Hi there, blog-followers! We have safely made it home and are amazed at how Autumn has advanced while we have been away; there are fallen conkers and leaves everywhere! So much for the heatwave which we were too late for...
We were really sorry Trevor and Joan were too busy to make it on the Friday night but had a really chilled last meal out with Degsy at Sant Antoni.
Saturday we spent doing "closing down jobs"; we were planning to go down to the lovely site restaurant for a last night meal but were too tired to get cleaned up, etc so I went to get a takeaway from the Snack Bar, only to find them shut at 8.45pm, so our last night's meal in Spain ended up being bread and cheese in Stan!
Sunday we got on our way about 11.00am and were enjoying the drive up the French coast when the car started spluttering again; the temperature had started rising after we had left and - by the time we hit the Northbound mountainous lower part of our route - it was 33C. Our poor car couldn't cope with the heat, full car, big caravan and really steep climbs which went on for miles and seemed unending. Beautiful countryside if only we didn't have our hearts in our mouths!! We were watching the temperature gauge go up and up and then - when I was driving up a really long and steep road - we got a flashing red emergency light to say we were dangerously overheating. We were so lucky that there was a bit of hard core to the edge of the road on to which I managed to steer the car. We just had to wait until it cooled down - but it was the middle of the day and there was no shade. The dogs were too hot to leave in the car but there was a little bit of shade between the back of the car and the front of Stan so we had to keep them there. Another van suffering the same pulled in in front of us and a French woman came and asked us for water which we gave her; we realised we should check our own water and topped up slowly. After a while, we decided to go on and, all through that day, we had to take runs at any steep slopes to get us up - but we didn't overheat again. As it was cooler motoring in the evening, we cracked on and made good headway, stopping overnight in a services with a panoramic view.
To make the most of the cooler hours, we decided to leave early the next morning, had a good run with no splutters and arrived at the camp site "Camping d'Olivet" at about 3.00pm. It was very sweet but an awkward entrance for big caravans like ours. The people were really helpful and we'd like to go back and stay there a while next time.
After lovely hot showers, we drove to M Piedvache (the vet in Orleans) and got the dogs treated and their passports signed. Bob, this will not go down well with you after your expensive vet bill but he only charged us 39 Euros for both of the dogs! Fantastic... Then we went for a little drive round Orleans (very pretty centre) and had a steak and fries in an Italian restaurant, the only one near us open and not at all as nice as a French one. Will have to go to Cafe Rouge in Epsom instead methinks...
Tuesday we got on the road about 10.30am and spent the night at a nice service station about 10 miles from the Eurotunnel terminal. We got up early on Wednesday morning and got to the port early; after dog passport-checking and breakfast in the terminal, we had an easy crossing and drive back home.
Although we could have easily stayed away longer, it was nice coming home to "Hartsbrook" and thank you Geoff & Trish and Mary for looking out for everything for us.
I hope you have enjoyed hearing about our travels - stay tuned for our next trip!
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