{"id":10470,"date":"2024-10-09T18:03:55","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T17:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/?p=10470"},"modified":"2025-08-12T00:46:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T23:46:31","slug":"day-65-home-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/10\/09\/day-65-home-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 65 – Home Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

And so our mini adventure ends. There\u2019s not much to say about the day itself and I\u2019ll leave the conclusions to further posts where I hope to pull some more considered thoughts together about the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, for today, we did manage to get off from our one night stop reasonably early, by 8:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Camping Val de Vasle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then it was just a slog up to Calais and then slog again back to Bristol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Val de Vasle Camping to Bristol<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SatNav said it was 409 miles (658km) back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roads of northern France were as quiet as ever. There\u2019s traffic around the larger cities but the peages in the countryside were as quiet as ever. We probably spent another \u20ac40 on tolls again today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Heading into Reims<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Jack-knifed Artic on other carriageway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How did that artic manage to jack-knife on a straight road in perfect weather?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also had some fun and games at an aire where we stopped for diesel and a bite. We played musical diesel pumps. There were three left hand pumps at the stop. All of them were out of order. So we eventually backed into a pump so the hose would reach. Luckily the site was really quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Musical Diesel Pumps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once we got to Calais, at about 12, we called into the Cite Europe complex and had a wander around the Carrefour Hypermarche. But to be honest, nothing drew our interest. We bought half a dozen bottles of assorted wine, but nothing expensive and we certainly didn\u2019t fill our boots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Getting on the Chunnel train<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once over the channel , the weather was mostly fine until we hit the M25. And then from about Swindon onwards it was pretty bad. Then we got to Bristol it was torrential. Hey ho, it\u2019s good to be home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Good to be back in Bristol<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But I can\u2019t leave you with that. What was the trip like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it was a blast. We loved it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were times when Sue and I had a grumble at each other, but in the whole we got on well. And we laughed a lot too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the places we visited were epic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standouts were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Ypres war graves, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Munich, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Berchtesgaden, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Plitvice Lakes, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Trogir, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Dubrovnik, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Arlberobello, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • the view over Palaiokastritsa, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Lecce, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Matera, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Paestum and <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Pompei.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    If I had to pick a best three places then it would be Berchtesgaden, Paestum and Pompei. Sue may stick her faves in here somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Some other data points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • 31 stops – campsites, friends and family, apartments, hotels and a villa<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Over 3000 photos. You\u2019ll be glad to hear we\u2019ve only posted a few of those. But we also took way more than the 3000 we kept, probably 50% more<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • 4300 road miles covered in Ollie. I thought it would be more when we set off, but the change of route away from the balkans made a big difference<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • In addition to that we also did over 560miles (900km) by ferry (excluding ferry day trips)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Other big take aways\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • The van was awesome. It just did everything we asked of it and never missed a beat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Having said that, for such a big trip we could have done with a bigger van. It was fine, but certainly for any longer trip away, we\u2019d want something bigger<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • This sort of trip is sooo much easier now that SatNav can guide you anywhere you want. Trying to do it with physical maps would be much more stressful. Especially around cities you\u2019ve never been to before.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Similarly, Park4Night and Search for Sites were a game changer. We could sift through campsite pictures and reviews before deciding where to head for. These apps also allowed us to be way more flexible than say 20 years ago where it would have been so much more difficult.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • We were (at least I was) surprised at how many people spoke English. I think this is a big change. The people we met, unsurprisingly, put this down to YouTube, TikTok etc. We did bump into a few people with limited or no English in southern Italy, but usually we managed to get the message (across).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Electric Bikes were a real positive for the trip. They gave us great flexibility and extended our range from the van when we were in camping mode<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Everyone was so friendly and helpful. It surprised me. I was expecting to get a lot of reluctant acceptance. But most locals we met seemed to be genuinely happy to help us. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • And almost all the travellers we met were also genuinely interested to chat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • There\u2019s a massive Campervan and especially Motorhome scene across Europe\u2026 they\u2019re everywhere!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Pack more underpants and socks! \ud83e\udd23<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        And that was it. The 2024 European \u201cWhere\u2019s my\u2026?\u2026 And we\u2019re just getting a flavour\u201d Tour has ended. Better get planning the next one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"
        Ollie\u2019s back home<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Here\u2019s a full list of the where we stopped and for how many nights in brackets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        2024 Euro Tour Stop Overs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. M&D (1)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Ypres – Bellewaerde (3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Charleroi – Faucon (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. Tom – Palzem (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. Vianden – Vianden Campsite (2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. Echternach – Camping Belle Vue 2000 (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. Trier – Campingplatz Moselh\u00f6he (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        8. Black Forest – Gr\u00e4ssel M\u00fchle Campsite (3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        9. Lake Constance – ? Deer Farm (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        10. Munich – Best Western (3)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        11. Berchtesgaden – Winkl-Landthal Camping (3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        12. Lake Bled – Ledrar Apartments (2)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        13. Plitvice Lakes – Bear Camping (3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        14. Trogir – Camp Rozac (4)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        15. Dubrovnik – Solitudo (3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        16. Bari – Torre Sibissi Bari B&B (1)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        17. Alberobello – Bosco Selva (2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        18. Brindisi to Igoumenitsa – Ferry (1)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        19. Igoumenitsa – Elena (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        20. Agios Gordios – Lidos Paradise (4)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        21. Kassiopi – Mylos (7)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        22. Igoumenitsa – Elena (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        23. Brindisi – Dimora Risveglio (1)<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        24. Gallipoli – Tores Sabea (2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        25. Matera – Masseria Pantaleone Agriturismo (2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        26. Paestum – Agro Park Capccio Scalo (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        27. Amalfi – Agriturismo Costiera Amalfina (2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        28. Pompei – Villa Julia (3)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        29. Lucca – 318 Via Augusto Passaglia (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        30. Avignon – Aquadis loisirs (2)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        31. Reims – Camping de Val de Vesle (1)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          And so our mini adventure ends. There\u2019s not much to say about the day itself and I\u2019ll leave the conclusions to further posts where I hope to pull some more considered thoughts together about the trip. However, for today, we did manage to get off from our one night stop reasonably early, by 8:30. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-summer-holiday-to-greece","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8yl38-2IS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8838,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/08\/12\/day-8-vianden-castle\/","url_meta":{"origin":10470,"position":0},"title":"Day 8 – Vianden Castle","author":"John Martin","date":"August 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We have two nights in the Vianden Castle Campsite. We\u2019re finding that unless it\u2019s a really limited amount of stuff we want to do in an area then it\u2019s best to stay two nights in a place. That way we have time to do whatever the area has to offer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5269.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5269.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5269.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5269.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5269.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5269.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10470"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10929,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470\/revisions\/10929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}