31st August - Lucerne to Lake Como

Woke up to more rain and decided to head off to see if we could find the sun. We left about 9:15 after servicing the van before leaving and then headed off for Lake Como.

We travelled through Switzerland in the drizzle and the mountains were in the clouds:





Strange workmen in Switzerland:

 

We arrived at the Gotthard tunnel and drove the 15km through the tunnel, then as we came out the other end the sun was shining.




As we drove on so the clouds dispersed and the sun shone brighter.

The scenery was fantastic from the Gotthard tunnel and down to Lake Lugano. We stopped at a couple of places to take some photos and it was breathtaking driving alongside Lake Lugano. The road was quite narrow and twisty turny but stunning!





One of the many tunnels alongside Lake Lugano

We arrived at Magic Lake campsite

We parked up and decided to explore the nearby village on our bikes, it was beautiful cycling alongside Lake Como to Gravedone. 

Just arrived in Gravedone

We stopped for ice cream, but when Billy came back with the ice creams they turned out to be sorbets!

We cycled back to the campsite with the thought of going back to Gravedone for a meal in the evening. Back at the campsite we decided to take our chairs down to the lakeside.

By the lake just outside Magic Lake gate

Outside camper - just see lake in background

We did not stay long as it was quite windy, so we went back to the camper where it was sheltered. Whilst sitting outside we watched everyone prepare their dinner and decided that we would break the Cadac out and cook our dinner instead of walking into Gravedone.

After dinner we gathered the crockery and went across to the sinks to wash up with the other campers.  Then back to the van for a drink, more relaxation and a good read.

30th August - Luxembourg to Lucerne

Woke to rain again and decided to get on our way as soon as we were ready. It was 9am by the time we left after getting ready and trying to use the motorhome service point.  We could not fathom it out as the instructions were in every language except English.  We ended up filling the water tank and went on our way.

We continued through Luxembourg,  stopping for diesel on the way and then headed back into France.

We kept to non toll roads and went through several villages.  We were on the lookout for a French bakery and found one driving through Delme. We bought a couple French bread pizza breads and a loaf and then went on our way, the sun shone for little while and we got excited as we saw the temperature rise but then the clouds came over again and so did the rain.

We stopped for lunch in a motorway aire where we tucked into our pizzas. Billy had a sleep before setting off to Switzerland and Lucerne. We stopped at the Swiss border to purchase a Swiss vignette (to allow us to use Swiss roads) and then continued on to Lucerne.

We arrived at Lucerne at 5.30pm and it was still raining, we pitched up and went for a walk, we were going to walk into Lucerne as it was only down the road from the site but as we walked we felt that not a lot would be open as it was so miserable. 

We took some photos: 

We chose the campsite with the idea of finding a lakeside restaurant for something to eat and drink, but it was not the night to walk alongside the lake, we turned round and ended up with chicken and chips in the campsite café.

The lady in the café told us in broken English that the rain was going to finish that night.  Hurrah!
 
 

29th August - Ferry to Calais

Woke to the alarm at 6.30, Billy made tea and we had a bowl of cereal before heading off to catch the ferry for 9:15. At the port we were able to catch the earlier ferry at 8.30. Once embarked on the ferry we found the costa coffee shop and enjoyed a latte with a pain aux raisin. The time on the boat (90 mins) went very quickly and we were disembarking at Calais before we knew it.

Next came the drive through Calais to find the non toll road. This was remarkably easy, just a straight road from the port and before we knew it we were passing Dunkirk to our left and then Belguim followed very quickly and we were passing Oostende.

We pulled into a service area to sort maps etc. and then headed off again. The sky looked very dark and soon it started to rain. It wasn’t long before we were in another service area as Billy was feeling tired and needed a kip. An hour later we were on our way again and back on the road and into Luxembourg. We arrived at Kockelshiel campsite at about 6pm and it was still pouring with rain. We found out that the restaurant was not open on a Sunday night, so decided to eat in the van. As we were walking from the shop we saw some Germans heading for a shack and found a fritura, so ended up with Bratwurst and frites but took them back to the camper.  Then to bed.

28th August - Europe 2010 - Italian Lakes Holiday

Left 6am, this was later than thought, the idea was to leave at 3am so that we avoided traffic on the M25. When we went to bed, this swiftly changed to 5am as we put the alarm on for 4am .

By the time I got out of bed it was 4.3, and in the end we left about 5.30. Half way down the road Billy remembered he had left his phone behind so we had to turn round to get it. It was 6 am when we left home for the 2nd time.

Then came the decision as to whether we went the M5/M4 or the A303/M3. We decided to go the A303 because it was not such a boring road. Mistake no. 2 came when we went flying past the exit for the A303. So we trundled up the M5 ready for the boring motorway journey. Then I remembered the Taunton exit that I used to take to Southampton. So we cut across to the A303 and we were back on track.. By the time we got to Stone Henge we were tired so we stopped for a coffee but bought a take away and continued on our way as we wanted to get past the road to hell before stopping. The M25 was not too bad and we were soon past so decided to stop at Maidstone Services for another coffee and a kip.

We then continued on our way to Dover, arriving at about 12.30, we took a look at Hope Inn where we were staying the night and then drove down to the port for a reckie. On the way down we saw a B & Q and I remembered that we never got a full length mirror on the back of the toilet door in the camper as we had planned. Half hour later we came out with just the thing and whilst Billy was sticking it to the door in the car park I put the kettle on for a cup of tea.

We arrived back at the hope inn about 4pm. When we booked the campsite we had also booked a table in the restaurant for a meal. We had a lovely meal, and they were doing a 2 course meal for 2 with a free bottle of wine. I had tuna pate and chicken and leek pie and Billy had crab cakes and lassagne and they both came with home cut chips and I finished mine off with banoffee pie. Loverly!
We will definitely go back again.

Back at the camper we retired to bed after setting the alarm for 6.30

26th June 2010 - Ilton Farm, Salcombe

Woke up to sunshine, Billy cooked breakfast/brunch on the Cadac, which we tucked into before heading off on our bikes.

At the top of the road was the cycle path from Malborough to Salcombe, which we took to Salcombe. We freewheeled down the hilll and it was exhilarating apart from the thought that we would have to cycle back up at some point.

We decided to take the ferry across to East Portlemouth, found a railing in Salcombe to chain our bikes to and headed off across the river on the ferry . It must be the most expensive strip of water at £1.40 each for a single. We were on the small boat for about 3 mins but it was worth it to see the beaches the other side.

We walked up to the Venus café for a drink but all tables were taken so decided to walk along the road thinking we would find a pub further up the road. We walked along the road but there was no else for refreshment, although we found a lovely beach, Mill Bay, we thought about walking barefoot on the sand but decided to walk beside a stream down to the beach as the sand was too hot.

We walked back along the beach to where we got off the ferry and when we got back to Venus café there was a free table, so we stopped for a drink and then headed back across the river on the ferry to Salcombe.

Back in Salcombe we browsed the shops and made a couple of purchases in Seasalt, then back to unchain our bikes and start the uphill trek to the cycle track. By now the sun was very hot, so most of the way we were pushed the bikes up the hill but even that was very hard work. We kept stopping for a rest and swig of water. The bacon we had for our brunch did not help!

We eventually made it to the top and then enjoyed the cycle ride back to the campsite.

After a lovely, if tiring, day, Billy flashed up the BBQ and we relaxed outside the van enjoying the sunshine.

25th June 2010 - Ilton Farm, Malborough

The weather forecast was for a fantastic weekend. We wanted to take the van out for the weekend but also wanted to watch the football on Sunday afternoon, so we decided to try one of the CLs near Salcombe, just 20 miles away. Billy contacted the site owner on Friday afternoon and although the CL was full, there was room on the site alongside.

We left at 6.30 and stopped at Morrisons on the way to top our cupboards up, arriving at the site about 8pm. It was a lovely evening and we sat outside for a while before retiring to bed.

 

19th June 2010 - Marazion, Cornwall

19th June 2010

We decided to wait until today to go out with the camper. Billy had said if I could find a site where there was a pub with the football on close by we could go on Friday. However I decided not to bother as by the time we got in from work and headed off we would have missed the start of the match. So we stayed at home and watched the match - what a load of rubbish!

Anyhow we awoke this morning and the sun was shining, so we quickly gathered some bits together , including the bikes and made our way to Cornwall, without breakfast. We ended up at Marazion opposite St Michaels’s Mount, we were starving so I cooked a brunch. Then we headed off on our bikes, we found a cylce path that rode along the beach into Penzance and beyond. It was cloudy when we started off but by the time we got back the sun was shining and apart from the wind it was glorious.

We did not know where we were staying that night so felt we should get back and find somewhere to stay. When we got back there were a lot more campervans parked up.

  

We got talking to one owner of a campervan and she said they were staying the night where they were and had done so in the past and that it was Ok to stay.  So we thought fine lets have our first wild camp.

We decided to relax but needed something to eat so we walked along the beach into Marazion.

We found Godolphin’s Gig bar where there was a view across to the Mount.

We sat outside the bar watched the sea cover the causeway that you could walk across to the mount when it was low tide.  We then watched the sun go down.

It was a lovely night apart from the wind was still around. We walked back to the van and relaxed listening to the radio and reading.

20th June 2010

We woke after a good nights sleep. Through the night I heard one car go by that wanted to let us know they were there by tooting the car horn. 

When we opened the blinds we had a lovely view across to St Michael's mount.

  

Lazy day today, we just sat outside the van enjoying the sunshine and the view.