Au revoir mes amis

[SheikhLala]

The day has come and we’re off
Currently residing at the Euro Tunnel car park, ready for our early train.
Travelling through Amiens, Vivonne, Pau, Zaragoza to Daya Nueva. At the in laws for a week, then off to Fitou, Lyon, Dijon, Reims and home.
Very excited and also nervous, mainly due to a lack of instrumentation!! Had the clocks replaced under warranty at habitation/MOT and yesterday afternoon the temperature and rev counter ceased to work. Tried a OBD2 splitter and an Amazon special “it reads every parameter “ but the alarm had other ideas, so like my normal daily life, I shall stumble around, blindly in the dark.

 

[EuroTrotters]

just relax and enjoy

 

[Millcourt]

Bon Voyage…… or whatever it is they say in France!

 

[MisterB]

Speedometers are over rated ....

 

[SheikhLala]

Speedometers are over rated ....

Said no traffic policeman ever

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[Nanniemate]

Just drive slower than everyone else

 

[Shrimp]

Sat Nav?
That will give you your speed!

 

[SheikhLala]

So after a shite journey, we have arrived at a lovely site.
We were on an earlier train but got held up in a queue and ended up on the original train. Planned our route and was then informed by the live traffic thing that there was 50 minute traffic delays!! We tried a bit of avoidance driving, not using the motorhome sat nav and ended up facing a 2.0 metre height restriction, so we swerved again.
The rest of the journey was quite fun, beautiful scenery and terrible singing
We were going to stay in Vivonne but the entrance to the site also had a height restriction and I wasn’t willing to gamble on my competence using a tape measure.
So we swerved again a found a lovely site in Chateau-Larcher, €7 for the night including facilities.
Chateau-Larcher
Vienne
Nouvelle- Aquitaine
86370
N 46.4146,E0.3155

After a 420 mile slog, I’m on the cider

 

[SheikhLala]

Today started out full of promise, we both had a great nights sleep and awoke fresh and ready.
We had noticed a small fuel leak under the van but assumed it was from overfilling the tank the previous day. Left the site and drove through some fantastic scenery,feeling relaxed and happy. The van was returning 31.6 mpg and we eventually had to stop and fill her up. €144 later, we were cracking on but the van stunk of diesel and the mpg had seriously dropped, pulled over to find diesel gushing out of the filter housing. I’ve got all the tools to get the poxy thing out but nothing big enough to open it and try sealing it, so I’ve relented and help has been summoned.

 

[Grianan]

Hope you get it sorted quickly, without too much expense.

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[pampam]

Blinkin ekk!!!!

 

[62272]

We had that after a service, the garage hadnt tightened the filter housing enough. Bleeding annoying!!

Hope you get it sorted soon

 

[Nirvanauk]

We had that after a service, the garage hadnt tightened the filter housing enough. Bleeding annoying!!

Hope you get it sorted soon

We had the same problem after a full fiat professional service, dumped litre upon litre all over the pitch. thank goodness the RAC man knew all about it. Bloody useless fiat dealers!!

 

[62272]

We had the same problem after a full fiat professional service, dumped litre upon litre all over the pitch. thank goodness the RAC man knew all about it. Bloody useless fiat dealers!!

Funny that… It was Fiat Professional who did it! We dont use them any more.

 

[SheikhLala]

Well the nice man, on behalf of the AA, turned up to recover us! Via Google Translate, other translators are available, I explained about the filter housing issue and he said he would take it to his garage to disassemble, clean and reassemble. It took him 75 minutes to turn up, I was told 60-90 minutes and he was back with tools, sprays, and god only knows what else in 20 minutes. He refitted everything, gave everything a clean and we started her up. Fired first time, ran lovely and smooth and, , no sign of escaping diesel
We carried onto Sabinanigo and am currently parked in the local police station car park, not for being naughty! €5 for power, water and waste.
Bonsoir.

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[SheikhLala]

Today was a great day, no photos but great memories made.
Left the police station at Sabinangio and drove to Daya Nueva. It appears that nice man has fixed the fuel filter issue There were a few spots on the ground under the van but hopefully just some of the crap that is sprayed all over the engine bay and wheel arch.
Filled up and we were on our way, mpg seems good at 29, especially with the amount of climbing and 300kms+ of head/cross wind. Arrived in one piece and have done nothing but drink
Going to monitor for leaks over the next few days and just relax

 

[SheikhLala]

But if a late update but things to eat and drink got in the way!!
Left Daya Nueva on Tuesday morning and drove to Campany, just on the French border. Lovely site, with showers that were so powerful, they stung! Had a lovely walk round the village and discovered everything was shut, so bread, cheese and cider for dinner
Wednesday we drove to Fleurville, very expensive but so worth it. A great site with the most fantastic restaurant on site, everything homemade and delicious.
Today we had a nice, short day and are at the site in Chalons en Champagne. Feel a bit of motorhome envy, as we’re parked next to a lovely Concorde, with a Morrello a few bays down. Can’t decide whether to have a few drinks here and walk into town or more than a few beers and eat here, burger and frites sounds quite inviting.

A few things I have noticed on our maiden euro trip:
The amount of Concorde motor homes is staggering and I want one!
Almost every “foreign” motorhome/caravan has no space left on their roofs after aircon and satellite units.
The Falken Euroall Season tyres that I put on are great, much less road noise and some of the harshness from bumps has been removed.

We both really enjoyed it, some long days but busy lives at home mean we don’t get to spend quality time together, though had I known how bad her singing was……