Tracey unpacked the 3 Home Depot moving boxes of stuff she brought over from the US and she is now pondering how to fit everything in the van. The storage is not great in the van with shallow depth cabinets and sloped backs.

Photo is from the day before we left AZ with 3 Home Depot moving boxes, a hard-sided bike case, 2 duffle bags and 2 carry-ons (not pictured). Lots of logisitics involved with airport transport with this much luggage.

Tony bought a used bike case off of FB Marketplace to take his bike over. It arrived without any issues except the Tile tracker was missing from inside the case (It was taped to his bike). We are still pondering this as the case was not opened as the zip ties were intact. We know the tracker was in there as we tracked it during our journey. The tracker still says it is in Paris Airport. A mystery!

This is jet lag and also the calm before the storm. Two days until pick-up of the van. This was an adorable gite in Auvers-sur-Oise.

Our adorable gite in Auver_sur_Oise France. Hosts were amazing and so kind to us and this was a perfect location. Highly recommend.

Many campgrounds partner with a local bakery and deliver fresh bread daily. Tony is jumping in with both feet (sadly I can’t as I am GF). I have found him secretly knawing on a bagette more times that I can count.

Bromptons strapped into the garage under the bed. We are still working on final solutions as there is still some shifting, but we are getting there. Tony’s road bike slides along the open space.

Our new Bromptons We got the C-line electric Brompton with 12 speeds. The owner of this shop near Paris was a Brompton enthusiast and had our bikes ready and displayed for our pick-up. These bikes are amazing!!!

We lpve our new electric Bromptons we purchased in Paris. We tried to bring over our US electric Bromptons but could not find a way to get the lithium batteries here. Nobody would allow us to ship them and the airlines would not except them either due to their size/capacity.

We have kicked off our training wheels and departed from the most adorable gite in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. We have 1000 km of driving under our belt and we are starting to get into a good rhythm. Our first impressions of Chickpea (our new van), France and #vanlife France are below.

Overall, we both agree we couldn’t have found a more perfect 2^nd van for ourselves than Chickpea. She is not without her own quirks, but she is sturdy, well-designed and quite comfortable for her small size. We are averaging 28.8 mpg. Safety:  The van has pretty much every safety feature that was available including 360 degree cameras. Due to360-degreew roads and super tall curbing, the proximity sensors are constantly going off, so we are just getting used to that, but we still feel they are a valuable feature. Stuff: The start-up experience would have been much more difficult if we had not had experience traveling in Tofu. We purchased many items in the US and brought them over in 3 large sized Home Depot moving boxes. If we would have had to buy all of those things in France, we would still be shopping for them. It takes so much longer to shop and find items due to our lack of reading the French language. Organization: After picking up the van, I was a bit concerned about how I was going to fit all of the “stuff” I brought over from our home as the actual storage is smaller than expected and uniquely shaped with shallow depths and sloping backs. I channeled my Dad (who was a packing Master) and dug deep for some Houdini contortion inspiration and ended up finding a home for everything in the end.  The biggest boon was fitting in 2 new e-Brompton folding bikes and Tony’s road bike under the bed in the “garage”. The road bike is a few inches too long and extends into the hallway, but it is totally worth it to have all 3 bikes inside the van from a security perspective. I am still working on (and reworking on) the final organizational layout, but everything is falling into place. Can I just say I have a weird fondness for baskets, bags and bins! Interior Layout: The bed is smaller than the bed in Tofu, but it is firm and comfortable. We love having the dinette at the front of van so we can open the side door and enjoy the view and lovely cool breezes. The 3 skylights add so much natural light (but I think this will also add heat in the summertime ☹) to the van. Having a dedicated bathroom with shower is something we now realize we want, even if it is just a wet bath. The negatives are the kitchen was designed by a man who has never cooked. The sink is teeny, tiny in size, there is absolutely no counterspace for even a bowl or chopping board, the freezer barely fits an ice cube tray and the Dometic cooktop (hob) and sink combination, which is very popular in European vehicles, sucks (pardon my French…pun intended). I like to clean and cook at the same time, but not with this setup as the open flame is inches from my hands if I am doing dishes in the teeny, tiny thimble sized sink while I am cooking. Our workaround is just to make more simple meals that use less pots, pans and dishes. Exterior Systems:  Tony is still getting used to the cassette toilet as he is the Sanitation Engineer of this relationship. Infrastructure is in place everywhere to empty the cassette, but it is still not our favorite. We have an electronic valve for controlling our gray water. We drive over a grate and then can open the valve without getting out of the van. Pretty nice! Charging: There are very few 12V and 230 V charging ports in this vehicle and the ones we do have are not in ideal locations (I am looking at you, 230 V shaver socket in the cabinet in the bathroom and you 12V socket directly above the kitchen sink). I ordered and added every charging port available as an option and it is still minimally adequate. I plan to add a different type of port in the sleeping area when we return in the Fall. Overall, we are delighted with Chickpea, quirks and all.

Roadside strawberry stands everywhere. We have been eating them with reckless abandon. Best strawberries we have ever eaten!

Even I wouldn’t drive down this narrow passage (This pix is for you, Ted Wesley lol).

There are amazing farmers markets in most towns a few days a week. Beautiful produce.

Our first impressions of France are very positive. I have been to France before, but Tony has not. Frenchies: We were both keenly aware of the common American stereotypes that “French do not like Americans” or “French are rude” or “French people are not friendly or welcoming”.  We have found all of these to be completely unfounded and 100% not true in our experience. French people are more formal, reserved and private than most Americans, so my theory is this is reason for the rude, unfriendly and unwelcome stereotypes. All the French people we have met have been kind and very helpful to us. We don’t speak French (but we still try!) and even with the language barrier we have not felt uncomfortable or unwanted here. Thank the heavens for Google Translate. Food: Since we eat plant-based and don’t really drink much, if any, alcohol, restaurants are a challenge for us. We cook most of our own meals and occasionally eat at a vegan restaurant in larger cities which have been quite good. There are supermarkets everywhere, but we have tried to purchase as much as we can from the local farmer-style markets. It took us a minute to remember we have to put a coin in to unlock the shopping cart and also that we need to weigh our own produce in the produce department before taking it to the register (don’t ask how we know this one. Oops!). Food costs at the grocery store are not much different than home as long as we don’t buy a lot of packaged or imported products. We did splurge on a jar of peanut butter and a bottle of maple syrup that cost almost as much as the rest of our groceries. We have eaten some of the best strawberries of our life on this trip. Busyness: We are still in the “shoulder” season for travel, but we are finding most places still quite busy.  We had to scramble for campsites recently when there was the May 8^th (V-E Day) and Ascension Day (May 9^th) national holiday back-to-back resulting in many French taking a long weekend. The Frenchies are back to traveling, for sure. Population Density: France is about the same size as Texas, but with 68 million people versus 30 million people in Texas and we can feel the increased density here. Shopping: There are very few big box chain stores once we left the Paris area. An occasional McDonalds, but not much else. Lots of small vendors and small businesses.  Smokers: The one big negative in France for us is the number of smokers. We have seen many people vaping versus smoking, but there are still a lot of smokers. Our observation is that the smokers are mainly men over 65 and women under 35, not sure why this would be? Animals: Another random observation is that all of the dogs we have seen have been purebreds, we haven’t seen any shelter dog breeds or even any stray dogs. Also, we have hardly seen any wildlife except for birds. Not even a squirrel or deer even in countryside. Police:  We have been surprised as to the amount of police presence in some of the cities and at tourist attractions. Mainly we have seen the Gendarmerie (military national police who have law enforcement responsibilities) and the municipal police but a lot of them. We did also see 12 fully kitted military commando-looking soldiers patrolling downtown Strasbourg while we were there. We did not expect this level of military/law enforcement in France.

Our first sight of Chickpea at the dealership outside of Paris, France. Florian, our saleperson, went above and beyond for us and also spoke English. I worried this whole thing was an elaborate scam and not until I saw the campervan with Tony;s (??) name on in did I finally sigh a breath of relief.

A typical full-service campground, this one in Riquewihr. We feel thankful we even got this campsite on a holiday weekend. We took one of the last sites and stayed for 3 nights.

A typical “Aire” in France, this one in Chatenois. This one was run by the city and included electrical hookups. Enough spaces for 10 vehicles and it is all free to promote tourism. A easy place to sleep overnight but with walkability.

Another example of a free campsite in France, this one in Giverny. Not our favorite due to the tight spots, but literally across the street from Monet’s Gardens at Giverny so it was worth it. Also our 1st night of camping in our new van.

Our biggest challenge has been parking at trailheads. I didn’t even think that trailheads would not be like US sized trailheads, but they aren’t. Several hikes we just couldn’t do as there was literally no parking for any vehicle bigger than a car. This trailhead was the exception.

We saw this Hymer beast of vehicle in a showroom we stopped at near Mulhouse, France. A showstopper for sure, but expensive at $230k. We still prefer Chickpea (and Tofu!).

Vanlife in France is a dream. Campsites: It is very RV friendly with campsites and parking everywhere and with clear signage. We have lots of camping options in France from no service parking lot style camping to full-service campgrounds. We have stayed at all different types but prefer what are known as “Aires” and especially like the Camping-Car locations which has its own app and access card. One other aspect of vanlife in France that we like are that there are no campfires in the campgrounds. This is a huge positive for us as we dislike US campgrounds that are thick with smoke from 50 different fires and make everything smell like an ashtray. Some of the campgrounds we have stayed at have partnered with a local bakery and bring fresh bread and pastries to our campsite each morning. The French take their bread very seriously. Roads:  Cars are smaller and we have (thankfully) not seen a single pick-up truck. We are getting used to the narrow roads and are so thankful we selected a smaller campervan that is <6 m in length and < 3.5 tons. There are certainly many larger vehicles on the road, including huge expedition trucks, but driving something that large is beyond our skillset.  There are many streets in the countryside in France that only allow vehicles <3.5 tons and we would have missed a lot had we elected for the slightly larger and heavier campervan that we considered before selecting Chickpea. We made the right decision!  Tolls: Tolls are expensive in France as they are run by private companies. We have paid many tolls ranging from a few dollars up to $35. The self-service pay booths have a high and a low payment option, so it has been easy for us to just tap and go. Road signage: There are very few stop signs, even fewer stoplights as mainly there are round-abouts. I mean lots and lots and lots of round-abouts. Initially, we weren’t fans, but after a few weeks we have changed our opinion and now think they are genius. There are also lots of speed humps and other obstacles to keep the speed of vehicles down. The urban planners in US need to come to Europe for some re-training and a philosophy shift that the US shouldn’t revolve around wide roads with high speeds for cars and little infrastructure for bikes and pedestrians. Laundry: Laundry has been very easy as there are several paid washing machines in many of the supermarket parking lots. Throw in a load of clothes and then go in and do our shopping.  Internet: Our internet has been working great. We use Google Fi Unlimited Plus plan which gives us unlimited data and texting almost anywhere in the world. We have used it for 6 years now and it has worked brilliantly here in France, but flawlessly in Costa Rica, Argentina and even when we went to Rwanda. Just turned on our phone and it works. We tether our tablet and laptop to our connected phone when needed and that also works brilliantly. Apps: We have been restricted from downloading non-US apps while we have been here. Some of the apps are needed (i.e. the Mercedes app) so I spent an afternoon researching and I have finally found a work-around and I can now happily download all of the apps I need including the Mercedes, Android Auto and laundry apps. Yeah. It’s the little things that are the big things.

Overall, we are off to a great start. All systems are working. We are moving super slow and we have decided to throw our proposed itinerary out the window and just wander. We think of what we are doing as long-term travel, not a vacation. We actually enjoy taking part in the everyday tasks as much as we do seeing the tourist sights. The hardest part of this experience is the inability to have meaningful conversations with people due our lack of speaking French, Spanish or German. Everyone is kind and most people do know some English, but it is still hard to have meaningful dialogue.

Onwards!

Next Stop: Alsace region of France