Welcome to the May edition of the newsletter. After a long, cold winter our first tour is out and we have three more heading out during May. We will have full tour reports next month but early indications are that the sun has now come out on the continent! We have a few Spring photos to keep you going. See below.
Meanwhile we have been slaving over a hot computer and now gone live with the 2025 brochure and website updates. More details later.
We have another month to run on the "orange-woolly-hat raffle" to win ten pairs of tickets for the NEC Show in October. We will be presenting again at the Inspiration Theatre and have more details on the topics for our talks.
We have another great one-pot recipe and this month’s motorhoming tips are all about passport rules.
2025 Tours - New brochure now live on the website
It's that time of year again where our talented designer has produced a wonderful new brochure for next season. To view the brochure and all of the details for the new season, please go to the website:
Download the brochure here: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/brochure
View the 2025 tours online here: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/tours
The 2025 Itinerary is now fixed and is as follows:
Three-Country Taster Tour
Poland
France Grand Tour
The Swiss & French Alps
Sweden & The Arctic Circle
Croatia & Slovenia
The Loire & Burgundy
Lake Garda & Venice
We have started taking bookings for the 2025 season, so if you would like to get in early, please book online or give us a call: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/book-now
Three-Country Taster Tour
Colin and Sue (tour leaders and sun-magnets) are currently out on the Three-Country Taster Tour. The tour does a fair chunk of the Netherlands, followed by a bit of time in Luxembourg and France. So far guests have enjoyed a variety of delights including the amazing Keukenhof Gardens, the Alkmaar Cheese Market, the historic Kinderdijk Windmills and the cities of Delft, Maastricht and Amsterdam among other things.
Being a Colin & Sue tour, the sun has come out and the group are enjoying some long awaited t-shirt weather. We will have a full tour report next month, but for now here are some lovely photos.
Colin and Sue's Cafe in full swing - note the shorts and t-shirts!
The stunning Keukenhof Gardens - there are 8 million bulbs.
Keukenhof display.
King's Day with a couple of our customers. They are not the ones in orange.
The Kinderdijk Windmills.
We had to put at least one photo of a canal.
The world-famous Alkmaar Cheese Market - just don't ask for Cheddar.
Look out for the full tour report in next month's edition. We are running the Taster Tour again next Spring. Full details are on the website here: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/three-country-taster-tour-2025
The NEC Motorhome Show October 2024
There are two reasons to tell you about the October Show, even though it is only May. The main one is that there is still a month to run on our competition (well more of a raffle) to win ten pairs of tickets for the show. If you win, you can go on any day to the show, even the weekend, which is usually sold out.
To enter, simply send us your name via email. Entries close at the end of the month with the draw taking place on Facebook early June.
My penance for securing these tickets is that I have to do a presentation at the Insipration Theatre. We will be presenting on all six days of the show, so there is no excuse not to come along. We are doing two different presentations, one on Lake Garda & Venice and one on The Loire & Burgundy. The talks will feature lots of lovely photos and videos, loads of practical information on how to get there and what to see and do. You are also guaranteed some highly topical (mildly offensive) Dad jokes and if I see you in the audience, I will name-check you!
We are not sure of the timings yet, or who the celebrity presenters will be. Regular readers will know that I have an unhealthy obsession with minor celebrities and they always produce a few for the show (usually from "Strictly"). For me that show has not been the same since Ola left. This year I am hoping to be the cheese in a sandwich between Shirley Ballas and Anton de Beke.
More details will be announced via the newsletter or you can visit the official website here:
Coq au Van (the amusingly titled recipe feature)
Smokey Cauliflower
Ingredients
400g tin green lentils in water, drained and rinsed
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp Tesco harissa
3 medium sweet potatoes (roughly 665g), peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
1 large cauliflower, leaves picked and separated into florets
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6.
2. Tip the lentils, chopped tomatoes, 3 tbsp harissa, and sweet potatoes into a large, ovenproof pan set over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, then season to taste.
3. Top with the cauliflower florets, nestling them into the tomato sauce.
4. Mix 1 tbsp oil with the remaining 1 tbsp harissa and brush over the tops of the cauliflower. Roast in the oven for 30-40 mins until the cauliflower and sweet potatoes have softened.
5. Meanwhile, toss the smaller and more tender cauliflower leaves in the remaining 1 tbsp oil and spread out on a baking tray. Season with freshly ground black pepper and roast in the oven for 8-10 mins, tossing occasionally, until lightly charred and softened.
6. Serve the cauliflower with a side of roasted leaves.
Tip: Halve the ingredients and follow the same method if serving 2.
Motorhoming Tips
This month we look briefly at the slightly confusing rules on passports. It is a question we get asked a lot.
Since Brexit, your passport must meet two main requirements in order to enter the EU:
It must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the EU. The date of issue is shown on the passport.
It must be valid for 3 months after the day you leave. The expiry date is shown on the passport.
The slight confusion is that you might assume that a passport lasts exactly ten years. However, some passports (those issued before 2018) may have a few extra months over the ten years added on to them. Therefore you need to check both dates as described above.
You need to bear in mind too that your passport will now be stamped as you leave and re-enter the UK. This is since we left the EU. This is because you are only allowed to stay in the EU for 90 days out of 180. We will do next month's tip on this thorny topic.
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Please feel free to contact us at any time. When we are away, calls will bounce to our mobiles at no expense to yourself.
