We did 2,532 miles in total, taking in the delights of France, Belgium, Luxembourg & Switzerland. Once on the continent we avoided motorways if we could, especially if they were toll ones.

The A170 didn't bat an eyelid & despite being heavily laden still managed to return 49.73 mpg overall.

Anyway, that's enough small talk, on with the trip.......

The ferry was no problem, Bilko is now an experienced sailor.

Arrived in France & set off East to find our favourite sleep over stop on the m/way (ie. slept in the car).

We travelled into Belgium & headed SE towards Luxembourg.....I still think it's a long way to go for cheap diesel.....ah well!! Once in Luxembourg we headed South, back into France.

Just South of Metz we found a campsite at Corny-sur-Moselle, with a grumpy French camp attendant. Apart from the attendant, the camp was nice & was next to the Moselle. Had a nice tea, a few beers & an early night.

After a quick wander we spent the evening at the camp, had a few more beers & a game of football. Generally chilled out.

After our 5 hour walk we needed pampering, so went out for tea, big pizzas! Left Bilko chilling out in the car.

Continued on towards Chamonix, which sits just below Mont Blanc. Found a great campsite just through Chamonix at Les Praz, managed to get the tent & tarpaulin shelter up before the heavens opened. The rain continued through the evening & night. Had a few beers by the tent, as the night got colder we retired to the buvette (log cabin shelter) to drink a few more alcoholic beverages & read.

Walked into Chamonix town centre & checked out the Aiguille du Midi cable car that goes up Mont Blanc. As it cost about £58 per person to use it once(!) (& dogs weren't allowed), we decided not to bother & took the cable car on the other side of town up to Plan Praz (2000m). We then walked along the mountains opposite Mont Blanc to the top of Flégère lift (1894m). Stopped for a hot choc, then walked down to Les Praz, a very steep drop of 900m. OUCH!!....sore knees & clown feet by the time we got back to the tent!!!

Clouds didn't clear much all day, so the views weren't great.

Had a huge tea & drove into Chamonix for a walk round & a drink or three.

Set up camp in Bozel. The campsite was empty, only a couple of other campers on a large site. Getting good at setting up camp & tarpaulin shelter just in time for the heavens to open.

We were surprised to be given an emergency evacuation plan (and water wings) just in case of a flash flood. The site was on a steep slope that had a large river at the bottom. Slept well.......NOT!

Arrived at La Praz (aka. Courchevel 1300). Could see the scary looking olympic ski jump, albeit bereft of snow, which was used in 1992. Continued up to Courchevel 1650 then onto Courchevel 1850. The weather was now drawing in again, we stopped in a picnic area to rustle up some noodles.

We got a gondola up to Verdons, the weather really closed in & we could see very little. We then got the cable car up to La Saulire (2,740m), we could see absolutely nothing except clouds!! Strangely I complained it was too wet & didn't want to walk down, so we decided to head straight back down again using the lifts.

Headed home & had a rainy night on camp. The river seemed louder!

I was feeling a bit tired, so we decided to set up camp at Châtillion-en-Diois. The camp had a river, so Bilko was happy.......until the wash'n'go bottle came out & she was lathered up that is!!

Went for a stroll around the village, village shut! Had fish & chips for tea at the small snack bar on camp.

Headed SE down towards the spectacular Gorges de l'Ardeche. This was amazing. Soon reached the famous Pont d'Arc. Bilko insisted we stop & have a swim through the natural arch & dragged her dad along for a swim too.

On the return leg Stew climbed out onto some rocks, then threw my little pup 9ft into the water!! She begged him to do it apparently....I've reported him to the RSPCA!

Left there & carried on along the rest of the Gorges de l'Ardeche, it was like a mini Grand Canyon. After that we looked for somewhere to camp, Bagnols-sur-Cèze fitted the bill nicely.

It was our day to head for home, so we packed up & headed off. We called in at that supermarket again for supplies, making sure we had plenty of layers on before entering ;-) We followed the same route North as the previous Eurotrip on the free motorways.

The Millau bridge had been built since our last visit. So we decided that we would pay the toll for the 1st time ever!!! ¢5.10 got us over the bridge. The modern bridge, Stew informs me, is a feet of modern engineering & is the tallest bridge in the world, standing at an impressive 343m (taller than the Eiffel tower!). According to Stew, they built the towers first, then slid the roadway across from each side before adding the superstructure. Must admit it was amazing. Also saved us 30 minutes driving down to & through Millau.

Headed for Clermont Ferrand then on to St. Pourcain Sur Sioule for the evening. Finished up on a different camp site than the last time we were there. Had tea & went for a stroll before settling in for the night.

Set off North passing Moulins, Nevers, Auxerre, Troyes, Châlons-en-Champagne & Reims before stopping at Etréaupont. It had been a long drive that day, so after setting up camp we let Bilko play in the river until she got fed up (ie. quite a while). It was be her last swim of the holiday after all :-)

We arrived in Calais in plenty of time, so had a good walk round the place this time. Relaxed at a bar & had our last beers of the holiday. Topped up the diesel before getting on the ferry.