Post by semihemi on Oct 24, 2012 19:14:23 GMT 1
right then,just before the old forum went down i was off to the south of france in my mk2 camper,im going to have a go at sticking some pics up with a few words to let you know where i was..
Well it all started thurs Oct 4th we left leicestershire at 8.30pm to get to Dover for the fri 2.30am ferry,we got down there in plenty of time and was the first in line,it was pissing down and miserable but we did'nt care cos we was off on our hollidays.
we crossed with no problems and parked up in one of the Calais aires,crashed till around 9am and woke to the sound of heavy rain and really strong winds..great!!
trying to steer in a straight line in normal conditions is hard enough but in that wind was a nightmare!!
Well we decided to stop just south of Orleans near a place called Salbris,great aire and loads of very expensive motorhomes..
all was going really well.
we woke up the next morning had breakfast and set off for Toulouse,by now the sun was out and it was T shirt weather bloody great,we decided to use a Toll road for some of the trip down just to get the miles out the way and pulled off the toll road near a town called Cahors,paid the cash and pulled into the layby just to check the map and stretch tho legs.
ready to set off again turn the key and..click click nothing,up with the bonnet tap the starter solanoid wiggle a few wires and it fired up,by now we decided to go into cahors and park up for the night,concerned about the starter prob i spent a few hours trying to check it out,one we'd parked i couldn't get it to turn over again..ah well a glass of red and ill sort it in the morning..
fresh day and we pack the van ready for the off and it starts!!
i said to the mrs we'll get to the coast and ill check it out properly so off we go.
all the way down to Narbonne plage,found a great aire on the sea front,parked up and set the van out.many more beers and glasses of red we slept sound.
morning came,off for a walk along the beach,out buying more wine and beer then back to the van to fix that starter!!
by the afternoon i had come to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be fixed.
on the phone to the breakdown cover people and they said theres a frenchy on the way to you,an hour or so later up he turns in his wagon,tries to fix it..no chance,says he can re lay us up to a garage in the next town where it can be fixed.
i said tow start me and ill follow you so off we go.
Gruissan and the garage,the mechanic gets multi tester on it and its the starter motor..no shit!!
He can get us a new one and fit it for 450 euro's! i said to suzi get on the phone and tell the breakdown people we aint paying that and get us relay home!! The breakdown says it can be fixed so we wont relay you..shit!! so the grease monkey says the new motor will be there on weds,this was monday and i wasn't going to spend the rest of my holls on a garage forecourt,he says we can bump start the van and i can go into gruissan and spend the next few days there and he'll come and bump the van to bring it back to fit the starter..great stuff.
Gruissan is a beautifull place crammed with million pound yacht's and we loved it,the aire was great allso crammed with 80K plus motorhomes.
weds morning and frenchy turns up bumps the van and within an hour were off on our way north,over the Millou bridge(awesome) and steadily climbing for miles,being overtaken by lorries and anything else on the road becomes quite embarrassing after a while,anway we pull off the main road into an aire at a village called Le malzieu ville around 60 miles south of clermont ferrand,beautifull place but cold as its 1000m above sea level.
thursday morning and were back on our way north again and stop in the same aire that we stayed in on our way down nr Salbris,lovely place,more beer and red wine..
Fri morning and were on our way for Calais for the night,on the way we heard a squealing coming from the front but it stopped when i touched the brakes,the closer to Calais we got the cloudier and colder it got.By the time we got there it was raining so i parked up in the aire next to the ferry port,as i turned in to it i heard this horrible grinding noise,felt the front wheel hubs and one of them was red hot with grease dripping out..one knackered wheel bearing.
i thought as long as i can get on and off the ferry im not bothered the relay can get me home.
off into Calais for a meal and beer then back to the van for bed..
sat morning and on to the ferry,wheel bearing not sounding that bad and off the other side,4 miles out of dover and into a layby a quick call to the nice breakdown people and within an hour and half were hooked up and on our way back to leicestershire.
Great holls,great fun and love the camper..just with i hadn't filled up before Calais now.
Well it all started thurs Oct 4th we left leicestershire at 8.30pm to get to Dover for the fri 2.30am ferry,we got down there in plenty of time and was the first in line,it was pissing down and miserable but we did'nt care cos we was off on our hollidays.
we crossed with no problems and parked up in one of the Calais aires,crashed till around 9am and woke to the sound of heavy rain and really strong winds..great!!
trying to steer in a straight line in normal conditions is hard enough but in that wind was a nightmare!!
Well we decided to stop just south of Orleans near a place called Salbris,great aire and loads of very expensive motorhomes..
all was going really well.
we woke up the next morning had breakfast and set off for Toulouse,by now the sun was out and it was T shirt weather bloody great,we decided to use a Toll road for some of the trip down just to get the miles out the way and pulled off the toll road near a town called Cahors,paid the cash and pulled into the layby just to check the map and stretch tho legs.
ready to set off again turn the key and..click click nothing,up with the bonnet tap the starter solanoid wiggle a few wires and it fired up,by now we decided to go into cahors and park up for the night,concerned about the starter prob i spent a few hours trying to check it out,one we'd parked i couldn't get it to turn over again..ah well a glass of red and ill sort it in the morning..
fresh day and we pack the van ready for the off and it starts!!
i said to the mrs we'll get to the coast and ill check it out properly so off we go.
all the way down to Narbonne plage,found a great aire on the sea front,parked up and set the van out.many more beers and glasses of red we slept sound.
morning came,off for a walk along the beach,out buying more wine and beer then back to the van to fix that starter!!
by the afternoon i had come to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be fixed.
on the phone to the breakdown cover people and they said theres a frenchy on the way to you,an hour or so later up he turns in his wagon,tries to fix it..no chance,says he can re lay us up to a garage in the next town where it can be fixed.
i said tow start me and ill follow you so off we go.
Gruissan and the garage,the mechanic gets multi tester on it and its the starter motor..no shit!!
He can get us a new one and fit it for 450 euro's! i said to suzi get on the phone and tell the breakdown people we aint paying that and get us relay home!! The breakdown says it can be fixed so we wont relay you..shit!! so the grease monkey says the new motor will be there on weds,this was monday and i wasn't going to spend the rest of my holls on a garage forecourt,he says we can bump start the van and i can go into gruissan and spend the next few days there and he'll come and bump the van to bring it back to fit the starter..great stuff.
Gruissan is a beautifull place crammed with million pound yacht's and we loved it,the aire was great allso crammed with 80K plus motorhomes.
weds morning and frenchy turns up bumps the van and within an hour were off on our way north,over the Millou bridge(awesome) and steadily climbing for miles,being overtaken by lorries and anything else on the road becomes quite embarrassing after a while,anway we pull off the main road into an aire at a village called Le malzieu ville around 60 miles south of clermont ferrand,beautifull place but cold as its 1000m above sea level.
thursday morning and were back on our way north again and stop in the same aire that we stayed in on our way down nr Salbris,lovely place,more beer and red wine..
Fri morning and were on our way for Calais for the night,on the way we heard a squealing coming from the front but it stopped when i touched the brakes,the closer to Calais we got the cloudier and colder it got.By the time we got there it was raining so i parked up in the aire next to the ferry port,as i turned in to it i heard this horrible grinding noise,felt the front wheel hubs and one of them was red hot with grease dripping out..one knackered wheel bearing.
i thought as long as i can get on and off the ferry im not bothered the relay can get me home.
off into Calais for a meal and beer then back to the van for bed..
sat morning and on to the ferry,wheel bearing not sounding that bad and off the other side,4 miles out of dover and into a layby a quick call to the nice breakdown people and within an hour and half were hooked up and on our way back to leicestershire.
Great holls,great fun and love the camper..just with i hadn't filled up before Calais now.