So further ramblings regarding the trip
When I do the Le Mans Classic with a bunch of local car mates (Norfolk Mountain Rescue Club) for the last 3 classics we've stayed off circuit as Chateau Chanteloupe (which was recommended by Keefy after a really nasty experience of circuit camping in Blue Nord)
www.chateau-de-chanteloup.com/en/
It's lovely - proper showers - generous pitches - bar in fact it's pretty near perfect and about 30 mins from circuit
I mentioned to the NMR massive my plans to do the normal Le Mans and several members said they'd like to do it but wanted to be on circuit for the full messy experience. I last did the normal Le Mans in 2004...... It's madness in some places but if that was the group preference then OK we would do that.
However gradually in the run up to the event people dropped out as other things like getting married or job changes got in the way so it ended up with just me.......
So Chanteloupe it is - curse word circuit camping
Now running solo to the event is quite significant as one of the advantages of going in a group is you can share equipment needed for a really nice camping experience.... Cold beer and food that doesn't go bad in 5 mins without refrigeration is important
I always take a proper gas cooker, bottle of calor gas, cooking utensils, pots and pans etc - someone else takes a Gazebo for Kitchen area and another one for communal socialising, someone else takes a fridge unit and as a result between us all we have a well equipped and very social camping area.
Last year I was impressed with one of the groups new inflatable tent - he had it pitched in mins and by the time I finished my tent he'd done both the bloody gazebos - Decathalon had a sale at xmas and I grabbed one for a very good price as my Xmas present - downside was it's quite a bit larger when packed in it's bag...... Now when you go as a group this wouldn't matter much - Running solo meant I needed to take everything we needed myself.
I don't like borrowing stuff either so a Gazebo and a 40L fridge unit was needed so they got purchased and earlier this week I had a dummy run at packing the car (I don't like having stuff on display on the back seats) Epic fail - the LC has a big boot but packing is compromised by a dead CD changer hanging under the parcel shelf and I also have a rather large sub in the boot - time to reconsider what's needed.......
First thing I did was remove the Sub - take out the speaker and then cut the box down so it was half the size
CD changer mount I'm not keen to remove it in case next owner wants to put it back to std (it's bolted in and can only be unbolted by removing the parcel shelf - that's a mission in itself so I've removed the CD changer and that'll have to do for now.
The sub has a fused power supply direct from the battery so I could fit a 12v output socket for the fridge unit tucked away in the boot and mounted securely - downside was that it's not a switched feed - so bets on me forgetting to unplug it when we stop for lunch on the way down and getting back to a car with a flat battery
Packing attempt MkII will be today if it stops raining........
This is turning into an expensive trip.......
When I do the Le Mans Classic with a bunch of local car mates (Norfolk Mountain Rescue Club) for the last 3 classics we've stayed off circuit as Chateau Chanteloupe (which was recommended by Keefy after a really nasty experience of circuit camping in Blue Nord)
www.chateau-de-chanteloup.com/en/
It's lovely - proper showers - generous pitches - bar in fact it's pretty near perfect and about 30 mins from circuit
I mentioned to the NMR massive my plans to do the normal Le Mans and several members said they'd like to do it but wanted to be on circuit for the full messy experience. I last did the normal Le Mans in 2004...... It's madness in some places but if that was the group preference then OK we would do that.
However gradually in the run up to the event people dropped out as other things like getting married or job changes got in the way so it ended up with just me.......
So Chanteloupe it is - curse word circuit camping
Now running solo to the event is quite significant as one of the advantages of going in a group is you can share equipment needed for a really nice camping experience.... Cold beer and food that doesn't go bad in 5 mins without refrigeration is important
I always take a proper gas cooker, bottle of calor gas, cooking utensils, pots and pans etc - someone else takes a Gazebo for Kitchen area and another one for communal socialising, someone else takes a fridge unit and as a result between us all we have a well equipped and very social camping area.
Last year I was impressed with one of the groups new inflatable tent - he had it pitched in mins and by the time I finished my tent he'd done both the bloody gazebos - Decathalon had a sale at xmas and I grabbed one for a very good price as my Xmas present - downside was it's quite a bit larger when packed in it's bag...... Now when you go as a group this wouldn't matter much - Running solo meant I needed to take everything we needed myself.
I don't like borrowing stuff either so a Gazebo and a 40L fridge unit was needed so they got purchased and earlier this week I had a dummy run at packing the car (I don't like having stuff on display on the back seats) Epic fail - the LC has a big boot but packing is compromised by a dead CD changer hanging under the parcel shelf and I also have a rather large sub in the boot - time to reconsider what's needed.......
First thing I did was remove the Sub - take out the speaker and then cut the box down so it was half the size
CD changer mount I'm not keen to remove it in case next owner wants to put it back to std (it's bolted in and can only be unbolted by removing the parcel shelf - that's a mission in itself so I've removed the CD changer and that'll have to do for now.
The sub has a fused power supply direct from the battery so I could fit a 12v output socket for the fridge unit tucked away in the boot and mounted securely - downside was that it's not a switched feed - so bets on me forgetting to unplug it when we stop for lunch on the way down and getting back to a car with a flat battery
Packing attempt MkII will be today if it stops raining........
This is turning into an expensive trip.......
