A bientôt EU

[Amarillo]

Sorry Tom! I just realised I am clogging up your "Au revoir EU" blog with stuff that almost certainly should be in another thread. Ooop's!

Not a problem - I love seeing this thread go off on tangents after I post. I'll bring it back on topic with the next instalment.

I used to have a lovely trick for commission free exchange. Nationwide offered Visa's exchange rate for cash advances and no additional fees other than the 3% cash advance fee for cash withdrawals. I could put my credit card into credit, and withdraw foreign currency without being charged the 3% cash advance fee.

Unfortunately, Nationwide later closed that loophole.


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[mccp]

I could put my credit card into credit, and withdraw foreign currency without being charged the 3% cash advance fee.

Unfortunately, Nationwide later closed that loophole.

Halifax have the same restriction on the Clarity card, but I wonder if you can get around it by withdrawing cash on the credit card and then making an online payment to the credit card account as soon as the withdrawal appears on the statement. Halifax state that they apply payments first to cash withdrawals and then to purchases. I guess that they might wait until the monthly statement date before paying off the withdrawal, so you'd still be charged interest.

 

[Amarillo]

Halifax have the same restriction on the Clarity card, but I wonder if you can get around it by withdrawing cash on the credit card and then making an online payment to the credit card account as soon as the withdrawal appears on the statement. Halifax state that they apply payments first to cash withdrawals and then to purchases. I guess that they might wait until the monthly statement date before paying off the withdrawal, so you'd still be charged interest.

I had a splendid argument with Nationwide when they first applied the 3% charge to my cash withdrawals, after changing the wording of their charges (which I was unaware).

Before going on a Christmas holiday to Shanghai and the tropical island of Hainan, I put my credit card account £1000 into credit and was then charged over £30 for withdrawing something over £900 in the Yuan equivalent at Barclaycard's rate.

On the phone to customer services, they said that I shouldn't have put my account into credit. To which I replied with aplomb, "if you cannot put credit on a credit card, it shouldn't be called a credit card, it is a debt card". They waived the £30+ in fees as a gesture of goodwill, but made a note on my account that I was aware of the charging policy change.

For this trip I came away with 6000 Euros in cash (most of it uninsured) that I had changed at marginally better than real exchange rates with clients over a period of more than a year. But carrying so much uninsured cash is a massive risk, and probably not worth the 3% saving.

Sadly, all those cheap Euros have been spent, but we've had fun spending them!


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[Amarillo]

Day 124 to 126 – Benicassim

We have swapped the vegetable poly tunnels of El Ejido for the orange groves of Benicassim. Much nicer.

These past few days have been dominated by our van and its needs. Some time ago, probably before we entered Portugal, a warning flashed up - oil service required in 1900Km. I decided it could wait until we reached France - it couldn't. As we left El Ejido it flashed up Oil Service overdue (or similar).

The oil service in this car are not at regular time or distance intervals, but assessed by a microprocessor, based on driving style, in this case after 26987 Km. A service would not wait.

We booked it into VW Castellon for 9.30 on Friday, and were told that the service would take 1 hour. So on Friday morning we cleared out the van, I dropped Clare and the boys off at Carrefour, and Meg and I went to the Seat service centre. They didn't have the booking - but could do the service that day at 16:30. "But we booked it today at 09:30 - with Eduardo".

"Perhaps it's next door at Peugeot?" They helpfully suggested. Baffled, I checked - they were right.

I drove the 100m next door, and around the back of the Peugeot showroom was a VW commercial vehicle service centre. I was warmly greeted by Eduardo. "30 minutes" says he, and off I trotted with Meg.

We found some waste ground behind a chicken farm, and Meg found a stick for her favourite trick. She fetched it and dropped it and fetched it and then, dropped it and fetched it and dropped it again.

At last the game was over and the 30 minutes up. I returned to the service centre to be told by Eduardo that the van was telling them to do some tests, and it wouldn't be ready until 17:30.

Even Clare wouldn't be able to shop until then. I explained the situation and a driver appeared in a Peugeot 106. He drove Meg and me to Carrefour, picked up Clare, Ben, Jack and the shopping, then took us to our campsite.

He promised to return with our van at 17:30. We swam, and lunched, and walked and played, returning to the campsite before 16:00 - the driver was there, with a Peugeot 3008, not our van. Apparently he was scared to drive a left hand drive vehicle.

The service cost was 192 Euros:

When I bought the van I paid in advance for four services, which I guess includes oil services - though perhaps not the oil. Unsurprisingly, this is not available in Spain. On Saturday I called VW Customer Services, said that my oil service indicator was flashing, that I was in Spain, and what should I do. Their answer surprised me somewhat. "Drive back to the UK to get it serviced".



This campsite has a swimming pool, and we've been swimming daily. Ben and Jack love playing with their stacking pots in the toddler pool. Sometimes Ben swims in the big pool with his ring. On Saturday morning he jumped in, flipped over, and was trapped upside down with the ring around his waist and his legs flapping in the air. I don't recall getting in the pool, but he was out of the pool within a few seconds. "Your t-shirt is wet" was Ben's first remark.


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[Amarillo]

Day 127 - Benicassim to Saldes

A windy day took us from Valencia to the briefly independent state of Catalonia, recognised as such by the Republic of North Korea and the Scottish Government. With the British view split on the matter, as it seems to be on many important matters right now, we opted for the English stance. Catalonia is not a separate state - so no Catalonia flag on our van. That vital issue resolved, we pulled into a service station to buy a 5kg sack of Valencia oranges for 5 Euros from the back of a Romanian van. The fruit had probably come from the grove just outside the service area - it is orange harvest time.

As we approached the disputed international border, I noted more and more Spanish flags outside people's homes, and tied to railings on balconies, however, once in Catalonia, I only saw one Spanish flag; all the others, and there were a great many, were Catalonia flags - with or without the star.

I note in the news that the deposed Catalonia Government in voluntary exile have pulled a blinder: extradition hearings and appeals will take up to three months, with elections called for December 21 (my birthday) it will look very bad if the Spanish Government were to lock up freshly elected Catalonia Goverment leaders immediately after their triumphant voluntary return to Barcelona on December 22. I'll be looking on with interest from another European region with independence on its mind - Sicily.

Some time ago, in Lithuania, Ben noticed a wind sock, and questioned what it was for. I explained that pilots landing at the airfield we were passing could judge the direction and speed of the wind. A few days later, on a motorway bridge in Poland, Ben saw another wind sock, and remarked, "That's so aeroplanes can land" in typical Ben speech style. I explained that that wind sock had a different purpose - to warn drivers of strong winds which might affect their driving. Jack, being in a very contrary mood said, in typical Jack speech, "I don't like it wind sock!" Every time since then, whenever we have seen a wind sock we have ribbed Jack, "Look away Jack, you don't like it wind sock!" He takes it in good humour. Today we saw dozens of them, and we were continually battered by the strong winds. Somewhat more alarming, so was a Moroccan coach as it overtook us.

We didn't stop in Barcelona, with such political turmoil and deposed police chiefs under opposed direct control from Madrid, we didn't feel it was a place for us. Instead we fled for refuge in the mountains to the north. At 1400 metres, this is our highest camp so far. A week ago we were sweltering in 30 degree heat, tomorrow night the temperature here is forecast to drop to -5C!

Staying just 2 nights we decided to just use the Safari room - the wind out awning and three side panels. With our luggage in the safari room there's just enough room for a table, two chairs, and a high bench for the boys. The lighting we have for the safari room is excellent, and we dined on frankfurters, pasta and potato salad.

The panels for the safari room peg out well, with four pegs on each panel, plus a couple of tensioning bungees to peg down. Two pegs go in each awning leg. Coincidentally, there has been some discussion on the VW camper forum about pegging out awnings with side panels, and whether or not it is necessary to guy down the awning if side panels are used. I haven't guyed down, and while calm earlier, it's now blowing a gale outside. I will sleep with trepidation.

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[Amarillo]

Day 128 - Saldes

This is a stunningly beautiful campsite, and we have the entire tent area to ourselves, which gives and enormous sense of freedom and independence. We have the security of a fenced campsite with the isolation of the wild.

Ben and Jack in awe of the mountains

We had poor weather in Notway's mountains and poor weather in the Picos de Europa. At last we had fine weather in the mountains, and at last Clare understood what I'd been saying to her. There's nowhere more dramatic than the mountains in good weather. It wasn't always good. We woke up to light snow - the first time the boys had experienced falling snow. It was sunny also so Ben enquired about when we'd see a "snowbow". We didn't see a snowbow, but we did see Pyrenean vultures circling high in the sky.

Clare enjoying a cup of tea

The nights were cold, very cold, down to minus 5. For the first time we used the parking heater all night, and for the first time we ate our evening meal in our van.

One of the things that we love about Amarillo is its chameleon-like ability to transform itself. Car to hotel to dining room to van to sitting room. We haven't yet used it as a kitchen, but perhaps that day will come.

Our van at dusk.

On Monday evening, we went swimming. This campsite has a heated indoor pool. What a luxury.. Clare prepared frankfurters and pasta and we ate in the van.


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[Amarillo]

Day 129 - Saldes to Toulouse

A spectacular drive along lonely mountain roads, over high passes and through tax free shopping centres.

We started our journey on what must be some of the Pyrenees quietest roads, winding our way up hairpin bends to the col and then back down again. However, there's no way into Andorra other than main roads, so we were soon speeding our way out of the EU. There were cliff edges, but we avoided them, slowing only for the manned customs point between Spain and Andorra. And then we were into the mountain landscape of tax free shopping centres. Andorra is not a place we will be returning to anytime soon. We stopped three times, once for the wallet, once for the belly and once for the soul.

The first stop was for fuel, we simply could not resist topping up at 95 cents per litre. We asked for the toilets and the surly attendant directed us around the back. After finding the toilet we had to return to Ms Surly to ask for the key!

The second stop was for pizza. Andorra might be a tax free haven, but pizzas in Andorra certainly are not tax free prices. We ate cheaper pizzas in Norway.

Bellies filled we headed for France. We had a decision to make: toll tunnel or pass. We decided on the pass. Snow was already lying in the valley, and as we climbed this became thicker and the air cooler. At 2400 metres it was minus 3 and the snow piled high either side of the road. We'd been up to snow before, in Norway, but not like this. Norway's snow was granular, this was deep, fresh powder. We stopped at the col and played. Meg bounding about through the drifts and the boys lobbing snow balls at one another. We then walked towards a minor summit. We'd not gone far when Ben complained of cold wet hands. He and Clare returned to the van. Jack and I went on, Jack on my shoulders. We didn't get much further. After ploughing my way up to my waist through a drift we turned back, but not without pausing and enjoying the view, Jack still clutching his lolly, a tax free gift from the pizza restaurant.

The French border crossing, back into the EU was unmanned. Night fell and we had the first bit of driving in the dark of our entire trip so far. We arrived late at our campsite in Toulouse.


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[Amarillo]

Day 130 - Toulouse

Initially planning to take Meg with us into the town centre, we had a last minute change of mind. We cycled with Meg running alongside about a mile along the canal tow path, then back again, leaving Meg in the car. We took a taxi into town, after a late night it would have been too much to pack away the safari room and wind in the awning.

We had a wonder through the narrow cobbled streets of old Toulouse, the city where Clare studied French for a year as part of her degree.

We went into a toy shop, and there must have been something about our dishevelled look from living in a car for nearly half a year that made the three shop assistants stop what they were doing and watch every move we made.

We bought two toys - a matching pairs card game and a small wooden toy. We then ate in one of Toulouse's many restaurants.

After walking by the canal, we returned to the campsite by train. We ate a cold dinner - having eaten out for lunch - in the van, and played our new card game until bedtime.


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[5i1ver8ack]

Thank you so much for these diary entries. They are very enjoyable.

 

[Amarillo]

Thank you so much for these diary entries. They are very enjoyable.

Thank you, and you're very welcome. The primary purpose of the blog is to keep a written record for Ben (3;11) and Jack (2;7) as their memories of the trip will be sketchy.

We've now been away for 130 days, and suffered 130 near divorces, the latest being over a winter sweater... I try to save the boys from these trivialities.


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[leightonjthomas]

Thank you, and you're very welcome. The primary purpose of the blog is to keep a written record for Ben (3;11) and Jack (2;7) as their memories of the trip will be sketchy.

We've now been away for 130 days, and suffered 130 near divorces, the latest being over a winter sweater... I try to save the boys from these trivialities.


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Having met Clare at the Champagne Meet I still think that she’s a saint and that we don’t hear enough from her!

 

[leightonjthomas]

Having met Clare at the Champagne Meet I still think that she’s a saint and that we don’t hear enough from her!

There was supposed to be a smiley face plus halo there but it didn’t come out!

 

[Amarillo]

Day 131 - Toulouse to Montouleiu

It rained steadily overnight, so we packed up wet. The remarkable thing about the Comfortz safari room is that the panels don't get too wet in the rain. The awning overhangs each panel slightly keeping them dry. The roof topper, in contrast, was sodden, but at least it keeps us warm and protects the roof canvass and roof lifting mechanism from the wet.

Before packing I found a previously undiscovered storage space in the van, a cavity sufficiently large to completely conceal two small boys. I knew of this space, but was completely unaware of its size. Both boys were in the upper berth, and nothing else except mattress and bedsheet. They were at the very rear where there is a metal platform. I was goofing about with them, telling them that I was going to come and eat their noses, so they were laughing and cowering at the very end of the bed. But instead of clambering in and eating their noses I pushed the berth base up, and up it went - all the way - completely concealing the two giggling boys. If it weren't for the laughter, no one would have known they were there. I never knew that triangular void in the roof, with the bed base up, was so extensive.

Once the fooling about was over, and we were packed up, we drove off in search of a Decathlon. Four required items: a new mallet, a new stove lighter, new boots for Ben, a new hat for Clare. The local Decathlon had put away all its camping gear for the winter. We could buy snow shoes, but not a mallet. They directed us to their out of town superstore - fortunately in the direction we wanted to go. They had camping gear, and snow shoes. After all that faffing about, and stocking up for four days supplies in Lidl, it was 1.30 before we were properly on our way. A fairly trouble free drive to our cheapest campsite yet. 11 Euros per night for the pitch, two adults and a dog. However, 3 Euros for each of the boys. In Spain the boys had mostly been free - either the site only charged for age 4+, 5+ or 6+, or children were included in the ACSI camping card off season discount package. In Toulouse and here the boys were extra. Seeing our astonishment he asked Ben his age, "three and three quarters". He asked us Jack's age, "two and a half".

"No", says the warden, "He's one year and eleven months". Being a bit thick, we corrected him. "No" he asserted, "under twos don't pay, he's one year eleven months old". The penny finally dropped. The campsite would be 14 Euros per night. We might stay a week. This is a good staging post for Clare to share with me places she had lived in as a teenager, Romans-sur-Isere and Sete.

We pitched in the dark, and shivered in the tent awning while eating sausages. It's cold at night here, but not so cold that we want to be putting the lower bed up and down to eat in the van. Hats at dinner for us.


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[Amarillo]

Day 132 to 136 - Montouleiu

This has been a superb campsite for us, but the change in temperature has been shocking.

The campsite is municipal in the heart of a small village, right next to a church whose bell rings with two peals a minute apart every hour. If four chimes at 4am doesn't wake you, the four chimes at 4:01 will.

First thing on Friday morning I cycled to the bakery for bread only to find it closed with the baker on holiday. I went to the next village and found an 'artisan' bakery but all I had was 2.40 Euros and 50/100 Euro notes for 4 Euros of bread which they could not change. They suggested I return with 1.60 Euros when I could.

On Saturday there was a Farmers' Fayre in the village. Ben fished for trout in the campsite's pool:

And both boys rode a horse and cart:

We had a good lunch that included lots of meat - country pate and confit of duck - and not much else.

It is just as well lunch was good. It has been too cold to eat in the tent after dark. We've been huddled in the van which conveniently can turn into a 5 seat dining room.

We did little on Sunday, but there are good local walks. We did, however, manage to eat in the tent on Sunday night and Jack fell asleep in his chair.

When we went back into the van we found the fridge had turned itself off. It does this when the voltage from the battery falls below a certain level, presumably to protect the starter battery for most cars. We had been parked without moving since Thursday evening, three full days, using the fridge, internal lighting, external lighting, DVD player - we watched Mary Poppins huddled in the upper berth on Saturday night - the heater's diesel pump and charging iPhones and iPads, and this had sufficiently drained the leisure battery to cause the fridge to stop because of a voltage drop. But the battery should be topped up during the day because we have 200 watts of solar panels on the roof.

Something was wrong - but what?

We had parked facing south. The roof elevates to an angle of 16 degrees. At this time of year, in this location, the sun rises to 28 degrees. We were getting no more than 12 degrees of sunlight, and only for about four hours. All I needed to do to recharge the battery was lower the roof in the morning. Once I did this, see photo above, the panels produced 17 volts and 5.5 amps, charging the battery at 14,4 volts and 6.5 amps. Lesson learnt: park facing north in the winter.

We visited the Grotte de Demoiselle on Monday. A large and spectacular cave - far better for the boys than the salt mines of Krakow.

On Tuesday we went to Sete, a place where Clare spent a summer selling apple doughnuts and cold drinks on the beach over three decades ago. On our return we saw flamingos matching the colour of the sky feasting in the waters of the Rhone Delta.

We have had a good six nights at this campsite - our cheapest campsite yet. The diesel heater has been keeping us toasty warm at night.


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[mccp]

We have a house near Clermont l'Herault and we have been spending time in Herault since Mrs Mccp did a post-doc in Montpellier.

We had lunch in Sete a couple of times last month and pottered about a bit on the beach - in the summer there are still young people marching up and down shouting out "chou chous, beignets, boissons fraiches".

If you get a chance while you drive by, you should go to Aigues Mortes a bit further up the coast - it's a medieval walled town and you can (or could last time we were there) walk around the top of the walls. We did that when our kids were about the same ages as yours and it was a good day out.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Having met Clare at the Champagne Meet I still think that she’s a saint and that we don’t hear enough from her!

 

[Jabberwocky]

I tried to post a saint emoji but it didn't work for me either.

 

[bigmac77]

How much has the temperature dropped?

 

[Verity]

We have a house near Clermont l'Herault and we have been spending time in Herault since Mrs Mccp did a post-doc in Montpellier.

We had lunch in Sete a couple of times last month and pottered about a bit on the beach - in the summer there are still young people marching up and down shouting out "chou chous, beignets, boissons fraiches".

If you get a chance while you drive by, you should go to Aigues Mortes a bit further up the coast - it's a medieval walled town and you can (or could last time we were there) walk around the top of the walls. We did that when our kids were about the same ages as yours and it was a good day out.

Aigues Mortes is one of my favourite towns in the world, and the area around it is amazing. We too took our little one (when he was little) around the top of the city walls. He quite enjoyed it, but his best bit was pressing a coin in one of those machines. Kids eh, they just don't get culture

 

[Amarillo]

How much has the temperature dropped?

35 degree drop between El Puerto de Santa Maria and Saldes.


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[Amarillo]

We have a house near Clermont l'Herault and we have been spending time in Herault since Mrs Mccp did a post-doc in Montpellier.

We had lunch in Sete a couple of times last month and pottered about a bit on the beach - in the summer there are still young people marching up and down shouting out "chou chous, beignets, boissons fraiches".

If you get a chance while you drive by, you should go to Aigues Mortes a bit further up the coast - it's a medieval walled town and you can (or could last time we were there) walk around the top of the walls. We did that when our kids were about the same ages as yours and it was a good day out.

What a lovely reply!

I have been really impressed by Herault, very warm and inviting people - but we have now moved on and are in Tournon, overlooking the Rhone.


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[Amarillo]

Day 137 - Montouleiu to Tournon-sur-Rhone

We enjoyed our stay in the small quiet village of Montouleiu, and have come away with some great new experiences including the cave of Demoiselle, pink flamingos and showering in a sub-zero washblock.

Our new campsite is a complete contrast, located in a busy town centre, next to the Rhone, close to railways and motorways, and a with a heated toilet block.

We broke our journey to Tournon by visiting Pont du Gard, and were happy to find that dogs are welcome and children under six are free.

I wonder how many modern structures will last 2000 years; Tower Bridge is a mere baby.

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[jts46]

Walked across top of the pont with my children many years ago, about 34 years ago

 

[Amarillo]

Walked across top of the pont with my children many years ago, about 34 years ago

You need to pay extra to walk over the top with a guide. There were no guided tours yesterday, so we oooed and aaared at the great Roman erection from a distance.


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[leightonjthomas]

You need to pay extra to walk over the top with a guide. There were no guided tours yesterday, so we oooed and aaared at the great Roman erection from a distance.


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Roman erections always look more impressive from a distance- allegedly!