Home again ( Rather belatedly finishing the blog for our May 2011 Trip to France)

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Home to the UK from Calais via the Chunnel and then that boring drive up the busy English motorways to Staffordshire. Always a pleasant surprise to find home just as we left it, though the garden has turned from Spring to Summer in our absence and is full of poppies.

Then the boring bit. Emptying the Tandy of all food, clothes and everything else we carry with us. Sort the washing, put away the wine, open the mail, open my Folksy JoysofGlass shop. All back to normal.

A very busy couple of months ahead. First of all have to get Bob checked out, as per hospital instructions, to find out why he got the infection and ensure there is no serious underlying cause. Doctor’s visit to be booked asap.
Most important and exciting happening of the summer, have to prepare for the much awaited visit of daughter Jenny with grandchildren Isobel and George from Australia. Especially lovely for me to have them here in the middle of summer as for the last several years they have not been able to visit us throughout July and August as our house has always been full with Bob’s family.
Jenny and Simon will stay with us for 5 days but we will also spend as much time as we can with them for the rest of their 3-week UK visit. House cleaning has not been a priority this year so far (much too busy travelling round the world) so have planned a late spring clean to be combined with a “George-proofing” as he is mobile and into everything now.
Also have to get glass made and sorted out ready for a couple of summer fairs and must fit in visits with Liz and Graham as need to deliver the musical cow we bought them in Chamonix.
Then all we have to do is plan for next Tandy trip which will be France in September but somehow the dates for this are to be fitted round Stoke matches. Not impressed by that !

Final check after filling in our accounts spreadsheet and this is what we have done :

Total spend £ 2411 (of which £1530 by credit card) (£83 / day)
Total holiday cost £ 1600 ( ferries, fuel, campsite, tolls,out of pocket)

Miles travelled 2425
Litres of diesel used 418
at cost of £ 503

Average fuel consumption 25.50 mpg (excellent)
Total spent on ferries £ 120
“ “ “ housekeeping/food £ 477
“ “ “ Entrance fees / tolls £ 145
“ “ “ Campsites £ 415 (Ave. £13.84 per night (£11.50 in Sept 2010)
“ “ “ Personal £ 570 (Includes Bob’s hospital taxis which we
“ “ “ Out-of-pocket £ 385 ( Food and drink out )

Weather = Pretty good mainly after a chilly / wet few days in the Alps with :
Sunny Days 19.5 (66%)
Wet days 1.5 (wet enough to stop us doing what we want to do)
Ok days 9.0 (Neither sunny nor very wet)

Days we swam 16

Campsites we used (have included this just in case anyone reading this is wondering where / where not to camp) :
My rating is based on how much we liked it, whether we would recommend it to others
Price is after rough conversion to ££PP and includes electric where we paid using ACSI out-of-seasondiscount as it is included in the price, otherwise we didn’t have it as our solar panel and two leisure batteries provide all we need. Apologies for the format but this blog does not like Word tables !

Town Campsite My rating My Comments ££.PP

Licques Pommiers des Trois Pays 8.5 Very pleasant in open pitch area - with lots of birds. Nice little pool and bar. 12.15 ACSI


Troyes Camping de Troyes 8 Municipal site. Lovely green site, walk into town but bus better.Free wifi (poor). Shame pool not open yet. 15.56without electric


Lyon Camping Indigo Lyon 8 Excellent location for visit to Lyon (bus, train easy)Site OK - Shame pool not open yet. €3 per day for Wifi but only works in bar. 15.66without electric(A Camping Cheque site but didn’t have any)


Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Camping Ile des Barrats 8.5 Short stroll into Chamonix.Delightful site overlooked by Mont Blanc.No pool – would rate 9.5 if it had but only small site.Wifi €2 for 2 days 19.23without electric


Annecy Camping International Lake Annecy 9.5 One of best campsites we’ve used. Excellent site. Good wifi. Lovely heated pool. Bread service. Very friendly staff. Restaurant, barWifi €4 per day. 13.11ACSI


Treffort Camping d'Herbelon 6.5 Basic sporting site, tiny pool, little English spoken and no info on the walk which passes the site. In need of TLC. 13.55without electric ACSI but didn’t use it


Embrun Le Petit Liou 8.5 Lovely big very green site. Pool but too cold to use. 11.40ACSI


Agay Agay Soleil 9 Tiny site on seafront. No pool but sea. Excellent little site. Liked it very muchWifi €6 for the week 18.36 without electric


La Croix Valmer Selection Camping 7 Not our 1st choice, other sites full.Lovely pool, location not impressive. Says 4 star but been on far nicer sites than this. Down market beach area 400m steep hill. Sanitaires limited for size of siteWifi €4.50 for 2 hours ! 24.65without electric!(Camping Cheque site but didn’t have any)


Sanary-sur-Mer Campasun Mas de Pierredon 9 Lovely site only downside road noise. Wifi Free. Excellent pool, bar and restaurant. Private sanitaires. Staff very helpfulHandy for Toulon hospital ! 13.11ACSI


Gordes Camping des Sources 8.5 Excellent campsite .Nice pool and bar, very handy Gordes. Wifi free – good bar area only 13.99ACSI


Naussac Aire outside Les Terrassac du Lac 7.5 Free aire by lake, no facilities, water only waste bin.Meant to stop at Acsi site Les Terrasses du Lac but arrived quite late and found aire first so used that Free


Montmarault Camping La Petite Valette 7 just ok for one night. NO longer.Absolutely nothing here / round here. Stuck in the middle of nowhere. Sanitaires I mark as a 6, only just adequate but bird song fantastic. Object to overcharge of :€2.15 for baguette / croissantNo grey waste and told to use village facilities and pay for them ! 13.11ACSI


Beaugency Aire by the Loire 9 One of our favourite night halts. Pleasant stroll into town. Shops all shut on Mondays. Free


Calais Aire on the harbour 8 Used several times. Bit quieter re ferry noise than last time.Great access to boulangerie, bar 6.12(€7)

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