Sunday 7th April - Citie Europ to Home

A very early start, 6.00 am - it was still dark, plus cold damp and misty. Necessary of course because we'd re-booked onto an early train and needed to be early, firstly to get Jamie registered, then in case of problems with checking in. However it all went smoothly, everywhere was very quiet and we were processed through to the train with only the usual short wait.

It was foggy in Folkestone as we left the terminal for the couple of miles to the Stop 24 service area for breakfast - it is Sunday after all but we thought £18 for two breakfasts was a bit steep. Never mind, it's only money, so appetites satisfied we headed up the M20 which was roadworks almost all the way to the M25 but apart from the 50 mph speed limit, was delay free although we were surprised at the amount of traffic at this time on a Sunday morning. It may have been due to the race meeting at Brands Hatch.

From thereon the usual slog up the M11 and A1 to Terry's Mum at Navenby where we spent a couple of hours chatting. Then back onto the road for the final run, this time with rain showers most of the way, only clearing when we got close to home, at a reasonable time for a change which gave us a chance to start emptying the van of the most important stuff. Everything else will get done over the next couple of days.

We've got quite a long list of things to get done, both on the van (it is getting on a bit now!) and at home - how did we ever find time to work? But as we have no plans at the moment for our next trip we'll just take it a stage at a time.

So, if you're still with us, thanks for following our travels and we hope we haven't bored you silly!

Saturday 6th April – Le Crotoy to Citie Europe

Le Crotoy to Calais - 63 miles

With nothing to rush for we had a bit of a lie-in before having a cleanup and put away after breakfast. Then with the loo and waste emptied we headed north along the Cote D'Opale to Auchan at Boulogne for some last minute shopping and to refuel. It seems to be the same price as the UK so refuelling now will save us some time tomorrow.

So now we're parked up at Citie Europe with around a dozen others, a few Brits amongst them. With a 6.00 am start tomorrow think it'll be an early night.

But we're now ready to go home - I think we have been for a few days now – so all that's left is the long slog up-country, calling in at Terry's mum for an hour or so near Lincoln. At least, being Sunday, it shouldn't be too busy.

Apart from the run home this is probably the last entry into this trips blog. As always we've enjoyed ourselves and this year been blessed with much better weather, have hardly seen any rain the entire trip and generally until the last few days it has been comfortably warm. We surprised ourselves by changing our minds about visiting Morocco again, probably because we didn't seem to be rushing around so much as before, stayed longer in fewer places.

Friday 5th April – Pont de L'Arche to Le Crotoy

Pont de L'Arche to Le Crotoy - 95 miles

Sunshine again this morning and after breakfast and the van serviced we got back onto the road on our now regular route back home. Our intentions today were to get up to the vet at Rue for Jamie's Pet Passport stamp then see about an earlier crossing.

Basically all went to plan; after lunch on Lidl's carpark the vet, as always, was happy to attend to us almost straightaway and we decided to overnight at the aire at Le Crotoy whilst we made our other arrangements. As always at this time of year there was plenty of room and after a cuppa we called Eurotunnel and brought forward our booking to early Sunday morning – we had to pay a surcharge of course but it was either that or wait until Wednesday. We've a lot to do when we get home, in particular a sudden (aren't they all) family funeral in Cumbria on Friday, so being home a few days early will be a help.

Meanwhile whilst walking the hound Bren spoke to a couple who were full-timing in a converted horsebox and were very keen on visiting Morocco, so a nice hours chat ensued – another convert to MotorhomeFun!

Thursday 4th April – Le Perouille to Pont de L'Arche

La Perouille to Pont de L'Arche - 224 miles

A cold night but it remained dry and the sun was just getting up so a nice pleasant start to the day. The services were off, but we still managed the basics before heading to Chateauroux for a fuel refill which we found at a LeClerc, usually about the cheapest.

But we're now ready to go home so to give us a couple of options we thought we'd get as far as possible today and set our target for Pont de L'Arche, just south of Rouen. The route was on mostly fast dual carriageway that by-passed most of the large towns although we did end up going through the middle of Orleans, fortunately not at rush hour.

Lunch was an abbreviated affair, taken on a supermarket carpark at La Ferte St Aubin before pushing on. It was obvious that it was going to be much later than we normally stop by the time we reached Pont de L'Arche and we did consider stopping earlier, but thought we'd take a chance of there still being room – it is a popular place and has been full before.

Then TomTom showed us some of his advanced properties by warning us of traffic delays ahead, mostly caused by roadworks and the inevitable heavy traffic at going home time. We were held up a few times, the worst being the last mile, but overall it wasn't as bad as it could have been – and there were still spaces at the aire!

There appeared to be a gathering of travellers at the next carpark over but fortunately it had not spilled over to the aire. We've noticed several of these groups but what has been most apparent is that, whilst they still have their big caravans and transit type vans, they are otherwise nothing like their UK counterparts, no mess, loud noises or other unsocial activities.

Wednesday 3rd April – Lembras to near Chateauroux

Lembras to Chateauroux - 177 miles

More rain overnight and we experienced showers most of the day. Managed to get everything done without getting wet, however, so set off for a hopefully better day distance-wise today, which should be achievable bearing in mind much of it is planned to be toll-free motorway.

A fairly uninteresting drive, despite the map describing it as “picturesque” in places, and we got as far as Limoges where we found a Centre Commercial for some bits of shopping and lunch. Back onto a quite busy motorway with the temperature suddenly taking a nose-dive as we approached Chateauroux and it went dark as the traffic suddenly slowed for an accident – caused by a sudden heavy hail shower that turned everything white!

Nobody hurt and we pulled into the nearby services to check for an overnight stop. Although there was a few choices nothing took our fancy except a quiet rural place only a few kilometres away as the crow flies. Typically of course it was much more than that by the time TomTom got us off the motorway but then we found a lovely little spot by the side of a small lake with nobody else on it. We've always said the best places are just a little way off the beaten track and this was proof of our point.

Unfortunately the weather was still unstable and we suffered rain, sleet and hail showers into the evening, having to put the heating on once again – good job we filled up with gas a couple of days ago! It'll be back to long trousers and shoes and socks again tomorrow!

Tuesday 2 April – Mont de Marson to Lembras (near Bergerac)

Mont de Marson to Lembras - 102 miles

More rain overnight but no leaks, so fingers crossed. Woken early by several what sounded like fighter jet aircraft taking off nearby – not been able to find out where they are, none of our maps show a military airfield nearby (???). Anyway although it was a bit damp underfoot (cue muddy doggy pawprints) it was a nice morning so after the usual chores we set off, planning to go cross-country and avoid motorways and maybe see bits of France we haven't seen before. First target was Bergerac, in the Dordogne region.

Needing some bits and pieces of grocery we stopped off at an Intermarche, then continued along the D933, a very pleasant if not particularly fast road especially through the goodly number of small villages and towns. Lunch in a roadside parking area whilst we planned our overnight stop, deciding that indeed Bergerac was probably going to be the place. So we picked a nice-looking aire from a choice of several and let TomTom do his thing.

We found a small, 10-place aire about half full just off the main road through the village of Lembras and pitched up. A bit noisy at first as the local creche was next door, it later became peaceful whilst we relaxed with a cuppa and cake.

It never seems to make much sense to us that a local council would provide such a pleasant space, together with water and waste disposal for nothing – perhaps they're hoping we'll spend some money. Or is it just that France is particularly keen on motorhoming?

Monday 1st April - Vitoria-Gasteiz to Mont de Marson

Vitoria to Mont de Marson - 167 miles

Oh bother! Woken at 3.00 am to rain and a drip, drip, drip – we'd got a leak in the skylight, the one we had resealed a couple of years ago. There really wasn't much we could do about it except shove a bowl underneath and go back to bed.

By morning the rain had stopped, as had the drip, but without getting onto the roof with some sealant not a lot we could do so dried out where we could and left it for now. After breakfast we went to the Mercadona supermarket across the road but it was shut, again! We've never actually seen it open in several visits! So back to the van, a quick service and off to a local garage where we refilled the gas and fuel tanks and topped up the suspension pressure which had faded a bit causing Bertie to roll a little when cornering.

Back to a quite busy motorway and head for San Sebastion and France. We dropped off the Spanish plateau and noted a significant temperature increase; coupled with a brighter day it made for a pleasant drive. As usual we took the toll road through the border then stopped at a service area for lunch to plan our route.

Not being in too much of a rush we thought we'd find a different way north for a change and decided to go a little to the east through Lot and the Dordogne. This would avoid toll roads and also the very boring N10, which now has a blanket 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit on it for us, being over 3.5t. Our intial aim point was Mont de Marson but TomTom wasn't happy about already being on a toll road and promptly took us into the nightmare of D roads around Bayonne, roads we usually take great care to avoid. We laboured through stop start traffic until eventually breaking free onto the open road once again.

We drove straight through the middle of Mont de Marson, picking up a Swedish motorhome as a tail, before finding a pleasant commercial aire on the outskirts. Fully automated, we “checked in” then found a nice spot and settled down for just the one night.

There is obviously an air base of some sort close by, although we never actually located it, as for an hour or so we were “entertained” by a small jet aircraft obviously doing some local training. But it did stop as it got dark. We just hope now that it doesn't rain..............!