Travelling in times of Corona

Due to Covid-19, travelling has become a challenge but not impossible! One of our employees and his girlfriend took on the challenge and travelled to France in a Bliss Mobil. Read all about their trip and enjoy the pictures that they took of their trip to the French Riviera in a 13 foot Bliss Mobil in their travel journal below.

It was very tough to decide where we would go to, until we figured out that the decision was not ours at all. Due to Covid-19, a lot of countries that we wanted to visit were closed early and mid June. Since we had the unique opportunity to travel in a real expedition vehicle, we immediately thought of Scandinavia. The rugged, rough and varying landscapes are meant to be explored with an expedition truck. In order to get there we would have to drive through Denmark which was forced to close its borders. 

Croatia was inaccessible due to closed borders by Slovenia and Portugal and did not allow visitors that travelled on the road just yet. Further search led us to France. We thought of a few points that we definitely wanted to see and from then on we just started driving. The charm of this holiday was to actually travel and see where we would end up. We had “our home” with us, so we did not bother with tight time schedules and appointments.

For our first night in Germany we decided to pick a parking lot that we shared with a few regular campers and caravans. When fueling up the next day, we had the first encounter with Corona measures. A face mask inside the gas station was mandatory. Later we learned that this would be the only time we had to put our face masks on during our holiday.

We decided to drive the “Route Napoleon” In France and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of  the French Alps.

Our first overnight stop in this beautiful area was on top of a hard-to-reach mountain nearby an abandoned winter sport resort. We were accompanied by a German couple who strategically parked their vehicle as far as they possibly could from us. Seems like we were not the only ones looking for some peace and quietness during our holiday.

The beautiful scenery and backdrops that are plentiful in eastern France made us forget all about Corona for a while.

One of the areas that we definitely wanted to visit was Gorges du Verdon. Earth’s second biggest canyon was an absolute sight to behold and a must-see for anyone who loves huge rock formations, beautiful, blue water and spectacular mountain passes. After visiting the Grand- and Bryce Canyon in the United States our expectations were high but Gorges du Verdon absolutely delivered.

Although the roads are perfect for cyclists, small sports cars or motorcycles it also was a treat to drive on with a large truck. We often found ourselves on the side of the road to let people pass by. However, the small wheelbase of the Mercedes-Benz Atego 4×4 in combination with the compact 13 foot Bliss Mobil made us still very nimble and agile compared to larger expedition vehicles.

During the daytime we found ourselves kayaking and driving the truck over beautiful mountain passes. The nights we spent on campsites or on farmers land. The campsites were almost completely empty and we were welcomed with open arms.

After a few days in the Gorge we left for the mediterranean sea where we got to spend a few days at the Cote d’Azur. 

We did not feel like staying in the civilized world for too long as we wanted to keep the risk of catching Corona as low as possible so after two days we headed back into nature. Upon leaving the coastal area, we decided to visit Vallon Pont D’Arc and do some more kayaking! The nature surrounding the Ardeche is equally beautiful as in Gorge du Verdon but the water lacks the startling color that can be found in the latter one. 

After the Ardeche and an awesome experience altogether we went homebound back to the Netherlands, already fantasizing about future trips and new destinations

Even in busy and crowded Europe we barely had contact with other individuals and we had plenty of space and opportunities to stay and overnight in places where encounters with other people were scarce. We had plenty of food and water with us to survive for multiple weeks and we have never felt so safe, comfortable and independent as we did during this holiday.

Gotten enthusiastic about travelling in a Bliss Mobil? Keep an eye out on our dedicated rental page to see all new developments for the rental expeditions or contact us right here.