Calais, here we come
15th Nov
We woke up in a builders yard come boat yard but we had a great nights sleep. The road works didn't start until about 8am so that was good.
A few vans turned up during last evening and they made the usual noises, dogs announcing themselves and various doors slamming but that's van life, live and let live!
We got our boots on and went for a walk to the lake and the beach which was surprising, we didn't realise that the area was so big. It must heave with holiday makers in the summer, it was massive and there were bars, resturaunts, boating schools, wind surfing, crazy golf, everything!
We decided that one night in a 'builders yard' was quite enough, (It wasn't that bad really) so we got ready and drove over the service area before heading off to our next stop, a little free Aire next to a canal at Soulanges ///roadwork.consumption.steep
The Aire was free but there were no services. We parked in the designated space which was very wide but just long enough for the Mac shack and ran it up on the ramps to level it off so the sink drained properly and went for a walk into the village.
16th Nov
It was time to move on so a quick cuppa and then over the canal to the village and away.
We had washing to do so we stopped off at the Revolution machines in a supermarche complex 15 minutes down the road in Pogny ///wraparound.unsupported.scowled
Whilst the washing was on we did some shopping and sat in the van where we had brunch. We decided against trying to get something in the bar or pizza restaurant as there was vomit just outside the pizza place and the whole complex looked a bit run down and unattractive.
Washing done we set off for the Aire at Les Islettes
///serving.timeliness.sighing
This Aire cost €8 (Cash at this time of year which goes into an envelope, provided by the community and inserted through the letter box in the showers building)
For your €8 you get parking for 24 hours, water, waste, EHU and hot showers in a heated building. The money goes to a disabled school to help the children who attend it.
17th Nov
It rained last night and we had parked under some trees, rooky mistake and we should have known better! The trees dumped the rain and their dead leaves all over the roof of the van all night and through the morning but Sue managed to sleep through to well past 10:30!
Andy wanted a hot shower so off he went. The showeres were fanastic with continuous hot water for as long as you want. None of this press the button for 10 seconds of hot water and then it stops and you have to keep pressing the bloody thing!
He got back to the van and Sue said that she thought he had got lost, apparently he was gone for an hour! She had not been idle though and had got the van ready for the road so that we could get to our next stop before dark. We had found another free Aire near the village of Rozoy-Sur-Serre. ///undervalued.talcum.smarten
The journey was uneventful and after stopping for a break at an Intermarche (Which was closed as it was Sunday) we arrived at this very pleasant Aire although the final kilometre took us through Rozoy-Sur-Serre which was a bit run down.
The Aire had gravel pitches and water services but no EHU.
There were walks through the woods which led to views of the valley and crossed the river Serre so we might have a look at that tomorrow, weather permitting.
The good news was that we had a great EE signal at last, the previous two Aires were almost dead, signal wise which made it difficult to work on the web site and watch Youtube and Netflix!
18th Nov
We had a really peaceful night. No other vans turned up so no barking dogs or slamming doors!
It was raining as Andy got up and it felt cold so the deisel heater went on whilst he had his cuppa and sat working on this blog for an hour or so. Then we went for that walk, in the rain and it was nice to get the blood pumping!
We were off again this morning and we had worked out that we could stop three more times before we needed to be at the Calais ferry port on Thursday, 21st so we left the Aire and pointed the Mac shack north towards Saint Quentin where there was a free Aire with no services.
Unfortunately, the reviews for the park up didn't mention that there were weight restrictions of 3.5 tons max and we didn't find this out until we got the the 'car park' which was not a suitable place to stay over night as it was opposite a school and a church, whos bells started ringing as soon as we arrived!
So, we decided to head for a 2nd choice Aire which was a Camping Car Park run Aire in Arleux.
We arrived as it was getting dark and we pulled in and connected the 6 amp EHU and settled down for the night.
Note: The van is running well but we have noticed that there is a noise coming from the front nearside wheel area. We think that it could be a noisy bearing and Andy hopes to be able to have a look tomorrow morning before we set off to the Calais area.
19th Nov
Rain and wind through the night carried on through the morning so Andy decided that due to the weather he would not be able to take the wheel off and check for bearing wear. We will monitor the noise and make a decision if it gets worse.
We have decided to aim for a park up which we had used before, April this year actually, which is close to Calais so that we can relax and not worry about catching the ferry on Thursday (21st).
This Aire is at Esqueredes at an ancient gunpowder mill.
///debit.liked.microphones
UPDATE: The noise from the front wheel area got steadily worse as we travelled towards Esquerdes so we quickly checked for and found an Aire at Ablain Saint Nazaire,
///autumn.glovebox.terminology
which was closer to where we were. We arrived to find a really nice, new looking area with water, waste and EHU for around €12 per 24 hours.
Andy called the RAC and, long story short, they sent a local breakdown company and the mechanic used the translation service by phone and it was decided that he would return tomorrow to properly assess the problem in daylight so, watch this space!
We settled down for the evening and watched Youtube, heating on safe and warm but a little worried about the repair situation.
20th Nov
Yesterday was stressful and to top it all it rained for most of the day! We awoke to a cold but sunny morning and no rain! Everything looks better in the sunshine.
Andy phoned RAC breakdown for an update and to get some sort of confirmation of the plan and what we could expect to happen.
With our European cover we have the options below:
- If the assessment determines that the van is safe to drive, we can choose to drive to the ferry as planned and continue to a garage of our choice.
- If it is not safe to drive we can opt to have a tow to the ferry drive on and off and get recovery once in the UK
- Get recovered to a garage in France for repair, Hotel, transport to and from all covered up to £3000
We think that if it needs repair we will have it done here in France as option 3 above.
Photos of the Aire at Ablain St. Nazaire.
So the update is that the breakdown company arrived at 3pm and they went for a drive with Andy driving first and then the mechanic drove the van back to the Aire.
We then jacked the van up so that the nearside wheel was off the ground and we ran the wheel with the engine driving it in 2nd gear and the noise was very apparent.
Conclusion was that the problem was a defective wheel bearing and both nearside and offside would need to be replaced.
The bad news is that it would take at least 7 days to get the parts!
After much deliberation we decided to go for a tow to Calais to catch the ferry to Dover and then get recovered to a garage once back in the UK.
21st Nov
Another night at the Aire Ablain St Nazaire with electric heating on and everything that we needed for €12.55.
We got a phone call from the recovery driver and he promised to collect the Mac shack by 3pm but arrived nearer to 4pm.
We drove around to the Marie, council offices car park as it would be easier for the driver to recover us from there and we met the Mayor!
When the recovery driver arrived he lifted the front wheels off the ground and towed us to Calais where he released the van in the car park of the cafe.
We thanked him and although we had booked the 23:00 ferry to Dover we found that we were able to get on the 19:35 ferry, happy days.
We drove on without any delay and sat down to dinner in the canteen.
At Dover we drove off the ferry and very slowly (20MPH) up the A2, Jubilee way, to a pub called The brewers fayre and parked out of the way. Andy went in to talk to the manager, a lovely friendly lady who insisted that we stay as long as we needed to and told us to "Come indoors and get warm" So we had a couple of pints whilst we phoned RAC breakdown (UK) to arrange recovery.
At about 22:00 we went back to the van and went to bed, fully clothed as we expected the recovery lorry to turn up.
22nd Nov
The recovery chap arrived at 01:30 and after a quick inspection he decided that he needed a bigger truck and promised to be back in a couple of hours.
We later got a phone call from the RAC to tell us that we would be recovered later that day so we went to sleep the best we could.
In the morning Andy went into the pub to get a full English breakfast and returned to the van after an hour to wait all day for the truck to arrive!
Once the truck arrived we were loaded onto it (Video above) and we set off for Clackett lane services on the M-25 south of the river Thames as the driver was not allowed to go any further due to working hours restrictions so we were unloaded in the car park of the service station and we waited in the cafe area where we had chicken and noodles.
The third recovery truck arrived and loaded the van on with some help from some planks and skid blocks as the van is quite low at the rear end and the truck was a double decked transporter so the angle was more acute but it went on and we set off for our secure lock up. The driver dropped us off around the corner from our lock up as there was more space there.
That was some adventure, we could have ended this one a bit better but with an older van you are bound to have the odd problem and because we had the correct insurances in place we were brought home from France free of charge so the £299 premium saved us at least £2000 !
Here is a rough video of our route from start to finish.
Night night.
