Today we finally moved onto continental Europe. Not by much, but enough.
We decided to make an early move from Battle in the hope of catching an earlier Euro Tunnel. It worked. We were moved onto a train one hour early and after the usual smooth loading we were soon speeding under the English Channel at 100 mph.
The journey is only 35 minutes, but we have a motorhome so what do you do in this time. Sit in your seats like car drivers? No, retire to the comfy seats and read for the duration!
On arriving in France, the idea was to lunch at the beach in Dunkirk and then move on to Tournai in Belgium ready to meet my brother tomorrow. However the beauty of travelling in a motorhome is flexibility. After travelling for just over 30 minutes we arrived at an aire next to the beach in Dunkirk.
Our first aire – and it’s free!
To explain, aires, or strictly Aire de Service Camping Car, are special areas set aside by the enlightened local authorities in France for motorhomes to stay overnight. They vary from a simple car park with a special area for motorhomes, to quite elaborate quasi campsites. Many have places to fill with water and empty your waste, some even have electricity and/or wifi. There is often a small fee of a few euros, but many, including the one in Dunkirk are free. The one common thread is that they are restricted to use by motorhomes. Caravans cannot use them and neither can cars. A whole new way of life exists once you cross the Channel.
Most countries in mainland Europe have similar schemes. They have different names in each country. Stellplatz in Germany and Sosta in Italy for example. But they are all there for motorhomers. The logic is that if you provide somewhere for people to stay in your town or village, they will spend money in your shops or restaurants. As I said – enlightened.
Anyway, back to our day. As soon as we had parked up in Dunkirk we immediately agreed that we would stay for the night. It meant a slightly longer journey to meet my brother tomorrow, but camping by the beach seemed a nice way to start our trip.
We had a quick lunch and then took the dogs for a walk on the beach. The dogs loved it, despite the fact that it was more or less as bracing as Skegness.
It turns out that this beach is the very one which British and French troops used for the famous evacuation in May and June 1940. We saw no sign of it, other than a plaque on the local coast guard station.
Well done Dunkirk, not just a great free place to stay (51.053182, 2.414709) and to walk the dogs, but a famous piece of modern history thrown in for good measure. It gives you a warm feeling about the French. If only local British councils could be so far sighted.
