Our first on-the-road blog entry! So many things already to write about, lets sum up the events of this week:
25th of February we left home, we must admit it was pretty emotional having to say goodbye to our family and friends. What we experienced was so much love and care, we felt blessed. Everyday life is so busy that we tend to take this love for granted, saying goodbye made us realize this.
First night we stayed at Durbuy in the Ardennes, at a campsite Jeroen and I went before and really liked (Grand-Bru). We had a blast listening to the fascinating stories of the new owners Errol, Petra and Monique. Camping at -4C isn`t exactly comfy, but it was a great start of our journey.
The next morning we set course to the tiny village of Billy-Sous-Mangiennes in the north of France where we visited the mother of our friend Ewoud, she lives there in a beautiful villa at the country site. We enjoyed her hospitality, stories, jokes and her museum-like house complete with collection of old cars and car parts (pm us if you need any Mercedes part, we`ll hook you up ;) )
Next stop: Paris! After a classic encounter with rush hour traffic at the peripherique we arrived at a busy campsite in the middle of the city, next to Bois de Boulogne. Quickly installed our 'bedroom' for another cold night and used the camping shuttle to visit the city centre. No time for a true french dining experience, so burger fast food it was. A quick walk along Champs Elysee, to the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel tower and the Louvre. Nice! We slept like babies only to be woken up at 7 AM by the loud noise of chainsaws cutting down trees, on a Sunday, those French heretics! It sure made us get up early for the next leg of our journey.
First to Bayeux to admire the oldest cartoon in the world; a 900 year old and 70m long tapestry that tells the story of the battle of Hasting in 1066. It`s beautifully preserved and pretty graphic with chopped off heads and limbs and all, and even depicts Halley`s comet as a bad omen.
In the vicinity of Bayeux lies Omaha Beach, the D-Day beach where strong German resistance cost so many American lives. It sounds cliche, but although little remains from those days it is very impressive to see it with you own eyes.
A little to the south lies Mont Saint-Michel, which is a definite go-to place on our bucket list. Budget-wise we could choose between a good restaurant or a campsite with shower; we chose the restaurant, and found a great french one (Le Grillon) in the tiny village of Pontorson where we made all heads turn because we were probably the only non-locals there and the made the average age go down a lot :) Finding a place to pitch our car is never easy in the dark but we found a nice field, with Mont Saint-Michel as our view, so beautiful!! Visiting Mont Saint-Michel felt like a day of time travel to the middle ages. Amazing experience!
The next 2 days we drove to Les Camargue, a nature reserve with flamingos and wild horses, were we arrived late only to find all campsites were closed for the season, so we parked at a car park along the road, very abandoned. But at 7.30 AM (we were up and dressed) a knock at the door, and an official asking for 12 euro parking fee. Surprised by this we obediently paid the fee.
From the flamingos we drove to Mandelieu at the Cote d`Azur, through St. Tropez and along a most beautiful coastal road to enjoy a day of rest at a nice campsite with WiFi and a shower. After 3 nights without, these everyday commodities are very welcome (we know; not very hardcore travelling , but hey, this part of our journey is supposed to be our vacation!). Here we visited the holiday park I (Nicolette) spend my summer holidays as a child. So cool to visit, to recognize the park, the house and the facilities, but nothing of the town. I think back then, I didn't care much about that. Now I see it is actually a very nice (and ridiculously posh!) place.
Tomorrow we will drive to Milan where we will meet Jeroen`s brother Sebastiaan and his girlfriend Loes to start our winter sports week. More about that in our next blog.
Reactie schrijven
Maud (maandag, 07 maart 2016)
Wow, pas net onderweg en al zo veel mooie belevenissen! Heb al zin in alle verhalen die nog zullen komen :)
P.s. je fiets rijdt heerlijk Nicolette, thnx!
Scarlett (maandag, 07 maart 2016 21:32)
Wat hebben jullie al een hoop gezien en gedaan zeg! Leuk om zo over jullie avonturen te lezen. En de foto's natuurlijk! Warme knuffel. X
Simon en linda (dinsdag, 08 maart 2016 07:07)
Dag lieve mensen,
Wauh wat een leuke dingen zien jullie.....vooral dat museum van moeder Han
Viola (dinsdag, 08 maart 2016 07:13)
Nu al mooie avonturen, leuk om te lezen! X
ABBY VAN DEN BERG (dinsdag, 08 maart 2016 08:06)
Wat mooi allemaal!!! En wat leuk dat we nu al zo mogen meereizen:) Die flamingos!! Geweldig. Dat verwacht je niet zo dicht bij huis. kijk uit naar de verhalen van jullie volgende bestemming.
Celine (dinsdag, 08 maart 2016 08:20)
Wow, you've done so much already! Love hearing about your adventures. Enjoy! Xx
Joris Tieken (dinsdag, 08 maart 2016 09:48)
Goed te zien dat jullie het naar je zin hebben, en al veel mooie dingen gezien en gedaan zie ik! Lekker door gaan zo.
X
Erik (dinsdag, 08 maart 2016 22:12)
What a nice read! Looking forward to the next episode! En wat een mooi plekje ook mont saint Michel!
monique (vrijdag, 11 maart 2016 13:13)
wij vonden het ook erg gaaf om jullie te ontmoeten en een deel uit te mogen maken van jullie avontuur!!!
Yvonne (maandag, 14 maart 2016 15:16)
Hai Nicolette, wat leuk geschreven en al veel beleeft!! Moet een heerlijk gevoel geven, om zo de tijd aan jullie zelf te hebben en zo heerlijk te reizen!!
Nog veel plezier!!
Groetjes Yvonne (BC)
Rob Elmore (donderdag, 17 maart 2016 15:05)
Hey, I hope you are going to drive the Formula 1 circuit in Monaco?! Have a great trip and the best of luck - I'm not jealous at all!
Harald (zaterdag, 19 maart 2016 13:15)
Leuk om te lezen dat het stukje vakantie van jullie reis goed bevalt. Ben benieuwd maar de volgende update. Geniet van jullie reis!
Bart Smits (vrijdag, 25 maart 2016 01:15)
Hey hallo
Kreeg van Mart de link doorgestuurd, fantastisch avontuur! Met plezier gelezen wat jullie tot nu toe hebben beleefd.
Gave wagen ook!
Om alles te lezen, heb ik dan een pw nodig?
Succes en veel plezier!
Bart
bcjsmits@gmail.com