Travelling through Europe in Merlin our campervan (Part 1)

After our volunteer stint at the Steelhouse Festival we cut back home to get some necessary maintenance on the house done before we hit the road again on our travels.

We headed toward Dover and met up with friends Andy and Helen, who live in nearby Sittingbourne. We had an impromptu BBQ and a few beverages in their garden. Parking on their drive for the night.
Andy, kindly placed some parking signs directing us to his drive in order that we wouldn't park on his neighbours drive, like we accidentally did the previous time we visited.
The humour was well appreciated, and gave all of us a laugh.

The following day we headed for our ferry crossing to Calais and settled at the nearby French aire at Wissant. We talked to our Belgium neighbours and in particular to Pabalo, who is a weathered worldwide traveller.

I desired to pick Pabalo's brains as we had made the decision to roam Belgium enroute to Switzerland.

As we often do, we took notes on any places other people may recommend and we like the sound of.

We were interrupted by another Belgium woman who's son was distraught, because his inflatable dingy had a puncture.
I happened to have some CT1 silicon that we carry with us for any repairs we might require to make. It is designed for marine use and waterproofing.
I unfortunately never got to find out wether or not it did the trick, as we had to head off before they came back from their beach adventure. I hope it did.

We arrived at an aire in Belgium that was conveniently near a bar that served a fave Belgium beer of mine - Leffe.
We sat outside soaking up the sun.
After a few Leffes I retired to a nearby hammock.

Our next location in Belgium was in Maboge, called Park Naturel des Ourthes.
It was right alongside a wonderful river and some nice walks along its banks. I sampled some locally brewed Belgium beer called La Chouffe, that weighed in at 9% proof.

We again put to good use the favourable weather and had a BBQ, sampling Belgium sausages, and burgers covered in cheese and breadcrumbs. We liked it here so much that we decided to spend two nights.

Still enroute to Switzerland we cut across Luxembourg, enjoying the benefits of cheaper fuel and alcohol. Once stocked, navigated across France and Germany to meet up with our friends Rikki & Susi in Muhen,in the northern part of Switzerland.

They took us to a gorge called Aareschlucht.
A suspended boardwalk has been constructed for visitors to explore the gorge that is approximately 1.4km in length, spans 40m across at its widest and a cliff wall that reaches 180m at its highest point.
The torqoise colour of the water makes you think of a picture postcard. The colour of the water that you see in much of Switzerland, is possibly given by suspended particles in the water originating from glacial melt (glacial flour).
Along the gorge we even saw a cavern dating from the Second World War.

Rikki & Susi then took us to Lucerne where we had some food and refreshments on the lake's banks.
We saw couples dancing. This was not an organised event, it was just couples dancing to the music being played in the background. There is a very relaxed atmosphere. Other groups of people were having picnics on the grass.

After spending two nights with Rikki and Susi we was bound for the Furka pass at 8000ft or 2500m above sea level.
Merlin (our campervan) took the winding roads in his stride, frequently being passed by many motorbikes, Ferraris, Porsches, lamborghinis and supercars.
We parked up for two nights here and observed that there was a British car with a trailer attached.
We learned that the trailer was for stowing Dan and Don's motorbikes.

The guys pitched a small two man tent by the side of the road.
During the day it's particularly warm, but as the sun sets the wind and the cold air become apparent.

Looking at their plight I approached them and offered them a chance to warm up in our camper and offered them a cold beer. They jumped at the chance and we had a chat for a while until they had warmed up.
On leaving the van one of them noted how many stars you can see and the clarity of the Milky Way. It's true, there is no light pollution. It's a truly inspiring sight.

On the second day we hit the trail on a walk for a few hours, crossing a wooden plank bridge over the ice melt rivers and along a path that narrows to about 6inches in some places. Jo was a tad scared at one point and I had to encourage her to get past the narrow bit. It's not a 2000ft sheer drop, but it was daunting nevertheless.

We moved along from there, along more steep switchback roads for another spectacular place; Grimsel Pass.
I'll let the photo do the talking.
Incidentally Furka and Grimsel pass have been used in many films over the years.

After our two nights and seeing the impending clouds heading towards us we decided leave before we ended up driving through said clouds on such twisty roads and to make for the south coast of France, via Mont Blanc. Whilst still travelling through Switzerland, we hit a snag. Merlin decided to breakdown. In the rain.
Thankfully we didn't breakdown in the alps.

I stuck my head under the hood to have a look to see if it was anything obvious. But to no avail. It seemed like a fuel problem to me. I know that we had plenty of the correct fuel in the tank.

I contacted our breakdown cover and after several hours we were towed to a nearby Garage. I tried to convey to the the towing guy that we didn't want to go to a main dealer, but due to my lack of German, we ended up at a VW Maindealer. I thought this is going to hurt.
Switzerland, by U.K. Standards is expensive. That and it being a main dealer was a double whammy!

Whilst we are sat in the VW main dealership, initially for an hour or so, I can't help but notice the loop video promoting the latest carnation of the VW Beetle.
In it, a surfer type dude is putting a seemingly large surfboard into the small boot.
He must have the rear seats down, I think to myself.
The dude then drives off to join others in their beetles and one old classic VW campervan. Obviously trying to capture the free spirit element that the old classic VW Campervan portrays.
They drive on these coastal roads to a beach and play guitar, are laughing and having fun.
I then think to myself, shit that looks cool. I couldn't help laugh at the irony. Here I am travelling around in my camper a free spirit watching actors portraying the life I am living.

Thankfully, there was an English speaking mechanic, Michael. He shook his head and said that they were short on staff and had a back catalogue of work. He declared that they couldn't get it fixed until Monday or Tuesday we broke down on the Thursday.

We asked if we could stay in Merlin until it was repaired. Michael said he would find out.
Unfortunately this was not possible as they wanted to put the vehicle on charge overnight inside the locked premises.

We duly walked only two hundred yards to a sport centre come hotel. We thought at least we can have a shower.
We turned up at the reception and attempted to check in. But they said they had no rooms. We were now homeless and gutted.
Fortunately, they did have one room. It was a 12 bedder dorm, but lacked facilities, save for a toilet. It didn't even have a window you could see out of. Just a velux window in the high wooden roof.
At least we had a choice of beds to sleep in. We decided not sleep in the ones near to where the rain was leaking in through the roof.
We did manage to get our shower, in the end, as we used the sports centres communal showers.

After our showers we headed to the restaurant part and ordered the cheapest meal on the menu; pizzas.
£32 for 2 pizzas, with no drinks.

The next morning I enquired at the desk about the availability of rooms. We were in luck they now had five rooms available. I said I would contact them after I had a report from the garage.

We were fortunate. They had fixed the problem. It was simply a ring connector to the fuel pump had broken.
We thanked Michael for getting us sorted quickly.
The bill however was eye watering!!!

Being philosophical about it, the situation could have been a whole lot worse and at least we were on the road again.

Several hours later we passed by Mont Blanc, its peaks not visible due to the clouds covering it.
We settled at nearby Cirque Du Feu Cheval campsite, that were flanked by huge mountain peaks and waterfalls that appeared to drop forever. The mountain peaks lay hidden every now and again by the clouds and it was a case of now you see it, now you don't.

The following day, after taking advantage of the campsites showers we continued on with our journey.
We quickly found difficulty leaving the area due to the Mount Blanc rally.
There were "Route Barre" signs no matter which way we attempted to leave. There were no alternate route signs in place.
At one point I think we in amongst the rally.
Jo and I joked about crossing the finishing line and being handed a two handled cup and a bottle of champers.
Eventually we found a way out and continued our journey to the Camargue area on the south coast of France to a place called Pie Manson.
The area consists of salt marshes that have Pink Flamingoes, storks, egrets, swans, herons, white Camargue horses and pristine coastal waters.

Nearby we stop to look at the pink water, caused by magnesium a byproduct of the salt processing.

Stay tuned for more of our adventures...