Camping Butterfly - Peschiera Del Garda (Day 4 - 31st March 2012)

Arrived on the campsite around 10am, now we had arrived it didn't seem 5 minutes ago since we were last here but a full year had passed. This is the first site we were able to use our ACSI camping card, saving us about 2 Euro per night, this would work out over the holiday to be a worthy purchase.Booked into pitch number 24 (Last years pitch 36 was already taken, this was a prime spot next to the pool area), well away in the corner, nice and quiet. The site was a lot busier than last year, only spotted a couple of English Motorhomes, the rest were made up of Dutch & Germans but all were very friendly. The weather was great, sunny and hot. We decided after setting up we would take a leisurely stroll into the town which was extremely busy with tourists.

Aerial View Of Peschiera Del Garda

Yes 3 Hours Later The Sunburn Struck

The town itself is lovely and has plenty of restaurants & cafes which given the heat a refreshing cold drink was needed, like the typical English tourist i decided to wear shorts and a vest (No Suncream) and that evening it was evident i had the shape of a vest on my body left behind by the sunburn. So it looked as if we were in for some great weather this holiday, after last years heatwave and 14 days of solid sun and high temperatures it looked like it was going to be the same. How Wrong We Were. Anyway we decided we would stay here for 3 days before heading further south into Italy. The rest of today would just be relaxing on the campsite.

Rees In His I'm Cool Pose By The Lake

On the way back to the site we decided to go to the train station and purchase tickets for a trip to Venice, we went here last year and loved every minute of it. And as it was my birthday on the Monday (2nd April) we thought it would be nice to spend the day there. The price of the tickets was 50 Euro return for the 3 of us which was quite reasonable.

Sunset Over Lake Garda

Tickets bought we headed back to relax for the rest of the day, maybe beat Rees at table tennis again, or he would beat me on Fifa12 on the Xbox. (Xbox i hear you say on holiday, yes indeed he could not live for 2 weeks without it so it has to come, it also doubles up as a DVD player so it does come in useful)

Finally at sunset we went to the lake which is by the entrance to the campsite, just for some fresh air. The views were stunning. It seemed a million miles from the hustle & bustle of Sheffield.


Camping Butterfly

Arlon to Garda (Day 3 - 30th March 2012)

Early start today, getting ready for a long drive. Left Arlon about 9am, our first stop was to fill up with diesel in Luxembourgh. Diesel topped up to the brim, 200 Benson & Hedges and I'm ready for the road ahead. Following the same route as last year (toll free thanks to Russell's route from motorhomefacts) passing by Nancy, Metz, heading for Mullhouse where the route takes you through some great scenery.

My Little Baby

Sally & Rees Taking A Few Pics

 Once past Mullhouse back onto the motorway and heading for the Swiss border at Basel. This is where you buy your vignette for about 35Euro's, giving you use of the motorway system. Love driving through Switzerland,some great scenery lots of tunnels and fairly quiet on the roads.

Great Views

 Our plan was to park up for a few hours, have a sleep and then drive through the night to Garda. The plan changed, drove past Lake Lucerne and stopped for about an hour at some services 20 mins before the Gottard Tunnel. The time was now about 7.30pm and I decided to continue our drive and reach our destination of Lake Garda as Early as possible so we could park up and have a proper kip so we would be fresh for the following day. Ok so we set off from services and a couple of miles from the Gottard tunnel we hit traffic :( stood still for ages, must be an accident we thought, now we were wishing we had stopped at services but too late for that. Slowly we start to move, then stop, then move. Finally after about an hour we see in the distance that traffic lights were in use, letting through just a small amount of vehicles at once. Once we had cleared this the tunnel entrance beckoned, nearly 17km in length. No idea why they use the traffic light system but there must be a valid reason. Out of the tunnel and our final leg in Switzerland towards the Italian border. Once in Italy we needed diesel, OMG the prices have shot up and are on a par with the UK, wasn't expecting that. Never mind we carried on for our final destination of the day and arrived just after Midnight. Found a nice little car park about a mile from our campsite and got our heads down for the night. A long day driving but well worth it with the progress we made, Let's just say I can't remember my head hitting the pillow.

Arlon Stopover (Day 2 - 29th March 2012)

So the plan is to head towards Camping Butterfly In Peschiera Del Garda (Lake Garda Italy), We stayed here last year and was very impressed with the site and it's location. An extremely long drive to do from Dunkirk in one go so we decided to stop again overnight at Campsite Officiel Arlon, next to the Luxembourg border, so we could refuel with cheap diesel the following morning :). We take a steady drive down taking in a couple of stops on the way in one of the many Aires along the route. We arrive in Arlon around 2pm, we stayed here last year as well so we knew what to expect, No English folk just our neighbours from the Netherlands. Nice little site with free wifi access and only 15 minutes walk from Arlon town centre. Caught up on a little sleep before we headed into Arlon in the evening for a bite to eat. Early to bed ready for an early start for our trip to Garda.

Campsite Officiel Arlon

Arlon Cathedral

Parked Up At Camping Officiel Arlon

Ferry To Dunkirk (Day 2 - 29th March 2012)

Sat in Lane 46 Right at the front, Ferry terminal very quiet. Now i was feeling tired and just wanted to get on the ferry to relax (Not), Onto the ferry we went the second vehicle on (forgot the lorry's), Up the lift we went, all ready for something to eat we headed for a full English breakfast. Tasty but very expensive. All the main seats were littered with people laying down for a kip. Tried my best to have a kip at the table but to no avail. France here we come, The Pashley's on Tour.

Dover (Day 2 - 29th March 2012)

We arrived at Dover in plenty of time, after a short stop at Maidstone services where the plan was to have a couple of hours sleep, It must have been the excitement of the trip but i was wide awake, playing angry birds space, Sally & Rees manage a kip.

Europe Tour 2012 (Day 1 - 28th March 2012)

It was time again to pack up our bags and take to the road on a 16 day flying visit into Europe. It was Wednesday night the 28th March around 7.30pm and the journey began. Waving bye to Denise we set of, First stop McDonald's at Drakehouse for something to eat, yes our first stop was after just 2 miles, sat in the car park outside Maplins shop we ate our burgers, now i was ready for the first leg of driving down to Dover to catch the 4am ferry to Dunkirk. And then where would we go. nothing really planned, let's we wait and see