France-Argeles-Sur-Mer August 2018 Part 4

Sunday was a beach day Harriet had decreed. Well ok armed with 2nd larger umbrella off we went.

Down on the beach it was windy. Well a strong breeze. Umbrellas were being chased and inflatable unicorns were taking flight…. So no umbrella. I decided to get out the action camera and snorkel and go find some fish to film.

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Chester Fair Oaks Caravan & Motorhome Club Site Review

Date Of Visit : January 26th 2018

This is our first visit to a C&M Club Site. We joined the club in the latter half of last year and have so far only used a CL so we were keen to compare a main club site.

I booked online as usual but with C&M you don’t pay any deposit when booking which is a bit odd these days. I would expect to pay a deposit. I have seen plenty of complaints in online forums that the C&M Club don’t take a deposit which people believe leads to members making mass bookings just in case they fancy going & then canceling when they can’t be bothered to go.

Anyway I got the dates we were after and we had aimed to leave Friday morning but it was my Mum’s funeral the day before and I must admit that I was more than a little inebriated when i landed in bed and was in no fit state to drive on Friday morning, so we decided to wait and as I was expecting a rather important parcel we waited until that had been delivered. We left after 4pm. The traffic was not great so it took a bit longer than normal.

We arrived and checked in with the Site Warden and paid our £41.00 fees. We were instructed to go find a pitch and let the Warden know which pitch we had chosen, at which point we were given a fob to open the entrance barrier.

Pitches are Hard standing and level and evenly spaced. The site is quite dark and positioning the van on the pitch could have benefited from some street lighting.
There is enough light from the EHU bollards to walk around the site at night but as I was reversing the van onto the pitch there was one side in total darkness which made it hard for even an experienced driver to gauge the distance to the grass to ensure the van was central on the pitch.

We were only here for 2 nights so we quickly connected the electric and filled the water put the heating on gas to warm the van up quicker and nipped to Sainsbury’s for a few bits and then around to the Peak pub which is virtually right next to the site for some food. The Peak is a Hungry Horse pub and food was pretty good.

Saturday morning was Wet and after breakfast we headed off to Cheshire Oaks for some retail therapy and to watch a film.

Toilet Block
Playground
Looking towards reception

 

 

The site was all in all good if a little pricey. Over £40 for 2 nights when you have already paid over £50 a year to join the club, there are plenty of commercial sites that don’t charge that much.
If you are putting up an awning you will need rock pegs. These are available in reception but at the price they were charging I’d make sure to take some with you. Awnings go on hard standing not on grass.
The bathroom, laundry and washing up facilities were all clean, warm and bright. To get any hot water out of the shower I did have to turn the tap as hot as it would go but at least it was not one of those annoying push button taps.

The children’s playground was tidy and looked in good condition. I did test the swing as @Walterswardens on twitter dared me but it was dark and there was no light at all. I think this was probably by design as much as anything so that kids don’t play noisily after dark.

Would we visit again? Yes but if there was an alternative cheaper site I’d probably take that option for just a couple of nights we can make do without the nice clean loos.
The site is ideally located for Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port and Chester as well as a run into North Wales and all it has to offer.

The Last Bank Holiday 2017

Apart from the 2 at Christmas of course.

We had an eventful trip to the south of France as I hope you have read, if not you can find it here. So with the last bank holiday I really wanted to make the most of it and get away.

I’ve been reading for weeks on social media of people being disappointed to not get a pitch as sites are full. With this in mind I turned to the C&CC website to find somewhere. It didn’t need to be far, it didn’t need to be glamorous or have lots of facilities, so after finding the local club sites full I started looking at CS sites. Continue reading “The Last Bank Holiday 2017”

Our Eventful Summer Trip To France

Read all about our summer holiday to Argeles-Sur-Mer in the Languodoc region of France.
Argeles is described in one guide book I read as the last of the big resort towns of the south coast. Continue reading “Our Eventful Summer Trip To France”

Part Cinq (5) The Voyage Home…..Sounds like a movie

So the day has finally arrived. The Long Drive in reverse. Not literally in reverse. I’m good but over 1000 miles in reverse is just silly.

Everything had been packed on Friday afternoon and all we needed to do was disconnect the electric, put the combicool in the boot, wind up the legs, hitch up and go. Not forgetting to get dressed first of course.

So by 7:30am we were hitched up. By 7:50am we were waiting outside the camp shop for fresh Pain au chocolate, Pain Aux Rasins and croisants. We deposited the rubbish in the bins and set off. Continue reading “Part Cinq (5) The Voyage Home…..Sounds like a movie”

Part Quatre…4 Andorra

With the weather being a bit rubbish, still warm but cloudy and rainy on and off, we decided let’s go to Andorra and do a bit of shopping.

Andorra is an independent Principality (try saying that after a few gins) a bit like Monacco but as far as I know no Prince and much less sun. Andorra is high in the Pyrenees mountains and is know as a ski resort but also as it’s tax haven status. In fact there is No Tax in Andorra…. Now think for a moment duty free with no duty. Yes that’s it Cheap Booze, Cheap Tobacco, Cheap Perfume etc….. Basically everything can be had cheaper.

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Part Trois – Panic in Barcelona

Barcelona today. Always a highlight of a trip to Argeles-Sur-Mer as it’s a nice easy drive, hop on the A9 and turn left, then just keep going about 1h45 to 2hours Autopista (motorway) all the way.

We missed the chance to go early as, well we didn’t get up early plus I managed to tweak my back bending over the day before so I took my time and plenty of pain killers and let it free up slowly.

We have always parked in the same place. A 2 minutes walk from the Sagarda Familiar but this year they limited the parking to 4 hours. A guy on duty told us of an alternative just around the corner. Very tight! If you don’t know most parking in Barcelona is underground. The first time we went we had a Vauxhall zafira with a roofbox which meant we could not get into any of the parking garages. We had to return another day minus the roofbox. Continue reading “Part Trois – Panic in Barcelona”

Part Deux. Bites, Tyres, Doctors

Well we actually arrived without further incidents. No calling out the breakdown service (why do I pay them?) No more blown tyres. Just a nice easy drive down the A20, A61 past the impressive Airbus factory at Tolouse to Narbonne then the A9 to Perpignan. Past the now familiar landmarks of the arches on the hill and Perpignan prison. To jump.on a the D914 to Argeles-Sur-Mer.

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The Long Drive

We left the storage yard bang on time for once. We’re usually at least half an hour late.

We/I had decided on the M6,M5,M42,M40 & southern side of the M25 which turned out to be bang on as the signs on the M42 were saying that the M1 was shut. We had a very good run and only his any traffic once on the M25 for about 15min.

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