Well, to be honest, our only motorhome adventure so far. Despite sensible plans to have a few days away in the UK first to get a "feel" for living in a motorhome, these were scuppered by the delay in trying to get the diesel heating system fixed, under warranty, before we went away. But to no avail. So our first night in our new-to-us 2007 Autocruise Starburst (now fondly known as Ziggy) was on the car park of the Drum Inn in Stanford, close to the Eurotunnel. Next day we were in France and heading for the Aire at Merlimont. The rest, as they say, is history. Some of you good people were watching my "pics of the outside from inside" as our maiden voyage unfolded and took us through France, into Spain and on to Portugal. Inclement weather conditions on the Atlantic coast of Spain (our chosen return route, through the PIcos, which I still have not seen) forced us into a change of direction and we headed back to the Med, chasing the sun as we did. Back across Spain to the French Med coast, then back along the East side of France (on the delightful back roads - by now the rule was definitely NO MOTORWAYS OR TOLLS) and finally safely home after 70 days on the road. We stayed at 49 different locations - on campsites, Aires, then as we got more adventurous, car parks too! Get us! Plus we visited many more locations en route. We covered 5689 miles door-to-door, suffered one mechanical malady (EGR valve replacement), survived 2 Kamikaze attacks on our passenger side mirror (one in France, the second in Portugal) and learned a hell of a lot for our next trip abroad.
Things we learned? Avoid speeding white vans that cut corners and try to take your mirror with them. Cruise control IS a useful accessory in Europe. Popit SIM cards work anywhere. Don't be afraid to ask if you can stay on the car park of the bodega / Roman ruins / church that you have just visited. The answer was always affirmative. Make sure you keep up to date with posts on this forum - its the 4th best insurance policy and it's dirt cheap. Have the right apps on your phone and the right cards in your wallet (camping as well as debit / credit). We got our ACSI books and card from a campsite in Toulouse - yes they are in French - they cost us 25 Euros but they discounted our 3 days stay by 18 Euros. The next site we visited gave us a 10 Euros discount. Win-Win. We learned to live without EHU and on-site showers for a couple of days. We met some wonderful people. We saw amazing sights and sites. And we got a shed load of fridge magnets for our collection. Here's to our next one!
Things we learned? Avoid speeding white vans that cut corners and try to take your mirror with them. Cruise control IS a useful accessory in Europe. Popit SIM cards work anywhere. Don't be afraid to ask if you can stay on the car park of the bodega / Roman ruins / church that you have just visited. The answer was always affirmative. Make sure you keep up to date with posts on this forum - its the 4th best insurance policy and it's dirt cheap. Have the right apps on your phone and the right cards in your wallet (camping as well as debit / credit). We got our ACSI books and card from a campsite in Toulouse - yes they are in French - they cost us 25 Euros but they discounted our 3 days stay by 18 Euros. The next site we visited gave us a 10 Euros discount. Win-Win. We learned to live without EHU and on-site showers for a couple of days. We met some wonderful people. We saw amazing sights and sites. And we got a shed load of fridge magnets for our collection. Here's to our next one!
