Off to France

[WhatsGoingOnHere]

So we decided this past Saturday that we're heading to France on Saturday (19/08) and it feels like the van has typically decided to rebel against the idea. First drive after I booked the ferry the tyre pressure light came on and it seems we MAY have a slow puncture and today the side window has decided to let in floods of water which has got into the electronics etc. Just waiting for the DPF light or an AdBlue warning! We've had the van 10 weeks, bloody thing.

If I don't sell the van before the weekend(!) my plan is to drive to Dover Saturday morning for a lunch time crossing to Calais and then a drive down to Bergerac to collect the family who are flying in from Liverpool on Sunday morning. The idea at the moment is just to get off the boat and drive as far as I can sensibly manage and then stop at an Aires for a sleep before collecting the family at 9:30am on Sunday morning and heading to the coast.

I've ordered a toll tag and my crit-air sticker today and I'm just weighing up the options on a compressor fridge and Cadac grill. We normally just use coolbox and charcoal BBQ but as we're away for 2 weeks we probably need a more robust setup.

It'll be my first time driving the van abroad, although I have driven other RHD vehicles in Spain previously so not too concerned from that point.

Open to any hints or tips! Especially in regards to checking over on the van before leaving

 

[kipperman]

Are your tickets cancellable? Going from Calais as opposed to Caen (Portsmouth) adding quite a lot of journey time, especially if you get choose to go via Paris. Our preferred route is an overnight Portsmouth Caen meaning you get in about 6 in the morning. Drive to Bergerac then perfectly do able ( especially if you share driving) in a day.

 

[WhatsGoingOnHere]

Are your tickets cancellable? Going from Calais as opposed to Caen (Portsmouth) adding quite a lot of journey time, especially if you get choose to go via Paris. Our preferred route is an overnight Portsmouth Caen meaning you get in about 6 in the morning. Drive to Bergerac then perfectly do able ( especially if you share driving) in a day.

I was too tight to pay an extra £450 to save a couple of hours of driving in honesty!

 

[DaveCrampton]

Just the usual stuff, high Vis vest for if you brake down, copy of your insurance, spare bulbs etc.. but you appear to have everything as you know about the Crit-Air cert etc..

 

[Broadside]

Buy the compressor fridge, we got one 3 years ago and was still marvelling at how good it was while in Germany last week.

Stuff will go wrong with your van but stop worrying about it. Mine always develops a fault before long trips. Last year it was some turbo sensor, and also glow plugs. For this year it was the ignition switch failing to start and also a coolant alarm. I will get those issues sorted but didn’t let it stop me enjoying 2 weeks away, don’t allow it to become all about the problems. While extremely annoying fixing problems is usually cheaper than changing vehicle, so I just switch off and get on with it now. The fun we’ve had owning the van far outweighs the cost burden of maintaining it.

Oh… the Cadac grill is probably a good shout. We carry a Weber charcoal bbq but often French campsites no longer allow them due to fire risk. We camped in Holland and Germany this summer i was actually surprised and relieved we could use our Weber, but lots of places are starting to refuse any charcoal bbq.