Birmingham is buzzing - it's been pretty busy at the Motorhome and Caravan Show.

Welcome to my fourth blog from this week’s Motorhome and Caravan Show at Birmingham’s NEC. If you haven’t booked, you can still just turn up on the door at what is proving to be a very popular event indeed.

Whereas on Tuesday I immersed myself in some of the newest arrivals in the caravan market, this time around my focus is very much on motorhomes.

And what a place this is if you want to see the hundreds of new Motorhome makes and models from the very best, altogether under one roof. It’s worth coming, even if you’re “just browsing”.

How clean is my valley? The Lot Valley in France could make for a great motorhome holiday.

I went to France recently… then came back with a bump in Bristol at Bailey’s 2012 motorhome launch.

Let’s do the glamorous lifestyle bit first. Your holiday thoughts for 2012?

I’m going to put a pin in your metaphorical map and suggest you take a closer look at the Lot and Lot et Garonne départments in France. It’s absolutely beautiful here and, like a lot of France beyond Normandy and Brittany, it’s not as out-of-reach as you might expect.

Swift Escape 696 motorhome. A family-friendly award winner at the Practical Motorhome Awards.

If you’ve seen the current edition of Practical Motorhome magazine, you’ll know it’s the special Awards issue, highlighting a lot of what’s good about the whole motorhome buying process.

I’ll declare an interest here, because I played a small part in all this as one of the (many) judges. Indeed, I’m lucky enough to help out with the judging of all kinds of caravan and motorhome awards – if you’re wondering why there is such a variety of winners of these different competitions, I’ll just say the judging process and criteria is very different for each.

A motorhome with a sauna? As unveiled by German motorhome manufacturer Eura Mobil.

Europe’s biggest caravan and motorhome exhibition venue? Birmingham’s NEC doesn’t come close, I’m afraid. It’s in Germany. Dusseldorf, to be exact. Caravan Salon takes place every year here (it used to be in nearby Essen), and this year celebrated its 50th anniversary.

And I was there. It was something of a flying visit. I was testing a Reimo Sport Camper (from Kent-based Concept Multi-Car, but actually straight off their hire fleet).