Hello Friends!
It’s the beginning of August and we have finally arrived in France! With a rented camper van, we will explore the roads of France while sleeping under the stars at farms and wineries. As expected summer temperatures are soaring but we are prepared with lots of cool fun adventures to share with you.
Planning for this big 20 day trip is a little intimidating. Our biggest concerns are where to go, navigation, and the scorching heat. Eventually, we find our groove with Rick Steve’s free online road trip itinerary. This route takes us through many regions in France, counterclockwise. Why stress about an itinerary when the experts have done all the work?
6 months in advance, T rents a VW Volkswagen California camper van from Yescapa. This company has good user reviews, and we can rent directly from the owner. The van is nearly new with low mileage. For airfare, we use United frequent flyer miles to London. We purchase a Garmin mini sd card for navigation. This mini card, the size of a thumb print, has maps of all Europe that slides into our existing gps. It’s expensive at $90 and worth every penny since we are hoping to reuse this for future European camping trips. We download a few other useful apps for our iPhone. And lastly, we upgrade to an international phone plan with 10GB data for internet on the road and local phone coverage in case of emergencies.
With all tools in hand, we are ready! To avoid lost luggage, we pack only what we can carry on our backs. After a few plane and train rides, we finally arrive in Paris, The City of Lights. One more train ride brings us to the suburbs to pick up our rental van. With so many flights of stairs at the train stations, we are thankful for packing light!
The owner of the rental van picks us up at the train station and gives us a thorough orientation of the features of the VW California van. OMG, we can pop the top! When things heat up and we need our own space, one of us can crawl up to the 2nd level to cool down.
Keys in hand, and giddy with delight, we set the gps to our first stop, Giverny – home and gardens of impressionist painter, Claude Monet.
Bon Voyage!
funandfreedee 