RedFrame
LIFE MEMBER
After our first, very exciting, Six months of turning left when we hit the M6 and adding around 5K to the odometer we hope we have learned enough about driving and living in the motorhome for a new adventure, taking her abroad... (meeting held at 16:40 2/4/18 decided she was a she)
We've decided to head for the Old Aquitaine region as we think it might provide us with what we want as a first trip, in no particular order (apart from the Baguettes) -
1) Baguettes from a Boulangerie early in the morning.
2) Good local Markets
3) Reasonably warm weather but not sweltering, no guarantees but hopefully not monsoon season.
4) Beaches for Bannock (the Border Terrier) to run on and us to maybe get some rays.
5) History/Historical structures to investigate, on foot.
6) Mountains and Forests to stay in.
7) Any outstanding, quirky Restaurants that are off the beaten track.
We're planning on catching the train at 02:30 ish 16th June and returning two weeks later. First stint will be from Chester to Folkestone after work on Friday with hopefully a couple of hours break at the terminal, then we were planning on following the "Toll free" 'ish route to Bordeaux using the A28/N154/N10 that @PhilandMena suggested in Post #9 here . Driving will be shared but Chris has never driven abroad so it'll start out as just dual-carriageways for her until her confidence at roundabouts and turning left grows. We guess it will take us around 15 hours (driving time) to get just south of Bordeaux from Calais averaging 50mph.
Any advice on the above would be welcome, we may find that we need a break on our journey down for a few hours, so suggestions for really nice Aire's would be great.
On "arrival" our first target is Gastes Aire (Atlantic 142) for a couple of nights to relax and recuperate and from there to make our way South slowly, at the moment we have no plans in terms of exploring the region and would welcome any suggestions from more experienced travellers.
Cheers
Red, Chris and Bannock
We've decided to head for the Old Aquitaine region as we think it might provide us with what we want as a first trip, in no particular order (apart from the Baguettes) -
1) Baguettes from a Boulangerie early in the morning.
2) Good local Markets
3) Reasonably warm weather but not sweltering, no guarantees but hopefully not monsoon season.
4) Beaches for Bannock (the Border Terrier) to run on and us to maybe get some rays.
5) History/Historical structures to investigate, on foot.
6) Mountains and Forests to stay in.
7) Any outstanding, quirky Restaurants that are off the beaten track.
We're planning on catching the train at 02:30 ish 16th June and returning two weeks later. First stint will be from Chester to Folkestone after work on Friday with hopefully a couple of hours break at the terminal, then we were planning on following the "Toll free" 'ish route to Bordeaux using the A28/N154/N10 that @PhilandMena suggested in Post #9 here . Driving will be shared but Chris has never driven abroad so it'll start out as just dual-carriageways for her until her confidence at roundabouts and turning left grows. We guess it will take us around 15 hours (driving time) to get just south of Bordeaux from Calais averaging 50mph.
Any advice on the above would be welcome, we may find that we need a break on our journey down for a few hours, so suggestions for really nice Aire's would be great.
On "arrival" our first target is Gastes Aire (Atlantic 142) for a couple of nights to relax and recuperate and from there to make our way South slowly, at the moment we have no plans in terms of exploring the region and would welcome any suggestions from more experienced travellers.
Cheers
Red, Chris and Bannock
