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Tuesday 11 August 2015

The final entry 2105 Italy and France…


A few people have asked us for a map of the route we took and some (hopefully useful!) basic facts and figures that might help people planning a similar trip – so here you go. (Also, some pics and information about the van.)

About the van

The van is a self-build camper on a 2005 Iveco Daily 35c14, which has a 3 ltr diesel engine. It has been uprated from 3.5 to 4.2 tonnes and runs at 4 tonnes when in travel mode. It was designed to spend long periods away in and to be as self sufficient as possible, so it has a large battery bank (450 amp hours) and solar array (380 watts); mains hook up and charging for when we are on campsites; a 30 litre marine calorifier for making hot water from the engine cooling system; a 5kw diesel heater for making hot water and a separate heater matrix for central heating when parked up in cold weather; 14kg of butane for cooking indoors; a portable two burner hob and grill with two Campingaz 907 cylinders for outdoor cooking; 280 ltrs of fresh water; a dedicated filter unit and tap for drinking water; indoor and outdoor showers; 4 burner hob and oven; 111ltr fridge and 17ltr freezer; and last but by no means least, a 21ltr chemical toilet!

(If you are interested in building your own camper, see SBMCC who were an invaluable source of advice and support whilst we built ours.)


 A view from the cab via the kitchen to the permanent rear bed


The toilet and shower set up (not at the same time!)




The indoor seating area




The roof showing the solar panel set up and auxiliary fan in the rear skylight


Data from the trip

Repairs/casualties on this trip: new hydraulic kit for the clutch in France; new front brake discs and pads in Italy; a snapped stainless steel saddle strap for the boiler (a weld failure, probably caused by Italian roads!); a snapped plastic lock nut on the awning handle in Sicily (duff design); seized plastic window stays on two of the four Seitz side windows (probably grit/salt and heat – a duff design as the two metal ones were fine); unexpected de-frost of the fridge in very high ambient temperatures of 35c+ (operator ignorance as I’d let it get too iced up and then inadvertently activated a de-frost cycle!); failed seal on the main water tank lid (poor quality seal/sealant by manufacturer); and a broken wine glass (over enthusiastic washing up!).

Gas consumption was just over 7kg of butane, supplying indoor and outdoor cookers only. The cookers were in daily use and we only ate out in the evening on four occasions, as a large part of the fun of travelling for us is foraging for local ingredients and cooking unfamiliar food! (See Mrs B’s entry on the food in Italy.)

Campsites were mainly ACSI off-season rates (although we did upgrade once on Sicily for a better pitch by the beach!).

Ferry costs are two single tickets as we didn’t know when we would return at the point we left!

The map of our route:



Note that we didn’t stop at every single one of the way-points on the map – I’ve added a few in so that the route more or less maps the roads we took. Also, the distances it gives are between the points and not the actual road mileage we clocked up, which we have given from the odometer in the van.

Note also that the trip to and from Mt Etna couldn’t be mapped by road with the software we’ve used, so you get a curved line instead, and the single lines between Dieppe and Chartres in northern France, and Cosenza and Reggio/Messina in southern Italy are because we took more or less the same route each way!

(Fuel was ¾ tank on leaving the UK and we filled at Dieppe.)

Total distance for trip            Miles                                    Kilometres
                                                 5135                                    8264

In France                                  2350                                    3782

In Italy+Sicily                             2785                                    4482


Fuel (total costs)                     GBP                                    Euros
                                                 £896                                    €1270

(in France)                                £403                                    €571

(in Italy+ Sicily)                         £493                                    €699                                               

                       
(average cost)                        £0.95 per litre                        €1.34 per litre

(in France)                                £0.84                                    €1.19           

(in Italy+Sicily))                         £1.05                                    €1.49


(average consumption)          MPG                                    Km per ltr
                                                   24.8                                    8.8

(in France)                                  22.6                                    7.9

(in Italy+Sicily))                           27.0                                    9.6


(fuel used)                                Gallons                        Litres
                                                  207                                    943

(in France)                                 104                                    476

(in Italy+Sicily)                           103                                    467

Motorway tolls                        Miles/GBP                        Km/€

France                                     122/£19.03                        196km/€26.90                                                                                   
(average cost)                         16p per mile                       14cents per km

Italy                                          509ml/£43.86                     818km/€62

(average cost)                         .09p per mile                      .07cents per km

Length of trip                         91 nights in total (all in the van)

(in France)                                    34

(in Italy, mainland)                        30

(in Sicily)                                       27


Nights on campsites                              Costs GBP                        Euros
Aires and Sostas

(in France)                                    23         £303                                   €429
average per night                                      £13.17                                €18.65

(in Italy, mainland)                        25         £287                                    €406
average per night                                      £11.48                                 €16.26                                   
(in Sicily)                                       25        £321                                    €454
average per night                                     £12.84                                 €18.19

Nights on paying                           3         £2.12 + £4.94x2                  €3 + €7 + €7
Aires in France                                        (£12 total)                            (€17 total)

Nights on paying                           2         £16.25, £9.89                      €23, €14
Sostas in Italy                                         (£26.14 total)                        (€37 total)

Free nights in                                8
France

Free nights in                                3
Italy (mainland)

Free nights in                                2
Sicily


Ferry to Dieppe                                          £119                                    €168

Ferry to Newhaven                                    £106                                    €151

Longest single drive was 531 miles (855km) in 14 hours, Manfredonia in Puglia (near Bari) to Fossano (north of Cuneo) in Piemonte, (near the Alps).

Highest drives were to the Rifugio Sapienza on Mt Etna at 1920m and crossing the Alps at Colle della Maddalena at 1996m.

Background reading:

For anyone that likes a bit of background reading before visiting a country, we found these four books were a brilliant insight into Italy and the Italians, all from very different perspectives. (Thanks to Caroline and Mark for the Leopard and Al Dente loans!)


The Leopard by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Al Dente by William Black


The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones


S & J





From Salies de Béarn to Lit-e-Mixe and on to Dieppe – the final leg!


After an enjoyable stay with Chris and Sue, we headed off to explore some of the surf locations we used to visit back in the 90s on the wild and windy Cote Sauvage in south west France. We’d enjoyed a good few stay-overs at Aires and campsites, as well as free camping in our old VW and Dodge campers back in the day, and fancied a trip down memory lane…

As we pulled into what used to be our favourite Aire at Contis-Plage, our jaws dropped and hearts sank as what used to be lovely pine woods either side of the Aire, had been bulldozed and new condos built, right up to the dunes behind the beach. OK – it was over 15 years ago and sometimes favourite spots are best left in the memory banks - but the Aire is still there, although now with an automated ticket barrier entrance, and much larger and marked out in neat rows for about 30 vans -  a big change from the orderly chaos of 15 odd vans and the guy that collected a small fee in the mornings in his satchel! 

We decided to pass on a stay there this time around and headed back down to Lit-et-Mixe to look at the municipal campsite there, another one from our camping history – and marvelled at not only how much bigger it seems now, but also at the excellent value Aire that is available at the front of the site where campervans can stay for €20 a night (high season prices now!) instead of the €33 fee for an emplacement in the site proper, and where the generous sized pitches are by far the more peaceful option.



The weather was perfect and the Aire so lovely and tranquil that we ended up staying for four nights – keen to max out what would probably be our last beach stop this trip. The beach at Lit is lovely but incredibly busy most of the day now that July is here…



and would only quieten down as the evening drew in…



It was a good lesson for us that any future trips should draw to a close a little earlier in the season.  By the time we left on the 12th, the site was pretty much completely full with, at a guess, over 1500 happy campers.

We’d decided to get the ferry back on the 15th, so on the morning after our 4th night we set off for the yomp back to Dieppe – looking forward to seeing family and friends but also sad that the trip was coming to an end.

Although we had travelled a lot in this area in the past, the roads had been upgraded dramatically and after a very easy and fast drive via Bordeaux over to Tours, we pulled in to what is probably one of the best run Aires we have ever used, at Ste Maure de Touraine, just south of Tours. This was, unusually, a private Aire on farmland south of Tours, and at €4 a night with additional facilities such as electricity and showers payable on an a la carte basis, it was perfect for an en route stop, plus we were able to order bread and croissants for the morning, perfect!  Even though it’s only 800m from the main road, we had a peaceful night’s sleep and were ready to head off for the coast by 10:30.



We’d enjoyed the sight and sound of eve-of Bastille day fireworks when we’d had dinner in the Aire, but were not sure of what lay ahead on a national holiday, so wanted to get some miles in just in case we needed to hunt around for the final night stop-over.

We’d quite fancied the seafront Aire at Dieppe but were wary that we may be thwarted by the Bastille day celebrations. As it turned out, we seemed to have missed them and we got a space on the Aire easily, and then wandered into Dieppe for a last night dinner treat. We struck lucky at a ‘traditional’ Dieppoise eatery (Le Juquin) and after a full-on fishy feast, we ambled back to the van, pausing to admire what looked to be a WW2 Jeep that stopped to let us cross the road (it turned out to be a 1961 French Army Hotchkiss version). No sooner had we crossed the road than the Jeep pulled over and in a combination of French and English, the owner, Guidot (?) asked us if we fancied a ride up to the nearby chateau that has a panoramic view back over the beach. Well, why wouldn’t you? So after an exhilarating and hair-raising ride through Dieppe and up to the viewpoint (think big throaty engine, no seatbelts and wind in your hair!) we chatted to Guidot who turned out to be an historic vehicle buff who liked to give a bit of time to visitors to Dieppe – what a charming and lovely person! After admiring the view and chatting about the sacrifice of so many Allied troops in the failed attack on Dieppe in 1942 (mainly Canadian) Guidot dropped us off back at the Aire – literally at our door, which raised a good few eyebrows as we bid our farewells and thanks for an amazing way to bring our trip to a close!



The day broke with drizzle and low cloud – maybe a bit of advance prep on what to expect back in the UK!



The seafront Aire in Dieppe whilst good value at €7, was also pretty noisy with the ferries loading and unloading in the early hours – next time we’ll almost certainly stay further inland and get up early!

Our next upate will be the final entry on this blog and will include some stuff on stats like fuel and camping costs and distances, and a route mapper that will allow you to see the journey we took. We hope it will be of use to fellow travellers considering something similar – thanks for reading!

S.

A brief dally in Salies


We arrived at Chris and Sue’s house mid-afternoon, to be greeted by a cherry picker repairing the roof at their new place, an amazing old traditional farmhouse.  

In classic Chris style, the first part of our tour was to see his ‘giant’s workbench’ ready for action on the renovations, followed by a wander around the rest of this extraordinary old building and across the fields to the woods that were part of the purchase.

After the cherry picker had finished for the day, we popped the van in the courtyard for an overnight stay and headed into the village for dinner.  Chris and Sue are renting a cute little 3-storey townhouse in the picturesque spa town of Salies-de-Béarn, a couple of miles away from the farmhouse.  We ate at La Grignotine, a lovely little place tucked away in the centre of the village and a real treat of local Bearn cuisine.  We ate far too much, washed down with some delicious local red and slept like the dead in our private campground under the stars. And what a sky it was!  It’s been a while since we’ve seen such dark skies away from ambient light.  This place will be a real treat to live in – and revisit, with the Pyrenees as backdrop to some spectacular views.


Next day was market day – unplanned and lucky for us – I love local markets! We wandered around the market wishing that the van ‘fridge hadn’t just defrosted itself all over the floor and we could actually buy stuff to take with us.  That story had a happy ending though, and the ‘fridge was working again when we got back in the afternoon.  We found out that because we’d turned it down when it had become a bit frosted up from all the hard work in 35+degrees, we’d inadvertently activated the defrost cycle.  Luckily, the only casualty was a soggy doormat and half a bag of squidgy frozen peas! 


The market was lovely, with all sorts of goodies from olives to roast chickens, salamis, cheeses, fruit and veg and everything inbetween, including clothes, espadrilles – in amazing colours and patterns, and secondhand books.  We even spotted an accordion player getting ready to serenade the lunchtime diners!  

Before we left, our host kindly bought us some local kiwi juice – who’d have thought kiwis grew here too!


Next stop was Sauveterre, quite a contrast to the hustle and bustle of Salies, with its serene atmosphere and river.  

This is a rather beautiful spot, where you can canoe and swim in the river and drink in the peaceful atmosphere.  We had lunch at a little tearoom outdoors on the riverbank before heading back to the van and saying our goodbyes.



Then we were off on the next and almost final leg of our trip, along to the wild west coast and Lit-et-Mixe, in the hope of some breezy sunshine and not too much sand in my bikini bottoms from the rough seas!

J.