Tip 1 — always have a backup plan. As we arrived in France on Le Shuttle, I became concerned that our phones didn’t have mobile data. Fiona assured me not to panic (I do have a habit of over-dramatising). But upon driving off the train and exiting directly onto a main road, we discovered that we did indeed have no data on either device, ergo, no Google Maps, ergo, no idea where we were going, or where we should be going. There was also nowhere we could pull over to try and remedy the issue, and there is something quite nerve-racking about suddenly driving on the other side of the road, not knowing any of the language, and feeling completely helpless! We somehow ended up on the motorway, headed for Paris (which, to be clear was not where we wanted to go). We took the first available exit, negotiated our first European roundabout, and ended up…back on the motorway. We then took the next exit…rinse, repeat, and back on the motorway. At the third exit, we finally managed to find a quieter road to turn on to, and a deserted car park to stop at, where we had a minor mental breakdown, before calling my sister to see if she could give us the phone number of the mobile company to not only ascertain the reason for the coverage problem, but to frankly register a stern complaint as to the terrible service, when we discovered that it might be a good idea for us to…um…turn on data roaming. At which point our phones lit up with a half-dozen notifications, Google Maps sprung into life, and we discovered that by some stoke of amazing luck, we had not only got on the right motorway, but also taken the correct exit, with the quiet road we were now on able to convey us happily to our accommodation in less than 15 minutes.
Tip 2 — visit Paris. A-MA-ZING! Despite staying at a camping ground that was decidedly mixed — a lovely pitch right next to the River Seine was offset by the noise of trains that every few minutes sounded like an RAF flypast; raw sewerage in the shower; and not being able to use the swimming pool because of an ancient French law forbidding any swimwear apart from budgie smugglers (“those are swimming shorts, not trunks, Monsieur!”). But the city itself was probably the highlight of the trip so far, from the iconic sites of the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe, and relaxing in the Luxembourg Gardens on a lazy Saturday afternoon, to spending 12 hours at Disneyland on sensory overload.
Tip 3 — make it educational. On our visit to the Louvre, while admiring the large paintings of what appeared to be either historic battle scenes or naked orgies (or perhaps both), Anna asked “did people back then have no hair on their bums?” And here was me thinking they weren’t absorbing anything on this trip.
Tip 4 — check the weather forecast. As we can already attest from earlier on this trip, the weather can make your break your camping experience. On leaving Paris to head south through France, we struck heavy rain that lasted on and off for a good few days, and had us questioning why we hadn’t considered booking an Airbnb. Dreams of basking in the warm sunshine in the Loire Valley while sipping a French red were swapped for time huddling in the camper with the diesel heater going, literally arguing with my wife over who got to leave the van for the “reward” of doing the dishes.
Tip 5 — visit the Aude region: Stunning medieval villages, beautiful countryside, and a campsite with views to the Pyrenees.
Amazing
When are you going to write a funny Brill Bryson type book?? Brilliant posts everytime. Have you watched Little Miss Sunshine? You'll relate to the motorway scene.
Hi Family! Happy to see that you're enjoying your trip and that you survived in Paris😅🤣. Hope we will be able to speak in French or even in Spanish once you're back!!
To Sienna and Anna it looked like you had fun at Disney land can’t wait for yo to come back for the book club from your bff aria