Hints and Tips from our first long trip (Latest - 27. Cap Corse Site Review)

[DM]

Any pics of Avignon & Orleans DM? As you say, have driven past many times but never stopped off...

Last year we got from the Tunnel to nearly Dijon before wanting to stop, but we randomly chose Beaune instead as a smaller regional town stop-over rather than Dijon as a bigger city - really pretty & much more laid back for al fresco dinner & a wander.

Yes - Dijon is a good distance from Calais. We used to use a great little hotel there for our stopover on the way back from Ski-ing with the kids. We had a clockwork schedule. Stay on the slopes until 4:30pm Saturday (always the quietest day / less queues etc), On the road by about 5:30pm. Tea at McDonalds Chambery (well its quick and easy), tucked up in bed in Dijon by 11pm, leisurely breakfast in the hotel, on the road by around 9:30am to get a late afternoon ferry, home by 8pm.

I haven't sorted photos yet but I'll get some posted over the weekend.

 

[DM]

Hilarious how we go to this much trouble to cart our 'leisure equipment' all that way ...

I've been to a cycling event with a pal in Italy three years running (twice van, flew middle year) and, whilst it's the whole excuse for the trip, the cycling part is incidental in the grand scheme of things & the whole transport of them is such a PITA!

I know - but we need to take them - just in case.

 

[DM]

Just keep it coming, I am enjoying this DM, and picking up ideas for the future. Thanks

Probably nothing further today as I'm off to my daughter's graduation shortly . There'll be something over the weekend though.

 

[Hotel California]

@hirsty , Avignon is nice place to stop for a day , my brother in law lives in that region and we been there few times.
Very nice old buildings (been the place where the pope has had residence) , nice shoppingboulevard , culture ,...
There's a large parking in walkingdistance to town centre .

Beaune is also nice for a stopover , big free camperparking allouwed to spent the night , in walkingdistance from towncenter , market on sathurday so arriving fridayevening is a thing we do often on our way home from a trip in France .

Many nice towns most just leave aside as they all want to be south as fast they can but the inland of France had a lot of beauty and less tourists....

 

[wessexcamper]

Great posts, thank you.

 

[DM]

11. Can I drink the water?
Est-ce que c'est de l'eau potable? - one of my very few intelligible French phrases but one that was vital back-packing through Europe in the early 80s, was generally answered "the water - of course you can drink it", in perfect English. Or at least with "for drinking - yes". This is Europe for goodness sake - not deepest Africa! Actually it was a little bit more complicated than that so I thought a few musings on our aqua experiences might be of interest.

CamperLife is a slightly surreal existence which runs in parallel with the real world around us. Here we are travelling in a first world European country and we find ourselves worrying about the accessibility of water - how much is in the tank? how long will it last? will there be water available where we stay tonight? can we drink it / clean our teeth with it / cook with it / wash-up with it / keep the dog alive with it etc. ? (Actually we didn't take the dog, Charlie, so that was one less thing to worry about).

There are lots of threads here about water and whether people use the fresh water in the tank for drinking. For right or wrong - we use it for pretty much everything and have never had a problem. My only precautions are to give the tank a sterile flush once a year, always drain the tank after a trip and be reasonably careful about where we top-up.

We stayed in a mixture of Camperstops and campsites, Most, but not all, had fresh water available but at some it was an additional charge so we tried to fill up where it was free or included in campsite fees wherever possible (is it the Scotsman in me - having shelled out so much on the van why do I make so much effort to save a couple of Euros paying for water?) .

We set-out with a fresh-water sensor that helpfully provided random and inconsistent readings, so we were a bit worried about running out of water. We found that the tank consistently lasted us two days using it for drinking, cooking and washing up. That was being reasonably careful but not manically so. And we were probably drinking around 3 litres each per day of that.

We carried a hose for filling up.


Our set-up included a 15m stretch hose and the various tap adapters etc seen in the picture. I think we used them all except the smaller threaded adapter. Your own hose is essential. Few sites provided a hose and even where they did who's to know that it hasn't been used for flushing out - well you can imagine. The flexible hose is great. It takes up very little space. Only minor drawback is that it needs a fair water pressure to expand to its full 50ft length. Quite often the pressure was insufficient - so you just need to park a bit closer. The net bag is actually a golf ball bag bought for about a quid from Amazon. That proved essential as the first time I put the wet hose back in its nice cardboard box after using it I unsurprisingly got a soggy cardboard box - duh.

I stand by my comments about drinking water being available everywhere but a lot of sites do have both drinking and non-drinking water available. I guess the non-drinking water is collected rainwater. I presume the idea is non-drinking for washing up, drinking for - well, drinking. This isn't always obviously signed, and you often find yourself asking maintenance staff rather than reception staff so my introductory phrase did come in handy.

It's hot - "damn hot" - in Corsica in July (actually apparently it normally isn't too bad but this year is exceptionally hot) so we drank a lot of water. We got a regime going of keeping a couple of large bottles in the fridge (at the back where they developed their own ice cubes) and used these to top up smaller 50 / 75cl bottles to carry around. We did find some good 75cl bottles of water in a French supermarket that were a good fit for the cooled compartment in the dash.



Actually - six of these were the only bottled water we purchased all trip. (Note to self - check whether we have actually kept any of these elusively sized bottles).

Would I do anything different from a water perspective next trip? I will probably get a 10 litre 'emergency' water container to keep in the boot for peace of mind. But actually, we wouldn't have needed it. Two other lessons reinforced were:

• always fill-up if you are at a site with free water available - it takes about 5 mins
• always have change available - many camperstops have coin operated water

 

[DM]

This post is pure indulgence. But hopefully the Mods will let it pass . My justification is that the timing of our trip was based upon being back for this.

One of my daughter' graduation pics. I won't embarrass her by posting an individual pic or pointing her out. But this gives a better flavour of the atmosphere of the day than the mandatory studio pics.



Hats off (clever eh) to anyone that can identify the University from this? There is a specific clue in the photo but you'd need to have been there.

 

[HAPPY_T6_CALI]

We went to Corsica last May. A video of the trip, including names of the campsites we visited can be seen here.

More videos, including the VW Factory Visit in Hannover with the California Club last April on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCatZnNDiplStM3B1YDrEzyA

 

[DM]

12. Sunsets
I love a good sunset and the west coast of Corsica is as good as it gets. You become so blaze that you don't even bother to get the camera out. But here's a couple of contrasting evenings. The first two shots are from the beach at Porto and the third from a great little bistro on the beach just west of Ajaccio.







Just starting to sort out photos. More will follow.

 

[DM]

13. Ferry Check-in Times (and missing it)!
Here we are in the ferry bound for Corsica.

Right at the front - ready for a quick getaway. Gosh you say. How early did you have to check-in to get at the front?
90 Minutes - yes that's early isn't it.

Actually it's not. Last check-in for the Corsica ferry was 90 mins before sailing. Seemed plenty to us so we duly turned up at the port in Nice 85 mins before sailing. To find it practically deserted. Loading was effectively complete. To be fair there was no stress about us being late and we could probably have turned up an hour later and still got on but I think there were only two after us. We ended up at the front because we were reversed on as we were too tall to fit under the hanging car deck.

90 mins is incredibly long when we are used to 30 mins for the Channel Ferries. I've always stressed about not missing them since demand based pricing was introduced and they started charging a premium for flexible tickets. Many's the time I've raced the clock to arrive at Dover or Calais with seconds to spare.

No need it appears. On our way home we decided to have a short stop in Liege. 3 hours from there to Calais should be fine. It was. Problem was I only allowed 2! Not sure how that happened. I was thinking ahead to arrival times and got myself mixed up between UK and Continental time. Ah well - no point in rushing anymore - we were definitely going to miss it. Was it a problem? Not at all. We had rehearsed our excuses but they weren't necessary. "We'll put you on the 17:55" were the only response from the very nice woman on check-in.

I think we were 'punished' slightly because the ferry 30 mins earlier had not actually started loading and I'm sure they could have fitted us on that - but no complaints. According to the strict ticket ts and cs they could have charged us £50.

So - no more stressing for me on those manic drives. It really doesn't matter if you are late.

 

[DM]

It really doesn't matter if you are late.

A bit of research found this on the eurotunnel website.

https://help.eurotunnel.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207856689-What-happens-if-I-arrive-early-or-late-

So you are ok within 2 hours and only exposed to a fare difference if within 24 hours. P & O clearly operates a similar policy although I still can't find any clarification on their website.

 

[DM]

14. Overnight Stops
Is it just me? I can't wait to go on holiday to relax - and then I can't - well - relax! I get figity if I'm not busy and Mrs DM can't bear to think that she might have missed a sight-seeing opportunity! So we often arrive at our planned overnight stops very late because we have been maximising activity / sight-seeing time. So. a) there doesn't seem much point forking out for expensive campsites when we only spend a few hours there and, b) we'd probably be too late to get in. So we were keen to search out simple and cheap overnight stops. But where to find reliable information about them?

I decided to invest in the Camperstops book. It's a Dutch publication but produced in several languages including English. It's expensive - £27 -but claimed to have the greatest and most upto date info about overnight stopovers. We used it wherever we could on the trip. On balance it was a worthwhile purchase. We used it for 8 stopovers out of 17 nights. Prices varied. I think 3 were free and others varied from 6 to 13 Euros. So the book easily paid for itself.

It's worth noting though that they offer a smartphone app which is free (with ads) so you could just download that. My view was that they should charge a small subscription for the app - say a tenner - but give you a year's free subscription if you buy the book.

Most of the locations (but not all) are also on searchforsites . In some cases searchforsites info was more upto date. It had more recent costs for some locations and correctly noted that one destination we headed for is now daytime parking only. That led to a slightly nervous search at 11pm on a pass in Corsica with prominant no motorhomes signs in every space large enough to park a mini (the original one)! The gods smiled on us though and we happened upon a campsite with a roadside bar still open where they were happy to take our money - phew. The lesson was cross-reference information wherever possible - especially if you've only one option. Wild camping is pretty much outlawed everywhere on Corsica although I don't know what the implications would be if you found a quiet pullover and just ignored the signs.

The type and quality of stopovers varied widely. From a gravel car-park with no facilities - but a stunning beachfront location on northern Cap Corse - to well equipped and secure sites with CCTV, water, hook-up and disposal facilities (Como). Our experience was that it generally paid to have a back-up plan. On 3 occasions we were not comfortable staying at the first location for security reasons. One was a lay-by outside a leisure centre in Orleans, another a town-centre car park in a small town near Avignon already populated by what looked like semi-permanent travellers. But we found some gems as well including a great riverside site just outside Orleans, a vineyard near Avignon, the beach on Cap Corse, and a Ski Lodge car park in Belgium (yes you read that correctly)!

One absolute requirement is an on-board loo. I think only one of the sites we stopped at had toilet / shower facilities but most had a toilet waste disposal facility.

One thing we felt was lacking was good and reliable reviews. The Camperstop App has a capability for reviews but we didn't find a single review for any of the locations we used. They don't seem to have a collaborative community. Which leads me to think that we could do with a better club facility for reviewing sites. I know that the forum can be used but it doesn't really lend itself to easy searches for sites based on maps / location / type etc. It would be fantastic if we could have a facility that enabled sites (including regular campsites) to be searchable in a data base with a map search facility and the capability for members to leave reviews. I reckon this community would rapidly build up a huge information resource that would be specifically relevant for campers rather than Mortorhomes. If it were a VIP member only facility then that alone would be worth the membership. I'd certainly trust member reviews on this site over other resources.

How about it @Kev @Martin ?

 

[GrannyJen]

14. Overnight Stops
Is it just me? I can't wait to go on holiday to relax - and then I can't - well - relax! I get figity if I'm not busy and Mrs DM can't bear to think that she might have missed a sight-seeing opportunity! So we often arrive at our p,anne overnight stops very late because we have been maximising activity / sight-seeing time. So. a) the doesn't seem much point forking out for expensive campsites when we only spend a few hours there and, b) we'd probably be too late to get in. So we were keen to search out simple and cheap overnight stops. But where to find reliable information about them!

I decided to invest in the Camperstop book. It's a Dutch publication but produced in several languages including English. It's expensive £27 but claimed to have the greatest and most upto date info about overnight stopovers. We used it wherever we could on the trip. On balance it was a worthwhile purchase. We used it for 8 stopovers out of 17 nights. Prices varied. I think 3 were free and others varied from 6 to 13 Euros. So the book easily paid for itself.

It's worth noting though that they offer a smartphone app which is free (with ads) so you could just download that. My view was that they should charge a small subscription for the app - say a tenner - but give you a year's free subscription if you buy the book.

Most of the locations (but not all) are also on searchforsites . In some cases searchforsites info was more upto date. It had more recent costs for some locations and correctly noted that one destination we headed for is now daytime parking only. That led to a slightly nervous search at 11pm on a pass in Corsica with prominant no motorhomes signs in every space large enough to park a mini (the original one)! The gods smiled on us though and we happened upon a campsite with a roadside bar still open where they were happy to take our money - phew. The lesson was cross emergence information wherever possible - especially if you've only one option. Wild camping is pretty much outlawed everywhere on Corsica although I don't know what the implications would be if you found a quiet pullover and just ignored the signs.

The type and quality of stopovers varied widely. From a gravel car-park with no facilities - but a stunning beachfront location on northern Cap Corse - to well equipped and secure sites with CCTV, water, hook-up and disposal facilities (Como). Our experience was that it generally paid to have a back-up plan. On 3 occasions we were not comfortable starting at the first location for security reasons. One was a lay-by outside a leisure centre in Orleans, another a town-centre car park in a small town near Avignon already populated by what looked like semi-permanent travellers. But we found some gems as well including a great riverside site just outside Orleans, a vineyard near Avignon, the beach on Cap Corse, and a Ski Lodge car park in Belgium (yes you read that correctly)!

One absolute requirement is an on-board loo. I think only one of the sites we stopped at had toilet / shower facilities but most had a toilet waste disposal facility.

One thing we felt was lacking was good and reliable reviews. The Camperstop App has a capability for reviews but we didn't find a single review for any of the locations we used. Which leads me to think that we could do with a better club facility for reviewing sites. I know that the forum can be used but it doesn't really lend itself to easy searches for sites based on maps / location / type etc. It would be fantastic if we could have a facility that enabled sites (including regular campsites) to be searchable in a data base with a map search facility and the capability for members to leave reviews. I reckon this community would rapidly build up a huge information resource that would be specifically relevant for campers rather than Mortorhomes. If it were a VIP member only facility then that alone would be worth the membership.

How about it @Kev @Martin ?

A great write-up thank you.

My one quibble would be a plea for yet more searchable databases. My problem is not to find sites but to decide on which resource to use next, from Archies, Acsi, All the Aires to searchforsites and Britstops there is such a choice that I often end up confusing myself

Reviews can be helpful, but they are only as reliable as on the date they are written, an example being a long drive through France to find a well-reviewed Aire, the last review being a week old, and at 7pm at night finding the Aire full of diggers with big holes between them.

I love wild and permissive camping but uncertainty is a double-edged sword, it keeps the hordes away but can also smack you in the teeth.

 

[DM]

A great write-up thank you.

My one quibble would be a plea for yet more searchable databases. My problem is not to find sites but to decide on which resource to use next, from Archies, Acsi, All the Aires to searchforsites and Britstops there is such a choice that I often end up confusing myself

Reviews can be helpful, but they are only as reliable as on the date they are written, an example being a long drive through France to find a well-reviewed Aire, the last review being a week old, and at 7pm at night finding the Aire full of diggers with big holes between them.

I love wild and permissive camping but uncertainty is a double-edged sword, it keeps the hordes away but can also smack you in the teeth.

I think I'm agreeing with you Jen but with a slightly different conclusion. There are lots of resources, including the reviews on this forum. But I find it quite hard to find information here on the forum as it is not indexed or readily searchable. I'd be happy to use the club as my primary source of site information - no need to go to any sites if a member has been there before . But maybe I'm being too ambitious.

 

[iamchucky]

3. French Autoroute Tolls
This was the single most frustrating issue on our trip. I researched vehicle classifications before we left the UK. The rules are clear - vehicle classification is based upon the vehicle height without any roofload. The official height of the T6 Cali (according to the spec sheet) is 1990mm. So definitely a Class 1 vehicle. Roof loads do not change the classification. However we had a roofload which took the total vehicle height to just over 2.6m. The lasers at the Toll plazas are supposed to identify the base vehicle height but they don't seem to be able to do this accurately. I think we went through 6 booths and were charged as Class 1 twice and Class 2 four times. There are no manned booths anymore so we pressed the button and tried to argue the case but to no avail (probably due to our limited French). The difference in cost is significant. Class 2 is approximately 50% more expensive than Class 1. We tried to avoid Motorways for a while but whilst some RNs bypass towns and villages others do not and progress was slow - so we ended up back on the AutoRoute.

I have kept all the receipts and will possibly try to appeal - but I'm not optimistic.

I've done some more research since getting home. I think I will get a tag next time we go to France. There is still a possibility (likelihood) of being charged the wrong classification but with a tag you have an on-line account and there is an on-line process for appealing mis-classifications. Interested if anyone has successfully used this process.

DM. We have a SANEF tag. Used it last year in France and made the journey so much easier. When we got back checked the online account and it had classified our Ocean as the wrong class on a few journeys, but the appeals process via the online account is very straight forward and got it sorted reasonably quickly for us.

Highly recommend the tag.

Thanks for your updates - really good read

 

[JohnnyP]

DM. We have a SANEF tag. Used it last year in France and made the journey so much easier. When we got back checked the online account and it had classified our Ocean as the wrong class on a few journeys, but the appeals process via the online account is very straight forward and got it sorted reasonably quickly for us.

Highly recommend the tag.

Thanks for your updates - really good read

There are hidden costs with the Sanef tag, I have received a bill for 40 Euro before even fitting the tag and notice that I will receive a further 10Euro bill for using the tag in July and and August.

20 Euro of this will be refundable when I return the tag minus the postage of course.

 

[iamchucky]

There are hidden costs with the Sanef tag, I have received a bill for 40 Euro before even fitting the tag and notice that I will receive a further 10Euro bill for using the tag in July and and August.

20 Euro of this will be refundable when I return the tag minus the postage of course.
View attachment 23750

I've had the tag a few years now. I got mine via the Eurotunnel offer that was running at the time (I'm sure there are others). Just checked and this still seems to be running. It helps reduce the costs. I agree it's extra compared to the paying at the booth, but we travel down to our destination overnight and the tag is 100% worth the admin charge.

We travelled with a roof box and so think may be the reason why we got classified at some booths as class 2. With the tag easy to get your money back though and so paid for itself last year.

There are more of the drive through booths with no height restrictions... these saved alot of time with not having to Q at the booth.

https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/traveller-info/sanef-tolling/




Class 1 vehicles are identified as vehicles with overall height under 2 metres and GVW* not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.
Cars with roofloads such as roofboxes or bicycles are still Class 1 even though they may exceed 2m.
Class 2 vehicles are identified as vehicles with overall height from 2 to 3 metres and GVW* not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.

 

[WelshGas]

There are hidden costs with the Sanef tag, I have received a bill for 40 Euro before even fitting the tag and notice that I will receive a further 10Euro bill for using the tag in July and and August.

20 Euro of this will be refundable when I return the tag minus the postage of course.
View attachment 23750

Hardly hidden costs, as fully explained on website, but Additional - Yes.

I never have anything on the roof and therefore can use the 2m height limited barriers. I do it for the convenience. If you carry anything on the roof, and are likely to be Charged Class 2, then it is a lot easier to have this corrected if you have a Sanef tag/account than trying to find a Manned Toll Booth or arguing your case with the French Sanef Authorities.

 

[DM]

15. Gas Life Expectancy
Can't think of any amusing anecdotes relating to gas so a short factual post. How long does a gas bottle last? We happened to have a new bottle a couple of weeks before we set off.

We cooked in the van about 3/4 of our nights away. Partly because I seem to spend my life in hotels and restaurants so eating out isn't really special and partly because we did a lot of our driving in the evenings arriving at sites and stop-overs after most sensible restaurants had closed! We also had teas and coffees for breakfast and usually at least one brew-up most days. I carried a spare bottle but we didn't need to use it. One bottle lasted us our 18 night trip. It feels fairly light now but has certainly still got some life left in it.

 

[DM]

trying to find a Manned Toll Booth

There is no such thing anymore. Didn't find manned booths anywhere.

arguing your case with the French Sanef Authorities

And that certainly didn't work either.

 

[DM]

Hardly hidden costs, as fully explained on website, but Additional - Yes

And I just fessed up to being pedantic on another thread

 

[DM]

16. Cali Pics
Many of us seem to have a strange desire to see pictures of ours and others' Californias. I tried not to take more pictures of the van than of Mrs DM on our trip but it was a close run thing. Here's a few.


Great vineyard stopover just north of Avignon. Free with water and disposal facilities. Felt bit guilty that we were away before the shop opened so didn't even buy any wine - we'll have to go back.



On the Nice - Bastia ferry. What do you reckon? Would it have squeezed under the hanging car deck - they made us reverse on.



Cap Corse - right on the northern tip of Corsica. we were able to overnight here right on the beach. Amazing views and dead quiet - only about 5 vans and one small motorhome.



Another stopover on the west coast of Cap Corse. Just 50 yds from the beach.



My awning LED strip lights in action. A very worthwhile mod.

 

[Loz]

My awning LED strip lights in action. A very worthwhile mod.

Do find the white LED attracts more mozzies?

 

[WelshGas]

Do find the white LED attracts more mozzies?

Agree. Yellow is the colour if you don't want to attract any flying insects.

 

[DM]

17. Italian Motorways
We only intended to spend time at Lake Como in Italy so did a quick motorway blast to Lecco as soon as we got off the ferry at Livorno.

Italian Motorways have good and less good aspects. The tolls are fairly pricy. I believe that they are purely distance related with a charge per Km. We paid just over £30 for a 220 mile journey. So just under 14p per mile. About the same cost as fuel. But at least the height issues and challenges that I experienced in France don't apply. Costs only start to go up when you have 3 axles or more - I don't think many of us have added a 3rd axle (though I do seem to recall a pic of a 3 axle customisation somewhere here).

Italy also doesn't seem to have non toll sections around every major town / city as in France - at least not on the route we drove. We collected a ticket when we joined and paid when we exited - one section - so it's a bit simpler with less toll plazas.

The think that I did find a challenge though was the total lack of lane discipline - particularly from trucks. The stretch from Livorno to La Spezia was fairly busy and we found that most trucks and many cars drove straddling either two lanes or a lane and the hard shoulder. And if they weren't already they suddenly remembered to do so just as I was overtaking! I've never used the horn so much on a motorway - I was glad when the traffic thinned out as we left the coast.