Ambience can not be made, it just happens (1 Viewer)

[our poppy lll]

Well last Sunday.. jees was it only a week ago!.. well I’ll go back to collecting Poppylll a week last Tuesday, when after a journey through hell we got to pick up our pride and joy, everything done, central heating tick, camera tick, pig tail fitted tick, habitation check tick, satnav working mmmm a lot of waffle but working tick/tock.
Got in poppylll drove her home, yes sat nav fine. Got home spent a few days loading up, booked on Monday Ferry Newhaven/Dieppe, but setting off Sunday and staying over at their car park. Whoo hooo.. holidays are here again… so set off Sunday at 14.20, at 14.23 sat nav stopped working, pulled up, tried again, no it wants to take us yo Llandudno, so we are going to newhaven, tried again, wants to take us to Goole, no definitely Newhaven.
I know my way, set off drove to Newhaven got there about 18.45, saw the sign £5.00 parking, get ticket from reception, on way my phone went. Got to desk and the receptionist said, oh just sent you a message, your boat has been cancelled, you can go tonight or wait for tomorrow nights boat! We chose Sunday night after all we were there.
Spent 4 hours trying to get the sat nav working. no joy. Got on the boat, got a room went to sleep.
So 10 to 5 Monday morning knock on the door, look out the window we were docked, 5.04 we drove off to search for a Air, without maps this was no fun, got to a Air 5.55. Went to sleep, woke up at 10.45. So tried the sat nav again, then remembered google maps, put the campsite details in, but I’m 4.5 ton. Every rout we took we hit a 3.5 ton limit.
It took 5 hours to go 1.hour 5 mins normal driving.
Great site, I’ll post details later. Then it’s here to south of Poitiers for 2nd stop. Here was a wonderful site great ambience, perfect antistress spot. Then onto Hendaye another great site before crossing Spain to Teruel. Stopped at a Aire then on to Torrevieja and our Villa. A few days rest and we are of exploring. Southern Spain and Portugal.
At Poitiers I managed to get Apple play to work, I still am annoyed about the TomTom in the van, we still get to 3.5 tonne limits. So I’ll have a lot to say to Lowdhams when we get back in June..
I’ll give the camp site details shortly..

 

[Armytwowheels]

Sounds an interesting start to your tour. There is an mapping app that allows you to put in size and hight. I'll have a scout around and see if I can find it.

Edit, this one.

 

[our poppy lll]

So we stayed at Camping Le Jardin De Rose, 24 Lieu dit Feuillebert, Romagne 86700 France. Camping, electric, 2 people, bottle of wine, breakfast for 2 under Euro 40.00.
this place has such ambience and by the bucket load. It’s only a small site, one bathroom for about 8 camping plots, large plots. Also does b&b. Make sure your fridge is full there’s no local shops.
But you sit next to your van and you hear nothing, there’s just this rustic charm full of magic.
It’s a 10/10 site. Adults only. Yes you will find better bathrooms, yes big sites have lots to do. But you will never find a site that gives such ambiance as this, you can’t make ambiance, it’s either there or it is not.
English couple, Barry and Min.

 

[olley]

Roadlords android app it's free and you can put in your weight.

 

[our poppy lll]

The other places we stayed were: Camping De La Foret, 76480 Jumièges this has so many 3.5 tonne limits you need a sat nav or a gun to blow your own head off, google took us to a small car ferry 2 tone limit across the Seine.. arggggh insane… big but site was fantastic, clean as a whistle, the owners couldn’t do enough 34.00 euro including electric. Walked 800 metres down hill to village, food 100/100 really great food French at its best..

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[our poppy lll]

At the French crossing to Spain, we then Stayed at Hendaye. We stayed at Camping Ametza, big site, Very expensive, killer walk to the beech, very strange set up, you get a individual toilet for your pitch, mixed male female, but wc with door and lock then a shower block mixed male female, it’s 50.00 Euro deposit, but when you give your key back you are refunded. £38.72 per night including electric. It’s too far to walk to town so ate on site, 64 Euro for 1 starter tapas mixed, and 2 burgers. The burger meat was red throughout 90% and cold. Never again without a car. It’s just too far to the restaurants and not far enough for taxis.

 

[our poppy lll]

Roadlords android app it's free and you can put in your weight.

I’ll look at that.

 

[Nirvanauk]

Never eat a burger that’s cooked rare.

 

[olley]

Probably Steak tartare French dish of raw minced beef.

 

[bigtwin]

Never eat a burger that’s cooked rare.

It’s fine if the burger (pattie) is freshly made, otherwise I agree with you. The problem is you can never be confident that the burger has been freshly made.

Ian

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[bigtwin]

then remembered google maps, put the campsite details in, but I’m 4.5 ton. Every rout we took we hit a 3.5 ton limit.

That puts pay to the suggestion that Google Maps is fine as extolled by many on here. Perhaps if you’re under 3500Kg it’s perfectly adequate but, as far as I’m concerned, you can’t beat dedicated software (be that in the form of an App or a Sat Nav) that allows the input of vehicle details.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties and fingers crossed for a less eventful remainder of your trip.

Ian

 

[our poppy lll]

Probably Steak tartare French dish of raw minced beef.

Na it was a burger, they put it on a hot plate, turned it over, took it off and put it on a bun with lettuce, tomato, bacon cheese and slop. They put salt on the chips and too much of it, I’m not a salt lover…
The outside of the burger was heated to about .5 mm all round, the inside about 5mm was red raw beef. We did not eat the burgers. 64.00 Euro, for 2 burgers and a mixed tapas starter which we shared. This is total rip off country. A pint of blond beer was 12 euro and a half shandy 8. If we ever get to here again I’ll be cooking our own food.. I can do a weeks shopping for 84.00 euro…

 

[nicholsong]

Probably Steak tartare French dish of raw minced beef.

Proper Steak Tartare in France should not be minced, because the meat should be tender enough to be scraped off, at the table, and mixed with onion and condiments.

 

[teddybear]

Having had sat nav go down several times, (always at the worst possible moment), including on main road into Brussels. Nowadays we travel with two running.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

It’s fine if the burger (pattie) is freshly made, otherwise I agree with you. The problem is you can never be confident that the burger has been freshly made.

Ian

Had a burger at Baker Street in Gravelines and it was very pink as are the steaks you get in France despite asking for medium, would not risk another there again

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[our poppy lll]

Had a burger at Baker Street in Gravelines and it was very pink as are the steaks you get in France despite asking for medium, would not risk another there again

My Pretty flamingo asked for hers to be cremated extra, extra well done, I asked for medium it moooooed when they gave it to her, mine stood up and ran away…

 

[bigtwin]

Had a burger at Baker Street in Gravelines and it was very pink as are the steaks you get in France despite asking for medium, would not risk another there again

Were you ill afterwards? Or do you just believe that it was undercooked and should have been only just pink?

Ian

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Were you ill afterwards? Or do you just believe that it was undercooked and should have been only just pink?

Ian

No was not ill but I would not normally eat a burger that pink, as someone has said I think it’s ok if it’s fresh meat but very iffy if it had been frozen meat

 

[canopus]

Our TomTom was fine all the way down to Newhaven. As soon as we got to France it stopped working.
So before our return, I went on the TomTom website and reloaded Europe maps as per our original lifetime subscription.
With hindsight, I did wonder if I should have selected France in the menu when we docked.

 

[our poppy lll]

I do eat raw meat, Steak Tartar with onion, mustard or other ingredients is fine if prepared by a good knowledgable chef, meat cooked pink is also good as long as the pink is hot, red rare for a high quality meat is also edible but is not very safe as the temperature does not get high enough to kill bacteria, it’s hit and miss.
A burger joint who cooks minced meat, especially a meat that has been frozen or a mix of cheap minced off cuts, needs to be cooked through until the juices are running clear, it needs to be hot through all the burger, you can still have it rare without it being red or pink, medium is easily cooked through and well done is firm and chewy. To serve a red meat burger is inviting salmonella or other killer bugs.
Anyway mine went in the bin.

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[Just smiffy]

a lot of the 3.5t signs are for fright and to not apply to motorhomes…

 

[L' Hobo]

Well last Sunday.. jees was it only a week ago!.. well I’ll go back to collecting Poppylll a week last Tuesday, when after a journey through hell we got to pick up our pride and joy, everything done, central heating tick, camera tick, pig tail fitted tick, habitation check tick, satnav working mmmm a lot of waffle but working tick/tock.
Got in poppylll drove her home, yes sat nav fine. Got home spent a few days loading up, booked on Monday Ferry Newhaven/Dieppe, but setting off Sunday and staying over at their car park. Whoo hooo.. holidays are here again… so set off Sunday at 14.20, at 14.23 sat nav stopped working, pulled up, tried again, no it wants to take us yo Llandudno, so we are going to newhaven, tried again, wants to take us to Goole, no definitely Newhaven.
I know my way, set off drove to Newhaven got there about 18.45, saw the sign £5.00 parking, get ticket from reception, on way my phone went. Got to desk and the receptionist said, oh just sent you a message, your boat has been cancelled, you can go tonight or wait for tomorrow nights boat! We chose Sunday night after all we were there.
Spent 4 hours trying to get the sat nav working. no joy. Got on the boat, got a room went to sleep.
So 10 to 5 Monday morning knock on the door, look out the window we were docked, 5.04 we drove off to search for a Air, without maps this was no fun, got to a Air 5.55. Went to sleep, woke up at 10.45. So tried the sat nav again, then remembered google maps, put the campsite details in, but I’m 4.5 ton. Every rout we took we hit a 3.5 ton limit.
It took 5 hours to go 1.hour 5 mins normal driving.
Great site, I’ll post details later. Then it’s here to south of Poitiers for 2nd stop. Here was a wonderful site great ambience, perfect antistress spot. Then onto Hendaye another great site before crossing Spain to Teruel. Stopped at a Aire then on to Torrevieja and our Villa. A few days rest and we are of exploring. Southern Spain and Portugal.
At Poitiers I managed to get Apple play to work, I still am annoyed about the TomTom in the van, we still get to 3.5 tonne limits. So I’ll have a lot to say to Lowdhams when we get back in June..
I’ll give the camp site details shortly..

Do they not sell paper maps near the docks anymore?
Personally, I would never start on any journey relying, totally, on electronic gizmo's.

 

[nicholsong]

Do they not sell paper maps near the docks anymore?
Personally, I would never start on any journey relying, totally, on electronic gizmo's.

You mean for matelots on shore leave to find the local brothels?


Serious answer, here is a link to best map shop - they can get any map, even if not in stock.

Maps and Atlases | Maps | Stanfords

The World's Biggest and Best Map and Travel Bookshop. For over 160 years, explorers, travellers and adventurers have looked to us as map specialists to get them where they need to go, and back again.

www.stanfords.co.uk

 

[our poppy lll]

a lot of the 3.5t signs are for fright and to not apply to motorhomes…

I can guarantee you, if I drove my 4.5 tonn Moho on to a little ferry designed to carry max 3.5 tonne, it would not only frighten me but it would cause the ferry operator to frighten the life out of everyone on board.
Of course those carrying Freight, might simply use a different ferry, one designed to carry trucks loaded with freight.

 

[our poppy lll]

Do they not sell paper maps near the docks anymore?
Personally, I would never start on any journey relying, totally, on electronic gizmo's.

By the time a map has got to the mapping centre the maps are out of date even before they are printed. Road works, road closures, new roads. New rules, new weight limits are there every day across the UK and Europe. A TomTom satnav when working is the best tool, I have an old one, but silly me left it at home.. it’s been updated so the maps are as up to date as possible, if only I’d checked.

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[Norfolk Nige]

I do eat raw meat, Steak Tartar with onion, mustard or other ingredients is fine if prepared by a good knowledgable chef, meat cooked pink is also good as long as the pink is hot, red rare for a high quality meat is also edible but is not very safe as the temperature does not get high enough to kill bacteria, it’s hit and miss.
A burger joint who cooks minced meat, especially a meat that has been frozen or a mix of cheap minced off cuts, needs to be cooked through until the juices are running clear, it needs to be hot through all the burger, you can still have it rare without it being red or pink, medium is easily cooked through and well done is firm and chewy. To serve a red meat burger is inviting salmonella or other killer bugs.
Anyway mine went in the bin.

I read there is a difference between eating rare steak and a rare burger, even if the same meat. The harmful bacteria are on the surface of the steak. A quick flare on the griddle kills them so safe to eat the raw meat. With the burger because the meat is minced up the bacteria are then throughout the burger so it has to be cooked fully through to kill them off.

 

[L' Hobo]

By the time a map has got to the mapping centre the maps are out of date even before they are printed. Road works, road closures, new roads. New rules, new weight limits are there every day across the UK and Europe. A TomTom satnav when working is the best tool, I have an old one, but silly me left it at home.. it’s been updated so the maps are as up to date as possible, if only I’d checked.

What you write is absolutely correct but, as you appeared to have had plenty of time, before and after you got on the ferry, I would have thought that a slightly out of date map, would have been better than no map at all?
However did I manage to drive my Coachloads of passengers, all over Europe before SatNavs were invented?

Then again, I'm one of these old fashion guys who, even though I have known my PVC a number of years, still goes away locally for a few nights, before the summer season begins, just to make certain everything works correctly before I travel further afield.

It's good we are all different and as I have said before, ' I do love an optimist!'

 

[Grianan]

It could have been steak haché. Ordered it at restaurant for my daughter when she was 5 - it reappeared on the pavement just outside the restaurant about half an hour later .

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Had a dodgy chicken meal once and was throwing up for hours

 

[our poppy lll]

It could have been steak haché. Ordered it at restaurant for my daughter when she was 5 - it reappeared on the pavement just outside the restaurant about half an hour later .

I was just eatin my dinner!

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