Where shall i go when i get to the end of my road

[Martyn 4950]

Had the Cali for 3 months now and have been away on a few local type trips. Ive just taken early retirement and the D word and am now wanting to have a good trip
Im a kitesurfer and don't know whether to turn left and go to Scotland i.e. Tiree or turn right and go the France. Brittany
Im really apprehensive as this will be my first big trip on my own to areas i don't know.
Are there any generic websites that can help me on travelling with the Cali in France
Was also thinking will my Sat Nav work over in France or do i need to purchase an add- on?

Martyn

 

[GrannyJen]

My sat nav's, both the DNS510 in the Cali and my 80 quid Garmin work fine in France. The best way is to test it now, wander out to your van and ask the sat-nav to take you somewhere, like Bezieres or Lyon .... right across France, and see if it gives you a route.

Really easy driving, A lot of people first time round are a bit phased by being on the "wrong side" but you very quickly acclimatise.

The roads generally are good, far less congested, well signposted and I have always found the French to be most hospitable and helpful.

The Cali challenges security. It seems to inspire people to step out of their comfort zones and I think that is a great thing. You have just retired, you have your whole life in front of you unchained, Carpe Diem! Go for it. The Cali is a beautiful vehicle to drive long distances, it just sits there and munches miles, the high seat position gives excellent visibility and if you go to France then you will unleash it's potential far more than sitting on A82 and M74 / 6 traffic jams.

 

[Kirk]

+1 for France, much more Cali friendly plus with the Euro at the moment it will be a cheaper holiday. We were paying 69p per litre of diesel a few weeks back.

 

[Barryjm]

Great roads in France, so smooth and quiet (road noise wise), such a shock getting back into the UK as you crash and bang your way over our roads.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jts46]

Was also thinking will my Sat Nav work over in France or do i need to purchase an add- on?

Martyn

It will work providing you have european maps

John

 

[The Blue Merle]

Hi
If you head to Europe join camping card ACSI gives you out of season discount and has stacks of campsites to stay in all over Europe. Costs about £15 for the year.

 

[Martyn 4950]

Cheers guys for your responses. Granny ...your response brought a tear to my eye

 

[GrannyJen]

Cheers guys for your responses. Granny ...your response brought a tear to my eye

Goodness!

I always seem to be driving someone to tears somewhere

 

[Zebedee]

+ 1 for France. Driving is a pleasure I have always felt safe. Every corner has another delight round it. The food is great. Don't forget your Euro headlamp adjusters, a fluorescent jacket and the red warning triangle. My Garmin asks you "change country" at the bottom of the screen. I never bother with the Cali Satnav as it will only take you to Hertfordshire for some bizarre reason. Even quite local roads don't have potholes! Just check your insurance covers you for Europe.

If it gets too cold I have a lovely little cottage in Brittany you can hole up in although you might want to head further South.
Enjoy!
Zebedee

 

[WelshGas]

If you have never toured in France may I suggest a good introduction is Eurocamp Independent.
You pick the sites from their brochure, as many for as long as you wish. They will book the Ferries and/or Euroshuttle plus the sites etc: Trouble free and stress free for first timers. All you have to do is drive from port to site/sites and back again.
Next time you can then book it all yourself.

The California RNS510 has FULL Western Europe Maps so France/Spain/Germany/Italy and all points in-between are not a problem.

The weather is going to be better the further south you go.

 

[Martyn 4950]

Once again thanks for the advice. This is a great forum with so many kind people.
Thanks for the offer Z
Was thinking of just wild camping most of time. Surfing during day.
Then getting a hook up pitch for the leccy when needed.....

Martyn

 

[GrannyJen]

Once again thanks for the advice. This is a great forum with so many kind people.
Thanks for the offer Z
Was thinking of just wild camping most of time. Surfing during day.
Then getting a hook up pitch for the leccy when needed.....

Martyn

If you are going to wild camp, or just use stop-offs then you need one or both of two indispensable publications.

1: All the Aires of France (and other places): These detail over 3,000 places to stop, mostly free, mostly designated maintained areas run by municipals, most offering some form of facility like water and waste disposal,

2: For the UK, Britstops. Places such as pubs, farm shops etc that will allow you to stop overnight in their car parks in the hopeful possibility of you giving them some business.

There are loads of others out there but these two provide you with somewhere to stop practically wherever you are in the UK or France. A useful start!

Both are available from Vicarious books ...

 

[18hunts]

Your retired so do as we do, program into the sat nav 'no motorways' and 'no tolls', you wil see so much more, with plenty of places to stop, look,eat, drink and travel at a much more civilised pace. Your retired, so whats the hurry? The Cali will take you where ever you want to go. The Cali alows you to make your journey more part of the trip rather than a means from A to B.

 

[Dottie]

All this talk of wild camping....does everyone have a portapotti packed?!
Wondering if I got a loo tent and managed without a shower if the world (sites of opportunity) might open up for us? Any thoughts?
So far we've just done fully serviced but basic sites...loving it

 

[GrannyJen]

Loo tents are a b

All this talk of wild camping....does everyone have a portapotti packed?!
Wondering if I got a loo tent and managed without a shower if the world (sites of opportunity) might open up for us? Any thoughts?
So far we've just done fully serviced but basic sites...loving it

i

Loo tents are a bit of a handicap when wild camping, as are awnings, and as most Britstops are in car parks you will have difficulty putting one up on those as well I have never found a porta-potti to be an inconvenience and when navigating through some fairly remote places it can be a blessing to have it there!

Showers can be substituted with lots of hot water in a small sink, or when push comes to shove lots of wet wipes. It is after all quite reasonable to expect Grannies with infant grandchildren to cart around dozens of baby wipes so no one looks twice when the Pampers fall out of the cupboard.

I generally aim to fit in a full service campsite on my trips for that essential regroup, although again it's amazing where you can get a shower from, a lot of UK services have showers and virtually all french ones do.

All my clothes are made from technical fabrics such as coolmax, non-creasing, quick drying. Wash before going to bed, dry overnight and wear the next day. Can be scrunched up, shaken out and put on looking reasonably smart.

What spare cupboard space I have is given over to minimal cooking foods, noodles, pasta, rice, pot noodles etc.. and all my dishes and most of my cutlery is disposable so no washing up.

 

[Dottie]

Thank you Granny...I will give it a bash....wild camping or stays on listed sites with no facilities is a new concept to me...my main concern is where to put potti as I seem to have filled my van with my other 'equipment' and a dog! However after two seasons, I think it's time to reassess....
Maybe it's my hair that bothers me most, but I've survived a wilderness holiday for a week with my hair in a bunnet, so can survive again.....unless a tree shower might be worth trying....?
I'm running out of 'excuses' or rather, finding new opportunities to buy some mini gadgets...all fun

 

[GrannyJen]

My potty sits inside it's loose cover just behind the passenger seat. Providing it's on carpet or similar it does not slide around. In fact it fulfils a function of keeping in place whatever it is that I choose to put in that space between passenger seat and kitchen, normally a 12 bottle slab of 0.5l water on top of a 6 bottle slab of 2.0l bottles.

By day it is a useful feature for sitting on when rummaging in the cupboards, sitting on when putting doggie harness on or balancing things such as washing up bowls on, plus of course being there for those wilderness lack of facility moments.

By night it just sits where it is for those nocturnal moments of unwanted but often unavoidable interruption.

Emptying can be a challenge but an early morning visit to public loo's, a plea to a hospitable pub owner,a cheeky "hello" when next passing a club site often resolves issues.

Hair is also one of my nightmares. I do carry half the worlds supply of dry shampoos and conditioners with me but 8 days without washing has me crawling the walls, but by 8 days I have normally found somewhere civilised to call into for the night.

 

[Dottie]

Ah hah! Potti is possibly the answer to keeping dog crate in place when cornering too fast!
and I have some plasticised linen to match my tablecloth that I can make a cover with....another winter project!

 

[Skylark2.0]

Like France,love Scotland.
I Would head to the North and camp wild.
Depends if you like lots of people or wild empty spaces!

 

[WolfPack]

I agree that driving on the 'wrong side of the road' on the Continent is easy. The only difficulty is seeing past things to overtake, but we California drivers on holiday are usually in no rush to get past things. BUT I have one golden rule to driving on the continent: NEVER park on the Left hand side of the road, because if you do you will automatically drive off on the Left side of the road. That can be anything from embarrassing to disastrous, depending on the speed of your reactions and the presence of mind of the driver coming at you head on!

 

[sidepod]

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk

Get yourself one of these. Saves loads of hassle.

Take plenty of stuff with you because you won't want to come back.

I sat on Pampelonne beach in St Tropez last week watching the kite surfers.
Thankfully the wind only lasted a day and I could return to my sunbed. Phew.

Pod.

 

[ToulonTom]

If you are going to wild camp, or just use stop-offs then you need one or both of two indispensable publications.

1: All the Aires of France (and other places): These detail over 3,000 places to stop, mostly free, mostly designated maintained areas run by municipals, most offering some form of facility like water and waste disposal,

2: For the UK, Britstops. Places such as pubs, farm shops etc that will allow you to stop overnight in their car parks in the hopeful possibility of you giving them some business.

There are loads of others out there but these two provide you with somewhere to stop practically wherever you are in the UK or France. A useful start!

Both are available from Vicarious books ...

The French equivalent to Britstops is France Passion (https://www.france-passion.com/en/) and the vineyards and organic cheesemakers etc make a very interesting stop over, and are almost all set in beautiful grounds.