Anon
Deleted
Posts :
Location :
Status : Offline
|
 Part II - Across France
Just North of London with the rear packed with two kayaks, two trash bags of clothes, my tool collection, 12 bottles of lead-replacement and whatever else we had thrown back there in our rush to get going we stopped for fuel. I decided to fill her up with high octane to more accurately reflect her 4 star expectations and the result was dramatic! I commented to Sarah how much more responsive the beastie felt at which point we exchanged glances and then both looked back to check that the bike was still onboard. It was and we tootled down the M1 at 50mph, flashing the overtaking trucks. There's something so relaxing about being the slowest thing on the road - all the traffic jams are behind you and most slowdowns you see ahead, you never reach anyway! Having your own toilet is handy for the times you're stuck in stationary traffic too but never pee in the shower - the previous owner obviously had and we only got rid of the smell when we replaced the shower drain hose).
Arrived at Dover in the early evening, discovered that we had forgotten the bottle of lead replacement and the funnel at the last petrol station. For all it's benefits as a lead replacement, Morris's has a lousy bottle for side-filling tanks! We managed to replace it before boarding the ferry and arrived in Calais at 10pm. This introduced whole new problems. I have driven in the UK a couple of times since moving to the States and had finally learned to take the cue as to which side of the road to drive from the position of the steering wheel. Now even that didn't work as I was driving right hand drive on the right side of the road. Definately a tense half hour as I tried to mentally readjust! This was going to be a long drive. Adrianne Flux would not insure Sarah as she did not have an EU licence which meant I had to do all of the driving while Sarah kept me awake.
We pulled into the first petrol station we got to and Sarah handed the assistant our thermos and used her phrase book to ask "can you fill the tank with coffee". The guy smiled and produced the desired result - in fact, it was some of the best damned coffee we ever had! Due to certain tensions between France and the US at the time, we had already rehe d the phrase "Je suis Canadienne" but almost everyone we met over there realized that if Sarah were as narrow-minded as the US politicians (some of who used the fact that they didn't even own a passport as an election "plus") they she would hardly be over there.
On a roll, we continued on towards Paris and, according to the guide book, a very pleasant campground. Warning! The AA guide book is 95% book and only 5% guide and campgrounds around Paris are out in the sticks and badly signposted. As fatigue passed the ability of coffee and cigarettes to counter (around 3am) we were driving around in circles trying to find the damned place, fuel was running low, the skys opened in a deluge that even the new wiper blades couldn't cope with and the engine began to sputter with all the moisture. After I took a right and ended up on the wrong side of the road, Sarah insisted we stop so we pulled into a deserted supermarket parking lot with a closed petrol station nearby and settled down for the night.
We then discovered that the air vents couldn't take this kind of deluge any more than the engine could and pools of water were forming underneath them. Checking the seals was another of the jobs I had forgotten to do! Breaking out the pans (one of the few times they were used on the trip) and wedging them under the leaks left very few places to sleep among the junk in the back but somehow we managed it.
We awoke around 11am the next morning and looked blearily through the window to find the carpark absolutely full of cars and shoppers. Our low-visibility parking job had taken up two parking spaces and left the back end (extended with the motorbike rack) almost half way across the aisle! We shuffled the beastie forward and went into a nearby cafe for coffee and croiscants, sheepishly confirming that yes, it was our "campingcar" then split, rapidly.
We planned our route to arrive at the next site in daylight so as not to get caught out again. Manouvering through narrow streets until we reached the spot, parked next to the hookup and discovered that in our rush to leave we had forgotten the power cable! Calling on my somewhat rusty French, I tried to buy a "cord d'electricite" and was corrected from my "electric rope" to "la cable", which they didn't have. It was two more stops before we managed to find one, so don't forget it and remember to pack a French adapter for those sites that don't have round plugs.
Departing the next day, we had to manouver past a car towing a damned house behind it through streets barely 10' wide before getting back onto the motorway. These have frequent "airs" (rest-stops) some of which have services and others offering well-lit stopping points. They are also mainly toll roads. You take a ticket when you get on and hand it over with the money when you get off. There are several problems with this arrangement. Firstly, to minimize staff costs, exits are kept to a minimum and you may have to back-track to get to what looked like an exit on the map. Secondly, the tickets are dispensed on the passenger side of a right hand drive vehicle. Thirdly, the beddy sometimes registers on the sensors as a truck so the ticket is dispensed either 3 feet above a seated passenger or 2 feet below; either way some limbering up exercises are in order.
Finally on day 3 after 800 miles, we arrived at our first kayak stop on the Ardeche and the Pont D'arc.
----------------------
|
New posts since your last visit
Old post
