Sands of time
GRAND TOUR
France
CARTHAGO
Liner-For-Two I53
DURATION
7 days
WHEN
August 2019
France’s northern and western coasts are a spectacular, historic place to tour
Our visit to the west coast of France was first mooted more than a year ago, over a glass or two of vin rouge, when we got chatting to friends who were planning to rent out a house in Royan, a picturesque and historic town aside the Atlantic Ocean.
“No problem!” we said with wine-lubricated enthusiasm, raising our glasses high in a toast. “We’ll bring a motorhome and meet you there for a few days!”
As always happens with the best-laid plans, nothing further was done about this until the very last minute.
Fortunately, Practical Motorhome’s long-term-test Carthago Liner-For-Two I53 was free, despite it being the height of the August school holidays. I booked a couple of campsites and the ferry crossing, and left everything else in the capable hands of fate.
Tour in comfort
The Liner-For-Two is a big beast: it’s almost eight metres long, has an MTPLM of 4500kg and comes with a £120,000 price tag, But it’s ideal (as the name suggests) for a couple on tour, and this trip would be a great test of its comfort.
Bound for Caen, husband Matt and I boarded the Brittany Ferries crossing at Portsmouth, and after relaxing for a few hours in our comfortable cabin, we disembarked.
Eventually, after a rather frustrating 45-minute queue at passport control, we set tyre onto French side. We had everything that we needed on board (including, most importantly, food and wine), so rather than paying €10 to spend the night at the Ouistreham aire - the closest
