Look where we've been
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (328645)
Rockingham, Australia
October 27, 2017 10:31pm CST
I thought you might like to see the map of France which shows where we went in the four months we were there from May to October.
In May 2017 my husband and I left Perth, Western Australia for Ireland where we had left a motor-home in the care of our son who lives there. After spending a month either with our son or touring Ireland, we put the motor-home on the ferry and went to Cherbourg in France.
We then toured down the west and south of France. As you can see by the map we criss-crossed back and forth and saw a great many wonderful and interesting sights. At the beginning we didn’t fill in the map as we went which was a mistake as it was hard to do it later. Many of the villages we took notes on aren’t actually on the map. As it is the south-east corner isn’t quite correct. I think we got a bit closer to Montpelier than this shows.
Mostly we stayed in caravan parks but we also did some free camping. We bought the motor-home in Ireland back in 2015 and spent five months touring Ireland, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and the United Kingdom.
While in the Pyrenees on this trip we put a small rip in the side of the motor-home. It didn’t stop us using it but the insurance company wrote it off. We were paid the amount that we bought it for two years ago so we considered ourselves very lucky. Having a bed and being able to get our own meals enabled us to have such long holidays. We couldn’t have afforded trips like this any other way.
Edit: I thought you might be interested to know we did 7,000 kms in France and 10,000 on this trip (France and Ireland). In 2015, we did 16,000 kms in Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and UK.
35 people like this
33 responses
@topffer (42156)
• France
28 Oct 17
I remember to have seen this map when you were filling it
! As you avoided main motorways and crossed France from East to West in a very unusual way (and not the easiest), you certainly know the countryside better than many French, including me when it comes to Normandy
A camper was the only way to do that !
! As you avoided main motorways and crossed France from East to West in a very unusual way (and not the easiest), you certainly know the countryside better than many French, including me when it comes to Normandy A camper was the only way to do that !8 people like this
That is quite a vacation path! You covered so much in 4 months @much2say (54081)
• Los Angeles, California
28 Oct 17
@JudyEv The cool thing is you were able to see the nooks and crannies of France - not just the typical touristy stuff. I would love to have that kind of time (and have the right vehicle like you guys did) to have such an adventurous vacation!!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Oct 17
@much2say One big city is much like another in some ways. I know each one has unique attractions but the van was so hard to park and we're not city people so we were happy tonking along the byways and back roads. Besides, in a country like France, every little village has ancient origins and buildings so there was always something to see. .
2 people like this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Oct 17
We were very lucky to have been able to do such a long trip. I really hope it won't be the last one.
@JamesHxstatic (29420)
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Oct 17
What a fantastic trip that was for you! The map is impressive. You covered a lot of ground.
5 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109848)
• Los Angeles, California
28 Oct 17
That was quite the safari. Still, France is way smaller than the land down under.
4 people like this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Oct 17
It was the only option for us although it seemed a bit extravagant buying a motor-home. They were too expensive to hire and we didn't pay a lot for ours. It was a 1998 model.
@moffittjc (119118)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Oct 17
Well, geez Judy, you only visited half the country! You need to go back and finish the other half!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (119118)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Oct 17
@JudyEv So you have covered the entire country! Good for you! So, now that you've conquered all of France, what country do you and Vince plan on invading next? Want to come to the US and try to drive around our entire country?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Oct 17
@moffittjc Haha. We might wait till Trump is deposed. It doesn't really seem the safest place at the moment although possibly the country areas are all fine. We'd like to go to Denmark, Holland, Belgium and up that way but it's not very likely really.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Oct 17
We travelled a lot of that in 2015. I might get a different colour marker and try to mark where we went last time. However it's not a very big map and the majority of the villages we went through aren't on it so it gets a bit tricky.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
28 Oct 17
One day I would like to travel the USA the same way.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Oct 17
It was nice having our own transport and not having to abide by timetables and schedules.
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
28 Oct 17
Wow a long trip, and you are right making your own meals and not staying in hotels sure saves a ton of money.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Oct 17
We couldn't have done it any other way really. The motor-home wasn't 'state-of-the-art' but that didn't worry us. We paid 10,000 Euro for it and our reasoning was that at the end if we sold it for 8,000 our holiday only cost us 2,000 whereas if we'd bought a brand-new one (which we couldn't afford anyway) the resale value would have dropped much more than 2,000. As it was, we got our 10,000 back.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Oct 17
@JudyEv A fantastic way to see Ireland.
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99376)
• Canada
28 Oct 17
Wow that sounds like so much fun. You certainly have been to a lot of places. I would love to do something like that. You have a very fun and interesting life.
2 people like this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
29 Oct 17
wow...that's brilliant.... I used to do a similar thing when we went on fly drive holidays to america...
its good fun seeing where you've been.... do you know how many miles or kms you did... quite a lotby the looks of this map ..lol at economic for you too... great...
at economic for you too... great...1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
30 Oct 17
@JudyEv wow ... that's a lot of kms ... good idea to edit the post ... it keeps all the info together that way...
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Oct 17
We did 7,000 kms in France and 10,000 on this trip (France and Ireland). In 2015, we did 16,000 kms in Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and UK. I'll edit the post to show this so I'll have the information for another time if I want it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Oct 17
@sueznewz2 I'm bound to be asked again and my memory isn't the best these days.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Oct 17
Already France seems like a 'comfort zone' so we'd have to get out of that to go to Italy. And I don't know any Italian although I'm sure that would be the least of our worries. And didn't you get your pocket picked in Rome? 
I'm not sure what will happen next. We won't be going back till 2019 and by then we'll be 72 and 73 so it depends on all sorts of things. Perhaps we'd stick to Ireland where our son can come to our rescue if the oldies do something stupid.
We met some lovely Danish, Dutch and Belgium people too and had a hankering to head that way.
I'm not sure what will happen next. We won't be going back till 2019 and by then we'll be 72 and 73 so it depends on all sorts of things. Perhaps we'd stick to Ireland where our son can come to our rescue if the oldies do something stupid.
We met some lovely Danish, Dutch and Belgium people too and had a hankering to head that way.
@MarshaMusselman (38725)
• Midland, Michigan
29 Oct 17
It's nice that you had the means and the time to be able to hang out in all those countries in the past and this past summer. While doing that type of thing isn't necessarily a dream of mine, I would like to see more of each state over here and maybe sometime visit some countries on that side of the pond too.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38725)
• Midland, Michigan
29 Oct 17
@JudyEv are you able to visit him very often?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Oct 17
@MarshaMusselman He used to come out regularly when my mother was alive. in the recent past we've visited about every two years.
@JudyEv (328645)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Oct 17
I am sure America would provide hundreds of opportunities for some marvellous experiences - as does Australia. With our son in Ireland, we had the perfect excuse to travel overseas and see something totally different from our own country.
1 person likes this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
29 Oct 17
That was a very ingenious way to visit places...Right off the touristy track.
Are you planning some more holidays?
1 person likes this
