ARE WE STUCK IN THE MUD!? And a Chateau Surprise at a Camping Car Park

[@SergePavkinMusic]

Snacks are great, but someday... someday I'll be happy to treat you to real Ukrainian borsch and dumplings. There will also be shank and stuffed cabbage. Great trip, Dave. The rain, although it changes the plans, creates an unforgettable atmosphere.

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Well I look forward to that day Serge. 🙏. Goodness knows what will change this week. Yes the rain can be beautiful when you’re inside the van listening to the sound. But when you’re outside packing up - not so much 😃

[@k3uvn]

Morning Guys, always watching and love the adventures... weve never used EHU when across the pond as always just gone on solar, now i am a bit tight at times shhh..lol The toilets reminded me when we were in Egypt as in desert and upon a toilet block viewed were 2 doors men to left girls to right, i said to Sarah see you shortly, she went in and i did and behold it was open plan inside..haha, one urynil and one cubical..haha..we did laugh...have fun..atb K n S & Rubes

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Hi Kev mate. Yep we’ve just been talking about how cheap it is to use gas and that we should go on solar too. The electric prices are creeping up quickly. Ha the loo was hilarious. Sue’s face when she realised 🤣🤣🤣 Hope you’re doing ok Kev. And getting stronger every day. Hope you can get back out very soon. Dave & Sue.

[@k3uvn]

@NBNatureTrailvan cheers buddy..

[@DaveCollierCamping]

Awesome share

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Thanks Dave. Very kind of you mate. Hope you’ve had a great weekend 👍👍

[@NorwayHikesTrails]

Great video, lovely Chateau. Thank you for sharing. Wishing you both a great weekend 😊

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Thanks Arnstein. You too mate. It was a rather grand place. A big surprise for us!

[@OSMOneStepMore]

Hi Dave & Sue. 😀😀 So beautiful! And what a beautiful location around. I liked this - this castle. Wonderful to visit. The rain is messing up the plans a bit, isn't it? Have a nice upcoming week. 👍👍We are waiting for new adventures. 🥰L28

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Oh gosh yes the rain was bad for the last few days of the trip. But we really did have an amazing time overall!! Thanks for watching guys and hope you have a good week ahead too 👍👍👍

[@travel_nature_and_life]

I wonder if it's not the most rainy year we’ve ever had ! So nice to find camping places not too crowded , with a beautiful countryside all around .... 💛

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

I think you could be right We were lucky in early September but had so much rain at the end of our trip! Change is happening very quickly Gaddielle. 😨

[@travel_nature_and_life]

@@NBNatureTrailvan I am afraid you are right Dave.

[@mariojsworld]

Great trip from the Northern France.

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Thank you. Yes it really was!!

[@WildlifeTrailcamUK]

Great video! This is a beautiful chateau! It’s good to see you driving around in such a lovely area! Thanks for sharing

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Thank you. Yes the chateau was a big surprise. Huge and right next to our camping spot. It was such a shame that it was pelting with rain. Have a lovely Sunday.

[@DesmondsDonders]

Awesome, I like closed shops except when I need food LOL. Looking forward to the next one.

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

😃😃. I was so disappointed and then made up when it opened! 😃😃

[@WildlifeBirdsUK]

👍 #40 Hi Dave and Sue, you are both looking well... despite being on the way home, sadly. I see you were getting very English weather, urrgh. That was one super impressive chateau! When in France... chocolate croissants lol why not eh. Your pitch was enormous! It looked a stunning place and for 20E incl electric it is cheaper than I imagined! I liked the look of the stream/river (defence lines etc) and the general area... another fabulous place for you to finish off (almost) with. thank you as always my valued friends (fully watched). 👍◕‿◕

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Thanks Jane. Yep it was a fantastic trip. Even though we had a lot of rain towards the end. A lovely area around there too. We really must go back when the weather is better!

[@gallivantinggalantes]

Hello both, wow the pitch was huge! The chateau was spectacular. A very busy place shame it started to rain. Glad you were able to get off the pitch without getting stuck. Take care x Julie and Tony xx

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

It was strange those last two days. A fair bit of a rain matched our mood as the trip came to an end. But the Chateau was huge and a real surprise. That pitch size!! Couldn’t believe it! Wonderful little site but very remote!

[@PhilipOlsen11]

Love it Dave. Fantastic to go to the Ardennes. Love the military history so would have liked to have seen the Maginot line 👍

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

It was beautiful there Phil. So much violent history in such a quiet and peaceful place!! We really must go back to Northern France for longer as we didn’t get time to visit anywhere. Verdun and Sedan very near there. Hope you and the family are doing well mate 👍👍

[@wildlifespotteruk]

Nice, lovely sites with lovely scenery. The snacks looked tasty although I'm not sure I would ever get bread from a vending type machine though, lol.

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

🤣🤣. I know Jay. 🤣🤣 But knowing the French it would be delicious. 😃. We bought a little dry loaf from that little shop and she told us to heat it up for 7 mins. It had to be 7 mins. Not a second more or a second less!! And it was absolutely delicious. So maybe the machines bend something like that 🤷🏻‍♂️. But we didn’t risk it 😃 Have a lovely Sunday Jay👍👍👍

[@JenniferLupine]

Another great camping location! Interesting to see how you work the electric hook-up with various plugs and voltage. Nice exploring in France!! 🇫🇷🇫🇷❤️

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

It was fun and we learned a lot Jen. Still quite a few sites wired differently in Europe! But gosh it rained so much over our last few days there!

[@JenniferLupine]

@ I hadn’t thought about the different types of wiring- thankfully in the US ( and Canada I believe) we have the same wiring. We haven’t taken our new trailer out much yet, maybe next month or January - of course summer is the best!!

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

@@JenniferLupine ha yes it is. But we are going off to Scotland next week. Hopefully we will be cozy as the forecast is for freezing temps!!

[@JenniferLupine]

@ Sounds fun and I certainly hope you stay warm!!

[@stressfreelife82]

drive safely guys

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Thank you. 🙏🙏🙏. We will 👍 Have a lovely Sunday.

[@wendingourway]

Would not want the heating bill for that chateau in the middle of winter here in our parts! Yikes!! lol I'll have to make not that both you and Otis are quite impatient when it comes to pastries!! LOL You really are finding yourselves in some pretty marvelous places for overnight! You'll know you're stuck when your half way up your axels in mud...ask me how I know that!! LOL LOL Keep up the great planning for the next adventure!!

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

😃😃. I can imagine Bruce! 😃😃 Yep the pastries were delicious from that tiny little shop. The best we had all trip!! And gosh, yes the chateau was a surprise, it was huge and right next to our camping spot! Have a lovely Sunday mate 👍👍

[@grapesodatravels]

What a fun adventure! Good shout on the electrics gizmo. Niche comment but 'reverse the polarity' makes me want a sonic screwdriver! 😂 The chateau looked smashing N&Nx

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

🤣🤣🤣. Exactly. It had me thinking of Ghostbusters crossing the streams 😃 You’re going to need lots of accessories for the van guys You need to add that sonic screwdriver to the list 🤣🤣🤣 Hope you’re both having a great week 👍👍👍🤣

[@grapesodatravels]

@NBNatureTrailvan yup, drawing up a shopping list is our next task! N&Nx

[@richardayres2949]

On the reverse polarity with a two pin plug you can typically just turn the two pin plug up the other way, simple. Typically no need for an adapter when it’s just the negative and positive reversed.

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Oh wow. You learn something every day! Great tip Richard - thank you It was the only ehu point with reverse we encountered on the trip. A lot of people have said that they’ve never seen that but we had a couple of two pin sockets - one in France and one in Austria.

[@GoWithGustav]

Great video again. I'd seen that campin-car park at Luneville when planning, what a great place to stay! Also love the 2nd site, you really can find some nice places in France. What no cakes? lol. I need to get the reverse polarity lead for future travels, there still seem to be a number of those sites our there.

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Cheers Chris. I was so disappointed when that boulangerie was closed and then disproportionately excited when it opened! 😃 It was a shame about the weather at Lunéville, we would have wandered around the town but just did t feel the mood. Yes, even though I had the adaptor, I was still surprised to find an ehu with that plus you found one too! Everyone had said that you don’t find them these days!! Have a great week ahead Chris and Rachel 👍👍

[@ArcticNatureExperiences]

Happy Sunday Dave and Sue! I hope you are enjoying the weekend and all the good memories from your trip this summer! In this episode the highlight was without doubt the infamous reversed polarity! I remember watching your movie about your preparations when you showed the adapter and I was thinking "Is this Europe in 2024"? So it was wise to buy the equipment for checking the polarity and the adapter. It is better to be safe than sorry! Except for that you did have some experiences ranging from a Chateau and to a vending machine for baguettes (I wonder about the quality), but what I noticed was how small the cappuccino that Sue bought was like. Do you make coffee in Florrie, or do you just purchase as you drive around? And it will be fun to see the closing chapter in your European saga - I do wonder why you picked a place with poor reviews, but I guess it was practical. All the best, Ant

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Hi Ant We just got back from a weekend away in the van to get some maintenance jobs done. All sorted for our next trip to Scotland and the Lake District in two weeks. Before we left for Europe we were asking on social media whether anyone had experienced freeze polarity at a site. No one had. So we were lucky that we had the correct adaptor! A friend of ours encountered one and adjusted his electric hook up cable manually to reverse the wires and was fine. So there are still some sites in France which are wired reverse! Ah that little boulangerie was wonderful. We do buy coffee and tea when we are travelling, (if we find somewhere like that) but when on site we always make our own using the electric kettle if we are on ehu or our gas kettle on the hob if not. It’s great to be able to adapt to different situations when out on the road. Hope you’re having a great weekend Ant. And have a good week ahead 👍👍👍

[@ArcticNatureExperiences]

@NBNatureTrailvan Scotland and the Lake District- that sounds fun:) So you have to prepare as there might be rough weather at this time of the year:)

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

@ yes indeed! 😃. Last year we had quite a bit of Snow in the Lakes! About 0.00001% of what you get though Ant!

[@davidweston8758]

Another great instalment, makes you think why the UK cannot be a bit more like France etc , did you re check the polarity after plugging the converter in , still like to be sure , thanks for sharing

[@NBNatureTrailvan]

Hi David. I know. European roads and campsites \ Aires beat the UK hands down. We really learned a lot and Germany was a big surprise. We do love France but Germany was almost going to be a way of getting from France to Austria. But not any more! Loved all the variations in the regions - Bavaria and the Black Forest both stunning! I did check the polarity again - it was all fine. 👍. Strangely all the chat on social media before we travelled was that people had never seen a two pin ehu point or reverse polarity. We found two of the two pin sockets (one in Austria) and one reverse polarity! So was glad we had the adaptors. Have a great weekend ahead David 👍👍👍