France

October 21, 2025: Ville sur Yron in Grand Est de France Region

/ martin&miriam

What a night we’ve had. In different ways. First of all, the weather last night was scary. Pouring rains on the roof and that all night long! And if you stay in the village of Blankenheim, which was completely washed away by huge rain showers in 2021, you are alert about how you will find the RV park the next morning. Well that was not so bad in the end. A lot of puddles around the camper and the park. The other thing we’ve had behind us is a totally coma-like night that we both experienced. We woke up at 7:30. Something that actually never happens, since we normally always wake up around 6 o’clock. Our smartwatches indicate that they have a lot of energy, have had a deep sleep and are therefore more than ready for this day. We first took a hot shower in our camper. Miriam provides a nice breakfast when I walk the first round with Joep with him. We walk over the RV park and I see where we can fill water and empty the chemical toilet later. I’ll do that after the round with Joep since I’m already soaking wet.

During breakfast, decide what we are going to do today. Especially in peace. We are always in such a hurry when we wake up in the morning and we had planned to do things in peace. We had a windfall when tapping water; the previous camper had bought 100 litres of water and only bought 30 litres. So there was still balance on the device. Spacious enough for us to get through the next few days with our water tank. We even left 40 litres for another camper, since we had enough ourselves. We are so good for this world…

Afin.. We left our place at 9.15 am and went on our way full of good courage. We decide to go the first 100 km on the highway towards Trier and then drive exclusively on the Route National when we enter France. You see much more than when you go on the highway and we always find crossing villages very fun to do.

But it all went a little differently than planned. We think France also had a kind of Prince’s Day. Just like in the Netherlands, all budgets for improving the infrastructure in the country will then be released. Well we knew that! We had more road detours today, road breaks than roundabouts! And that means something in France! Boy, it didn’t really work out. As Miriam so poetically memorised: “What is a detour if you have no destination”. I’m full of something like that aptly said. But in the end we got back to the right point and crossed the French border at Thionville. From there, immediately off the highway and start the route on secondary roads. We pass very beautiful villages, alternating with where you don’t want to be found dead yet. Via Eifel, Dahlem, Pirensberg, Prüm, Rittersdorf, Luxembourg are called a bit and then through Düdelange into France. From there via Vivenge, Hayange, Jarny, we arrive at Ville sur Yron mid-afternoon. A village with about 300 inhabitants. Not a high-quality tourist village, although they are Village de Fleuris. This means that they attach great importance to the well-being of villagers, visitors, tourists and want to radiate hospitality. Well, we succeeded!

When we arrived at the small municipal RV park in the village, near the town hall, we had to check in via a QR code. However, this did not work because the payment link to our bank did not work. The RV site is a great place for a night. On a paved place, with electricity, tap water is possible, but not to drain. Logging in via the QR code is a simple method, since we understood it. Sometimes you really experience methods, that you think: why didn’t I finish my school… But the payment didn’t work again and again, so we just call the contact number. We got the mayor on the line (we think so, because in such a small village the only municipal official is immediately the mayor..) and he indicated that the overnight stay was free for us. Electricity included. At least; that’s the translation Miriam gave me with her coals French. Miriam descends from the French surname Mangér, Mangér means “food”, so actually a surname that suits me better. But Miriam had understood correctly about each sentence the word “graduite” that the municipal official uttered when the total panic broke out that she had a non-French tourist on the line. As I said; it is not the epic centre of tourism. But the free camper place; That’s a windfall of 10 euros. Top place! Next to a cemetery, but we won’t have much trouble from that tonight.

The rest of the afternoon we walk again over the lands around the village and have another nice drink (0.0) cosy around the table. Miriam is reading a book in her new e-reader and I am writing our blog for this day. The evening will be just as usual; cosy with everything pot-tight, watching TV and reading a bit before we fall asleep in our crib.

October 20, 2025: On the road, but already at the garage after 1000 meters!

/ martin&miriam

Today is the day we leave for southern Europe. We woke up early this morning, and since burglars can’t imagine what kind of pigs live in our house, the place naturally had to be delivered spotless. After we’d fully equipped the campervan at the front door, filled it with water, and disconnected the power, all that was left was to turn off the main water valve in the house and shed, and we were off!

At 9:30 a.m., we drive our Lambortinki out of the park towards Emmen. But immediately, a warning light comes on, and that wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. Especially with my technical incompetence, my stress levels are rising, and my eyelids are twitching… straight to our local campervan guru, Jan Kuipers Camperservice in Odoornerveen. We drive in, and Jan immediately makes time for us. He immediately reassures us that it’s nothing serious because the light is yellow. You really have to be careful with red lights, he says. As befits a good marriage, I always stay away from red lights…

Jan hooks up all sorts of computers to our Fiat Ducato and diagnoses it: the oil level sensor is malfunctioning. Nothing serious, but you’ll need to check the oil yourself more often if the sensor is really broken. After resetting the onboard computer, the problem seems to be resolved, and we’re ready to go. I still have to think about the solution for the warning lights; turn the light off and the problem will go away… But with complete confidence, we set off at 10:55 a.m. A bit late, but that doesn’t matter since we have no destination. A direction, but no destination. As someone with partial autism, I’ll have to get used to this, as I used to prefer to plan everything out. But my dear wife is right: we have all the time in the world, no destination, so we can plan each day to see what we’re going to do and where we’re going. We’re excited!

At Klazienaveen, we cross the border, which is quite unusual, as we have to go through customs and are checked by German border guards. We’re allowed to continue, and via Meppen, Oberhausen, Cologne, and towards Trier, we enter the Eifel region for our first overnight stop. The route between Oberhausen and Cologne was very busy, and we were delayed by over an hour due to traffic jams. Joep is doing really well in the campervan, lying comfortably in his basket or on Miriam’s lap. As long as he’s happy, we keep driving. But when he looks at us with his eyebrows furrowed, we know we have to stop somewhere soon.

We decided to do that at that precise moment and turned off towards Blankenheim in the Eifel region. There was supposed to be a simple but beautiful campervan site on the edge of the village. The Eifel looks stunning with all the autumn colours on the hills and mountains. We drove past a lake and saw the autumn colours of the trees reflected in the water. Beautiful!

When we arrived at the Weiherhalle P3 camper site (camper contact site code: 752), we were pleasantly surprised. What a great camper site it was. We paid with coins for the pitch and also for the electricity. Everything was set up for 11 euros per day/night. It wasn’t crowded yet at the 15 pitches at this camper site. There were four in a row. Not our favorite, but perfectly fine for an overnight stay.

After setting up the campervan, we immediately went for a walk with Joep through the adjacent park. It’s a beautiful, rolling park with plenty of seating, a wine bar, patios, and other entertainment. There’s also sports equipment (we’ll skip that one) and disc golf. Never heard of it before, but I recently did this activity with my family during our Lammertink family day. It’s funny! The village of Blankenheim also looks lovely with its half-timbered houses and village square. But since everything there is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, we’ll be leaving the village for now.

After a lovely walk, we’re now enjoying a nice drink and snack in the campervan, and I’m writing our first blog post of this trip. Tomorrow the weather will be unsettled and rainy, so we’ll continue our journey towards France. We’ve decided that if the weather stays this bad this week on the road, we’ll keep driving until we reach the south of France or Spain, where we can wear shorts and the sun is shining. We’re both feeling really good already, and it’s so familiar back in the campervan with our division of labor. And another nice prospect is the fact that we always sleep incredibly well in our beds. We’ve already had the chance to experience the new mattresses, so we’ll be having a wonderful time tonight!

October 12, 2025: Getting ready for departure

/ martin&miriam

The past few weeks have been filled with pleasant socializing and dinners with people we’ll miss in the coming months due to our departure for Southern Europe this winter. The campervan has had its major service at Jan Kuipers Camperservice in Schoonoord and has received a new Maxxfan, new brake discs, and brake pads. We’re curious to see how the Maxxfan performs, but it looks great! I’ve participated in two tennis tournaments in recent weeks, and Mir did a fun photo assignment for a 45th wedding anniversary of acquaintances here at the park. The coming week will be all about making preparations for our departure for Southern Europe.

Tomorrow I’m going to wash the campervan, and Miriam will take care of the interior again, making the beds, etc. We’ve decided to take as little as possible this winter to save weight. Last winter, we had a crate of drinks and a crate of food for Joep, plus a crate of groceries in the campervan garage. We also have some loose items in the garage. So we’re going to do that differently. We now have a lightweight washing machine, so we don’t need to take as many clothes. We’re also not going to take any more groceries, etc., and will simply do our grocery shopping at the supermarkets we come across along the way. We’ve stopped using physical books and are carrying dozens of books in our e-readers. Driving with a full water tank is also unnecessary, since there’s almost always tap water at campervan sites. That’s why we’re only filling the tank with 40 liters instead of the full 110 liters. Enough for the first day if it’s absolutely necessary. Finally, I’m already 17 kilos lighter than last winter, so all of that makes a huge difference in the campervan’s weight. The weight of the Maxxfan compensates for that. We’re also considering removing the satellite dish from the camper roof for next season. This is despite the advice of our brother-in-law, John, who advises against it because it will negatively impact the camper’s residual value and will be inconvenient if we trade it in. However, since we primarily stream via Google TV and a MiFi router with a data SIM card, removing the dish will save us another 15-18 kg. Weight controls abroad are zero-tolerance. Germany and France, in particular, seem to be strict. That’s why we’ve made these considerations.

Since we plan to enter Germany via Emmen and visit Alsace in France on our way to Karlsruhe or Freiburg, we think it’s wise to stay underweight. We’re a bit worried that the highways have weighing loops, so they’ll easily pick you out. Before leaving with a full load, we’ll weigh it properly with us inside so we know what to expect.

So tomorrow we’ll start by completely emptying the camper garage and removing everything we haven’t used in the past year. Then we’ll rehome everything we can take with us and start loading the bikes. That way, all we have to do is fill the inside of the camper with clothes and some groceries, and then we’ll be ready to go.

Because we’re more accustomed to our free time and completely detached from our work past, we think we’re now more capable and willing to stay away longer. We really want to try to skip winter altogether, provided the weather stays inviting. Hopefully, more sun and much less rain than last winter. That was so wet and stormy, so if that happens again, we’ll either be back sooner or we’ll move on to better places.

We’re visiting friends and family in southern Spain and then want to continue on to Portugal and probably spend a few weeks at Quinta Odelouca, where we had such a wonderful time last year. From there, we’ll head north again in the spring, through the Basque Country, Spain, back into France, and then back home.

Yesterday we took my motorcycle to winter storage, so that season is now over. We’ve also arranged things for our car so we can feel good about leaving it unused for all those months. The advantage is that we can suspend both the car and the motorcycle with the RDW, which will save on monthly costs. We can also get used to planning our trips better next year and thus suspend the campervan with the RDW for a few months as well. The RDW’s suspension fee is €88.00, so the longer you suspend it, the better your return on the suspension. Road tax for campervans is going up by 100% next year, so we’re going to be paying an unprecedented €200.00 per month. Isn’t that unusual? But it won’t stop us from continuing to enjoy traveling with the campervan.

Final stop before storage

Finally, we’re still budgeting for the coming months of travel, and I’m still watching drone videos to get a better handle on the new drone. Miriam already seemed to be more adept at handling it than I am during the first flight. But hey… what isn’t Miriam more adept at than me?

Well, that’s about it for now. Starting next week, we’ll be blogging regularly again, hopefully with some beautiful photos of Miriam and the drone. We hope you’ll be reading along (subscribe, we’d love that!) and there’s plenty to share with you about our journey. We’re already seeing lots of campers heading south on YouTube or Instagram, and we’re really looking forward to it. We still have a week to go with preparations, including getting the cottage ready for the winter months. Christmas in Spain… something different! We’re almost ready!

France Passion & Campe dans mon jardin

/ martin&miriam

Zoals bij zoveel camperaars bestaan de wintermaanden uit plannen maken en voorbereidingen treffen voor het nieuwe camperseizoen. Daarin verschillen wij niet van anderen. Enerzijds missen we het gebruik van de camper in de wintermaanden, anderzijds is het ook geweldig om weer samen plannen te maken voor het nieuwe jaar. We hebben gisteren even weer aan onze camper kunnen ruiken, toen we de camper opgehaald hadden in Ede, bij de mannen van Smits Campertechniek BV . Dit bedrijf is verantwoordelijk voor de rubriek “Goed gebruikt” in het NKC magazine Kampeerauto, waarin zij steeds een gebruikte camper helemaal keuren en inzichtelijk maken welke gebreken er zijn en opgelost dienen te worden. Wij hebben met onze Lambortinki een dergelijke keuring ondervonden en alle geadviseerde reparaties laten uitvoeren. Onze Eura Mobil Integra 680 SB staat er weer top bij!

Dat vraagt dus om plannen maken om er weer mee op pad te gaan. De vakantie in juni is al gepland en geboekt. Dan gaan we naar het Verenigd Koninkrijk, maar of het Schotland, Engeland of Wales gaat worden, dat zien we nog wel. Dan blijft er voor ons nog een vakantie over in September om te plannen. De afgelopen weken zijn we ons wat gaan verdiepen in Frankrijk en dan met name andere plekken dan dat we al gedaan hebben in het verleden. Op zoek naar mooie bestemmingen, kwamen we opeens een tweetal websites tegen. De eerste website was France Passion (www.france-passion.com). Van deze organisatie moet je lid worden (29 euro per jaar), zodat je gratis kunt overnachten met je camper bij hoofdzakelijk agrarische bedrijven. Wijnboeren, kaasmakers, geitenhoeders, olijfboomgaarden, melkbedrijven en graanbedrijven zijn gastheer voor 1 nacht en bij hun mag je dus gratis op het terrein overnachten. Veelal zijn er mooie camperplaatsen gecreeerd, midden in de natuur en veelal buitenaf gelegen in landelijke gebieden in Frankrijk. Vooral de wijnboeren en kaasbedrijven hebben onze volledige aandacht bij het maken van een route door Frankrijk. Je kunt dus elke nacht bij een andere boerenbedrijf gaan staan; er zijn er duizenden! Wel zijn er een paar spelregels waarmee je rekening moet houden. Zo moet je zelfvoorzienend zijn met je camper. Zowel water laden, water lozen en toilet ledigen mag je daar niet doen. Ook moet je eigen elektriciteit bij je hebben. Soms zijn er bedrijven die wel in elektra voorzien, maar je kan er geen rekening mee houden. Ook is het zo dat je maar 1 nacht per boer mag blijven overnachten en wordt het zeer gewaardeerd als je interesse toont in zijn/haar boerenbedrijf en bij voorkeur ook nog iets koopt van de producten die zij maken. Is geen verplichting, maar wordt wel gewaardeerd.

Schermafbeelding 2018-01-14 om 10.40.15

Aangezien wij met onze camper voorzien zijn van alle gemakken en ook nog een scooter achterop hebben staan, vinden wij afgelegen staan bij een boer juist erg leuk. Lekker toeren door de prachtige gebieden en kleine dorpjes bezoeken waar nagenoeg geen toerisme is. Dus we gaan zeker gebruik maken van deze organisatie in september. We zijn inmiddels lid geworden en gaan ons dan verder verdiepen in welke route en welke boeren we gaan bezoeken.

Ook zullen er mogelijk momenten zijn dat we niet bij een boer kunnen staan, want het gaat meestal maar om 1 of 2 plaatsen die beschikbaar zijn per boer. Pech hebben is dus ook een optie! Daarom ook maar gezocht naar een alternatief en deze hebben we gevonden in de website van Campe dans mon Jardin (www.campedansmonjardin.com). Kamperen in mijn tuin is de letterlijk vertaling. Mensen met grote tuinen, veelal ook in buitengebieden, hebben een plek in de tuin ingericht voor een kampeermiddel. Hiervoor wordt wel een kleine vergoeding gevraagd, maar meestal heb je wel faciliteiten om water te vullen, elektra te ontvangen. We hebben op de website gekeken en zien daarop echt mooie plekken staan. Ook soms zie je plekken waar je nog niet dood gevonden wilt worden, maar keuze genoeg om er iets moois tussen te vinden.

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We hebben ons voorgenomen om met deze beide websites de vakantie in September te vullen en op basis van de route die we willen gaan rijden, mooie adressen te gaan (be)zoeken. En vinden we het niks, nou….dan gaan we gewoon een nachtje op een commerciele camping staan. Al is het alleen maar om het toilet te ledigen, water af te storten en nieuw water te pakken om vervolgens weer 3 a 4 nachten bij een boer te staan.

Het wordt weer eens iets totaal anders, maar we hebben er zin in! Tot september valt er echter nog genoeg om naar uit te zien om weekenden erop uit te trekken. Laat het voorjaar maar komen!!