My Road Trip to Normandy from Lancashire.

[smoked]

So since a few people have done this so shall I. I'd already ordered the chargemap card, the crit'air sticker and the only thing i'd order now is the toll tag. Previous driving experience in Europe was about 15 years ago when I'd driven a Vito from UK to Milan via Zurich.

Planned a roadtrip from Accrington to Bayeux for some WW2 sight seeing via the EuroTunnel (£176 rtn)

We set off around 2330 and took it nice and easy down the m6 and stopped over at Milton Keynes Coachway - There I switched to the monthly plan on the Bonnet app £9p/m and got it to around 80%. I was amazed at the speed it was charging at. these 350kwh chargers are the future. Around 30 minutes for me to get to 80% which was ideal cause once we'd gone to the loo and stretched the legs out it was done.

Then we headed off to Folkstone where i think it was around 30% remaining and we plugged into their charger which was for free. I'd planned the trip so I would have 2+ hours here so I could maximise their 50kwh charger and it did the job and got me to 100%

35 minutes later we were in Calais and took the non-toll route down to Rouen. Again we found a Fast charger inside a Nissan dealership. One thing I realised is that some of these locations on the Chargemap app are in funny places. This was inside a dealership storage garage, a lovely 50kwh charger. We went off to find a halal takeaway and an hour later we were at roughly 90%

From here the drive was OK for me but my co-passenger was feeling it and we decided to take the toll road which cut around 50 minutes short to the Ibis Budget just outside of Bayeux. Lovely hotel which said it had a charge point.

Once we got to the hotel we saw the point and tried plugging it in but it just said connecting. The a second box nearby for the Zoe said please contact the hotel for access to the chargers. spoke to the reception it turns out the charger was connected to the nearby bar's electric circuits not the hotels and they would have to activate it and it was still a few hours till they opened. Went for a walk around Bayeux and by the time we got back the bar was open and after a little bit of plugging we managed to get it working. This was a 7kw charger (i think)

However, in the morning it was only 67% (at 5am) and not charging. from what i could guess once the bar is closed and locked - everything is switched off. There was a Lidl about 5/10 minutes away but before that i went to a two other chargers and i couldnt get them to work. From what i've learnt after it may have been because i didnt close the door on where i'd plugged in the cable. These were MobisDEC chargers. I'd tried charging them via the Chargemap card and the MobisDEC app.

So I took the time to explore Bayeux on foot whilst it was quiet. Went back to the car around 8.30am and i think i'd added around 20/30%. Day 2 was spent going to Omaha and Pointe du Hoc. Later in the evening went to Caen for a munch and a Hookah. Being saturday night the nearby chargers were all taken - a very busy night - the car parks were all full. We just parked the car on the street and then went to a fast charger just outside of Caen.

Day 3 was Sword, Juno and Caen. Caen was a nice suprise - I knew about the Castle but we went to the L'Abbey-aux-Hommes - i initially thought it was just another church but it turned out it also has the tomb of William the Conquerer. What I found a bit freaky was the amount of bones of Saints etc on display. I finally figured out how to use the MobisDEC chargers - you have to close the door to start the charge. Saying that two chargers were out of order before we got one next to the castle. I went back to the fast charger to get it over 90% for the journey back the next day

Day 4 we were meant to leave around 9/10am but we got delayed as we went to a few places before hand. This had an unfortunate knock on that we were now against time for the 1740 train back. We took the toll roads to save some time and used one of the Ionity chargers, just past Le Havre, to get to around 80% before carrying on. we got to the channel tunnel at 1637. 3 minutes left but this meant we had no time to charge the car. I had 12% left. We messaged Eurotunnel to ask if we could use the chargers on the UK side and they confirmed that we could.

Once we were back into the UK I went back to the terminal as if I was boarding and they escorted me to the charge point - Met a lovely couple with a Mustang E from Germany who were heading back. Was good to speak to them and hearing the issues they had vs what we had. We spent about an hour and half charging there. By now I was just keen to get home and planned a charge at Cambridge - Ionity again to 80% which didnt take long. Finally I was just exhausted and my passenger drove to Doncaster where I planned a 2nd quick boost to get home without having range anxiety. this was an Instavolt which was a bit troublesome but we got it working eventually. I then drove back and it was around 0215 by the time i got back.

I've just done the costing to split the bill with my mate the total cost of the hotel and Eurotunnel was £233 - the actual costs for the electricity and Tolls came to £90 of which around £15 was tolls.

Those are my final stats from when i parked the car at home. so if my maths are right £75 / 1352 = 0.05p per mile? I got a free 100% when I left too so i havent mis-calculated. three free full charges go a long long way.

What I would change?

Like I said I'd get the Toll pass just for that cheaper rate. I'm more of a slummer than my mate so if i was alone i'd have done the trip cheaper lol. The most expensive charges were all made on the return leg in the UK. £40 was for the two charges in Cambridge and Doncaster. Saying that the Ionity in Europe had similar rates. Maybe if i'd boosted to the higher package on Bonnet it would've been cheaper? Maybe even used a Lidl charger instead.

Aside from that I think it was a huge success for a first time shot. I'm planning to go again. Maybe after the new year now. Keep an eye on out on Eurotunnel deals.

 

[Tweed98]

Nice, I did a similar trip with a load of Friends for what I call concrete hunting.

Did you find your way to Crisbec Battery or Maisy Battery out near Point du Hoc? They are newly rediscovered batteries that the previous land owners left alone as the amount of concrete and possible ordinance made farming it too much trouble so the briers took over and they got forgotten about.

Bayeux is a lovely little city, we went in April and it was a little quiet after 8pm but we managed to find a couple of bars. Did you find the restaurant La Table du Terroir? We really liked that place and went back on our free evening they do an excellent Canard.

 

[slmorgan42]

As my mother and sister live in France I spend a fair amount of time there. I do love to read these stories and hope my car will arrive soon so I can write my own.

They live in Dieppe which is a lovely fishing town just across from Newhaven. This is a lovely stress free ferry crossing as it is quite small.

Looking at your route if you do that again might be worth looking into. I am not knowledgeable on the battle details but it has a strong connection to Canada as they, I think, help recapture the town during the war. It has a number of troop lookout turrets still in the mountains along the coast line.

 

[Tweed98]

As my mother and sister live in France I spend a fair amount of time there. I do love to read these stories and hope my car will arrive soon so I can write my own.

They live in Dieppe which is a lovely fishing town just across from Newhaven. This is a lovely stress free ferry crossing as it is quite small.

Looking at your route if you do that again might be worth looking into. I am not knowledgeable on the battle details but it has a strong connection to Canada as they, I think, help recapture the town during the war. It has a number of troop lookout turrets still in the mountains along the coast line.

The Canadians had an entire beach to themselves in Normandy, it was the first time they fought under their own flag rather than the Britrish one and also played a major role in the raid at Dieppe.

 

[slmorgan42]

The Canadians had an entire beach to themselves in Normandy, it was the first time they fought under their own flag rather than the Britrish one and also played a major role in the raid at Dieppe.

I knew it was a big thing. They remember it every year. Thanks for sharing

 

[smoked]

Looking at your route if you do that again might be worth looking into. I am not knowledgeable on the battle details but it has a strong connection to Canada as they, I think, help recapture the town during the war. It has a number of troop lookout turrets still in the mountains along the coast line.

That was a route i did look into - one of three - the other two were the eurotunnel and the ferry from dover. When i broke it all down i wanted to do more driving and eurotunnel with the free charging facility won it for me.

Portsmouth to Caen was another but the cost was too high for that one i think.

Went to the Canadian museum at Juno. Plenty of memorials for the Canadians. There was a house there which the canadians liberated right on the beach front and its possibly the first house that got liberated on d-day in france.

Nice, I did a similar trip with a load of Friends for what I call concrete hunting.

Did you find your way to Crisbec Battery or Maisy Battery out near Point du Hoc? They are newly rediscovered batteries that the previous land owners left alone as the amount of concrete and possible ordinance made farming it too much trouble so the briers took over and they got forgotten about.

Bayeux is a lovely little city, we went in April and it was a little quiet after 8pm but we managed to find a couple of bars. Did you find the restaurant La Table du Terroir? We really liked that place and went back on our free evening they do an excellent Canard.

We did get near Maisy but didnt go as far up for Crisbec. My mate's Immuno-compromised so we tended to avoid crowded places - didnt get to see the tapestry or mont st michael for that reason.

its always strange to go to certain places were after 8pm it all just dies down. it was lovely walking around as the streets were so quiet but we went to Caen in the evenings for a bit more lively scene.

Because we only had a few nights i didnt really get to experience alot of the restaurants - we placed more emphasis on exploring the area. so by the time we'd get back to the hotel a quick takeaway was good enough. we managed to fit in one restaurant in Caen which was decent but nothing to write home about.