Day 10 was Monday the 1st august. We woke up in the hostel for what was our last day there. Again just killed some time.After lunch when I phoned the recovery company to find out if the van was ready. This was around 1ish. They said that it was likely that the van was not going to be ready till 5pm which was dissappionting as we would have to kill another 4 hours. Fortunately we then got another call from them about 15 min later saying that the garage had called and it was ready so we grabbed a cab to the garage ASAP.
Once well had settled the bill which left as 200 euros lighter we hit the road and decided to head for Nice and see how far we got. This drive was about 450km so we would prob not make it all the way.
As soon as we hit the road it was clear that we were not going to make very good progress as it was very hot and there was lots of traffic. After a quick chat we decided that we would be best off just driving overnight,when its cooler and sleeping in one of the rest stops to make up time we had lost in Lyon.
So we set off driving stopping an service stations every 45 min or so to let the van cool down and have a bit of a rest ourselves.
We did this a few times and then around 8ish decide to stop in Avignon as the town was meant to be very nice. Rachel got some nice photo's of the walled town and then we headed back to the van to get some petrol and continue the drive. Getting petrol was not so easy as most stations were closed. Luckily we found one and hit the road again.
At around half 11 we decided it may be a good idea to pull over and get some sleep so we pulled over to one of the rest stops which looked very busy with motor homes and trucks. As soon as we pulled up the police turned up and swiftly told us that thieves operate in the area and would steal all our stuff if we stayed there so we decided to keep driving. After about another hour we pulled up for petrol and stopped just outside the shop and grabbed a quick couple of hours of sleep feeling a lot safer as there was loads of people stopping there and using the shop. We then repeated this process at another service station a further 50km away.
By 5am we had made it to Cannes so stopped again for another hour of sleep.
When we woke we decided to head down to the beach. This was only a brief stop as we only had 20 min parking. We had a quick stroll on the beach and then jumped back into the van to head for Nice. On the way our brakes failed which was not fun. This was due in combination to a small leak the rear left drum that we would not find out about till later and the heat which prob boiled some of the fluid we had left. This was not great and I was not in the best of mood when we spent an hour walking round Antibes looking for some more brake fluid. Eventually we found some and topped the level up and were off.
We found a campsite in a small place called Biot which wad nice enough although very busy and our pitch was right by the road so has alot of traffic noise. On the plus side it is literally a 2 min walk to the beach and not far some shops.
After setting up on site, getting the last pitch on site, we did some washing and which was badly needed as I was rocking my last clean pair of boxers we then Cycled to the shop to stock up of beer and a bit of food.
That done we head to the beach and a swim which was much needed as the temp must have been pushing 28.
We then returned to site and made some dinner and decided to see if the hook up which I wired up worked. I had tested it back in the UK but we were a bit unsure how it worked over here. It worked fine and for the cost of 6 euros we had ice cold beer for two days.
When eating dinner we noticed the brake fluid leaking for the left rear drum which was dissappionting but was a clear indication as to why our brakes had gone early in the day. After dinner I spent most of the evening on the net trying to figure out the problem with the help of one of the van forums I use. Strangely enough I got a reply from someone who lives in the town we are camping in and he recommended an English mechanic who could do the job. Now this sort of job is something I would usually do by myself at home but sourcing the parts and have the space to do it is something a bit more difficult when your in south France.
Decided we would call him in the morning to see if he could help. This was a bit dissappionting and we were both a bit pissed off but a guess you have to expect these things when you driving around in a 28 year old car.
Sorry there are no pictures in this post but I have done it from my phone. Will try upload some more later when I get some WiFi.
No comments:
Post a Comment