Euroupe part one:) Go the van

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11pm Saying goodbye to Conor I headed off to pick up Daniela(put an add in gum tree to get some ride shares) from the tube station. I arrived a bit early so got a bit of a powernap in before she arrived which was great as no doubt is was going to be a long night. I awoke to a text saying she was here. So quickly packing away my bed(my 3rd bed creation is great lol) I went to meet her, she is originally form Austria but has been in London for 8 years. It was a rather uneventfully journey down to Folkstone except for my missing the first turn to the circular road but hey I blame it o the GPS, cuz it decided not too turn on lol. The trip was a lot quicker than expected as it only took us 2hours. So after a coffee and some food in the van another snooze I was following all the other vans and cars at 3.30am into an oversized train that would take us under the English Channel and spit us out in Calais, France. After dealing with a rather tired and grumpy employee putting us into our individually sealed trains(scary) I hoped into the back for another snooze(I’m seeing a pattern here) and woke up to no other cars in front of me and Daniela waking me up to head off haha so quickly got up and drove down the inside of the train and out into France…. Which looked exactly the same as England had, haha. And before I even knew what was happening we were on the motorway on the wrong side of the road, heading towards Brussels, so the van is feeling at home and in its element(left hand drive) but I’m still getting used to it as I’ve been driving right hand side in the left hand drive van all winter lol. So after an hour of driving I putted into a service station for a sleep till a decent hour, great station, bio-diesel!! And free showers when u fill up with gas! Legend=p

We arrived in Brussels and found a parking after a little searching, then went for a walk past an amazing cathedral(which turned ended up being a hotel behindinside the original building) in the main square(at least as far as the tourist know) which was really amazing an beautiful! So we walked around there and did a bit of sight seeing, then got a txt from Reenee that she had finally arrived(her train had run late) and we arranged to meet out front. After finding the correct front lol we did some quick introductions dropped her bag off in the van and got back to the serious business of exploring Brussels. We saw some great places to

The weather wasn’t great so we headed back to the van and did a search for a viable place to park, found a good place(with free wireless) but no bathrooms in the are, so we relocated again, on the way to the new parking I did a spectacular down the wrong side of the road maneuver😉 but recovered well after circumnavigating the other cars haha. This time we parked just down the road form Daniela’s hostel, soon finding out it was right next to the only abandoned building in central Brussels. So after going for another walk we went to a local bar and the girls got cherry flavored beer, and I got an 8% one which was really nice. After which we headed back to the van and made dinner(pasta of course) after dinner and a few beers we walked Daniela to her hostel(taking advantage of the bathrooms) then went to bed. Me on my amazing 3rd bed lol steeling half of the double bed pillows lol.

The next morning we stole breakfast from Daniela’s hostel and had a shower then headed of to see a bit more of Brussels, including the garden of statues and a building that had a really nice view over Brussels, yes I’m terrible with names.
After which we headed off into France and towards Paris, but we decided to go through some of the smaller roads to see rural France which was really amazing. We even stopped in to an Aldi and did some food shopping😊 We ended up stopping Reims which had the most Amazing Gothic Cathedral such high ceilings and amazing stained glass!
We ended up spending the night right next to it which was quite cool. After an impressive van dinner of ratatue and rice with chocolate beer(interesting). We found a pub and had some more flavored beer(berry this time) with was really enjoyable. The most crack up part of the whole night tho was when the girls went into one of the local bathrooms and found the hole in the floor type toilets! Just the expression on there faces was priceless. Needles to say we headed off to find a more western sit down version for them lol.

This time both girls shared the double and I tried out the blowup bed on the 3rd bed…. Not the best idea I managed to fall on them on the middle of night haha thought I had strange dreams lol so woke up pretty quickly and rearranged the bed but managed not fall again.

Waking up before fore they could fine us(9am) we packed up the van and headed of in the direction of Paris, Got some pretty good shot(out the car window as we were driving) of the ruined archway on the way out. It was a relatively uneventful we had to pay an astronomical 3 road tolls!!! On the 200 or so km it was to Paris and the roads weren’t even that spectacular! When we arrived we did a bit of an extended drive trying to find free parking, don’t waste your time it is none existent at least in the centre of Paris. So we finally found a parking and went out in search of a way to pay for it as they use a type of top-up card for all the parking machines. So after sourcing a card we relocated to a parking a little closer to the Eiffel tower, after ingeniously moving a road cone we found a good parking and paid for it. After a walk around the tower and a number of other impressive buildings fountains and statues, I didn’t get a chance to make it as far as the louve as we ran out of time on the parking ticket. After a nice beer and some tea in the van we found a parking that had a bit of free wireless internet. But this time it was after 7(free parking anywhere time) So we moved the van….wait for it… right in front of the Eiffel tower!!! Yes we spent the night pretty much as close as it is possible to park=) After a great dinner of quiche (thank you Daniela) and fresh Parisian breed we headed up did the 700 stairs(we think) to the 2nd level of the Eiffel tower, which while not looking overly high from the bottom has some incredible views! Unfortunately the line to the elevator to the top was insanely long so we decided to give it a miss(also Renee really doesn’t like heights😉 At only €3.10 it is well worth the amazing views, we snuck up some cherry flavored beer and enjoyed the night views and brisk wind while sitting taking in the view. Another highlight of the night was watching the tower sparkle to 10 min every hour quite an amazing sight! The arrangement in the van that night was much the same minus the blow up mattress to I didn’t fall on any poor unsuspecting sleepers below. Lol. When we woke up I went for a bit of a walk and spied at least 5 other campers both proper and under cover😉
As it has been a few days since out last shower we decide to head out of the city to try and find one of the amazing gas stations, well after a good hour of traffic we finally made it our of the city and after a few random turns and 20 or so km we finally found a station but there shower was broken …. So another 20 km later we found a great Total, so €2 later we were all showered and happy😊

So deciding to give Paris a miss as parking had been a nightmare we decided to head towards south eastern France via smaller back roads so we could see more. As usual the drive was great and we passed though some nice forest area’s so we stopped for a nice relaxing walk in the sun through the forest or what ever is was as it seemed more like a tree plantation, nice none the less to finally have a day warm enough for boardies.
We also stopped at a great little town/village and had a local beer and some local cider which was really great and cheep😊 And took advantage of the local shop to get some nice food and veg. We ended up stopping in a small town, which was very relaxed and a great atmosphere better yet right next to a public bathroom haha. I even had a random French biker(maybe had the leather jacket and stuff) try and talk to me and failing completely, he invited me and my companions(as he hadn’t seen them) out for a drink lol.

More later😊
Mark

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Photos

Trip to brussels
In the train

Trip to brussels
randomness in brussels

Brussels
Rasbery beer and daneila

Brussels
8% beer

Reims
the cathedral we parked under

Reims
drinking chocolate beer in the van:)

Paris
the Eifell tower

Paris
the Eifell tower

Paris
the Eifell tower

Paris
the Eifell tower at night

Paris
the Eifell tower at night
view from the top

Paris
the Eifell tower at night
view from the top

Paris
paris group

Comments

[Michelle]

You suck! I'm so jealous. Sounds fantastic.