A New Adventure in France

So after a couple of months in the UK we are back on the road again to resume our travels – with a few changes. While we were away last year we had started to think about changing our van for one that would reduce our dependence on campsites and extend our ‘camping’ season as nights draw in and temperatures drop. We loved our VW T5 and spending 9 happy months in it over the past two years was testament to that. So ideally we wanted something with a shower and toilet but a van that would allow us to stay ‘nimble’ and get into villages and still tow the trailer with the motorbike. Joe also had some specific requirements about engine size and transmission as the VW had a great engine for towing and he didn’t want to compromise in that respect. He also had a hankering for 4 wheel drive with dreams of no limits as to where we could, in theory, camp.

At the time we started to think about a change, most of the country seemed to be waking up to the joys of campervanning, motorhoming and ‘staycationing’ so popularity of vans was at an all-time high. Add to this Brexit and Covid and the prices and lead times on vans shot up with lead times for new orders being anywhere between 12 and 18 months and colour choices reduced to non- metallic ‘Covid’ grey. Long story short, Joe kept an eye on all the Motorhome dealer websites and came across a van with nearly all the spec we wanted the day it was published for sale. So our new travelling companion is a Mercedes Sprinter based campervan, just under 6 metres long. It has the shower/ toilet we wanted, a fixed bed – so no making the bed up every day – and a dining area with TV, hot water and heating, all at about 1 metre longer than the previous van. And for the mechanically minded it has the 4-wheel drive Joe wanted and enough ‘oomph’ for towing. We needed to have a few extras fitted once we’d taken delivery but then we were ready to hit the road again. We were also very pleased that our cherished VW went to lovely new owners not far from Tunbridge Wells – we hope he’ll look after them as well as he looked after us.

Where to go then? Well, we have our French long stay visa until the end of May and it makes sense to make the most of that as any time outside France eats into our Schengen 90 in 180 days allowance. But we also want to see what the winter months in Southern Europe are like so decided to dip into Spain for a couple of weeks at least before heading back to France. As we’re getting used to the new van we also decided to leave the trailer and motorbike at the house we stayed at in Bram before we came back to the UK. The owner has lots of space there and had already agreed we could do that if we wanted.

It will also be our first time trying out overnight stops away from campsites. There are various apps available that give details of locations that allow campervans to stop overnight, ranging from car parks with no facilities to sites that have electric hook-up and waste disposal at a low cost. We’re used to seeing these sites in France but Spain will be new to us. Plenty to explore then – and no doubt plenty of tales to tell. More to come soon ….