Winter vacation

Yes, we on the road again. This time we travel to Austria. Our plan is to go skiing and we can be sure it will be enough snow this time.

We have set up very early to catch our train from Folkstone to Callais which was painless as usual.

No snow yet?

Eurotunnel, fast and easy crossing to France

Vacance en France – Bergerac

We have left Andorra la Vella heading north in to France via Ax-les-Thermes and Foix to Toulouse. We stopped over night outside Toulouse before we continued our trip. We passed by Montauban, Agen, Villeneuve-sur-Lot again and  reached Bergerac on a beautiful day.

Traditional barges on the Dordogne River.

One of the old town’s half-timbered buildings.

Help yourself!

Vacance en France – Andorra la Vella

We like to drive the scenic route from Barcelona to France via Andorra in the Pyrenees. This takes less then 3 hours  via the Autopista de Monteserrat. Andorra la Vella is the capital of Andorra and is famous for shopping and of course for cheap fuel.

A quick stop south of the border to Andorra.

Duty free Shops lining Meritxell Avenue.

Casas or Chalets in Andorra.

Vacance en France – Barcelona

To visit Barcelona and titled  “Vacance en France” is not exactly  correct, as everybody knows Barcelona is in Spain. This was a spontaneous idea after we left Cap d’Adge to visit another place and we made the decision to heading south in to Spain. Anyway this is only a 3 hour drive and we camped in El Masnou, just north of Barcelona. Very convenient for us as a short walk from the campsite is a train station which where the trains running every 20 minutes or so to the City. Perfect.

Back on the El Masnou Campsite preparing evening supper.

Sláinte!

Vacance en France – Rocamadour

Rocamadour, with the monastic buildings in the LOT department, Occitanie. It is in the Parc Naturel Régional des Causses du Quercy, well worth the visit. Very Popular by Tourists but with only a population of 600. We have spend a couple of days in this beautiful Village. We had a great time well worth the visit.

 

44.7994° N, 1.6179° E

Vacance en France – Le Paradis Du Campeur L’Hospitalet

A long name for a small but cheerfully Campsite. This site is in walking distance of the beautiful Village of Rocamadour. I’m not surprised when everyone says, go to l’Hospitalet for the best views of the village in its entirety.

The Campsite is directly on the main street of l’Hospitalet and includes a Hotel, free WIFI and a swimming pool.

The french way of life, keep camping simple but take the fridge with you for a nice cold drink.

 

Vacances en France – Aquitaine to Occitanie

We have left the Nouvelle-Aquitaine are and drove to the region of Occitanie. This trip was via Sabres, Callen, Captieux, Casteljaloux and Villeneuve-sur-Lot to Rocamadour.

It was an extreme hot day and the temperature reach 41 degrees Celcius on afternoon. I was very pleased the air-con with the new condenser worked at it best.

Vacances en France – Mimizan Plage

Nice day on the Atlantic coast. Hot day but the sea was very cold.

We visited the local marked. Anybody fancy a new hair style?

Today cook the “Chef” himself. Someone has to do this work.

Vacances en France – Vienne

We left the beautiful Campside in Thury-Harcourt and continued our travel to south-west via Rennes, Bretagne and Nantes on the Loire River. Unfortunately the weather and forecast was not the best and instead to continue with our plan to travel to the Atlantic coast we headed south east towards to the sun.

We traveled Cholet, Maine-et-Loire and Bressuire  and Poitiers in the Vienne department. The weather changed dramatically from heavy rain to beautiful sunshine. We decided to stop in Vivonne which is just south east of Poitiers and stay overnight on a Campsite. Our plan was to visit some friends next day which live in the Haute Vienne department and only a 2 hours drive away.

Camping des Trois Rivieres, Vivonne, Poitiers, Vienne

N 46.42499, E 0.26462

Some unfortunate french holiday maker had a problem with the electric on his ancient Caravan. I was more then happy to help him to fix it.

Maggiolina Airtop

For more then 2 years we have planned to sell our old but reliable ARB Simpson Roof tent and buy a new Maggiolina Airtop Roof Top Tent. We believe the Airtop fits our travel’s around Europe much better. We had great times with the Simpson roof tent. Of course the Airtop can be opened within 20 seconds and packed away within a minute. Which is very  good. To open an close the Simpson it took me at least 15-20 minutes and was no fun to do it in the rain. Of course the Simpson could folded in half and this has give me some space on the roof rack for gear which I rather not have in the Car. This of course is now gone as the new tent use the whole length of the roof rack.

I had to re-arrange  the layout in the Land cruiser to fit all the gear in. The good side on it is, some of the equipment which I have carried around for years and of course never have used has been thrown out and flung in to one of the dark corners in my Garage and probably never see the daylight again.

The tent fit perfectly on to my old roof rack. I’m still be able to slide the table under the rack.

There is plenty space in the tent. Although the height is restricted compares to the Simpson roof tent.