Ultimate UK to France Motorhome Adventure!

Ultimate UK to France Motorhome Adventure!

Welcome back everyone. We’re in France on an impromptu adventure because it’s our wedding anniversary. So stay tuned to find out where we’ve gone to and why and what we get up to. Right guys, we’re all set up. The boys are ready. Becky’s going to move the car and then we’re heading to Dover where we’re going to be staying the night at Ferry Pitch. So let’s get to it. So, my sat now is one of those that should already have where we’re going, but Oh, there we go. 4 hours and 6 minutes to go. 228 mi. It knows the motor home, so it knows what we can and can’t do. And we’re going to a cavern and motor home club. It’s the Black Horse campsite with ferry pictures. We’re off. It’s so weird. That driving me a big cloud. I can’t go over it. It’s very very strange cuz it’s just all window and I feel like I’m miles away from the door which I am. The door’s all the way over there. Oh, it won’t actually point cuz the thingy was that. It’s following me. Yeah. The boys are nice and comfy in the back. I will show you. You can kind of see them. I will show you. Anyway, but yeah, we’re on our way. First trip in Chuggington. Yep. We’re going to we’re going to the Black Force campsite cabin and motor home club and we’re staying on a ferry pitch which gives us access to the facilities and power. So we we’ve got access to water on site if needs be. But we’ve just it’s literally like a load of pitches all combined to one. So we’ll just find where we can find and then that’s it simple that from them. We’ve got a few rattles that I need to figure out where they’re coming from. one’s definitely I think I left the um grill pan in the oven so it’s rattling away so I need to sort that out. But everything else so far so good. How exciting. All right, we’re off to do staying at the Black Horse Farm campsite because it’s only 15 to 20 minutes from the ferry. Perfect. They’ve got ferry pictures where you can arrive late and leave early. Super handy. And it’s about £33 a night for electric hookup and a kind of level hard standing if you’re lucky. It’s a long drive today around 5 hours with the usual snack stops, but I’m already dreaming of the French roads because let’s be honest, they’re so much nicer than ours. Right, we need to go get our thing from the board, Mommy. Yeah. Hello. That’s us, right? What we got? We got 17 on there. 17 on here. 17. So, we’re in the top. That’s literally where we were there last time. Yeah. Right. So, we found our pitch. We’re in pitch 17. Let’s go see if we can get in. So, we’re here about4 11, so an hour later than planned cuz we stopped for a bit. Hello, Becky. Um, and uh, yeah, the pitch is a bit on the piss, but it’s too late to mess around. I think we’re just going to we’re going to just try it, don’t you? Just huddle in a corner. Just huddle in a corner. So, uh, we’re going to I can’t show you the site. It’s too dark. So, I’ll have to give you a virtual tour using virtual reality and the power of the brain tomorrow. But now we’re going to get set up to go to sleep as we’re tired. Yeah. Right. We’ll catch you in the morning, guys. Early start cuz our ferry is at 7:50 and we’ve got to be at the port for probably about 6:30 a.m. So, night who’s sleeping up there tonight? Me. It’s 5:00 a.m. We survived. I’m so tired. Excuse my French. So flopping tired. Beep beep. Boys are still asleep. Did you sleep okay, Becky? That’s the Becky of tiredness. Uh, I slept really well up there with Haja fidget bag. I could do some catchup sleep. But now, time for a cup of tea and we’re going to get ready and we’re going to leave at 6:00. We get there at quart. Then daddy can have a sleep and daddy then I we’re going to get ready. So, we leave at 6:00 so we can get there at quart and then I can have a nap in the queue whilst we wait I think and a coffee. [Music] [Music] Time to pack up. It’s 6:00. Let’s get to Do the ferry. I mean Do ferry. on route to the ferry terminal. We thought we were leaving in plenty of time, but we’ve actually only got 10 minutes spare for last check in. So, fingers crossed it’s smooth sailing. Done. Yep. Wish us luck. We’ve arrived at the terminal um with 15 minutes till last check. Yeah, we check this out. What a bunch of doofes we are. Very easy. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Last check. 650. Fair and it’s now 653 and there’s five cars in front of us. which is a very old market hotel. Hidden nearby did it just we did it. She was very nice the lady at the check in. Thankfully. Yeah. A scary checking in that one. They were lovely there. Yeah. But we’re we’re we’re lane 108. She said because we’re quite tall, she needs to find us a lane. So hopefully we’re going to be in a lane where we don’t have to worry about 105. 105. This must be 108 here. 108 lucky and not lucky. Off we go. I don’t know why that was so stressful, but we made it. The lady was lovely. It is What is the time now? Let me just check on my magic watch. 7:00 10 7. So, we’re meant to have checked in at the latest at 6:50 and then cuz there’s a massive queue, the lady’s computer wouldn’t start up. She’s let us on this one anyway. And then she’s put us in lane 108 um for reasons we don’t know. So they’re offloading this ferry. So I assume as soon as this one’s done, we’re we’re going to get on it and get gone. We’re going in the boat. Look. We’re going in the tummy of the boat. [Music] [Music] We’re in the ferry. We just got to um remember where we are. We’re deck five. We’re right near the front. We’re aboard. Very shiny. Oh, yeah. Morning. Okay. So, we’ve just been told on deck 8 is the children’s play area and uh somewhere we can get some coffee, too. Let’s have a look. We’re now aboard the Irish fairies crossing to France. And honestly, what a bargain. £9 each way for the motor home. I did pay an extra30 for flexi, which means we can change or cancel with a full refund. Worth it for peace of mind. The ferry’s got everything you need to pass the 90-minute crossing, play area for kids, a spot to grab a decent breakfast, and of course, a much needed coffee to fuel the adventure. France, here we come. Go on there, Lies. Go on. Give it hell. Head first. Ready, go. The restaurant on this floor looks like it does a really good breakfast. So, uh we’re going to head there shortly. It’s where the uh I think we’re on the floor with the duty free as well, which is always handy. So, uh there’s a quick scan around anywhere what I can see so far. So, it was actually only £44 for us all to have a full Irish breakfast and there was a hell of a lot of it. We also got coffees and drinks included in that package. So, my opinion that’s pretty decent. [Music] Breakfast is uh going to break good sausage. Sunny on the boat later. On the boat now. What are you not the best uh to view out of, but here’s the view of England from the ferry. [Music] We’re nearly in France, aren’t we, mate? Yeah, it’s out there, is it? Yeah, that’s keeping the lighter entertained. Anyway, we’re only about 20 minutes away and we can see France and we’re pretty close. We obviously just got to get into port and then unload. So, we should be off by about 10:30, which is 9:30 in Laair. Oh, yeah. If you didn’t know, France is an hour ahead. So, it’s quite confusing if your watch changes and your phone changes without um without you realizing cuz yeah, you kind of jump ahead of time. Time to get back to the motor home. We’ve had the official announcement and then we’re in France. So, we’re back down. We actually found our motor home straight away. A quick scan round to make sure it’s okay before we depart. Bob wibbly wobbly bob. Wibbly wibbly wobbles. Everything’s locked up as it should be. It’s closed as it should be. There’s the boys. Right, that was a good two hours and probably 20 minutes. I think it might just be two hours, but it must have been 2 and a half hours. Yeah, according to Google, it’s actually one and a half hours. Yeah. So, we left at 7:15 and we got here at 9 10:20, but 9:20 in the UK time. So, it’s 2 and a bit hours. 2 and 1 half hours to get here. And that was easy. So, if you’ve not done the ferry before, it’s pretty easy. It’s probably easier to board than the tunnel. But the difference is when you go to the tunnel, you’re more than likely to go into the like uh atrium area where they got all the restaurants. Whereas we got here, you stay in your queue mainly instead of going across. It’s quite a walk to the atrium area for the ferry at Do. So, uh I definitely recommend it. That was easy. And it’s easy to get off as well and you’re done. Well, the tunnel is easy to get off. You just drive off. But I know what I’m saying. I know what I’m saying. What do you prefer? Tunnel or ferry? Is it? It’s 10 to eight left. And it’s now 20 9 in British time. Oh yeah, it’s an hour and a half. Yeah, it’s an hour and a half. I’m tired. We’ve had 5 hours sleep. There’s a noise. We’ve just driven off the ferry and we’re officially in France. Yay. Now, a few quick things to remember. Over here, they drive on the right. And if you’re on the priority road, you have priority unless signs say otherwise. Oh, and don’t forget those toll booths. We’ll be using the motorways to get to our next stop. So, we’re heading two to three hours south to camping board delin. I don’t know how to pronounce it, but I’ve heard that’s right. It’s an access site and we haven’t booked, but I’m confident they’ll have space. It’s a popular stopover for people heading south or back to Calala for the ferry or tunnel. On the way, I’ll need to stop to take a video call with a new client. That’s the beauty of working on the road. I’ll show you how good the airs are in France compared to the UK. Honestly, it’s so much better. Can’t wait to show you. We’re in France. The sun is shining. The roads are clear. My windscreen’s absolutely filthy and covered in bugs and dirt. Uh we’re about 10 minutes 15 minutes outside of Calala. Heading south towards Ram Ram. Um and we have we have some no goes in around Calala because we we had a breaking attempt uh about 10 minutes outside of Calala. So we try not to sorry never again never again. So we try not to st we try not to stop at any of the motorway service airs or anything like that without someone being in the vehicle or the doors locked. Um mainly when you’re heading back up to Cala um because we think people will try to break in to hide in the hide in the motor home. So we try and get at least an hour away. Um and obviously even then we still try and keep everyone in the motor home who needs to be in the motor home the doors locked because I say it was pretty scary and with young kids etc. it’s just not worth the risk. I know there’s there’s a lot going on in the world but you know we we we don’t we don’t need those blobs. So, um, so yeah, so my advice, you could stop in campsites, don’t get me wrong, where it’s safe and secure. I always check the reviews on park for night and search for sites, even Google, cuz it does give you an idea of what’s going on there. You’ll see if people have had breaking attempts and things like that, and that gives me a good steer if if the area or the site is safe, etc. So, we’re going to head about 3 hours down approximately. Uh, and then we’ll make a decision if we stay on a campsite we’ve stayed on before, which I’m not going to pronounce. Uh, but I might try camping bubour de I’ll put it in the uh I’ll put it in the comments below so you can see what I’m actually saying. It’s a great campsite for people traveling up and down through France, whether they’re going to the south or coming back up to Calala. Uh it’s got a shop on site, a restaurant, sorry. Swimming halls, the pictures are knives and it’s it’s very popular and most of the time you can just pull up there. Um in the village as well, you’ve got a tobac, you’ve got uh maybe a mini lur or mini caraphor. So there’s plenty of services and things, you know, for so it’s it’s a good stop. The sun’s also there. So we’re aiming for the sun because in England this weekend, the bank holiday, it’s meant to rain. So, those two weeks of glorious sunshine have now been overcast and overshadowed by uh by rain. So, we’re going to stop in a bit, just turn on the gas so I can put the fridge on. Um have a coffee. I’ve actually got a meeting with a new client, so I’m going to get my laptop out and jump on teams. That’s at 11:00. So, in about an hour’s time and uh yeah, hopefully we get to site safely, but we’ll catch you when we’re there so you know where we’ve gone to. So, stay tuned, guys. French roads are so much better than English roads. We had a little bit of the travel last night in England where it was just so bumpy. You can only go 30 mph and it was so noisy and bumpy. Just and we’ve got air suspension by the way. Horrible. Yeah. Yeah. And then you come to France and just like honestly don’t make noise, is it? Retroids are better. Retroids are better. Body position slightly just in case. I reach into the paper bag and the new word is tiger. Just spin it around. Said it’s an obn. This one nice little one. Caravans. Just trying to figure out which ones we can actually park in. But these are big ones and there’s nobody here. So I’d say that would do. We can have coffee. So, so interesting. If you don’t know, French airs, this is exciting because we have French airs are um they’re amazing. Even even just the basic service ones, even just the basic service ones have toilet, shower facilities like the motorway ones. And they’re clean. They’re well maintained. Very impressive. Over to the sofa in the living room. So, yeah. So we’re going to we’re going to grab a coffee which is about 15 ft away and she’s going to show us how enjoy a bit of chill time before we get to our campsite which will be about an hour in a bit. So for every letter she writes he will speak it. Boys are first letter she. So as Becky was just saying we’re in a air motorway air. This is just one of the basics ones that you see lots of. And they’ve got everything from your benches, your picnic benches through to toilets and showers. Some of them even have coffee machines. So, uh I’m going to get the EcoFlow out so we can have a coffee cuz we got a big cafeteria. And then we’re um uh I’ve got a meeting at 11 a.m. So, 12:00 here with a new client. So, I’m going to take that on my iPad and uh yeah, just enjoy a bit of relaxing. I’ll show you what I mean. I’ll take you for a quick tour. So this is like a toilet block where you’ve got showers, urinals, facilities, etc. And they usually I’d say everyone I’ve been to has been clean and tidied, but obviously the public can ruin that. Then we’ve come down from Calala and we’re there. And I think we’re I think we’re going this way down here. Oh yeah, there’s rim. So, we’re going to stop about here maybe on the map. Just finished my team’s call at the air. It went really well and it’s great to get some work done while traveling. Now, we’re heading south towards Ram and onto Guishnikor. This area is packed with history. It’s part of the Champagne region and saw major battles during World War I. Giznikor is a small peaceful town on the Aen River. Our destination for the night and a perfect place to unwind after a long drive. And here we are. We’ve arrived. Oh, one more thing. Please enjoy my poor friend’s pronunciation. It’s hilarious, I know, but I’m trying. [Music] The motor home service point is just as you check in. So, we’re going to quickly pull in here, fill it with water, and then I’ll go see reception. [Music] Right, we’re here. So, I’m just going to see if we can get a space cuz I’ve just pulled up. So, let’s see. Okay, so we’ve got our pass to get in. We’ve got space. She said there’s a big party coming over there. So, we’re going to go partner the children’s play area so the boys can just play. First, we’re going to get some water, which is just exactly where I parked the motor home strategically. Ta. So when you come in here, last time I just back straight into this so I can fill it with water cuz otherwise you got to come back round to fill it with water each time if you need to top up or carry like a jerry can. She’s also said the restaurant’s open and they serve pizzas and things like that and uh if we want to order bread, we just go to reception and and where the little shop is and we can choose what we want to order for the morning. If you can see that, but that’s my tank full. That’ll do. Donkey. Cut her off here. So, when I said I’m going to park next to the children’s park, I meant it. Literally next to the children’s park. That means we can open our doors and as Becky spins around in a second, you’ll see the kids can run straight into the play area. I love being a dad. Beep beep. Arrived at the first sight. Parked right next to the play park so the boys can play nicely. Good spot. That’s the end of part one. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure you keep an eye out for part two where we’ll show you around the site and share more of our adventures. See you soon. [Music]

We’re off on a family motorhome adventure—leaving the UK, staying at Black Horse Farm Campsite near Dover (perfect for ferry travel!), and catching the Irish Ferries crossing to France. It’s a 5-hour drive, a £90 ferry deal (plus £30 Flexi for peace of mind), and a taste of the freedom that comes with life on the road.

In this video, we take you along for the ride, sharing tips on ferry crossings, motorhome-friendly campsites, and what it’s really like to travel with kids. We can’t wait to get to France and start the adventure—because let’s be honest, the roads there are so much better!

🚐 What to expect in this video:

Black Horse Farm stopover for the ferry

Irish Ferries crossing from Dover to Calais

Motorhome tips for ferry travel

Arriving in France and first impressions

Don’t miss Part 2, where we explore ACSI campsites in France, tour the sites, and share more of our family adventures!

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