10-Week Motorhome Tour France & Spain Ep 12: Aquitaine Region 🇫🇷

We’re on a 10 week motorhome tour of France and Spain and in this week’s motorhome adventure we’re in the South West of France in the Aquitaine Region.

We’re an early retired couple who do vanlife full-time, we’re currently touring Europe. We discover the free park ups in France with amazing views.

In this episode we use a free park up that we saw in Park 4 Night in Bayonne, France and show you one of the best Aires we’ve found in France! We then head to Ile de Re and check out the motorhome Aire on Ile de Re before finding a beautiful French town with an Aire which was also free to park up for the night.

We find some fun and quirky sights as usual and have a good laugh in the motorhome.

We venture further north in France in this episode and are amazed at the wonderful free park ups for Motorhomes and Campervans in France.

We are a British couple who have been living full-time in our motorhome for over a year. During this time we have travelled over 20,000 miles! We are travelling in an older second hand motorhome which we love.

We are travelling through France and Spain in Europe before heading back to the UK. We often wildcamp while travelling and also stay in Aires and occasionally campsites in Spain.

L’Atelier Chocolat Museum & Shop:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Hkmg4JSLsfSYuTCz5

Port Medoc Aire de Camping:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/8GvfwpK5x8MXg7239

Ile de Re Camping Car Park at Le Flot:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bsG15ciTScRZieNv9

Camping Aire in Mareuile sur Lay:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/NyAMt4x6d8i99diA8

We are on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090201117199

If you would like to contact us or work with us please e-mail us at : anewlifeinthevan@gmail.com

#motorhome #vanlifefrance #campervanfrance #motorhomefrance #vanlife

hey hey hey hello everyone how you doing we’ve just crossed back into France from Spain and we’re in the new Val acain region you said yeah well the price of petrol good grief so we just spent what 163 yeah 163 a liter for diesel for diesel Euro and it’s $1.99 now um straight away as soon as you cross that border so make sure you fill her up before you get over the Border if you’re coming back through France well we’re parked for the night it’s a really good location you can walk down either way down along the river dinner tonight is a very simple Affair but we’ve got this one little pizza that we bought just at a garage the other day we thought we’ just want to use it up so it’s one of these but we saw one of those little pizza machines that you get in um France so Gary’s gone to get one of them while I’ve cooked this up now I’ve had to add a little bit of ham and a bit of barbecue sauce on it cuz it was dry as anything and it said it had ham and cheese but honestly it would have took a surgeon to try and find that Bloody ham anyway he’s gone out to see if he can get one of those pizzas let’s have a pizza off and compare so Gary’s just got back and he’s got two pizzas even though I’ve got like what what happened well I thought I’d canceled the first one why did you cancel it well because it rejected the card oh God and then it turns out I didn’t reject the card so when I was doing the second one it came on out and then of course I got the thingy on my phone and I went thank on I only ordered it once and then it’s sure enough when I when the first one popped out going do the second one we’ve got way too much pizza now this is getting stupid um what did you buy anyway let’s have a look um just Margaritas cuz the other options all had creme fresh on them and I know you don’t like creams cream fresh oh okay so they’re not cooked they’re cold they can’t be cold they’re freaking cold they asked me if I wanted it hot well well what did you think hot said it said hot cuz it was in English well trust me that’s cold that’s hot so well one’s going in the fridge then okay right oh my God it’s not Margarita by the way it’s got ham on it that’s not Margarita oh okay I tell you what it’s a blit it’s a it’s definitely hot you can see the steam coming off it but it’s got a nice dough on it not sure they’ve cooked it enough though might have to put it in the own oven right so there’s the pizza I’ve cooked over there babe oh my God got more pizza than we can throw a bloody stick at here pizza for a few days well I don’t even like pizza that Bloody much looks nicer than that one I did add stuff to it I think this needs to go back in the oven a little bit oh God okay so how much were they each um they were €120 each so €20 for the two pizzas well it’s not it’s not deer cuz it’s actually quite a big pizza but very weird that you’ve got two yeah it surprised me as well oh but thankfully he’s got a bottle of wine French oh Bordeaux Superior well things are looking up got to say that’s pretty nice wouldn’t it BBS that’s really nice it was just a a petrol station one I was thinking that was going to be horrible right going to be honest I’m really surprised it’s quite nice that pizza isn’t it isn’t it considering it’s from a machine it’s way nicer than I was exped from the machine I don’t like the idea of it to be honest but for €1 honestly it’s all right well we had a good night’s sleep didn’t we seemed like babies in here it’s really good and it did help that we’d had a bottle of wine though didn’t it just a bit so guess what we’re doing today we’re going a chocolate factory well it’s not a factory it’s a chocolate shop isn’t it and they then then they give you a chocolate tour so we’re going to try a little bit of chocolate in Bon it’s not far is it just mile away just check out where we were parked last night it was brilliant wasn’t it great so here we are parked up just on the the side of the road really bit further along there’s a car park for about four or five cars that’s for the fisherman only you mustn’t go there um right opposite the river and then just behind us is another car park loads of cars here this morning and the restaurant is just over there it’s a really good spot look Gary found a bus parking Lane it’s really busy at the chocolate Place here’s the entrance oh it looks really interesting Babs doesn’t it oh look at the uh entrance as you come in it looks amazing the shop is great isn’t it and he paid about € 6625 for this tour and it allow you to come straight into all these boards there’s loads of these boards behind me and they’re translated into English as well so you can find out you know the history of how it’s How chocolate is made how it’s cultivated how the seeds are grown it’s not bad for 625 cuz you also managed to get a little taster in that so I’m wondering what the taster is here’s the cocoa trees themselves and interestingly love they don’t like to grow in light so they kind of go underneath either banana trees or coconut trees they seem to do well under them and all of these boards then give you some more information wow look at it this is what it looks like inside a pod interesting how they test its ripe isn’t it it is yeah basically they pick it up and they they tap it and if it’s a dull thud and then they shake it and they can clearly hear the beans loose on the inside it’s ready for Harvest there’s a couple of boards with the history and latelia the shakala was started in 1951 by Joseph and meline andreo just by luck we’ve just met Nelly who’s actually in this picture that I’ve just shown you now Nelly tell me what was your childhood like in growing up because it’s your grandfather that started all this isn’t it I grew up in the shop so you can imagine spending all our Sundays with my brother and sister going up and down in in my grandparents house and and going to the py shop was just amazing and and starting with more and more chocolate coming in it was a very lovely did you always want to be a chocolate here as well actually not I I came to this field super late only 5 years ago but sometimes you are um Destin you make a move and uh and I was happy to join the the family business yeah and it’s really interesting cuz you were talking we had a really lovely chat a minute ago and I’ve just found out that the building that we’re in was actually just a really plain warehouse and it’s been designed to recreate the rainforest field the feel of of where the chocolate grows it’s been designed to give that Ambiance as you go through it before you even taste it hasn’t it yeah exactly you see on the wall we have all this uh design of tropical forest and it’s a noise you might not do so much there but there’s some of the rooms where you have the noise of the forest trees and uh and looks like this inside I mean honestly you’ve got to come here if you’re stopping by in this region this is well worth a stop isn’t it Gary great we were just really lucky to meet Nelly look you can watch this Prine balls are they of it yeah so that’s all crushed nuts then isn’t it I don’t know how none of them are fact Gary we’re fatter than everyone we don’t even work here I can’t believe it can you Gary can’t this is well worth €6 I think we paid look a sculpture made out of chocolate oh it’s made out of chocolate gosh you’ve got to be you’ve got to know what you’re doing that’s amazing it’s incredible look at the pirate that’s brilliant Gary isn’t it it is this is a great big massive rugby ball they’ve made was it for the world cup or something for the World Cup yeah a couple of years ago in in in Paris it’s 40 kilo the sculpture is wow wow I have to show you this I know I keep showing you everything but this is incredible this is a chocolate bear and he’s got these lovely little bouquet of chocolate that they do that’s incredible isn’t it har and I are just saying how much we really enjoying this actually it yeah I mean for €6 or something it’s nothing is it to come and like really enjoy something like this it’s really informative it’s like a quiz and everything in here to see if you test your knowledge Gary will be really competitive you’ll want to be able to answer it all but there’s one of these things that you put your head through I love those bis is taking it really serious go Cy Gary brought chocolate to you who brought chocolate to you Columbus Columbus I think oh no CZ oh you ain’t been listening at all 50% right so far I got the first one right what’s this one oh it’s in French yeah oh no wonder it’s a bit more difficult for you for the puding in the eating so they say so we’re going to have a little taste a bit B see what we think before we have the taste in the lady’s going to give it a bit of a clean out and then we’re going to have a little taster so fabulous so we’ve got our little tasting tray look got all this now it goes up from the bitterness the dark chocolate right up to the more sweeter chocolate she said dark Chate 70% Coco so this one 70% from Ecuador 70% chocolate too bad he doesn’t like dark chocolate but this isn’t that bitter it’s lovely and as I’ve been seeing chocolate all the way around here kind of need it now so there’s seven different types of chocolate that you’re going to try and she’ll talk you through all of them honestly you’re getting your money’s worth there aren’t you so the next one’s a blend yeah going like it even I’m pressed on this one a little bit coconut yes I can now this is the only chocolate I’ve tasted so far in my life that I could actually take one square out of the fridge and leave the rest you know you know you see people that of chocolate and they they can take one square a week and they they leave it in there I can’t do it I smash the whole lot so this one it’s got chili running through it it’s actually quite sweet try that one I’ll see if you like it he’s going to like this one yeah I’m my territory now finally we found one he likes one of their bouquet we’re going to go and get one of these €1 1680 I think that’s quite good actually don’t you Gary’s noticed that there is an air that is what’s the air called air Deen air Deen and they do LPG we’ve got about one of our tanks is empty isn’t it yeah there small ones empty on the big ones at about 70% so we might as well fill up as it there’s the LPG thing um you got to press the button to get some attention I think bab I’m a bit too far away so I’m going to closer okay annoying wasn’t it you had to guess it so it’s one of those pumps where you’ve got to pay in advance right so you can’t just fill it up and then go and pay so you’ve got to guess about how much you’re going to you’re going to need so I guess1 15 and actually it was about right we’re now almost full on both tanks thank goodness for that well done babes we’re just arriving in Port medok and there’s a few bits and pieces up here and the air is Right Round by the port maybe it’s because it’s out of season but you know people are parked where it says no motor homes and nobody seems to be bothering them wow this is my favorite looking spot because we can see all the boats on the water as well and then there’s nobody to the uh left hand side of us Gary this is amazing so we’re parked right at the end here it’s all empty at the moment but there’s quite a few pictures is along here there’s another Brit there say hi in a bit but look at that that’s your view morning we slept quite well we’re just getting ready Gary’s doing all the sort of gray the black everything aren’t you right now yep and then we’re we’re heading on a ferry aren’t we we are yes well the thing is what we didn’t realize is we parked here didn’t we thinking oh we got a really great spot it’s really fabulous then we realize in order to get to the mainland the other side it’s a ferry or youve got to go about about 200 km to go to where we’re going aren’t we yeah the Ferry’s about 50 as well um but it’s going to cost that in fuel so we decided we’re going to try the ferry aren’t we y entering into the docks area and there’s the ferry over there it’s literally what a kilometer and a half or something from where we were parked up yeah right we’re in the queue now aren’t we we are and it ended up being 5153 didn’t it yeah um which that’s not too bad I suppose um but I just can’t believe we didn’t know we had to get a ferry in the end I thought it was a bridge there’s a we both thought it was a bridge Gary so we’re both at fall here I think that’s our Ferry but we’re just like how is it even big enough for us all we don’t know we don’t know whether you can just park up the van stay in the van or whether you get out and go on Deck we don’t know but there’s a good few motor homes and Caravans and stuff getting on it and we saw a massive truck didn’t we Gary was like if that’s getting on Lor yeah he was like if that’s getting on we should be already oh God have we feeding into one lane that was a bit unexpected so the three lanes feed into one lane but there’s no signage is there everybody for they do seem quite polite though everybody kind of just took their turn Okay so there’s a middle in two sides we look to be going in the middle don’t we is he telling us or them that’s the next guys you want to watch this lip here babe that’s a bit of a lip there isn’t it scrape the bottom you can see a load of scrape marks on it yeah we might scrape here actually oh God I ate it when we scrape I’ll just be the the toe bar so it won be too many oh God this looks a bit Dodge hippy now feels right homemade oh don’t like this no one’s even got a high Vis vest on it don’t feel so safe oh yeah you wouldn’t want to stay down there would you it’s horrible here we go the old horse wagon here the horse was nighing like mad a minute ago at the horse wagon there he is poor so there’s a couple in there is’t there m there’s two I think they’re just going to get a massive truck to come parking by us we don’t know whether you get out well I don’t know if we should stay in here babe so i’ it’s a mixture so the guys in the white van just behind the one next to us they’re staying in right but the motor home behind him they’ve all piled out oh here we go something massive is coming I’ve just pulled in the old side window thing side Mir see what I mean no high fist or no seems like anybody could be bloody working here do it look look look look yeah when he hits the top he’s going to say oh sorry M it don’t work here yeah out how big is this thing that Jesus look look look this you are joking Gary I don’t think I can get out I don’t think you can look how close this articulated lorri is no way oh my God that’s a that’s ridiculous oh flipping out boat a bit of a seating deck we’ve come up cuz it was really dark and dingy down there like this inside Gary really exaggerated says oh there’s lounges and a restaurant and a bar it was such well it’s like a cafeteria coming off now oh God just hold on let him go babe he’s massive that guy in front of us it’s quite rusty old B way is it oh let him go fully bab I just feel really uncomfortable here absolutely brilliant statue there hands opening an oyster clam it’s pretty windy as we’re heading along and starting to rain we’re not quite sure if we want to go to ild now are we or push on a bit yeah we might just push up further north so we’re just coming up to the um pay Booth to cross the bridge over to ilder so 8 out of season 16 in season looks like that massive Cloud’s going to be following us all the way to wer though what a welcome to a ray look at the ray in the hter rain quite narrow small streets a lot of one ways a lot of height barriers where the beaches are so deterring anyone that would be wanting to come and Camp tell you what we have noticed there a fabulous walking or cycling path all the way around the island certainly where the main road is skirts of laf flot is a little air now this one’s free wower that’s falling it bab spot the silver oh there’s another one there look there’s a couple of spots in here it’s completely free but we don’t think there’s any Services there might maybe there’s some water or something Gary bins there are they bins they look like bare bins I don’t know why they’re like that it’s only a little air it is free so but it’s like a little car park we’re actually going to push on mainly because we’ve got a bit of time and there’s not much here is there not much no so although we’re not going to stay on IL we do think that this is a really lovely family place to come so we’re just coming into the camping car in Mariel Sol which is a beautiful little French town okay so there’s a couple of spots here here um yep so you can go yeah well we don’t want to be right on top of this guy do we no we don’t so I would say oh oh yeah here we go save for camping cars okay here’s the machine so you first of all you select your English language and then it says water uh we don’t want to buy any cuz we’re full basically electricity you can choose either 4 hours for €3 12 hours is €8 we don’t want to buy any we’re all right um total is zero okay uh validate you don’t need to do anything so it’s completely free to park here’s the church isn’t it beautiful and it’s right beside the river this is a beautiful French town definitely worth coming here look at this it’s so [Music] nice out these little breads aren’t they cute hedgehogs they’re gorgeous aren’t they got blue eyes oh I love these These are brilliant these are then what a cracking find this was we slept so well Gary’s just doing the gray waist at the moment get rid of that that’s free um don’t forget you got to pay for electricity and water here otherwise it’s completely free join us next time as we head to Sania and Britany if you enjoyed this don’t forget to give us a like and maybe leave us a comment we love to hear from you and if you’re not subscribed please hit that subscribe button and dingling that Bell and we’ll see you next time thanks very much for watching everyone we love you loads take care have a great week bye-bye [Music] [Music] w