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2026, Belgium, France, Luxembourg

2026 Euro Trip

22 July 2026 Andy Burrows Leave a comment

We departed from sunny Derby at 2pm with a 4 hour journey time and an ETA of 6.15pm arrival at Dover. Reality was more like 8pm with the usual M25 traffic, but I guess this is what we come to expect in the UK. We stopped in a free carpark overnight in anticipation of our 7am departure for France and woke up at 5am view with a great view out of our newly installed Heki skylight of Dover Castle and the ferry port. It was the first time we had stayed in the van since the new skylight was installed so it was a bit of a novelty!

Suffice to say we arrived at the ferry on time and or plan was for an overnight stay in Dinant, Belgium. This will place us just outside of Luxembourg where we have three nights booked at a campsite from Sunday onwards.

Denant – Belgium

We knew that the first full day was going to be a bit of a slog from a point of view of having to get up early, and then do a four hour drive to the first stop after the ferry crossing. However, the weather was excellent, and the roads abroad seem so much nicer to navigate than in the UK. We arrived in Dinant midday which was perfect.

With this stop just being a single night before moved on to our first pre booked campsite in Luxembourg, we used a phone app called Park4Night to find a place to stay. This is done on a recommendation basis by a person that finds a place that they have stayed at without having issues to move on, and from there others use the location and contribute on the app to say whether or not the location is still valid with no problems.

We we had a couple of options in Dinant, and were happy with the one we chose. It was a basic parking spot with no payment required, a shop round the corner, and a five minute walk to the heart of the town. Doesn’t get much better than that.

We were both happy to jump out of the van, stretch our legs and start exploring as soon as we had parked up. I had advice that this was a nice place to visit on a previously trip suggestion, but we never managed to pull it in at the time. Even though I wasn’t expecting to be disappointed, it certainly exceeded all of my expectations and really glad we choose it as a first port of call on this two week vacation.

Dinant is a city in Belgium’s Walloon Region. It’s on the banks of the Meuse River and backed by steep cliffs. Perched on an outcrop above town is the centuries-old fortified Citadel. It’s now a museum with sweeping views.

Below it is the Gothic Collegiate Church of Our Lady. Nearby, on the site of saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax’s birthplace, Mr. Sax’s House has interactive exhibits on the instrument’s development.

So we had a great afternoon and retired to the van early evening just in time for a downpour. We parked right in the corner of the carpark which had proven to be a slight issue as the rain came down and the water pooled outside our sliding door, so we had to relocate a few meters, but other than that it was a nice evening. We chilled, and could really start appreciating the new living space / skylight as we watched TV on the iPad upstairs, in bed.

We were up early the following morning. The air had cleared and we headed to the ferry departure point after sending an email to the boat company that do river cruises on the Meuse River. We managed to get on the first trip at 9.30, which wasn’t busy and was was really nice lasting about an hour. We think its a really relaxing way of seeing a location, and with the onboard commentary often come away more educated.

After the boat trip we had another wander round, and a coffee on the riverfront before heading back to the van, and on to our next destination.

Luxembourg

The trip from Dinant to the next campsite was just under two hours, crossing the boarder of Belgium into Luxembourg. The weather was noticeably cooler than the first day, and there was intermittent cloud cover.

we caught the free bus in to the city centre. Another amazing place and really glad we decided to visit. One of the wealthiest countries in the world apparently, and I’m not surprised one bit! Everything is pristine. Tomorrow looks like we may have to adapt to a less sunny / predictable forecast. Let’s see where that takes us in Luxembourg. Maybe the caves

Click here for Camping Kockelscheuer website

Strasbourg

We left Luxembourg after filling up with diesel as we were advised that its cheaper there than anywhere else in Europe. This stood us in good stead for the two and a half hour journey covering 224km (140 miles). We arrived earlier than the check in recommendation of 2pm but they allowed us on site, but did ask to be moved from their original pitch suggestion due to overhanging trees. We were pretty happy with where we ended up.

That afternoon we took a walk to the local Lidl and replenished supplies, but got wrestles later in the afternoon and got the bikes off the back of the van and headed into the city

We headed back into the city on our little hitway e-bikes, and it was a blast. Today was another wander around day to take in the amazing architecture.

The second day always seemed to have the threat of a shower, but the temperature was pleasant and the sun was out for prolonged spells.

Click here for CityKamp Strasbourg website

Liverdun & Nancy

We left Strasbourg all shopped out. We love the city culture, and the hustle and bustle of the shops and eateries. But we are ready for the slow and steady also. So, on that basis we decided to pitch at a campsite just out side of the city of Nancy, called Moselle Camping, and the route chosen was to avoid tolls. I must admit, the scenery off the beaten track was absolutely amazing, and took me right back to 2018 / 19 when we did our larger Euro trips to Italy and Croatia.

Shortly after we arrived at the campsite the van was set up and we decided to stretched our legs . Liverdun, as we found out was a small village next to the River Mosselle with some very steep roads, and not a great deal else. It was scenic and a challenge for both of us to get up to the highest point. Mandy is now keeping up with me on the inclines walking , so it’s brilliant we can both get about and enjoy.

Our original intention was to stay at Liverdun for two nights. However, being so close to the city of Nancy we decided to extend for another day and jump on the train to explore the City. A couple of chill out days at the campsites rural surroundings, we felt it was worth visit. Boy were we glad we did. I think we would have kicked ourselves if we hadn’t made the effort. Its an amazing city….

Click here for Moselle Campsite website

Laon

We arrived mid afternoon at the campsite in Laon. Our first impression of the campsite when we arrived was a little sketchy and it looked a little run down. The shower block and toilets had seen better days, and were clearly lacking attention. We were not issued a pitch location, and many looked on steep slopes or just looked unwelcoming, but as we drove we managed to find a nice flat pitch that had a nice feel to it.

We set the van up, and then decided to head over to check out the indoor pool which was small, but an added bonus. From there we went back to the camp reception where I had a couple of ice cold beers, and Mandy had an ice lolly.

Late afternoon we made the decision to cycle up the steeeeep hill to Laon city. Quiet at 8pm, which was nice, but amazing views and architecture.

The following day we went back into Leon and explored a little more, but we both felt a little disappointed overall. Maybe we had just been spoiled by the amazing places we had visited previously. That sounds a little ungrateful….

Click here for Camping Laon Website

Ardres & Boulogne-sur-Mer

We departed from Laon on Thursday, and headed for our last campsite at Ardres, half hour drive away from Calais, where we would be catching the ferry back on Sunday. Knowing the weather wasn’t going to be brilliant for the next couple of days we ventured into the town of Ardres for a few hours Friday, but rain in the afternoon found us chilling in the van.

On the last full day at the campsite weather was better and our plan was to spend some time reading and relaxing. However, we got restless late morning and decided to take a drive over to Boulogne for a few hours. It was only a 30 minute drive, and I must say both myself and Mandy thought it was well worth the visit.

We were really impressed with some of the wall art discovered around the coastal city.

Le Saint-Louis, camping et restaurant à Autingues entre Ardres, Audruicq et Guînes 62

General Posts, Present Vehicles, Vehicles Past & Present

Lambretta Li (AFP 387D)

31 March 2026 Proximity Leave a comment

The last scooter I owned was my beloved 1979 Vespa PX125. I brought this back in the early 90s and eventually modified it with a wide tyre conversion kit, reed valve and big carb. During this time I also owned a Vespa T5 Classic, which was also modified with a wide tyre conversion, but this was stolen unfortunately in 2001, and I parted with the PX a few years later.

I had distractions with various other vehicles in the form of cars, motorbikes and campervans since that time, but I guess it was only a matter of time before I got the longing for another classic scooter again. This time I decided that it would be a Lambretta due to the fact they tend to be a little rarer, as they stopped making them in the late 70s / early 80s, many years before the Vespa’s, whose last scooter came off the production line in 2017.

I briefly owned a similar scooter some years back, and always regretted selling it, but it was a case of last in, first out at the time. I never really rode it as it was brought as a project bike, so I guess I had unfinished business from that perspective.

So for a period of time I casually browsed Facebook marketplace, and as you do the algorithm feeds you more and more of the same. There were a lot of Lambretta’s that had been completely overhauled with a nut and bolt resto. This certainly wasn’t what I was after. I wanted something with original paintwork ,and all of the patina that comes with that. I saw one or two, but I was on the fence at the time. Then this 1966 Lambretta Li 125 came along just a few miles away.

We arranged to view later that evening, and after a chat with the owner, who told me he brought the scooter off of a friend that had it in his barbers shop for a few years before selling to him.

The deal was made!

Renovation

So the Lambretta ticked all of the boxes as far as looks and patina. Of course I didn’t need to test ride it before parting with my hard earned cash. It would ride beautifully….right?

The scooter was dropped off at my house late one Saturday morning, and shortly afterwards I started to familiarise myself with the mechanics. I know that it had had very little use on the road as the previous owner had just done a couple of local classic vehicle events on it, and the friend he brought it from had it as a prop in his barbers shop. This didn’t inspire me with confidence that it would be fit for anything other than a trip round the block, and the preliminary overview of the cables and controls pretty much backed this theory up.

Example of the rusty / corroded engine controls and fraying cables…

Anyways, I plucked up the courage to have a spin out on it, and I must confess, it was a death trap. The gear, clutch, brakes, suspension and steering were an absolute nightmare. On the other hand the engine pulled like a train, so there was one positive!

I had always maintained my motorbikes and scooters myself and this wasn’t the first time I had been in this situation before. I knew this was going to take a little TLC to get on top of, and I was hoping that replacing a few cables, and a little general maintenance, was going to be enough to delay having to sink a wad load of cash into this project early doors. However, the more I investigated, the more I realised that this was unrealistic.

Not knowing a great deal about Lambretta’s , I started to embark on a steep learning curve, peeling away parts to remove the cables in anticipation of running in a new set as a first port of call. I should have realised at that point, that over a period of the next six months, the scooter was going to be in a gradual cycle of less and less components as the full realisation of just how little maintenance the scooter has had in its lifetime.

As mentioned earlier I loved the look of the scooter and the amount of history that was showing in its paintwork. The scooter was made in 1966 so there was a lot going on, and can only assume that the paintwork was original. My intention was to preserve as much of this as possible, with upgrades to the mechanics and the installation of a stainless performance exhaust that was a part of the purchase, along with a front disk brake in time.

The leg shield below was an example example of how i tried to sympathetically renovate the paintwork. After removing the footboard runners, there were areas of exposed metal that would be prone to corrosion if water got under them once rebuilt. I decided to mask around the the runners and paint with Rustolium. I had this paint made up for my campervan, and it was a very close match for some of the touch ups I had to do on this project. Not exact, but good enough. I made a point of only masking out where the runners would hide the metalwork, leaving areas outside of that to retain the rust and patina.

Leg shields and runners removed and mased ready for paint.

During the strip down I noticed the word MADSPEED stamped onto the engine casing. I did a little research and found that this was a tuning company that had been tuning Lambretta’s for years. I contacted the tuner and found that this must have been one of the earlier Madspeed tuned engines as he didn’t originally number the engines. Later engines were numbered possibly to keep a record of the state of tune and the components used. Makes sense. This turned out to be a welcome surprise, and obviously the reason the scooter seemed to pull so strongly during the test ride.

Gallery

Photos taken during renovation

Photos below show the Lambretta in a state of completion I am happy with. As can be seen I now have the spare wheel holder fitted and the new rear shock. I’m happy with the amount of patina on the frame and bodywork, and the new parts in terms of the front disk brake, rear shock, performance exhaust and Ram Air filter on the carb give a nice balance between classic, and sporty. There is also a Cyleplus, GPS speedometer fitted to the handlebars, on an aluminium bracket. I will try and get some pictures of this soon, along with the details of where to purchase from shortly.

Thanks for looking. Any questions please add a comment and I’ll try and respond promptly.

Thanks

Andy

2024, Belgium, Camping in Senior

Ypress – Belgium

9 July 2024 Andy Burrows Leave a comment

So the holiday was fluid, and the day prior we were pondering on whether or not to have another day in Brussels as we were aware there was far more to see than one day would allow, but we were restless, and had an urge to move on. So the next logical place as we moved towards France and the ferry port was Ypress, with its history regarding the the previous wars.

My birthday is in November, and the remembrance day falls on my birthday weekend. We quite often go away for my birthday so we have been privileged to see the parades in many different locations, with the minutes silence at the eleventh hour. No fighting ever happened on British soil. We are privileged in many ways to live on an island, and although it didn’t protect from the German blitz, we needed to commit to a war over seas. And this is where we need to remind ourselves that this is where the losses were tragically high.

As we arrived we could sense we were in for a down poor at some point due to the very angry sky as we pulled into a truck stop. This was next to the train station and we had good advice that we could stay here overnight.

Ypres is one of the nicest places I have ever been to. Everywhere is pristine. The shops, the restaurants, the local dwellings. Stunning!

We choose to do the Ypres & Flanders museum midday as the forecast was rain and this attraction is indoors. The Flanders is 100% a must, and the reason I wanted to visit. We paid extra to climb the bell tower, which was 231 steps. This was a great experience (although Mandy might have disagreed on the way up). Over all, today was one of the best days of the holiday yet. Perfect balance of chill, and education. Loved it! Recommend it!

Knowing there was a lot more to see locally, we had found that there was an Aire a couple of miles away, just outside of the town centre that sounded quite appealing. This would give us access to electric hook-up, elsan point, and more importantly a quiet space to chill in our deckchairs. The reviews were pretty good so we thought we would give it a look.

I had been having some issues with my chest over the last 24 hours, but we decided to venture out on the bikes to have a look at a few of the local points of interest like the war graves and and the sight of the detonation that created a large crater in World War 2 which was depicted in the film “Beneath Hill 60”.