After spending our final night at Papillon Bouillon, we set off from the campsite. Again our usual routine is to get all the waste off and fill up with a bit of water. We try to know a bit about where we’re going on Google Maps, searchforsites app, and we also have a map book – I have accidentally taken us down many a narrow winding road and always regret not pre-planning the route better. But this adventure I was hoping to not make that mistake.
We normally have Google Maps open but sometimes it takes us over some tricky roads so having the old style mapbook is better for an overview.
After a couple of hours driving south east on the amazing French roads, we pulled up to the Verdun Museum. The contemporary white building didn’t give away any of the darkness that was housed within.
The museum when entering immediately transports you to the battle ground offering interactive exhibits and a vast array of information.
Our nine-year-old, we felt was possibly a little bit young for some of the parts of the museum but our 12-year-old was a perfect age.
The shear scale, nature and tragedy of this battle was depicted very efficiently. We would certainly visit again in a couple of years. Again we got the kids with their notebooks to write down some details, draw some sketches, and write some questions out.
After the museum, we had a walk along the trenches and we drove up to the memorial and monument. Although overgrown it certainly painted a picture for us to understand what the battle was like.
After the monument, we travelled eastward as we used the app searchforsites and found a large car park right next to a football ground and a petrol station – AIRE DE CAMPING CAR HOMBOURG-HAUT.
We hadn’t experienced a stay like this before. There is lots of coming and going and people arriving very late in motorhomes. Although we felt safe-ish, it was certainly a new experience for us with young children.
After a slightly suspect night in Hombourg-Haut we set off to Europa Park. We have planned for two days at Rulantica Waterpark which is the biggest waterpark in Europe and one day at the Europa Park itself which is a rollercoaster themepark.
The journey was a solid 3 to 4 hours. My wife L is an exceptional copilot, and really helps me handle everything on the road. We got a little bit turned around on the way through Strasbourg and missed a junction which was poorly signposted.
Although the junction was missed, the sneaky turnaround we had allowed a quick toilet break and a refill of ginger tea. Never a missed opportunity.
We arrived at Europa Park at our fabulous pitch and we can’t wait to jump in and have some fun with the kids.
We have home educated them throughout the summer holidays so it means when we get time to have a bit of fun, we don’t have to do any educational activities. We do not do term timetables.
Bring on Europa Park….
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