France and Flanders - The Great War commemorations

The memorial at Amiens

Having just finished watching the excellent BBC1 series on the Great War with Jeremy Paxman, our thoughts turned to the touring we did late last year in Northern France and the Flanders region.

We have always found it quite difficult on our travels when we visit areas that have been the scene of serious fighting. On the one hand, there we are on our holidays enjoying ourselves, while at the same time we are treading the same ground as millions of people who lost their lives in battle. 

This is obviously the the case all over Northern France for both world wars and we have experienced similar unease travelling in the Balkans where the evidence of the fighting in the early 1990s is still evident from the bullet-strewn houses.

Reminders of more ancient history near Azincourt

The memorial at Grand Fort Phillipe

Our conclusion to this, particularly with the world war sites is that all those millions of people that fought and died are the reason that we are now free to wander around Europe. Without their sacrifice the shape of Europe would undoubtedly be completely different. In a sense, we should really celebrate the fact that we have these freedoms. We have also found that when you realise the hardship that our very young people went through in the wars, it really puts any problems you might have yourself into perspective.

It was in this spirit that we toured the areas that saw some of the heaviest fighting in the Great War. There are some fantastic commemorations to the war in this area. There is a lot to take in around this area and rather than try to list them all here, try: http://about-france.com/tourism/great-war-france.htm if you want some ideas of where to visit.

We found the museum at  Peronne to be particularly interesting and thought-provoking. Perhaps the most poignant places to visit though are the numerous war cemeteries, some dedicated to the British and others to specific allied countries. You will even find some German and Russian ones. You can get a map of all of these from any of the tourist information centres. 

Burstner 625T Harmony

In a slight deviation from the usual topics on the blog (i.e. travel), this week's installment is going to be purely about our new van, which we took delivery of this Friday.

We really like the low profile cab

Since we started motorhoming in 2009, we have had the same van, a left hand drive 1997 Hymer Camp, which we bought from Ikonik Campers near Hull. That van has been an absolute legend for us as we covered somewhere around 45,000 miles in it, rarely having to spend anything on it apart from the usual (tyres, batteries etc). We have only really changed vans now as we wanted something newer and with lower miles for the business.

Wendy actually cried as Jon and family (the new owners) took it off our drive last weekend. However, the tears were short-lived as we were only six days with a motorhome-shaped hole on our drive. We bought the new van privately off eBay from a lovely couple in Wakefield.

The van is a Burstner T625 Harmony. The best advice we were given when we started was to 'go German' and this seemed to have served us well. The build quality is on a par with the Hymer and we particularly like the layout of this one. It has captain's chairs up front, which we did not have before, which give you a lot more room and have the effect of moving the living area a metre forwards. In addition there are another four seats, two behind the table and two perpendicular.

Lots of space even with a fixed bed

Behind that you have the L-shaped kitchen that Burstner seem to have on most of their models. This gives lots of preparation area and means that whoever isn't cooking can move around the van without getting in the chef's way. This model also has a full-sized fridge and a proper oven. We made do with a microwave for four years, but are looking forward to being able to cook properly.

Behind that is a French fixed bed and a toilet with separate shower area. We are not sure about the bed yet as we will have to see how we get on with the cut-away at the end of it. The shower room will be a treat as it means we can both be in the bathroom at the same time.

On the mechanical and technical side, the van is fully loaded. It's a Fiat 2.8 diesel, which has an excellent reputation. We had done 115,000 miles on our old 2.5TDi and that still had tens of thousands of miles left in it. This engine is bigger and smoother and has only just done 50,000 miles.

Right hand drive might take some getting used to

It has had the Gaslow (refillable) system fitted, which we be a real benefit as we tend to stay away for long periods. It also has an up-rated Truman 6e boiler, which will work on electricity as well as gas. That will save us a considerable amount of gas when we are hooked up. There are also two solar panels which need re-instating. All in all, it will allow us to operate very effectively wherever we park the van. There is even a transformer that will give 240v even when we are not hooked up!

On the back we have a motorcycle rack in addition to the bike rack, so we are now in the market for a 125cc scooter, which will give us a bit more flexibility when we are on-site and don't fancy taking the van out or cycling.

Overall we are very happy with the van. Burstner do seem to put a bit more effort into the design, layout and styling of their vans compared to Hymers of a similar age. Obviously time will tell as to whether the Burstner proves to be as lovable a van as our old Hymer. First impressions though are really good and we just can't wait to get it across the channel.

Scandinavian Crime Drama in a Motorhome!

Ystad Train Station

There has been a bit of a trend over the last five years or so towards Scandinavian crime dramas. They are not for everyone, but we have found that people who do like them - really like them. We fall into this category as we have had an unhealthy obsession with two in particular: "The Bridge" and "Wallander".  

The Theatre in Ystad

You might wonder why this might be the topic for a motorhoming blog. Well the answer to that is that in the same way that many tourists want to visit Downton Abbey, we really wanted to go to the places where they filmed these two Swedish dramas.

"The Bridge" in fact is a Danish/Swedish production. The first series started with a dead body that was found  on the Oresund Bridge exactly half way between Denmark and Sweden. This necessitated the involvement therefore of detectives from both countries and lots of situations that played on the different national characteristics of the two countries. The second series started with a boat full of dead people crashing into the Oresund Bridge, so you get the idea.

It's dark stuff - sometimes referred to as Nordic Noir but if you get into it, it's completely absorbing. It's set mainly in the cities of Copenhagen and Malmo and as we watch it, we are able to pinpoint a few places we have been on our travels.

On "The Bridge".

Perhaps better for scene spotting is 'Wallander'. This is set mainly in the southern Swedish port of Ystad, but the story-lines also make use of an extensive area of neighbouring coast and countryside. There are three versions of Wallander - two Swedish and one English. The English one is our favourite with Wallander being played by Sir Kenny Branagh. They have only made a handful of these and (sadly) we watch them over and over again.

If you visit Ystad, you can get a tourist map highlighting many of the locations used in all three versions. Ystad even boasts its own film studio that you can tour around, where they film part of Wallander and other Swedish crime dramas.

If you are a real fan, you can go to Valdemarsvik, which is on the east coast south of Stockholm and take the post boat past the home of Wallander's creator, Henning Mankell. The man that drives the post boat actually went to school with him!

Valdemarsvik Harbour

So that's all a bit sad we realise but it does add a new dimension to our trips. There are a whole bunch of other thrillers that we haven't even got into yet including: The Killing, Borgen, Arne Dahl and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. But in common with most of our motorhome trips, every one we go one leads to another three we'd like to do.