We normally do festivals in the summer but after realising the amount of money that we spend over a few weekends of fun and hard work at festivals we chose this year to use that money and go on the cheapest holiday we could. We decided to take our 90’s battered old estate on our road trip from Frome, Somerset, 873 miles and back to Narbonne in the south of France where some friends of ours are living. The ferry was £70 return and fuel was 1 Euro a litre in France so it worked out cheaper to drive than fly…
PRE- DEPARTURE
The first small hiccup was that, with impeccable timing, the car decided to start not starting and leak oil, a few days before we were due to leave. I panicked and phoned the AA about the possibility of changing over the car policy, as we had taken out their full European cover with repair costs covered (essential in my opinion when traveling in such dodgy old cars) and they informed me that as we were within 72 hours of our ferry leaving they would pay for a hire car as the repairs would take too long. Winner!
So we got this posh Hyundai something or other that was supposed to be an estate, but I’m not convinced and if I was lucky enough to be able to buy a brand new car I can say I wouldn’t buy that one. But beggers, blaggers, bloggers can’t be choosers and it was about a million time better than our crappy car which in hindsight may have been quite unbearable in the heat as it has no such mod cons as air con.
AND WE ARE OFF!
The ferry was fun and we were in full holiday spirit. They have a manic soft play area on the DFDS crossing to Dunkirk and everyone was very excited. We chose to take the afternoon crossing arriving at a normal ( but every day we are optimistic )bedtime of 7 pm. The idea being that the kids would sleep and we would get some distance covered in peace and quiet and just transfer them easily into bed. What actually happened is the sat nav app that I had downloaded didn’t want to to download the France map as maybe it needed a better internet connection or something..hmm whoopsy..anyway..
WE HAD TO USE OUR OWN BRAINS TO NAVIGATE… AND WHAT HAPPENED
Determined to be unflustered by the fact that we didn’t have a computer to be our minds, we navigated our way pretty easily to our quick night stop in Reims.. apart from the bit when we got into Reims which wasn’t on the big France road map. I had luckily printed out a really basic map from their confirmation email and thought we had it nailed and where on the road that the hotel was on.. except we were on the right road but heading in the wrong direction out of Reims and into the deep dark country. By the time that we had realised this we had driven about 20k and it had gotten VERY stressful and VERY late. Lennie had not been sleeping like a good easy baby as we had planned and instead, inconsolably screaming for hours. I think it was that overtired thing they talk about.
Eventually, we headed back the opposite direction on the same road and headed into Reims and found our hotel.
The next morning we discovered that in this stress the bank card for the account had gone missing somewhere with all our holiday money ..so we had to cancel it and luckily my lovely parents lent us the money until we got back.
ORDER IS RESTORED AND GARGOYLES ARE COOL
So we are back on track. We composed ourselves, used our brains, looked at the map and managed to make a stress free journey down to Cluny where friends of ours are living. We stopped off in Dijon and It seemed like a really nice city from what we saw in a few hours. They have some really really amazing gargoyles; all totally different weird spooky creatures and fantastic gothic architecture. We also discovered one way to shut your kids up for a bit is to go into a massive church. I don’t know if that’s a consistent guarantee though..I wouldn’t go booking a guided tour of big fat catholic churches based on our one experience. They were probably just overwhelmed.
ECO FARM STAY-SOMEWHERE IN THE DROME REGION- ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN
We head on for a stop in the Drome Region (which is situated just at the beginning of the alps), to my husband’s childhood friend Jake’s parents, Marte and Chris’s Eco farm/research project based on top of a mountain. They are nearly completely self-sufficient and have solar panels, a wind turbine, natural spring water for their water and power and grow their own vegetables. They make their own milk and cheese and eat their animals. They have a herd of cows who roam the land, sheep, chickens and horses.
Marte is a worldly renewed and respected expert in animal behaviour and eco-agriculture. Having written various books, most recently ‘Eco-agriculture: Food First Farming – Theory and Practice’. Which I have just ordered. She was one of the first researchers studying the behaviour of large mammals in the field in Africa and one of the first Animal Welfare Scientists.
Chris expertise is in alternative energy, designing, repairing and making farm & draught animal equipment, building eco-houses, arable & animal husbandry and welfare, animal handling and teaching. They previously owned and ran an Eco-farm/project in Devon near where my husband grew up which is where he became friends with their son Jake. You can read more about them, see their courses, apply to volunteer or book to stay on their website http://www.eco-etho-recherche.com
It was a great experience and really interesting to see how they live in such a self-sufficient way. It was great for our kids who are early risers and lovers of the outdoors. For them to have something to watch and engage with as soon as they had woken up in the morning was perfect, as on a farm the fun starts at 6 am. Although I do think they were a little bit too young to benefit from it as much as they could do. This particular Eco Farm is not in any way centred around very young children and is purely animal, research and sustainability focused… but it did make me think about what a great experience it would be for a family to stay on a working, self-sufficient farm that was kid friendly where, as part of the holiday the children can help and be involved in the everyday life of the farm. My husband grew up on a dairy farm in Devon and I know that from a very early age he was helping out on the farm. Wwoofer stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms http://www.wwoof.net and Marte and Chris have people regularly. I wonder what opportunities they might have for families…
From here we make the last leg of the journey down to Narbonne..TBC
supermum and other disguises 
Haha glad you guys having fun. Miss you though xx
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Good article! You’re a funny writer.. Like the observations you make. Glad you had fun!! Cordelia x
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What a great post! Sounds like how our holidays all ways seem to go… something always goes a bit wrong! So very glad you were able to get a hire car though, that was a real #mumwin Thankyou so much for linking up with #busydoinglife it’s great to have you joining in I’d love to read more next week!!
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What fun and certainly an adventure! We have just done the same thing with 9 in a bus, but we stay with family south of Dijon
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ah wow that must be quite near Cluny? 9 in a bus! how old are they all?
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sounds like amazing fun. I would love to take a road trip one day.
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yes there was def pro’s and cons! i think our next big trip will be a month in Portugal next summer but we will take the ferry to Santander so its not so much driving!
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Great post, we travel to the South of France by car each year and we have had similar issues with sat navs etc! We also have stayed at Reims a couple of times, usually on the way back so we can sample the champers, it’s a lovely place. 🙂
#justanotherlinky #busydoinglife
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Haha I thought it was just me. There is soooo much to think about before hand. Impossible for everything to go completely smoothly!
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What great fun! I love France. We have been to lots of different places there. We have just come back from Annecy. The kids ( I have 4 ) have only recently started to appreciate it though as they have got older. Glad you were able to hire a car. Thanks for sharing #busydoinglife
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Our 4 year old was in her element, being outside in nature so much and so much easier than usual. She hates being in the house! The 2 year old was still a bit hard work though!
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Oh how nice that you got away to France. It’s a great job that you can take the boat over so easily. It is funny to think of using paper maps! I used to print maps off Google Maps pre apps & sat nav’s. I’m looking forward to part two x
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I have posted part two on my blog if you want to check it out x
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Ah! Forgot #busywithlife x
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I am enjoying your France story. I cant find a follow button for you though?
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We used to go on car holidays loads when I was a kid! Thinking about it we didn’t have a satnav so my parents must have been reading maps the old fashioned way 🙂 Impressed that you guys got a hire car paid for! Hope you have a great holiday! #justanotherlinky
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I actually prefer reading map’s I reckon. Because when the sat nav does a little whoopsy you have no idea where you are if you haven’t been looking at a map!
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Oh wow, what an adventure! Nothing ever goes as planned does it? Glad everything turned out all right and your sweet parents lent you some money! What a beautiful place and I’m sure beautiful memories you will make! Linking up with you at #busy doing life:)
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Yes it was defo an adventure. We decided to start making new memories and doing different things than the same old things we always do
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Sounds amazing wish I was brave enough to do a road trip with 3 year old twins great post great read
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Ah thanks, It had it pro’s and con’s for sure. The 4 year old was easy compared to the 2 year old. So I suppose you are in the middle!
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Sounds like an adventure – but good family fun. I think traveling with kids is always stressful, we are heading to France in a few weeks and not sure how we are going to keep the bits entertained. Lol! Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx
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The DVD players where a winner buy we only said they came on after we had been driving on a motorway for a long time ! (-; also taking lots of little toys and activities but only getting them out one at a time as they became REALLY bored. Nursery rhyme and audio books, paper, pens and scissors for cutting. Oh and also usborne activity books ! X
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Thanks so much for linking this post. We are new Expats in the Netherlands and are looking for fun trips just like this. I can’t wait to look up your friends farm!
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Oh yeah..there is loads of cool stuff like in Europe.. Do some, report back and maybe we will go on your advice!
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Sounds like a fun roadtrip 🙂
Thanks so much for linking up with #justanotherlinky
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Oh bless you – that really did sound like a bit of a nightmare at the beginning there! But at least it sounded as though you had an excellent time once you’d reached your destination! Hehehe. Steph xxx
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yeah i had a little cry in the dark in the car.. I am buying a normal sat nav next time!
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I love a road trip in France, but with car problems, young children, satnav issues and losing your bank card – wow STRESSFUL. I hope the rest of the holiday was more relaxing! #AllAboutFrance
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We’re big fans of road trips and go on at least one big one a year. This year it was from south of France to Poland, Germany and back, 4500 kms! (The SatNav was pretty dodgy in Poland with loads of roads not showing u, funny when you have to rely on your brain again!) Sounds like quite a result that the AA gave you a new car! Your friend’s eco farm sounds amazing, I’m definitely going to check that out. Thanks for linking up to #AllAboutFrance
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That sounds like a great adventure. It was a stroke of luck (sort of) that you were able to get a replacement car before your trip. Our car is 11 years old and I can just imagine it breaking down too! #Mondayescapes
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Oh my what an adventure! We used to take family road trips every summer and something always went awry which now are funny memories. Love from #MondayEscapes and #AllAboutFrance 😃
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Oh what an adventure! We used to take family road trips and always had something go awry which now are funny memories. Love from #MondayEscapes and #AllAboutFrance 😃
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Yes I find you always make the best memories on an adventure!
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Oh, gosh. What an adventure! I am quite exhausted just reading it. Car breakdowns to boot and can i say hats off to you for not having a sat nav. Me and hubby would have killed each other!! I am ashamed to say I haven’t really explored France except for Reims! But we really want to do something like this next year – i think it would be so much fun and judging from your trip a real experience! Thanks for linking up with #MondayEscapes
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next year we want to get the ferry to santander and then do portugal.
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We just did a similarly lengthed journey – noth east uk to Alsace, but our car gave up on the way back!
Love your style of writing. Look forward to the next leg!
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Ah wow thanks! What massive compliment x
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It’s on my blog http://www.supermumandotherdisguises.com if you want to check it out. Our car would have never made it anywhere. Thank God for the aa cover !
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