Camping in France- will the van make it?!

[alkers]

Hi, I am considering taking the van down to Central France near Limoge and back. Looks like a 1000 mile round trip. Will the van make it? Its a good old banger, but I've not driven her in france. Can anyone help out with a few questions:

On the Toll Roads (which I intend to stick to), how many miles do you think you can manage in a day? I normally drive no faster than 60mph, reducing to 40mph on hills. Is it very "hilly" on the toll roads? I know these aren't really noticed in a car, but maybe a recent van driver can recall! Is night or day driving best - are there plenty of petrol stations open at night?

Has anyone experienced the "breakdown". Was it a friendly experience,or did they just spit at the van, grunt at you, and tow it off into the distance without "opening the bonnet" leaving you to walk to the nearest motel! We have 3 very young kids in tow- I can cope with the UK AA, but anything less....

Which brings me on to overheating. How do you know if your 1982 Aircooled van is overheating?! I'm always panicking about this one,even though it hasn't happened yet. Am I the only one who gets a rush of dread when I smell smoke when driving- which I then put down to a burning field (although no proof, the smell just stops fairly quickly!).

I know it will probably cost a fortune in fuel and oil - let alone tolls and the ferry, but it is another country so its a bit exciting. And thats what its all about isn't it!.

Any tips or advice welcome!

[wee bugger]

Yes it'll make it...we are doing similar next month - coming from Scotland it's 400 miles + just to the ferry, but on a plus note it means that chances are we will break down in UK at least....

[anaconda]

Were going to Saumur at the end of July. We've just done 800 miles to Cornwall and back no problem. Get it serviced and checked over before you go.

[rainman]

I've wondered about the overheating too, having no temp guage on the dash. It would be hard to tell on a motorway where your speed is fairly constant but I can tell when the engine's getting a bit sluggish that it's time to pull over and make a brew, roughly around 2 hours of driving I'd say but maybe I'm being over cautious. I don't usually get up to 60mph though, unless going downhill with the wind behind me, more like 50-55. Just don't be in a hurry and you'll be fine, but then you wouldn't be driving one of these if you were. As mentioned above, get someone you trust to give it a check before you go.

[Louey]

If yo are worried about overheating then fit an Oil Temperature Gauge and sender unit. The sender replace the sump plug and the gauge can be mounted on the dash.

Example here check that it is suitable for a T25 sump.

[Westy End]

i would really advise not using the toll roads where you can avoid it. At those speeds it is much better to take the French "A" or even "B" roads - they are usually really good and quiet. Pick the ones which look straight on the map and you will eat up the miles. Plus there are so many more options for stopping on the way if you see somewhere nice. We have been down to Bordeaux twice and with a recently serviced van you should have a lovely trip.

As for hills - the Pas de Calais (from Calais down to about Rouen) is a series of quite challenging hills for an old engine (not impossible but slow!). If i had the choice i would take the ferry to Dieppe or Le Havre and start from there.

[peteabbott]

We have done this twice now and while driving on the wrong side of the road, not speaking a word of French, miles from home, and in a 22year old van with an engine fitted that I bought from a breakers yard not knowing any history of it I thought i must be mad ! We did actually breakdown, had a hose go and three Frenchmen including a farmer in his tractor stopped to help. How good is that ? Anyway we kept off the toll roads as the weaving "N" roads are much nicer and as we only cruise at 60 anyway we stuck to the pretty routes. This is OK for us as we don,t normally have a destination, we just cruise along and find interesting places...........home is where you park it. Dont forget your hi vis vests, spare set of bulbs, headlight deflectors and a spare pair of specs if you wear them. as an aside to this we actually got pulled over by customs three times, twice going out and once coming back, always said the wife looks dodgy

Have a good trip.

[alkers]

Well I am certainly feeling more reassured!!

always said the wife looks dodgy

made me laugh

We are going to pay the extra and go via dieppe anyway - hopefully save on miles and tolls. Although 2 of you have said skip the tollroads. I just remember driving in france in the car, and once we took a direct non-toll road to save money, and it took forever! Driving round hundreds of roundabouts and through town centres, and not particularly scenic or plesant either. But I suppose if you were chugging along in the van... the car did make 80 on the motorways.

How long do you think it will take us to get to mid France from Dieppe, eg La Rochelle or Poitiers. I don't want to drive more than 4 hours a day(and thats on a good day). We are considering a stop at Le Mans, which we hope to get to within 4 hours.

I'll ask my garage about the oil guage - I am not very mechanical. Looks reassuring (although I'm not sure I actually want to know ). At the moment I check my wing mirrors and hope not to see smoke coming out of those rear vents (would that actually happen, its just a wild idea of mine - prob by then it would be too late tho), or open the numberplate flap when we've stopped. However I have noticed after a couple of hours we seem to get more exhaust fumes - any ideas what that means?

Does anyone know what that green light is for on the dash? Wondered if that was overheat light.

Also does anyone else hate it when you loose all the text you have written because you decided to check something out before submitting (and ofcourse didn't save!!)

[82JEW75]

Limoges to Calais is about 8 hours cruising at 110km/h (65mph), assuming good conditions, not getting lost in Paris and only short stops. That's driving on motorways (mostly toll paying, save the A20 to Limoges).

Landing at Dieppe and going via Le Mans should cut an hour or so off that.

In other words, if you're confident in the van, you can easily do it in a day, but two days would be better.


The motorways are generally pretty flat, or, at least, flatter than the alternative roads.


Personally, I'd take the motorways, so much easier and the cost of tolls is more than outweighed by the saving in fuel.


If you're worried about your Aircooled van, stop by for a visit? We're just over an hour from Limoges...



E D I T: as for Aircooled VWs cruising on motorways... don't forget that the Aircooled VW engine was developed specifically for cruising on the newly built Autobahns, it's town driving and low revs that they hate

(well, actually it was copied from Hans Ledwinka, but the Tatra cars he designed were also intended for long distance motorway cruising)

[mrdp]

Hey we did France last year 1200 miles across Normany with the kids and loved it. Yes we have a water cooled van but I think as long as you service it and take your time you'll be fine we didn't use the toll roads and had no problems, all the roads are far better than the goat tracks we have in the uk with potholes everywhere . We are doing it again this summer but heading down south more as we feel a little more brave having done it last year . Take some sensible spares with you and decent breakdown cover just in case, but it's a great advanture and the campsite are fab.

[Big Boris]

We did Calais to Limoges on our first French tour in 2009. Took 8 hours which included virtually constant driving as we shared it. That trip we covered 2500 miles in 2 weeks.

We also had a breakdown. The breakdown recovery was fine. This was through ETA when they had a special offer via JK. We did find though that other travellers were willing to help and in fact a Danish guy was spot on with what the problem was.

Last year we embarked on another French trip and managed 2800 miles with no breakdown......well actually not strictly true as we had a leaky injector in Folkestone!

This is the camp site we stayed at in Limoges for the night. Right by a huge L'Eclerc plus the cheapest fuel we found in France:

http://www.campinglimoges.fr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ralf85]

I have vanned it every summer in France since 1984. Until 2007 we did this in a 1973 bay window. We always covered at least 2000 miles during each trip. The van never overheated. I feel that with breaks for meals etc 250 miles is enough driving each day. Toll roads are good but the N roads (Route National) are being constantly upgraded (unlike here where we allow them to fall apart) and are good too. Even toll roads start getting very hilly further South of Limoges going over the Massif Central. 2nd gear in a crawler lane behind a queue of trucks is a regular occurence with air cooled.

I have broken down loads of times with broken windscreen, throttle cable,ignition switch, regulator, rotor arm, carburettor etc. Thanks to my breakdown service and helpful French mechanics my experience over there has been much better than with garages over here. Normally we have been back on the road within a few hours. You must have breakdown cover before going over there during the summer as many garages are closed during the holiday months of July and August.

Lastly to speed up your recovery take basic spares with you eg spare throttle and clutch cables,fan belt, rotor arm and rock box gaskets (when they go boy do they leak oil). This can save hours of waiting around for parts to arrive and take a 5 litre can of engine oil.

You will have a great time et bonne route!

Patrick

[alkers]

Well I have breakdown cover. Don't know whether its any good or not - didn't find there was much choice with a vehicle of our age!! Its Alps Road Rescue I think - I can't find the actual policy doc at the moment. But once I do I'll give them a call and ask them what it covers. Any idea what I should be looking for?

I'm gonna get my van serviced this week. Seems like I might have sprouted a small oil leak. I'll ask about those spare parts too, sounds like a sound idea. The French seem pretty mechanical, so with all the good experiences you all seem to have had, if I do break down I hope to not have too many probs - except the language ofcourse!!

[rainman]

Seems like I might have sprouted a small oil leak.

Usually not a problem at all unless, as i learned to my considerable cost, it's leaking oil from the gearbox.

[rustytop]

Have a great time. You are doing the right thing, travelling down then staying in one area. I sometimes read the VW mags where people boast 23 countries in 3 days or whatever, and I think "well done, that must have been really enjoyable....."
We did the Loire Valley last year 7 hours from Calais at 60 - 65mph although in a 1984 water-cooled Devon. Took the bikes with us and used the van very little. We even used the train to get into city centres.
Agree with what has been stated above, a service and take some spares. It would be boring in a modern car remember!

Rustytop