Our aim is to get to the French Alps and back in 5 weeks. Easy. As there is no rush we thought that we would take it easy. We wake up this morning by a lovely lake in Arques and before breakfast we go for a bike ride around the smaller lake then into the small village for some bread, a “boule” of bread. It’s a beautiful morning so we have breakfast outside in the cool bright morning sunshine. Excellent.
Arques to Masnil les Ruitz – 55km
Today we are going a staggering 54 km to a site that we have been to before. It’s a great adventure place if you like that kind of thing called Parc Olhain. It’s a quiet place with lots going on, a real family place but maybe it’ll be a bit more quiet considering what’s going on these days. It has a great place for motor-homing with large shaded areas which is perfect as today is forecast to be the hottest day of the year. The usual shower and washing facilities are closed due to the virus which is a shame. It’s ok for us however as Jess is fitted with hot running water an excellent shower.
We are in place and comfortable by 2pm, time for a walk. It’s hot… Very hot… We manage a short walk, an ice-cream, and back to the van and shade.
Lets’s get some shade.
We settle back into the shade of the trees and take an impromptu drinks tasting of Europe stating with some beer from Spain (San Miguel). Followed by a Belgian Trappist beer called Rochefort (excellent!) A French red wine for dinner (with a very runny unpasteurised Brie).
It’s a lovely evening so we just sit and chat until nightfall just as the French red is running out. Time for bed…
Today is the day. Today is the day that we set off for France in mainland Europe. The virus has been with us since March, we have had “lockdown”, we have been unlocked in part and we are now following this advice and that advice from our leaders who, let’s be honest don’t know much more than us about what we should be doing. Yes, we are a little nervous about what we are doing but we are responsible and we think prepared. Our van is loaded with plenty of masks, sanitiser, and soap. We know to keep a safe distance and to wash our hands regularly, we’ve had enough practice after all!
The plan is to make for the French Alps. We have five weeks to get there and back, we may decide to stay out longer if there is nothing to come back for, which right now is looking likely. Del will certainly be twiddling his thumbs while Hayley may get some more days at ITV.
All working?
Our departure is planned for today, the 29th, on a 10:00 am ferry to Portsmouth, but the day before we spend a lovely day and night at Whitefield Forest campsite in Brading on the Isle of Wight. A stunning and peaceful setting and a great place to get yourself into the right frame of mind and equally to make sure that everything on Jess is working ok, including the bikes. The weather is just perfect, warm, clear, and bright. Dinner and drinks outside and a great night’s sleep sets us up for the next day. So far so good.
The drive across the from Portsmouth to Dover the next day is uneventful, thankfully. Once we get to the Port of Dover there is a slight hold up at the customs. We are wondering what new things customs will require, we haven’t read anything new. It’s nothing to be concerned about. French customs are not just waving you through today, they are looking at everyone’s passport. Practicing for when Brexit does arrive. A delayed ferry by 20 minutes but no matter. We are not alone. There are many Brits in the line, not as many for a normal August, some people are just not going abroad, but we feel better that we are not the only ones.
Once on the ferry to Calais it feels a little odd. Shops and cafes are open but the seating areas are cut to 50% so finding a seat to have your coffee is tricky. The rules are to wear a mask, except when eating and drinking. We are amazed at the amount of people not wearing a mask or wearing a mask incorrectly. The idea of a mask is that it covers your mouth and nose, not just the mouth. It will be a while before we see the back of this virus.
Wash your hands, cover your face, keep a distance. All very simple…
To our first stop. Calais to Arques – 50kms
We’re off!
Our wheels are on mainland Europe, finally, and we are headed off to our first stop. A short 50km drive to the small town of Arques. The plan is to camp next to a lake just on the outskirts of the town of Arques. In less than an hour, we arrive at our chosen first stop. It’s fantastic. We park in the shade of some hanging trees, tucked away with the lake behind us.
A calm and relaxing view for our first day.
The last bottle from our last trip. Finished.
We are not the type to sit about too long so the table and chairs are out and the champagne that has been in the fridge since we started, a good one that we bought on our last trip out, is duly served and quaffed. Well, why not?
Its a lovely night, warm, no wind. We toast our first stop in France on this our 4th trip out. So far so good. We are not in a rush so tomorrow we will just take another short hop to a place we have already visited.
Any nerves we might have had about doing this at this time have soon dissolved now that we are here, but we won’t let our guard down. We know it’s still out there and will be for a while yet.
The virus has put many aspects of our lives on hold or worse, it has cancelled some aspects altogether. Work for Del, for example, has all gone. Every single day has gone. Hayley has saved the day however with work from ITV. The hours are punishing up at 2:30 am and finishing at 10:00 am. This has of course added a high level of uncertainty about the future a future that we no longer have a say in. Forget Brexit, that’s chicken feed, this is something else. The holidays have also been cancelled. Our year was a healthy calendar of work and holidays. Full and exciting. Good quality work to help finance some excellent trips away. After all, that’s what work is all about, isn’t it? That’s all changed.
During the later days of June and early days of July, infection numbers and deaths began to fall all around Europe. Could there be light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe. We took the decision to take a holiday, our usual 4 or 5 weeks in the van discovering more of Europe and hopefully beyond. We always liked the idea of a trip to Norway and to try our hand at some wild camping at the foot of some mountains with a morning view of a vast mirror-like lake.
Hayley has put a lot of effort and time into the planning, routes, places to stay local, rules and regulations, stuff you really need to do, and to know unless you want to look like an idiot. A route was set and agreed upon, toll cards signed up for and ferries priced up. The plan was to head for Calais then run a straight northeast course across Germany then up to Denmark for a ferry to Norway. Spend a week in Denmark, two in Norway then a week heading south through Sweden and then home.
If you are going to do a trip like this during these rubbish times, it’s not just the countries that allow us Brits to go into but also which countries allow their immediate neighbours to cross into. A long afternoon was spent doing just that, finding out who allows who to come and go. Soon we found that Denmark was a problem. To spend time in Denmark you have to stay a minimum of 6 nights and provide proof of your stay. We are a motorhome, we have no idea where and when we will be in a place or for how long. If you want to transit through Denmark to get to Norway, then they require information about where you are staying in Norway. Again we can’t say. To add another problem into the mix travelling between either Denmark or Norway and Sweden has its own complications as Sweden is seen as a “red” country in Scandinavia.
Now what? Europe is a big landmass, huge, but with the virus still prevalent and with the number of infections now starting to climb it’s decided that we will only do two or better still only one European country.
There is no point in living in fear of the virus. It doesn’t care who you are, what you are, or where you are. You can get the virus in any country and at any time. Your home country is no safe haven unless you lock yourself indoors 24/7. Maybe to get rid of the virus that is what we should do? The other option is to continue your life as best you can, given the restrictions. Wash your hands, keep a reasonable distance from others. Who knows what’s reasonable 1m, 2m, or 50m? Wear a mask in public places. Of course, they work. Your doctor and dentist use them all the time. Be sensible.
We travel. We love to travel. Apart from work, it’s all we do, otherwise, what would we do? Should we? Of course, we should! Let’s go to… FRANCE!
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