I’m toying with idea of blogging while we are on the Grand Tour, but only if it’s going to be relatively easy and cheap - preferably free. I don’t know if my old laptop is up to wifi access but Sean will have a decent laptop that can be used. The biggest problem I can see is getting free wifi access. Macdonalds is supposed to offer free access around the world but do we really want to spend our time in France and Italy sitting in Macdonalds?
This entry is really a test of Blogdesk which I have used before and which seems to be the ideal solution to mobile blogging. I can type up an entry each day and simply save it to upload whenever there is internet access and I don’t have to be online any longer than it takes to upload. It’s a pretty neat piece of software which gives almost as much control and the Wordpress dashboard but doesn’t require you to be online as you type. I’ll just save this now and upload it in a while. If it works I might just be blogging while we are away.
The ‘Grand Tour’ was conceived last year just after we bought the camper and much of the planning was done early on. It seems unreal that it is now less than two weeks before the big adventure. Much work has been done on the camper, particularly to do with the brakes and the upgrading of the front discs to heavy duty cryogenically-treated discs and heavy duty pads. I can well remember way back in 1982 coming down from the Petit St. Bernard pass into Italy with the brakes on our Nissan Bluebird almost smoking! Don’t fancy that in a big motorhome!
There is much more that could be written about the trip but due to reasons outlined in the last post I’ll stick to the itinerary and will, hopefully, write more about it when we get back. Here it is then - The Grand Tour - which starts on Friday 4th September 2009.
Day 1 - From Stafford down to Surbiton where our son Sean lives. He’ll be working that day so we pick up his stuff from his flat before picking him up at Sevenoaks railway station. Then it’s on to the Channel Tunnel for the crossing paid for by Tesco vouchers. Once in Calais it’s about an hour’s drive for a late arrival at the aire at Hondschoote.
Day 2 - Drive to Bruges and spend the day there before driving back into France to an aire at Bavay.
Day 3 - Across into Luxembourg for a lunch time trip on the chairlift at Vianden. A quick nip into Germany and then back into France to stay at the aire at Thann near the Swiss border.
Day 4 - Across Switzerland stopping at Stein am Rhein and Romanshorn and into Austria for a stop at the Stellplatz at Schwaz just past Innsbruck.
Day 5 - Over the Brenner Pass into Italy for a look and Bolzano and then across The Great Dolomite Road to Misurina. Take the lift up to Cinque Torri on the way.
Day 6 - From Misurina down to Punta Sabbioni where we will camp for the next few days to visit Venice. Should arrive about lunch time and will spend the afternoon in Venice.
Days 7 to 9 - Venice. Lots of exploration on the vaporetto’s to the the islands of Burano and Murano and, of course, Venice itself. No driving for three whole days!
Day 10 - Right across Italy to the Aosta valley to a sosta at Cervinia close to The Matterhorn. Stop on the way at Sirmione.
Day 11 - Early morning look at The Matterhorn before reaching Courmeyer and then through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Chamonix.
Days 12 and 13 - Around Chamonix - various walks planned and trips on the lifts, including the Aig du Midi and, possibly, the cabin lift to Helbronner. Hopefully lots of photographs to be had.
Day 14 - In Chamonix until about 4pm and then up to an aire at La Mercatine midway between Chamonix and Paris.
Day 15 - Travelling to Disneyland Paris to stay overnight in the car park! It’s quite recognised as an overnight stay for motorhomes with the usual facilities.
Day 16 - No driving - just a day of fun in Disneyland. You are never too old!
Day 17 - The going home day. Disneyland to Eurotunnel. Folkstone to Surbiton, Surbiton to Stafford. A long day but with plenty of breaks.
All in all, that seems like a pretty good Grand Tour. There has been plenty of planning and a lot more could be written but that will do for now. I can’t be bothered to blog about the holiday while we’re away but, hopefully, I’ll keep a journal on the laptop and will write more here when we get back.
Went to take the camper out for a run today to stop it seizing up when not is use. Turned on the leisure battery and lots of water started squirting out of the water heater (luckily the sink is underneath). A joint in one of the pipes had gone due to the freezing weather (next year we’ll drain it down like we should have done this year).
Only got a chef’s blow torch for making creme brulee which didn’t have enough ooomph so down to B&Q to get a blowtorch and some solder and a short while later the pipe was fixed. When I turned the water on again though the pressure caused a leak in another joint which can’t be soldered so tomorrow it’s off to Maplin to get some rubber grommits and a small bolt.
What am I going to do in Lewis? No PC World, no B&Q, no Maplin. Should I change my mind?
Well we had a bit of a lie in and woke up to mist/fog and cold. After not too long we decided not to go to Chester Zoo as you would get no photos outside so not a lot of point paying £20 or so. So we sat around for a while trying to decide what we would do. In the end we went to Cheshire Oaks, bought a couple of things for the kitchen, got Sean a ricer and then bought a Hard Disk Recorder for us which was a real bargain (even more so when we got home and checked the online prices). We stopped off at Booths in Knutsford on the way home and arrived back about 5.45 pm. Not a brilliant time but great having two days off. Work tomorrow.
So we have a couple of days off (I have to work Sunday) and decided to take the camper for a bit of a run and stop overnight somewhere. We decided on Chester, nice place and not too far. It was very white this morning, a really heavy frost and quite cold although the sun was trying to come out. Pumped the tyres up and off up the motorway then par in the Park & Ride and spend the day looking round. We did stop off at a Farm Shop (really good) and bought some food for tonight then to another place (a fruit farm) and had coffee. We were going to get some apples but they were quite expensive.
The weather stayed bright all day, bought a couple of little things for the kitchen but nothing else, quite a surprise considering all the shops we went in. I nearly had a new bra, very posh, but very expensive. We are now parked up for the night and the soup and pasty are nearly ready. We are not sure what we are doing tomorrow, it will depend on the weather.
