After a first night spent qualifying for an Olympic medal in shivering, night two was spent sweating it out like a druggy denied his weed. To everyone’s discomfort, I haven’t quite mastered the heater yet and so have made our snore time either too cold or too hot. Hopefully I’ll get it just right tonight. On the first night I set the heater to number 9 on 1000 watts. On day two, I set it to number 9 on 2000 watts. Tonight I think I’ll try number 6 on 2000 watts and if that doesn’t work, I’ll delegate the task to Mrs. F and blame her. It doesn’t help keep travelling south because the temperature is changing to become more mild.
Today was spent mostly on the A75, after we managed to find it that is. With six of us in the overheated van, there was a lot of condensation. Not just at the front, but also at the back. Somehow the Tom Tom got very damp and as a result, it wouldn’t work at all this morning. Panick ensued. ‘Told you so’s were ringing in my ears. This meant having to ask the martian voice of the AutoRoute 2007 to navigate which it probably did quite well but we couldn’t hear its instructions for laughter. The way it announces its instructions is hilarious and sometimes the instructions are so long winded that you have missed the turning before you’ve actually been told to take it. It is clear therefore that the Tom Tom is way ahead in the ‘do this, do that’ category but the AutoRoute is nevertheless very handy for telling you exactly where you are when you need to know. It’s also better at planning a route etc.
I have to say that today’s journey was one of the most amazing I have made in a road vehicle. The scenery, the wildlife, the roads and the general excitement of the changing views was just fantastic. For the first time, it actually felt like we were on holiday and really started enjoying ourselves. We stopped off at a service area sat on a mountain region more than 1000 meters above sea level. It was so cold that the air was frozen, as were all of the trees and plants. We stopped initially purely for the novelty value with the snow etc but fortunately there was a grey water disposal area which enabled me to empty the tank as I should have done two days before. Whoops. It was obviously very full because it came gushing out and took at least 5 minutes to empty.
What goes up must come down and thank god. We went up and down more times today than a whore’s drawers! There must have been 50 high bridges or viaducts, some of which were very scary for someone like me who suffers from ‘I must jump off’ syndrome. The highlight however was the Millau Bridge. This construction spanning some 2500 kilometres at 800 metres high is just amazing as you approach it. Going over it is less exciting actually because part of its design is to reduce the windspeed by having deflectors on each side. This has the effect of blocking any view. A bit of a shame really, but still massively impressive. We did record the crossing or we did think we had recorded the crossing but, in fact, managed to do the pause/record confusion thing and didn’t get a single frame.
After the bridge came the trauma of finding another secure place to stay tonight. Mrs. F frowned into those books for well over an hour before announcing our destination. I pumped that into the Tom Tom (which had suddenly started working again) and we arrived at about 4 pm. Despite the book’s assurances, it was closed. I found someone nearby and in my best Franglaise managed to be redirected to another place. When I say ‘managed to’, what I mean is that I had no idea where I was going at all. I didn’t fess up to this of course but just kept driving and staring at the street signs for inspiration whilst Mrs. F frowned even harder into the Aires book. This is set to become a part of the routine and is, so far, the only aspect our trip to be causing some stress. We don’t want to wild camp yet there are few places to stay in that are open this time of year. I am beginning to regret not planning all of our stops as thoroughly as our first.
Fortunately, I spotted a tourist office just off the main road who directed us to a place nearby. We got there at 4.59 just a minute before it closed. Phew. Yet another close shave and a real worry for a time. This place is called Vias near Beziers and it looks like the whole area only really caters for the high season. We are the only one on site which has 16 amp hook up and showers. The whole area looks like a set from Scooby Doo where the baddy men spring out from behind unused roller coasters or run around the empty go-kart tracks.
At the tourist office eariler, I managed to hack their wireless network and connect to the internet. Other than when my 3g phone worked earlier today, that is the first internet access I have had on this trip which is a surprise. The 16 year old is getting withdrawal symptoms so I might just park up outside the tourist office for an hour or so in the morning to let him stoke up a bit.
We used the local Supermarchet to by ingredients for our dinner and cooked another cracking selection for everyone. One again, having two seating areas really added value to our experience which, overall, has made us feelreally mpressed with our choice of van.
Tomorrow we are heading to Barcelona where we hope to park up and have a decent wander. We think we already have somewhere to stay and hope its open so we can avoid that sinking panic we have had for the last two evenings…
Today was spent mostly on the A75, after we managed to find it that is. With six of us in the overheated van, there was a lot of condensation. Not just at the front, but also at the back. Somehow the Tom Tom got very damp and as a result, it wouldn’t work at all this morning. Panick ensued. ‘Told you so’s were ringing in my ears. This meant having to ask the martian voice of the AutoRoute 2007 to navigate which it probably did quite well but we couldn’t hear its instructions for laughter. The way it announces its instructions is hilarious and sometimes the instructions are so long winded that you have missed the turning before you’ve actually been told to take it. It is clear therefore that the Tom Tom is way ahead in the ‘do this, do that’ category but the AutoRoute is nevertheless very handy for telling you exactly where you are when you need to know. It’s also better at planning a route etc.
I have to say that today’s journey was one of the most amazing I have made in a road vehicle. The scenery, the wildlife, the roads and the general excitement of the changing views was just fantastic. For the first time, it actually felt like we were on holiday and really started enjoying ourselves. We stopped off at a service area sat on a mountain region more than 1000 meters above sea level. It was so cold that the air was frozen, as were all of the trees and plants. We stopped initially purely for the novelty value with the snow etc but fortunately there was a grey water disposal area which enabled me to empty the tank as I should have done two days before. Whoops. It was obviously very full because it came gushing out and took at least 5 minutes to empty.
What goes up must come down and thank god. We went up and down more times today than a whore’s drawers! There must have been 50 high bridges or viaducts, some of which were very scary for someone like me who suffers from ‘I must jump off’ syndrome. The highlight however was the Millau Bridge. This construction spanning some 2500 kilometres at 800 metres high is just amazing as you approach it. Going over it is less exciting actually because part of its design is to reduce the windspeed by having deflectors on each side. This has the effect of blocking any view. A bit of a shame really, but still massively impressive. We did record the crossing or we did think we had recorded the crossing but, in fact, managed to do the pause/record confusion thing and didn’t get a single frame.
After the bridge came the trauma of finding another secure place to stay tonight. Mrs. F frowned into those books for well over an hour before announcing our destination. I pumped that into the Tom Tom (which had suddenly started working again) and we arrived at about 4 pm. Despite the book’s assurances, it was closed. I found someone nearby and in my best Franglaise managed to be redirected to another place. When I say ‘managed to’, what I mean is that I had no idea where I was going at all. I didn’t fess up to this of course but just kept driving and staring at the street signs for inspiration whilst Mrs. F frowned even harder into the Aires book. This is set to become a part of the routine and is, so far, the only aspect our trip to be causing some stress. We don’t want to wild camp yet there are few places to stay in that are open this time of year. I am beginning to regret not planning all of our stops as thoroughly as our first.
Fortunately, I spotted a tourist office just off the main road who directed us to a place nearby. We got there at 4.59 just a minute before it closed. Phew. Yet another close shave and a real worry for a time. This place is called Vias near Beziers and it looks like the whole area only really caters for the high season. We are the only one on site which has 16 amp hook up and showers. The whole area looks like a set from Scooby Doo where the baddy men spring out from behind unused roller coasters or run around the empty go-kart tracks.
At the tourist office eariler, I managed to hack their wireless network and connect to the internet. Other than when my 3g phone worked earlier today, that is the first internet access I have had on this trip which is a surprise. The 16 year old is getting withdrawal symptoms so I might just park up outside the tourist office for an hour or so in the morning to let him stoke up a bit.
We used the local Supermarchet to by ingredients for our dinner and cooked another cracking selection for everyone. One again, having two seating areas really added value to our experience which, overall, has made us feelreally mpressed with our choice of van.
Tomorrow we are heading to Barcelona where we hope to park up and have a decent wander. We think we already have somewhere to stay and hope its open so we can avoid that sinking panic we have had for the last two evenings…
1 comment:
Well done to you, Fego. It seems like you;re getting there, which is great. I would try to get to your stops early, and when you've stopped, plan your next night's stop. You could always give them a ring - phoentically, "Vooz ett oovrey deman swoir?" (are you open tomorrow night?)
Hopefully, as you get further south, more places will be open as the temperature improves. Hopefully.
Gerald (gerannpasa) - MHF
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