Firstly, I need to mention that this section is written from recall of my (very bad!) memory; I always write up on a Word doc and then paste onto the website later, but Word Mobile cut me off around the beginning of Sep and I didn’t get around to replacing it with Word 2016 until a couple of days before we set off for our Eastern European trip. Like most motorhomers, I do make a note of each place we stop at, so I have had that to fall back on.
On arrival at Calais we headed north along the coast, hoping to stay at D’Oye Plage, a favourite camperstop of ours, but it wasn’t to be as a height barrier had been erected! We were not surprised though because, on previous visits, it was obvious that many people abused the overnight stay privilege by remaining there for prolonged periods, whereas the locals had nowhere to park if they wanted to go there for a few hours. We ended up at Grande Fort Phillipe, a listed camperstop, and stayed for 3 nights, enjoying the weather, walks and meeting new friends there; hello to Marianne from Amsterdam and to Frank and Inge from Antwerp, who we would not have met if D’Oye plage had not been closed!
Bergues camperstop
After an overnight stop at Bergues we drove to Belguim and stayed along the river in Ypres (or Ieper) for a couple of nights, where many other motorhomes were parked; however, just before we left we learned that overnight camping is no longer permitted there, whoops!
We happened, by chance, to be there whilst a big blacksmithing event, with craftsmen from around the world, was taking place on the market square.
Children had been invited to take part and had made poppy leaves which were assembled into a wreath; on the Saturday night at the Last Post ceremony it was laid by a young girl and boy, which made the event all the more poignant.
From there we moved to a free stop on the carpark of the Sporthal de Dulpopat at Bazel, a few miles south of Antwerp. The next afternoon our friend Walter, from Veldhovn in Holland, came and joined us there to begin a week’s travelling with us. Next morning we were off in tandem to the Unesco site at Blegny-Mine for a couple of nights, where they have a free camperstop which Walter had used before; it’s very pleasant, costs only €2 for electricity and is on the site of the mine museum, which is well worth a visit, including the restaurant. Our next stop was, again, on a camperstop known to Walter, this time at Redange in Luxembourg, where we relaxed for a couple of days in the Sep sunshine, making the most of the warm evenings. After filling up the tank with the cheap Luxembourg diesel, we could next be spotted in France at Mouzon on the Halte Fluvial camperstop along the Meuse where, sadly, the next day we said our goodbyes to Walter. In addition to its lovely location this stop has the benefit of a washing m/c as is usual on waterway stops, so that was useful! We chatted to lots of friendly motorhomers there; hello to Pat and Bob Beith of Stutton, near Ipswich and to Sheila and James Boustead of Warminster.
The next 10 days we mooched along in France, as we are wont to do, including 3 nights at Montherme harbour, pictured below. 
On the last Saturday we were in Arques, staying on the Beausejour campsite, from where we headed off next day to Helfaut to visit La Coupole, a huge German WW2 underground network of caves that was used as a town and factories.
La Coupole
It was built into/under a chalk hillside. Built next to this, in the grounds there is now an enormous visitors’ complex, including a fantastic planetarium. There are various “shows” throughout the day and in different languages too. After a long day, (partly due to the difficulty we had just finding the place!), we went back to Arques and spent the night on the camperstop, behind the actual campsite, which we found was great, a wide open space surrounded by trees; it’s listed in the Camperstop book.
To round off the trip we spent a night at Wissant, then made our last stop on the motorhome area on the front at Calais; we speak to many people who dare not stop in Calais any longer, but we have never encountered any problems. While parked up there our friends Margaret and Malcolm, from Bishop Auckland, stopped off with us for a cuppa and a catch up; they had just arrived from Dover and were en route to the Correze, where they are busy building a new home!
Next morning we boarded the Dover ferry, looking forward to seeing family and friends again, especially the grandsons, but knowing that we’d soon be planning the next trip!