So, Monday morning started with looking for a garage to look at and fix the Motorhome. The campsite recommended a garage (‘Garage 1”), just down the road, who were not able to deal with Fiats, yep you guessed the Motorhome is a Fiat. So Garage 1 recommended a Fiat garage (‘Garage 2”) in Tarragona, heading back west, the way we had just come, Garage 2, a Fiat main dealer, was unable to help as their service facility is in the basement of the showroom and the motorhome is too tall to fit down the ramp, thankfully they did send one of the mechanics outside to have a look, we think just to check the wheel wasn’t going to fall off, obviously it wasn’t, so they sent us to Garage 3, in Reus, even further back west.
Thankfully Garage 3 agreed they could look at it in 20 mins – 30 mins, so in true garage style, they looked at it after 1 ½ hours, identified the problem as being that the brake pads and discs needed replacing and quoted a large figure to do the work, obviously we didn’t have a real choice so agreed for them to carry out the work, which would hopefully be carried out that afternoon. They then closed for a 1 ½ lunch and very diplomatically threw us out, giving us directions to the local “restaurant’. The restaurant was fine €11.50 for the 3-course menu of the day including a drink. So, we kill time and head back to Garage 3 when the open after lunch and sit in their air-conditioned reception all afternoon. At 5:30 they inform us that when fitting the new brake pads and discs they discovered that the brake callipers also needed some repair, and therefore they could not finish the job that afternoon. They agreed to move the Motorhome on to the road outside the garage, so we could spend the night in the motorhome on an industrial estate.
Garage 3 needed to send the brake callipers to a specialist to be refurbished, so another day sat in their reception, not wanting to leave and there was nothing interesting close enough to Garage 3, but this time we were prepared to sit it out, which included books, coffees etc. yes, we got thrown out again at lunchtime, so back to the restaurant for another €11.50 menu of the day. The same waitress was on duty, and today she realised the extent of our lack of Spanish and helped us out with the menu choices, by taking pictures, and using a translation app to tell us about them! Nic learnt a new word ….sandia is watermelon!
Back at the Garage at about 5pm we were informed the work had been completed for a figure 50% more than the original quote! But needs must and the bill was paid. The only thing they could not deal with was an ABS brakes sensor, so we still have a warning light on the dash board.
Before we set off on this journey, someone said “you can’t expect to travel for that long with having a crisis” (you know who you are!) the same someone challenged us to go to a specific restaurant in Barcelona. We accepted the challenge but failed to get there because of this crisis! This only means we’ll have to go back to Barcelona to complete the challenge.
So after getting back on the road, we set off back east, after the last couple of days, we didn’t get that far before attempting to find a campsite for the night, the first campsite we arrived at had a high restricted entrance, a strange thing for a campsite looking to attract Motorhomes, so we carried on looking for another, the joys of google maps, which tried to direct us to the next campsite via a very low bridge. Only the second time on the journey we have had to turn around. We finally found a nice campsite, which was massive, it had its own amphitheatre! But we only stayed 1 night as we had other places to be.
Wednesday, we had a long day at the wheel, driving 5 hours between us, to get to a campsite near Beziers (back in France). This campsite was a family party site, not our usual choice, but it was near Beziers airport and Nic was flying back to the UK for a couple days, so near the Airport was a good choice.
Late evening on Thursday Nic flew back to the UK, a free transfer to the airport from the campsite.
Friday, Rog had an easy lazy day, after doing some “house” work, a nice campsite with our own little shed on the pitch with a private loo and shower. Just had to put up with the loud entertainment until 11:30pm.
Saturday, Nic was due back to Beziers airport at 4:20pm with Ryanair, and yes you guessed it, was delayed, the flight left Manchester 2 hours late, then 10 mins from landing in Beziers, the Captain informed the passengers that Beziers airport was closed and therefore they would be landing in Montpellier, waiting for another 2 hours for a bus to arrive, then being taken to Beziers train station rather than the airport (which is walking distance to the Campsite) so a further wait for a taxi, Nic finally got back to the campsite at 11:30pm instead of 4:30pm only a 7 hr delay!! Rog had another easy day, a cycle along the Canal d’ Midi, then sat by the lagoon, a man made beach on the campsite.
Sunday, started with Nic filling in the Ryanair compensation form, hopefully another €250 compensation. Then we had a 4 hour drive up to Le Puy (heading towards Lyon), which included a slight altercation with a car that overtook us and cut in far too early, as another car was coming in the other direction, clipping the front end of the Motorhome, thankfully no significant damage, he stopped and exchanged details just in case. A driver following us also stopped, tore a strip of the driver (in French) and offered to be our witness of the collision. All slightly stressful but could have been a lot worse.
We had nothing booked in Le Puy, but it has 2 Aires and 2 Campsite, so we’d be able to get a pitch somewhere. How wrong we were! There was a Renaissance festival in Le Puy, lots of people dressed in costume, lots of motorhomes and not a pitch to be had anywhere, so we left Le Puy and headed another 20mins to an Aire in Beaulieu, which was free in both senses of the word, available & no cost, it even had free electricity.
Sorry no photos this week.
Travurple 