I don’t understand what it has got to do with a camping club…
I also don’t know why it matters to the present owner…
I also don’t know why it matters to the present owner…
Full time through winter in search of new life
- Thread starter dawsey
- Start date
tinkertaylor
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I doubt it is the camping and caravan club, just some crank pretending it is to hide their true identity. Could always try and trace the number back or ask who actually called, a name should have been given.
Obviously it's got have some advertising to sell it, but the knowledge that's it's close to completion could only really come from here for it to have alerted a crank caller, which it seems likely it has.
I'm sure they are still reading this thread as well to feed their bitterness towards someone with a bit of vision and a dream. You will get what you deserve in the end, people always do.
dawsey if its meant to happen then it will , your frankness on this thread is very refreshing, an inspiring story that will obviously lead to success either with this project or another.
Obviously it's got have some advertising to sell it, but the knowledge that's it's close to completion could only really come from here for it to have alerted a crank caller, which it seems likely it has.
I'm sure they are still reading this thread as well to feed their bitterness towards someone with a bit of vision and a dream. You will get what you deserve in the end, people always do.
dawsey if its meant to happen then it will , your frankness on this thread is very refreshing, an inspiring story that will obviously lead to success either with this project or another.
Thanks to Jim for switching the thread off and on. We withdrew from the purchase of that campsite and are now back on the road in Helga our camper. Thanks for all the positive comments. The CMC thing, while it certainly didn’t help matters, wasn’t material to the collapse of the deal. We realised that there was much more investment needed than we had calculated, and financing costs became too high/risky.
We are already looking at other sites and have seen three already, one in Green Perigord, on just over the boundary of Dordogne and Correze and one close to the Correze/Cantal boundary a few km from the upper Dordogne river system of gorges and dams, well into the Massif Central. Correze is really beautiful, but often quite remote. Dordogne is not so beautiful but interesting as it’s where all the Brits seem to flock to.
We are already looking at other sites and have seen three already, one in Green Perigord, on just over the boundary of Dordogne and Correze and one close to the Correze/Cantal boundary a few km from the upper Dordogne river system of gorges and dams, well into the Massif Central. Correze is really beautiful, but often quite remote. Dordogne is not so beautiful but interesting as it’s where all the Brits seem to flock to.
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So what was the name of the site ?
Nanniemate
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It could become the faulty towers of campsites
A must go to it really can't be that bad
usp?
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Here we go again..
Better get one by November as I’m travelling through then otherwise it’s when I come back up in spring… oh and try and pick one with not too much doing to it, but it must have an old attic or basement that I can clear out for you..
Great to hear from you. Sorry that site didn't work out but you can bet when you do get one it'll be perfect for what you were looking for originally. One door opens eyc etc.
Everything happens for a reason of some sort so it could turn out to the best for you two in the long run. Onwards & upwards.
Good look & glad your back on the move
Good look & glad your back on the move
The Petit Trianon of St Ustre. One of only two ‘recommended’ by the UK’s very own Caravan and Motorhome club. Beware a stay though, without friendly new owners you’ll still be paying €50 per night for a tent, caravan or camper and four people in season next year…
ACSI reviews pretty good even for this year which is interesting. Obviously not all but you always get that.
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MisterB
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- enough to know i shouldnt touch things i know nothing about ....
Some of you may have realised that I had actually visited the site (twice) with Dawsey as we were looking to relocate our mobile homes there, the site was ripe for improvement and could be turned into something quite magical. I could honestly see what his and Bea's vision was and I'm sure that lots of Funsters would have given up a couple of their days to drive a tractor or apply a bit of paint.and I had mixed feelings when they walked away. One was pleased that they hadn't invested heavily the other was sad that their dream had to be put on hold, hopefully better things come to those who wait ....
Good luck with the new ventures !!
Good luck with the new ventures !!
That’s a bugger was looking forward to ripping the site apart with the digger
if this new site is crap will renegotiate our deal and ripp that apart for you
if this new site is crap will renegotiate our deal and ripp that apart for youHa. Thanks all. No more damage in the end than a few wasted months, the prospect of another winter in the camper and some added difficulty with the upcoming 3 appointments as I apply for a 2nd year visa (due to no address..). We are certainly getting our moneys worth out of the old girl though.
We are currently in one of France’s very own secret ‘lake districts’, a network of flooded valleys for their amazing hydro electric power network (this one is
mostly the Dordogne river and it’s tributaries) in the South of Correze. It’s a beautiful region.
We are currently in one of France’s very own secret ‘lake districts’, a network of flooded valleys for their amazing hydro electric power network (this one is
Welcome back to your search, or what we will learn about it. It wasn’t wasted as the stay definitely gave you invite to things you hadn’t really noticed before. Everything is for a reason
pleased you’re back on here with this thread and I hope this time you and Bea find another which will suit you
we spent our last trip around an area we had basically only passed through over the years. Department was Creuse. We enjoyed ir very much
Carol
pleased you’re back on here with this thread and I hope this time you and Bea find another which will suit you
we spent our last trip around an area we had basically only passed through over the years. Department was Creuse. We enjoyed ir very much
Carol
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Dawsey.
Don't treat it as few wasted months, treat it as cheap education.
You now know a lot more about French campsites, French banks and French sale and Purchase regulations.
You also now know what you would not touch with a barge pole.
As for the lack of an address, you just need a friendly local, I thought you had relatives-in-law in France, can you not use their address as your place of residence ?
You might also want to think about renting a flat (or a static) for the winter, again that would give you an address.
I have a relative-in-law who has lived in the Czech Rep for the last 25 years, but still maintains his UK bank account etc and uses the address of my holiday home as his official UK residence.
No one is any the wiser, and it makes no difference to anyone, he can 'prove' a long standing UK address if he needs to.
As for the site you failed to buy, I'd done a bit of google maps searching, found that site, but I though you said it was on the banks of a river, so had discounted it. It also looked way nicer than your descriptions that got progressively worse.
Don't treat it as few wasted months, treat it as cheap education.
You now know a lot more about French campsites, French banks and French sale and Purchase regulations.
You also now know what you would not touch with a barge pole.
As for the lack of an address, you just need a friendly local, I thought you had relatives-in-law in France, can you not use their address as your place of residence ?
You might also want to think about renting a flat (or a static) for the winter, again that would give you an address.
I have a relative-in-law who has lived in the Czech Rep for the last 25 years, but still maintains his UK bank account etc and uses the address of my holiday home as his official UK residence.
No one is any the wiser, and it makes no difference to anyone, he can 'prove' a long standing UK address if he needs to.
As for the site you failed to buy, I'd done a bit of google maps searching, found that site, but I though you said it was on the banks of a river, so had discounted it. It also looked way nicer than your descriptions that got progressively worse.
I suspect Camping le Petit Trianon will be officially back on the market next spring.
Probably at around the price you offered, not the price he was asking.
Probably at around the price you offered, not the price he was asking.
Great to read your posts again . I’m sure lots of funsters wondered how you were getting on . Good luck in your new search and I am looking forward to reading your eloquent posts again .
Are you sure you have the right site? That looks like a lovely place and the reviews including a lot of recent ones are all good
suavecarve
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Will be there in 3 or 4 days maybe 5
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suavecarve
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One of the reviews included a very friendly member of staff !Are you sure you have the right site? That looks like a lovely place and the reviews including a lot of recent ones are all good
Receptionist though, not the chef !
Maybe the website video has had some CGI doneOne of the reviews included a very friendly member of staff !
Receptionist though, not the chef !
MisterB
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It is the correct site, it looks great from the photos and reviews but having been there you can see it's starting to look tired and needs some heavy investment. Of course someone could just buy it and do nothing but I don't think that was the plan as the longer things are left to deteriorate the less attractive it becomes to visitors. It's on the downward slope in my opinion but it's not too far gone if the right person buys it for the right price !
The negative points that were highlighted do exist, it's just that he never highlighted the positive points of which there are quite a few!
A continental winter and summer full time in an old coachbuilt MoHo. What’s essential and what isn’t…
When we started this search we prepped our old A-class bus to the max so that it could cope with anything the road could throw at us, it was and remains fully loaded, there is an advert for it on the forum (which I need to remove) where all is outlined.
It’s now been 11 months and all four seasons, inc a summer with some very hot spells. We’ve seen what’s essential and what could have been left behind. Maybe this might be helpful for those thinking of full time life with the extremes of heat and cold of the continent. We know it’s harder nowadays with visas etc, but Brits can still do 3 months in summer and 3 months in winter (should they wish?).
Essential
Solar. I did a post a few weeks back where I tounge in cheek mentioned that solar on the roof was a waste of cash. At the time it had been so hot that shade had to be found reducing panel output to near zero. I realised then that the ability to put the panels (but not the van and us) in the sun would be much better in really hot weather, but it is not without its own practical challenges. So, and only if you plan to full time in southern europe in summer without access to EHU, and are maybe a little power hungry, maybe like to use a little air conditioning to chill the van a bit in the evening, I would absolutely recommend building a simple folding remote solar array. Maybe in addition to some roof panels which are going to be more than enough for Southern Europe autumn or spring or UK summers.
Refillable twin tank LPG system - Essential
Obvious one this if spending extended periods in the van, especially in winter. While LPG refill stations are becoming scarcer the internet still tells you where to find them. Heating, 3-way fridge, hot water and cooking all dependent on it. 2 x 11kg lasts about 2 weeks in the depths of winter. Ours is Gaslow. Don’t forget the multi country adaptors
Motorbike - really not essential
I brought with us a light old Yamaha trail bike to serve as our secondary transport. It was useful when on a campsite for an extended period in summer for runs to the shops and other appointments. Great not needed to dismantle the safari tent and pack up to go to the shops. When on the move and outside summer, not so much. It’s often too much hassle to uncover it and get it down, may as well just use the van. Though light it spends very long periods just adding weight to the rear. Electric bikes might be a good compromise. Much lighter, no licence/MOT/insurance needed but with a much more limited range. If you plan to properly set up stall somewhere like on a site, some form of auxiliary transport is essential. Hooray for electric bikes which just keep getting better and better, though they do remain chronically slow, if you insist on having a fully legal one..
Silver Screen
Essential for an A class in winter especially if you use the drop down bed. In summer not so much if you can orient the van North or use the shade if a tree.
Water making system - Basically it’s just a simple off the shelf £150 household RO system with a few extra bits of push fit pipes and an lift pump, and it makes use of the filling hose and the mains EHU line. Anyone could build one. We used it twice in winter when we couldn’t find a graveyard or public WC tap. If we had not got it, we would have found a tap. Only recommended for those who plan to stay longer than a week in a remote place near a stream and have a power source to power it - for us this this just didn’t happen.
Microwave
Not really needed, though we use it every day to heat leftovers, and milk for coffee just as at home. You need decent batteries/invertor though. For us a no brainer as we had the wasted space of the old Hymer CRT TV cabinet, with roller door. A hotpoint curve microwave fitted in it perfectly.
Oven
Our LHD van didn’t come with one (it seems it’s the brits that love an oven), so I sacrificed some storage and put a proper Thetford one in. Again we use it all the time from warning croissants and plates to roasts and beef bourgignon etc. We think essential if you plan to full time.
Batteries and Invertor
Full timing, and with the edict that Bea had to be capable of doing everything she could in a house, we are very power hungry. There’s air fryers, microwaves, hair dryers, coffee machines, computers, lots of lighting blown air heating and for me home cinema. Fulltiming isn’t a holiday, especially in winter when you could be literally stuck in the van for days. To live reasonably comfortably when fulltiming at least 200ah of lithiums and the big invertor may not be essential, but they make an enormous difference.
B2B charger
The simple benefit of these things is faster (all batteries) and safer/more controlled (lithium) leisure battery charging from the alternator when the engine is running. If you find that you typically can’t/don’t recharge your leisure batteries fast enough, one of these will usually improve matters. For us the ability to charge the batteries at 50A with the engine running was essential in winter.
MPPT solar charge regulator.
Another newish technology. These are much bigger, heavier and more expensive than the old PWM charge regulators. They can extract a bit more energy (about 25%) from your panels in borderline light conditions than a PWM regulator through the utilisation of power electronics similar to an invertor. They work by reduce the typically high solar voltage to increase the charge current for a given solar output power, so the charge current from a given solar output power is always maximised (Maximum Power Point Tracking - MPPT). A luxury really, not an essential. We use an integrated B2B/MPPT charger and we can only say it has worked extremely reliably.
Sat dish & decoder
Not needed anymore with steaming services and big 4G/5G data so cheap. Unless you are addicted to repeats of old TV shows (like I am with the early series’s of Wheeler Dealers…) in which case it’s essential
Generator
Like the dish it’s very old tech now. And irritating to hear droning away on a tiny aire. Decent batteries, charging and invertor is a far better solution for power. You can always run the engine if the batteries give out, which is less noisy than a generator (but still irritating, better to change to lithiums and/or add capacity).
Extractor (Maxx air type, 400x400)
Essential. Used every day from dumping heat, pulling in fresh air and getting rid of cooking smells. Be wary of the cheap remote control K-Tech amazon chinese things, the electronics can’t handle the winter condensation and the materials are very poor quality.
Air Con
For UK, not needed. For southern europe it’s more and more essential. Bea and me are from North Europe and can’t deal with prolonged 35 deg plus heat as the van gets too hot and once it gets hot is slow to cool in the evenings. Coach-built vans are heavy/well built and well insulated, which means high thermal inertia and heat retention once they do eventually warm up under a full sun.
Engine driven AC is best when on the move, roof AC or portable units are best when stationary if you can hook up to avoid running engine.
I fitted a roof mounted low power Aventa Compact to our little 6m van, it struggles with very high external temperature and can’t really fight against full power southern europe sun and 35C plus, but is still enough to take the edge off once the sun goes down or when on the move. It runs off invertor or hook up or the alternator via the B2B. Again it’s one of the many luxuries made possible by lithium batteries (we have 200ah, not so much) and a high power (ours is 2000W) invertor and a B2B charger. It will run for 5 hours off fully charged batteries. We typically run it for two hours around sun down if it’s been a really hot day and the van has got too hot/had no shade.
Reversing camera/s
Essential !
Decent sound system/amp/subwoofer/multi speakers etc
I have always liked music and have always put all this stuff in my cars before really decent d sound systems started coming as an option with decent cars. Like lithiums and invertors, it opens up more possibilities. With a simple RCA switchover box you can use it to have a simple form of home cinema, delivering hugely better sounds than the little TVs we put in campers could ever produce. Also audiobooks become a pleasure and listenable to even at 60mph in a rattley old bus.
Sat Nav
It’s been essential for a very long time, I wonder how we used to manage back in the day just with a single AA map book of the whole of Europe, usually being held upside down by a much maligned ‘navigator’.. We use a double din head unit with apple car play and waze using the endless 200Gb of data via a local SIM. Great for speed cameras, avoiding jams, etc. All my music collection is available via the phone, also hands free, audiobooks, DAB radio etc.
Safari tent (obviously also need an awning for the old fashioned typed). Also blow up awning.
Very useful for additional space if stationary for a long time. Otherwise not essential.
Safe - securely bolted to the chassis
Essential due to the feeling that there will be a major obstacle for any scumbags who break in.
Security
Against van theft - a decent immobiliser is best, and make sure they can’t get your keys. Against break ins - this has been discussed to death on this forum. You can fit alarms and better locks and they might deter or scare away an opportunist, but not anyone determined. Any motorhome is fundamentally insecure as well as being a flag to a scumbag that the owners have money (to buy it in the first place) if it’s a nice and newish one.
So we:
1. don’t bring anything really valuable, watches, jewellery etc.
2. Don’t leave stuff we can’t afford to lose in the van. Anything we can’t carry (tablets) go in the safe.
3. Leave cubboards and curtains open so they see it’s just clothes etc
For us, the most essential, and what finally gave us comfort when not parked on a campsite was leaving a phone in the safe, connected via Wi-fi to two button cameras looking forward and backward, through the van and out of the windows and with movement alarm. We use the other phone to check in on the van, and see that there’s no one sniffing round it. Both cameras have speakers so we could even talk to an intruder to tell them the police have been called if we need to, and that we have cloud-uploaded video… This is comms technology being really useful.
Other Essentials
A wind out awning has so many uses, including a place to dry washing when it is raining. Mosquito/fly screens. Sonic mosquito repellant. Large bottle of natural (non aggressive chemical) insect/fly repellant to spray on curtains etc. Skin insect repellant. An SOG system. A spare water pump. Tie wraps (lots, and different sizes). I use them to hold in the buttons on those auto-off water taps. String. Batteries for remotes. A decent external table and chairs. A bidet attachment for the hose in the shower room. A knife sharpener. A well-thought through tool kit including a multi tool (swiss army knife) and one of those sets of 100 different different screwdriver bits. A rechargeable head torch. Araldite rapid. A credit card. Both a spare wheel (for when it’s safe to charge a flat) and a large tube of the tyreweld stuff for when it isn’t. A powerful tyre inflator. Bungee hooks. A 20m water hose, collapsible or silicone, and a good selection of tap connectors and adaptors including a male to male hose lock adaptor.
I guess a major point is that most of the aforementioned technologies and solutions can be good in isolation, but when you put them all together it can make an enormous difference and virtually eliminate all the old ‘challenges’ of being on the road.
I remember 30 years ago while a student, just after travelling Eastern Europe in it over a summer I tried to live in my Bedford CF into the Autumn to save money on accommodation. I had none of the above luxuries, no telephone, no TV, no WC or shower, no heating or hot water. I lasted less than a week.
Now, despite me being much older, a good bit softer and both of us much more accustomed to life’s comforts, we have lasted almost a year so far, for now, even retaining our sanity..
It absolutely is true that motorhomes really have become, as a result of all the new technologies, so much more useable and ‘fun’
When we started this search we prepped our old A-class bus to the max so that it could cope with anything the road could throw at us, it was and remains fully loaded, there is an advert for it on the forum (which I need to remove) where all is outlined.
It’s now been 11 months and all four seasons, inc a summer with some very hot spells. We’ve seen what’s essential and what could have been left behind. Maybe this might be helpful for those thinking of full time life with the extremes of heat and cold of the continent. We know it’s harder nowadays with visas etc, but Brits can still do 3 months in summer and 3 months in winter (should they wish?).
Essential
Solar. I did a post a few weeks back where I tounge in cheek mentioned that solar on the roof was a waste of cash. At the time it had been so hot that shade had to be found reducing panel output to near zero. I realised then that the ability to put the panels (but not the van and us) in the sun would be much better in really hot weather, but it is not without its own practical challenges. So, and only if you plan to full time in southern europe in summer without access to EHU, and are maybe a little power hungry, maybe like to use a little air conditioning to chill the van a bit in the evening, I would absolutely recommend building a simple folding remote solar array. Maybe in addition to some roof panels which are going to be more than enough for Southern Europe autumn or spring or UK summers.
Refillable twin tank LPG system - Essential
Obvious one this if spending extended periods in the van, especially in winter. While LPG refill stations are becoming scarcer the internet still tells you where to find them. Heating, 3-way fridge, hot water and cooking all dependent on it. 2 x 11kg lasts about 2 weeks in the depths of winter. Ours is Gaslow. Don’t forget the multi country adaptors
Motorbike - really not essential
I brought with us a light old Yamaha trail bike to serve as our secondary transport. It was useful when on a campsite for an extended period in summer for runs to the shops and other appointments. Great not needed to dismantle the safari tent and pack up to go to the shops. When on the move and outside summer, not so much. It’s often too much hassle to uncover it and get it down, may as well just use the van. Though light it spends very long periods just adding weight to the rear. Electric bikes might be a good compromise. Much lighter, no licence/MOT/insurance needed but with a much more limited range. If you plan to properly set up stall somewhere like on a site, some form of auxiliary transport is essential. Hooray for electric bikes which just keep getting better and better, though they do remain chronically slow, if you insist on having a fully legal one..
Silver Screen
Essential for an A class in winter especially if you use the drop down bed. In summer not so much if you can orient the van North or use the shade if a tree.
Water making system - Basically it’s just a simple off the shelf £150 household RO system with a few extra bits of push fit pipes and an lift pump, and it makes use of the filling hose and the mains EHU line. Anyone could build one. We used it twice in winter when we couldn’t find a graveyard or public WC tap. If we had not got it, we would have found a tap. Only recommended for those who plan to stay longer than a week in a remote place near a stream and have a power source to power it - for us this this just didn’t happen.
Microwave
Not really needed, though we use it every day to heat leftovers, and milk for coffee just as at home. You need decent batteries/invertor though. For us a no brainer as we had the wasted space of the old Hymer CRT TV cabinet, with roller door. A hotpoint curve microwave fitted in it perfectly.
Oven
Our LHD van didn’t come with one (it seems it’s the brits that love an oven), so I sacrificed some storage and put a proper Thetford one in. Again we use it all the time from warning croissants and plates to roasts and beef bourgignon etc. We think essential if you plan to full time.
Batteries and Invertor
Full timing, and with the edict that Bea had to be capable of doing everything she could in a house, we are very power hungry. There’s air fryers, microwaves, hair dryers, coffee machines, computers, lots of lighting blown air heating and for me home cinema. Fulltiming isn’t a holiday, especially in winter when you could be literally stuck in the van for days. To live reasonably comfortably when fulltiming at least 200ah of lithiums and the big invertor may not be essential, but they make an enormous difference.
B2B charger
The simple benefit of these things is faster (all batteries) and safer/more controlled (lithium) leisure battery charging from the alternator when the engine is running. If you find that you typically can’t/don’t recharge your leisure batteries fast enough, one of these will usually improve matters. For us the ability to charge the batteries at 50A with the engine running was essential in winter.
MPPT solar charge regulator.
Another newish technology. These are much bigger, heavier and more expensive than the old PWM charge regulators. They can extract a bit more energy (about 25%) from your panels in borderline light conditions than a PWM regulator through the utilisation of power electronics similar to an invertor. They work by reduce the typically high solar voltage to increase the charge current for a given solar output power, so the charge current from a given solar output power is always maximised (Maximum Power Point Tracking - MPPT). A luxury really, not an essential. We use an integrated B2B/MPPT charger and we can only say it has worked extremely reliably.
Sat dish & decoder
Not needed anymore with steaming services and big 4G/5G data so cheap. Unless you are addicted to repeats of old TV shows (like I am with the early series’s of Wheeler Dealers…) in which case it’s essential
Generator
Like the dish it’s very old tech now. And irritating to hear droning away on a tiny aire. Decent batteries, charging and invertor is a far better solution for power. You can always run the engine if the batteries give out, which is less noisy than a generator (but still irritating, better to change to lithiums and/or add capacity).
Extractor (Maxx air type, 400x400)
Essential. Used every day from dumping heat, pulling in fresh air and getting rid of cooking smells. Be wary of the cheap remote control K-Tech amazon chinese things, the electronics can’t handle the winter condensation and the materials are very poor quality.
Air Con
For UK, not needed. For southern europe it’s more and more essential. Bea and me are from North Europe and can’t deal with prolonged 35 deg plus heat as the van gets too hot and once it gets hot is slow to cool in the evenings. Coach-built vans are heavy/well built and well insulated, which means high thermal inertia and heat retention once they do eventually warm up under a full sun.
Engine driven AC is best when on the move, roof AC or portable units are best when stationary if you can hook up to avoid running engine.
I fitted a roof mounted low power Aventa Compact to our little 6m van, it struggles with very high external temperature and can’t really fight against full power southern europe sun and 35C plus, but is still enough to take the edge off once the sun goes down or when on the move. It runs off invertor or hook up or the alternator via the B2B. Again it’s one of the many luxuries made possible by lithium batteries (we have 200ah, not so much) and a high power (ours is 2000W) invertor and a B2B charger. It will run for 5 hours off fully charged batteries. We typically run it for two hours around sun down if it’s been a really hot day and the van has got too hot/had no shade.
Reversing camera/s
Essential !
Decent sound system/amp/subwoofer/multi speakers etc
I have always liked music and have always put all this stuff in my cars before really decent d sound systems started coming as an option with decent cars. Like lithiums and invertors, it opens up more possibilities. With a simple RCA switchover box you can use it to have a simple form of home cinema, delivering hugely better sounds than the little TVs we put in campers could ever produce. Also audiobooks become a pleasure and listenable to even at 60mph in a rattley old bus.
Sat Nav
It’s been essential for a very long time, I wonder how we used to manage back in the day just with a single AA map book of the whole of Europe, usually being held upside down by a much maligned ‘navigator’.. We use a double din head unit with apple car play and waze using the endless 200Gb of data via a local SIM. Great for speed cameras, avoiding jams, etc. All my music collection is available via the phone, also hands free, audiobooks, DAB radio etc.
Safari tent (obviously also need an awning for the old fashioned typed). Also blow up awning.
Very useful for additional space if stationary for a long time. Otherwise not essential.
Safe - securely bolted to the chassis
Essential due to the feeling that there will be a major obstacle for any scumbags who break in.
Security
Against van theft - a decent immobiliser is best, and make sure they can’t get your keys. Against break ins - this has been discussed to death on this forum. You can fit alarms and better locks and they might deter or scare away an opportunist, but not anyone determined. Any motorhome is fundamentally insecure as well as being a flag to a scumbag that the owners have money (to buy it in the first place) if it’s a nice and newish one.
So we:
1. don’t bring anything really valuable, watches, jewellery etc.
2. Don’t leave stuff we can’t afford to lose in the van. Anything we can’t carry (tablets) go in the safe.
3. Leave cubboards and curtains open so they see it’s just clothes etc
For us, the most essential, and what finally gave us comfort when not parked on a campsite was leaving a phone in the safe, connected via Wi-fi to two button cameras looking forward and backward, through the van and out of the windows and with movement alarm. We use the other phone to check in on the van, and see that there’s no one sniffing round it. Both cameras have speakers so we could even talk to an intruder to tell them the police have been called if we need to, and that we have cloud-uploaded video… This is comms technology being really useful.
Other Essentials
A wind out awning has so many uses, including a place to dry washing when it is raining. Mosquito/fly screens. Sonic mosquito repellant. Large bottle of natural (non aggressive chemical) insect/fly repellant to spray on curtains etc. Skin insect repellant. An SOG system. A spare water pump. Tie wraps (lots, and different sizes). I use them to hold in the buttons on those auto-off water taps. String. Batteries for remotes. A decent external table and chairs. A bidet attachment for the hose in the shower room. A knife sharpener. A well-thought through tool kit including a multi tool (swiss army knife) and one of those sets of 100 different different screwdriver bits. A rechargeable head torch. Araldite rapid. A credit card. Both a spare wheel (for when it’s safe to charge a flat) and a large tube of the tyreweld stuff for when it isn’t. A powerful tyre inflator. Bungee hooks. A 20m water hose, collapsible or silicone, and a good selection of tap connectors and adaptors including a male to male hose lock adaptor.
I guess a major point is that most of the aforementioned technologies and solutions can be good in isolation, but when you put them all together it can make an enormous difference and virtually eliminate all the old ‘challenges’ of being on the road.
I remember 30 years ago while a student, just after travelling Eastern Europe in it over a summer I tried to live in my Bedford CF into the Autumn to save money on accommodation. I had none of the above luxuries, no telephone, no TV, no WC or shower, no heating or hot water. I lasted less than a week.
Now, despite me being much older, a good bit softer and both of us much more accustomed to life’s comforts, we have lasted almost a year so far, for now, even retaining our sanity..
It absolutely is true that motorhomes really have become, as a result of all the new technologies, so much more useable and ‘fun’
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Hey, Dawsey, I've enjoyed all your writings here, and have managed to avoid chipping in with my world acclaimed fount of knowledge, experience, and wisdom (my wife says sarcastically), but could not resist the temptation to wish you luck, and to say I look forward to hearing more from you as your search progresses.Apart from all your TV and music stuff I am for once in full agreement with you
Thanks. My 1st year visa expires in January so now I begin the process of obtaining a 2nd year visa. It’s no easier for me despite being married to a Frenchie. The buggers have organised 3 x 4hr sessions in Brest of all places, 19th, 21st Sept and 15h October so we have to travel from the Massif Central to the furthest western tip of Brittany for my ‘education’ about France, to teach me about the values of Europe and the West and show me how to apply for a job or benefits, also for my next French test which I will no doubt again fail dismally.
In order that that’s not a reason to deport me or refuse my visa we jokingly discussed using the human rights thing ie Beas right to have her family (me) here with her. Why not? It’s what all the other immigrants do…
Anyway, I have not done the 200hrs of formal signed off classroom lessons they made me sign to commit to do when the gave me my 1st yr visa (we were a bit busy with mortgage applications and business cases, shoot me) so we will soon see what the reaction to my non compliance is to be…
For all those who remember the movie ‘The Commitments’ - it’s no longer the Irish who are the ‘blacks’ of Europe…..
After the first two visa application sessions next week and after Bea has visited all her extended Breton Celtic warrior clan family, while we wait for the final October interview and the decision on the visa (now a tad more tricky as we are not property/business owning AB1 class citizens as planned, we remain wastrel E3 ‘gens de voyage’), it’s time for a breather back in good old Blighty, another week with pals up in the Lakes and to do yet another service on the trusty van and prep her for winter. I am already psyching myself in readiness of facing those potholed UK roads again.
The last time but one we went back to the UK last Christmas we noticed that we had hit more potholes on the M20 before we had even got to the Maidstone exit (about 30 miles) than in over 10,000km of all types of French roads. So the last time we went back, in May, we took the A2 (Canterbury) and that time hit more potholes before we even got to Lydden Hill, just over the white cliffs…
After a 700km run from deepest Correze I completed my first ‘formation civile’ session last week in Brest and have to do the second tomorrow in the same place. Jeez coming from the south to the tip of Brittany in mid September really felt like swapping summer for winter while skipping Autumn. Brest is a miserable place, rebuilt in concrete after being thoroughly flattened during WW2, and it seems to rain all the time. coming from NW England I felt quite at home.
Turns out it’s 4 x 8hr sessions me and all the other ‘immigrants’ to the EU have to do for our 2nd year visa. The first day I learned it is illegal to drive with no license or insurance, and that I can’t beat my wife or circumcise any daughters, and much else in the same vein. I did learn stuff though, namely that there’s a huge number of quangos in France, it seems like there’s an organisation to support with practically anything. I also saw more proof that their beaurocracy is fiendishly complex, endlessly changed and usually doesn’t work properly, but then we knew that already.
While up here and with me having access to Beas dads garage we took the opportunity to treat the old girl to her 4th oil and filter change inside a year and fix our Dunlop rear air assisters as the lower brackets (they fit into the hubs) had become so badly deformed they made the air springs fail through misalignment. I had to decommission both rears a couple of thousand km ago as a result. To fix, I chopped them up, used Beas dad’s hydraulic press to bend back to shape and rewelded them, so we now have the rear air suspension again, even if the air springs are still leaking. I just top up with the compressor every couple of hours, feeling very pleased I put in the ‘full’ system with gauges, compressor and reservoir. It has come in very useful, with my little tee-in also used for pumping up push bike, motorbike and van tyres regularly.
Ferry ticket for blighty booked for Friday, so we will swing by Marcle leisure while in UK and pick up a couple of new air springs. 3rd session back here in Brest in mid October, then we are all told the final session and the language assessment will be in a surprise location.
Turns out it’s 4 x 8hr sessions me and all the other ‘immigrants’ to the EU have to do for our 2nd year visa. The first day I learned it is illegal to drive with no license or insurance, and that I can’t beat my wife or circumcise any daughters, and much else in the same vein. I did learn stuff though, namely that there’s a huge number of quangos in France, it seems like there’s an organisation to support with practically anything. I also saw more proof that their beaurocracy is fiendishly complex, endlessly changed and usually doesn’t work properly, but then we knew that already.
While up here and with me having access to Beas dads garage we took the opportunity to treat the old girl to her 4th oil and filter change inside a year and fix our Dunlop rear air assisters as the lower brackets (they fit into the hubs) had become so badly deformed they made the air springs fail through misalignment. I had to decommission both rears a couple of thousand km ago as a result. To fix, I chopped them up, used Beas dad’s hydraulic press to bend back to shape and rewelded them, so we now have the rear air suspension again, even if the air springs are still leaking. I just top up with the compressor every couple of hours, feeling very pleased I put in the ‘full’ system with gauges, compressor and reservoir. It has come in very useful, with my little tee-in also used for pumping up push bike, motorbike and van tyres regularly.
Ferry ticket for blighty booked for Friday, so we will swing by Marcle leisure while in UK and pick up a couple of new air springs. 3rd session back here in Brest in mid October, then we are all told the final session and the language assessment will be in a surprise location.
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Hoops and hurdles not easy - you still sure it’s what you wasn’t?
On a normal note seen any sites worth exploring further?
have a good crossing back here it’s windy wet but here in Cornwall mild really.
Carol
On a normal note seen any sites worth exploring further?
have a good crossing back here it’s windy wet but here in Cornwall mild really.
Carol
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