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Ivy’s Maiden VoyageIvy’s Maiden Voyage
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Ivy’s Maiden Voyage

April - June 2024
In our self converted camper-van named Ivy, Bliss (the world’s most amazing Siberian husky) is travelling full time with her Mum and Dad (Vikki & Darren) in search of adventure, happiness and the best dog food.. Read more
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  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    1
    Day 6

    Another beautiful riverside spot

    April 30 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After a short walk around Broglie to find a fresh baguette for our tea, and a tidy up in Ivy we headed off to our next destination. Another stunningly beautiful drive through countryside that just keeps taking our breath away to yet another river side spot for us to relax, have dinner and stay the night. Met a lovely local lady and her dog who came over to introduce herself, she gave us lots of ideas about places we should visit on our way down south. She kindly listing them on Darren’s phone so we would remember them. I, with the help of the lady’s dog spotted an otter in the river which I and both the dogs were very excited about. We had dinner and spent the rest of the evening watching the river and hoping to see the otter again.Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    1
    Day 7

    Tranquil rain alone in nature

    May 1 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We bade a sad farewell to our quiet village stop by the river and headed off again after a good sleep. Our morning call was the sound of the river, birds and the braying of the donkey.
    We drove some distance to our next quiet riverside stop and settled down for the night. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw another otter. This time much closer and sitting on his haunches grooming himself, close enough for me to get a video of him. Darren passed me his phone so that I could capture him and I proceeded to get what I thought was a great video of him on the river bank...BUT…when we watched the video afterwards it turned out that as Darren passed me his phone I must have touched the camera switch and ended up videoing my jumper instead!! So annoyed with myself. 🫣
    Nice quiet night in the middle of nature, listening to the sound of the rain on the van roof. Slept really well.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 8

    Back to the coast

    May 2 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We’re drawn toward the coast like the water flowing from the stream we slept at last night. We found an aire that has electric and water dump so going there for just the one night on our way to see Le Mont Saint-Michel the next day.
    We had a walk down to the beach with Bliss who was able to get off her lead so she could have a proper run around. It was heartwarming to see her so happy and behaving like an excited puppy, sometimes lately when she’s tired it reminds me she’s 9 years old, to see her having fun like she did when she was young is lovely. From the beach we can see Mont Saint-Michel, a massive village with monastery castle at the top all built on an island in the sea, it looks amazing from here so can’t wait to see it properly tomorrow. Later we took a walk around the small seaside village and indulged in a cake shop. Happy days!    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 9

    Crowds at Le Mont Saint-Michel

    May 3 in France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Arrived about midday to a vast car park and were directed towards a dedicated camper-van area which was about as far away as is possible to get. After a brew we started the long pilgrimage to the Mont. I had read advice not to come in the morning because there would be school trips and the afternoon would be a better time to visit. How wrong could they be!...it was absolutely heaving with people. All the way from the car park, an hours walk to mont saint michel there were so so many people. We went along anyway but in truth it wasn’t at all a pleasant experience, couldn’t see anything but people, we were packed together like sardines. If you know anything about Darren and I you’ll understand how this made us feel. I’m surprised Darren didn’t just flip out like Taz of Tasmania and send French folk flying from the buttresses in all directions. But beyond any expectation we both managed to keep our cool. So very proud of Bliss too who took it all in her stride.
    After a short while we left for the long walk back to the van feeling quite disappointed and mildly stressed out.
    But then Darren informed me that it was open 24hours as it’s basically a village, people actually live there. We decided to get up at dawn and go back then, hopefully it will be quieter and a much better experience right?
    Got to bed early and set the alarm for 5:30am… Will I actually get up?    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    311
    Day 10

    Le Mont Saint-Michel take two!

    May 4 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Amazingly, considering our sore feet from yesterday we managed to actually get up and get going before dawn. So so glad we did, it was beautiful, the mist rising from the open fields was glowing as if on fire as it reflected the sun rise. Not a soul to be seen until we neared the bridge to the island and then only a handful of people were about (strangely they all seemed to be Chinese people!) Bliss was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, clearly enjoying the day as much as we were. The walk there went in the blink of an eye as we were awestruck by the sights and sounds of a perfect morning. We arrived at the island and as if for the first time we could now see what we had missed the day before amongst the scrum of people. The village is amazing, how on earth was this possible, it was built like something you could only imagine ever seeing in a fantasy video game. The stone walls and cobbled streets with gift shops, cafes and restaurants that were built on such a gradient and the many quirky little narrow passages and steep stone steps leading to small clearings where trees grow and walls with death drops everywhere (I’d never want to take a child there, I’d be a nervous wreck!) for someone scared of heights it certainly triggers your vertigo. Birdsong all around you as you are now at their level high up on the rooftops as you ascend the steep winding steps. Unfortunately we could only get halfway up because we weren’t able to take Bliss into the monastery or the museum but it was still very much worth making the effort to get up and go again when it was quiet. I would have loved to have seen it at night, I imagine that lit up it would be stunning. We made the long walk back to Ivy tired but happy and set off for our next journey to our next overnight stop.Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    1
    Day 11

    Lakeside under the trees

    May 5 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Arrived at a lakeside parking spot, no services but hoping to find a peaceful spot to rest as we’re all quite tired. Lovely view of the lake but unfortunately there was a constant stream of people walking, running and cycling along a path that circumnavigated the lake. We had thought we’d stay a couple of nights here but it’s too busy so we only slept the one night. In the morning we ourselves walked the perimeter of the lake. Lots of joggers and fishermen met along the route.
    Bonus though… finally captured an otter 🦦 on camera!    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    4
    3
    Day 11

    A pond with ducks and a million frogs

    May 5 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    In the morning we thought we’d get our step count up and join those people for a walk around the lake. As we were getting ready to leave I saw another otter, that’s 3 now! This time Darren managed to get a short video of it swimming near the shore. We walked around the lake which is pretty big! At least 10,000 steps worth! Lots of bloody annoying fit people running past us all the way. Definitely moving on to a quieter place today...
    Moved on and found a pretty little park up next to a pond. Went for a walk, which is the first thing we always have to do when we arrive anywhere (whatever the weather) as Bliss is like an excited child going “where are we now! Let me out! I need to see! I need to pee! Let me out!”
    So like dutiful doggy slaves we get out in the rain to check out the area. Walk towards the pond and all of a sudden loads of frogs leap away from our feet back into the pond. Bliss is beside herself... Prey drive fully triggered. Darren very nearly went for an unscheduled swim. 😂
    Returned to the van for some food and the remainder of the afternoon spent resting, listening to the frogs 🐸 ribbiting and the rain on the roof. It’s so cozy and relaxing inside Ivy when you’ve nothing to do and it’s raining outside...(if you can tune out Darren’s snoring) 😴 😂

    Title disclaimer: Not a racist honest 😇    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    1
    Day 12

    What to do on rainy days?

    May 6 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Weather forecast says rain all day today so we’re staying put. It’s time we had a slow day anyway and it’s so peaceful here, we have everything we need and we can plug in for free electricity to top up our batteries so it would be rude not to.
    On trying to light the diesel heater for some hot water to wash up with we soon discovered we had a problem! It seems we have air in the system again which is preventing it firing up. This is bad news as we will likely be needing hot water and heating when we get up into the Pyrenees mountains so we need to fix it somehow.
    Luckily we had until 10am before the rain was due so Darren was able to get under the van to try to figure out a solution. Next thing I hear is “Oh shit!!” as the inlet tube to the filter snapped off as Darren was trying to reposition it! Oops... what are we going to do now! Well, after a bit of head scratching we figure get rid of the filter altogether (it’s broken now anyway) and hopefully that’ll get rid of the air that’s stopping the boiler from lighting up. So we get it all back together, minus the filter, strap the pump back up with gorilla tape (someone forgot the zip ties!) and realise that we only have three more tries to get it lit before the Truma heater system locks itself and we won’t be able to try anymore. So with bated breath we try to start it up...it splutters white smoke and then fails again! We only have 2 more attempts before it will be locked!
    Finally...really not expecting things to go well, it works!! Yay 🙌🏽 we have hot water and warmth. Then the rain arrives and we spend the rest of the day inside enjoying our little cozy home on wheels. Cheese, biscuits and nibbles in bed and a couple of crime documentaries, what more could you ask for.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    1112
    Day 13

    Time to move on.

    May 7 in France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After two days of being lazy we decide to move on. First stop is the Super U to stock up on food for the next few days. We found some zip ties there so thought I’d just secure the diesel heater pump a bit better while we were parked in the car park on flat dry ground. Bliss did her best to supervise my work under the van by keeping watch at the door while Darren took the opportunity to take the rubbish to the bins.
    A short drive from there we found ourselves at a small parking spot right on the bank of the Loire River. On the way there we came to a bridge that said okay for vehicles 7.5tn but to me it looked like it was a foot bridge as it was narrow and not very substantial so I was to say the least not very happy crossing it, even though Darren assured me it would be fine. He of course took great pleasure in videoing me having a bit of a meltdown while I drove over it against all my better judgment!... anyway... turned out it was fine. 🤭
    We were sure we’d found the perfect quiet spot that would be somewhere nobody else would be turning up so started making some dinner. Just got everything out to make a lovely salad (so stuff everywhere!) then a man turned up asking us to move, albeit very politely (in French) so we packed up dinner and moved a bit along the path. Halfway through eating dinner we noticed a man taking photos of the van. Darren went out to say hello and make sure he wasn’t a weirdo who might come back and murder us in our beds tonight (it’s very secluded here!) but he was just saying that we weren’t allowed to park here overnight. Darren explained that we had come across the spot on park4night and that we would leave in the morning and managed to win him over so we were able to stay. It did put a bit of a damper on what would have been a lovely place to though. Cheered me up when we saw another otter swimming in the shallows. We kept Bliss on a short lead here as the river is vast and extremely fast flowing
    In the morning we were up early to get back on the road.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    3
    311
    Day 14

    Another secluded stop by the Loire River

    May 8 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We carried on our journey south along the immense Loire River crossing quite a few huge bridges that I was happy to drive across this time! We found a place along the way called Faye which is Darren’s daughter’s name, it was beautiful, just like her. ❤️
    After stopping at an aire to empty our grey water we proceeded to our next stop. Another secluded riverside park up just big enough for us.
    The Loire is immense, from our vantage point on the southern bank we watched a colony of Egrets nesting in the trees, occasionally taking flight in a mesmerising display of the purest beauty imaginable. Along side the Egrets was a lone Stork, much larger than I’ve ever seen before. Who needs a telly when all this wildlife is outside your door.    Read more

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