Cooper, Dave Russell and Richard Taylor and Chris' old Friend Paul Hopkins these last few days. They’ve preached on
believing in the supernatural, expecting good things and the fact that God wants good things for us – he wants us
to enjoy our holiday and as we learn to trust in Him and be grateful for every
extra blessing we have in Flo!! AMEN!
It’s another
misty start, we got up and drove to the Carrefour at Brive – it’s one of the
massive ones so we took our time. We
drove northeast heading for the Auvergne; it is one of the few places that I
have researched as a good place to visit because of it’s 110 volcanoes in a
30km stretch. We again decided to take
the toll roads so it would be less strain on Flo – it was a good drive until we
got to the toll booth which was unmanned, when we put our credit card in it
wouldn’t accept it! As Flo is left hand
drive Chris was having to do all the tickets and difficult gear changes at the
same time so this was particularly stressful – he ended up putting notes and
thankfully it was fine!
We drove to an
aire in a village called Plaugnat which was at the foot of the Plaugnat
volcano. This was one of the first times
when the aire looked nicer in the book than reality – we chose it because it
was grassy but in reality it was a steep grassy bank that was heavily wooded so
no good for the kids to play on. It
wasn’t great but it was only 20 minutes from the Volcania science museum which
we really want to visit. The altitude
here is really high and as such the clouds are really low and the temperature
has dropped considerably. We walked into the village but there wasn’t really
anything, looked like it had war damage and then had been rebuilt 60s style. We
all had to go inside for the evening as it had gotten really cold compared to
other nights.

We had been fortunate to have had a clear drive earlier as we were able to see the outline of the big volcanoes including the huge crater on Puy de Dome and the Volvic mountain which was amazing to see.


We had been fortunate to have had a clear drive earlier as we were able to see the outline of the big volcanoes including the huge crater on Puy de Dome and the Volvic mountain which was amazing to see.
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