Au Revoir, France 2016 🇫🇷 – Michael and Pam's Travels

Travelled : 120 kilometres from Neufchâtel-en-Bray to Watten, Nord de Calais

Visited : Watten

Stayed : Aire de Camping Car Watten, free. Water and electricity extra but we didn’t need it. N50.83139 E.2.20879

After a very quiet night, it’s a late start in camper car world 🌎. When we finally do get going, all the neighbours are out and we all start chatting again. Finally about mid-day we continue our travels. Stopping at Abbeville for a quick shop and a late lunch in a car park, we continue on to Watten, about 30 kilometres from Calais.

The aire in Watten is free, with a nice view of the Canal. Only 10 minutes walk into the centre-ville and 30 minutes to the Chunnel/Ferry Terminal ticks all the boxes 📦.

A spot the Hymer photo from the bridge across the Canal de la Colme, in Watten.

So we wander up into the village. The Church of Saint Gilles proves to be open and worth a look.

Pam lights a candle in a small side chapel designed in the Grotto style.

Looking at the alter and the main stain glass window at the Church of Saint-Gilles.

So we find a little tavern with free wifi and have a couple of farewell drinks to our favourite country …….

So up at reasonable time we arrive in Calais 30 minutes later and roll onto train for Folkstone. The Chunnel is a wonderful service, 35 minutes in and out, travelling in the comfort of our own camper. We crank up the coffee ☕️ machine and enjoy a cappuccino and read the paper.

However whilst we stop to pay the €1.80 toll on A26, I look down at the dash and the battery light suddenly appears. No point stopping so we continue onto Calais and the Chunnel Station. I quick look whilst waiting in the carpark doesn’t reveal the problem. So we drive the Hymer on the train 🚂, hoping for a solution in England.

The M20 traffic comes to a halt 5 miles from the Dartford Tunnel and the next 5 miles take over an hour. After 3 months away, you tend to forget the horrendous traffic around London. Finally off the M25 we find ourselves driving alongside a mobile mechanic van. He passes us we pass him, he turns, we turn heading in the same direction. I finally see it as an omen and give him a wave.

Four hours later we have a new more powerful alternator fitted and the Hymer is on the road again. On the road as we chat away, we ponder the drama of the alternator failing a day earlier, having to fix it in France 🇫🇷 and possibly missing our train. Lastly the A$ is so strong against B£ took some of the sting out of it.

Michael and Pam

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