A bientôt EU

[Amarillo]

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

Whatever distance you look at an erection, standing firm after ~2000 years is impressive.


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[Hotel California]

Whatever distance you look at an erection, standing firm after ~2000 years is impressive.


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A 2000y erection .....that requires a lot of viagra....

 

[Amarillo]

Day 138 - Tournon

We took a day trip to Romans-sur-Isrere, the town where Clare worked as an au-pair 32 years ago, and where she met Barbera, another au-pair, who we had dinner with in Unna on Day 3 of our tour.

In Romans, Ben, Jack and I all had a hair cut before lunch then a walk by the river with Meg. She still limps from time to time after hurting herself while chasing a feral cat in El Puerto. Clare's concerned, me less so. I still feel pain from time to time in my ring finger knuckle after Jack closed the van door on it in Navarette some 5 or 6 weeks ago. Bashed joints take time to fully recover. The endearing thing about Meg is that when hurt, she limps up to me and sits down holding her hurt paw up for attention.

I feel that I'm now becoming quite an expert at driving away from and returning to our tent awning. It attaches to and detaches from the van's wind out awning via a kador strip and figure of eight.

To detach the kador stip needs to be pulled out. OK, so that's easy enough, but it's not quite that simple. Before driving away:

1. The upper berth needs preparing for the roof to be lowered.

2. The lower berth needs to be converted to a bench.

3. Child seats need to be removed from the tent awning and placed in the van.

4. External 12 volt lighting electrics need to be detached and stowed.

5. The tent awning needs to be detached and pegged so it will stand without the support of the van.

6. The wind out awning needs leaves removed from the top and then wound in.

7. The roof topper needs to be removed and stowed.

8. The roof needs lowering and securing.

9. A market needs to be left showing wheel positions for returning. (The tent awning is very forgiving if the van is not positioned correctly on return, but it helps to be close to the original position.)

It is all a bit of a faff - but I reckon we can drive away within fifteen minutes, or return and set the van up for bed within 20 minutes (putting on the roof topper takes longer than taking it off, and attaching to tent awning to the wind out awning is slightly more fiddly than detaching it.)


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[Keith Smith]

Our border collie got thorns in her paw, we took her to the vet and had them removed and initially she seemed to recover. Then, like Meg, she started showing me her paw, we took her to the vet on two separate occasions but they couldn't find anything. Finally I found a lump on the top of her foot, took her to the vet again and a very large thorn had worked its way right through her foot and was coming out of the top! These dogs are so unbelievably stoic, if she is limping I would think something is wrong.

 

[Amarillo]

Our border collie got thorns in her paw, we took her to the vet and had them removed and initially she seemed to recover. Then, like Meg, she started showing me her paw, we took her to the vet on two separate occasions but they couldn't find anything. Finally I found a lump on the top of her foot, took her to the vet again and a very large thorn had worked its way right through her foot and was coming out of the top! These dogs are so unbelievably stoic, if she is limping I would think something is wrong.

Thanks for sharing that Keith. We are aware that Collies are incredibly stoic animals. Not only does Meg limp from time to time, but she winces when she knocks the wrist area of her paw. I'm sort of assuming that like my crushed finger, it's bashed bone that will heal gradually. Would a thorn show up on an x-ray?

If taking her to the vet for a third time I want to know what I'm asking the vet to do, and also know that the vet will suggest something other than painkillers and rest. Painkillers are fine if the cause is identified and treated, but if not they simply mask the problem.


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[WelshGas]

Thanks for sharing that Keith. We are aware that Collies are incredibly stoic animals. Not only does Meg limp from time to time, but she winces when she knocks the wrist area of her paw. I'm sort of assuming that like my crushed finger, it's bashed bone that will heal gradually. Would a thorn show up on an x-ray?

If taking her to the vet for a third time I want to know what I'm asking the vet to do, and also know that the vet will suggest something other than painkillers and rest. Painkillers are fine if the cause is identified and treated, but if not they simply mask the problem.


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Thorns are unlikely to show up on a standard X-ray, as found in most Vetenary practices. A large vetenary practice/hospital might be able to see something using more sophisticated equipment.
An x-ray would show any bone damage/fracture or misalignment.

 

[WelshGas]

A bright light and magnifying glass might enable you to see an embedded thorn if there is still one present, especially if you can gently shave the affected area.

 

[Jay586]

I'd be feeling for heat & watching for wincing. Trimming the fur too, if it's grown back. A patient job. My vet didn't find all the burrs last time & was on about the dog's shoulder but eventually I found a hole.

She sounds in trouble...best wishes & hope you get it sorted.

 

[Keith Smith]

Thanks for sharing that Keith. We are aware that Collies are incredibly stoic animals. Not only does Meg limp from time to time, but she winces when she knocks the wrist area of her paw. I'm sort of assuming that like my crushed finger, it's bashed bone that will heal gradually. Would a thorn show up on an x-ray?

If taking her to the vet for a third time I want to know what I'm asking the vet to do, and also know that the vet will suggest something other than painkillers and rest. Painkillers are fine if the cause is identified and treated, but if not they simply mask the problem.


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At one visit the vet squeezed Molly's foot and she didn't even wince, then they did an exploratory operation and didn't find anything, so obviously something like a thorn can be very difficult to find. I don't know if they took an X-ray when they did the operation, if they did it evidently didn't show anything. It's a very difficult call, I would definitely keep an eye on her temperature though just in case it is getting infected.

 

[Amarillo]

IShe sounds in trouble

Oh Dear! It's a difficult call.

She is perfectly happy running about 95% of the time. Just occasionally now she will put her foot down and wince. These occasions appear to be becoming less frequent.

Clare says her paw is still hot - I think it is just that the fur is still short from having been shaved.

She can stand quite robust manipulation of the paw - before our first visit to the vet she would bare her teeth at me with the gentlest of manipulations.

We have bright lights and a magnifying glass, so we can look, but I think we will have to wait and watch before visiting a vet. We will be in Rome in about two weeks, and Palermo for nearly three weeks over Christmas and new year.


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[Amarillo]

Day 139 - Tournon to Frejus

After boasting yesterday about how good I am at driving away from the awning, when packing up this morning I tried folding up the tent with an inflated air beam still in place!

We were on the road by 11am after a fresh croissant and coffee made by boiling water in our 12 volt kettle.

The sat nav suggested a route that would take us almost back to Montpellier. By asking it to avoid motorways I found a much more direct route through the foothills of the alps - taking twice as long. We took the shorter longer route, or do I mean the longer shorter route? The more interesting one anyway. Perhaps I shouldn't have, both boys were sick because of the winding roads. This is only the second time we've had any sickness, so perhaps it was the grossly undercooked steak hache they shared the previous evening. I enjoyed the drive, and Ben was delighted to see someone paragliding, which he calls parrot souping.

We arrived at our campsite just before seven, which was just as well as they lock the gates at seven and go home! We are delighted to find they have a heated indoor swimming pool, and bakery just around the corner. Being right by the Mediterranean Sea it's much warmer here than the inland areas where we've been camping recently. A nighttime temperature of 8 degrees, not freezing or below, and a daytime temperature in the high teens, not the single figures we've been used to. We will stay two or three nights before crossing into Italy via Monaco.


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[Jay586]

It is hard. I've definitely found foot things the hardest to sort with my dogs & the various incidents have dragged on. Temp is a good idea. I'd watch her gait too, as she might not be putting too much weight on it. Definitely rest her more than you would and can manage. See how you go...

 

[Amarillo]

Day 140 - Frejus

Campsite cooking can be a bit of a challenge, but tonight we feasted on roasted chicken with fried vegetables and onion gravy.

The cheat: the local corner shop sells roasted chickens for 7.90 Euros. We made the gravy and cooked the veggies.

It is nice to be somewhere where once again it is sufficiently warm to eat in the tent. High teens daytime, high single figures nighttime. This campsite has an indoor heated swimming pool. Remarkable value camping at 15 Euros per night - we pay more than that just to go for a family swim at Eltham pool.


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[Amarillo]

Day 141 - Frejus

Today I received our Vodafone bill. It was much more than expected. I looked at it in detail and there were some alarming extras:

£3 - 2.01 MB data on Clare's phone Andorra
£6 - 4.00 MB data on car MiFi
£33 - 22.01 MB data on car MiFi

To put this additional £42 charge for 28 MB of data into perspective, we pay £25 per month for 30,000 MB data on the car MiFi (a device that transforms a mobile phone signal into a WiFi signal, allowing phones and iPads to connect and send and receive data at a cost to the MiFi device but not to the other mobile device.)

Europe £0.000625 per MB data
Andorra £1.50 per MB data

Data in Andorra is 2400 times more expensive than the rest of Europe.

As soon as we crossed the border into Andorra we had a text message saying "Hello. Welcome to ANDORRA. As you're in our Rest of the World Zone 3, it costs £2/min to make a call and £1.30/min to receive one. Texts are 50p and picture messages are 55p. Any data you use is £1.50/MB. For terms and info (inc. call charges to other destinations) go to www.vodafone.co.uk/travelling or call +441635691700 free from your Vodafone mobile. For emergency services call 112. Have a good trip."

We both put our phones onto aeroplane mode, evidently not until after Clare had used 2 MB of data. We didn't think about turning off the car MiFi, which sends a small amount of data to the van's Sat Nav giving traffic information. What an expensive oversight that was - £39 to know that Andorra's roads were free from traffic congestion.

Tomorrow we enter Monaco. We will stop and put both phones onto aeroplane mode and switch off the car MiFi before leaving the EU.

We will have to do the same if we make it to San Marino, thankfully Amarillo is highly unlikely to be allowed into the Vatican City which has produced its own Highway Code:

i You shall not kill.
ii The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
iii Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
iv Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
v Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
vi Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
vii Support the families of accident victims.
viii Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
ix On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
x Feel responsible towards others.

Unfortunately, "Thou shall not charge innocent travellers usurers rates for MiFi" has been omitted from the above.

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[T6 CFO]

Not good but thanks for sharing. Not been there yet so will try to remember when I do to put my phone into flight mode. My Mifi and VW car stick have Three PAYG data sims in so I presume won’t be a problem.

Mike


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[WelshGas]

Not good but thanks for sharing. Not been there yet so will try to remember when I do to put my phone into flight mode. My Mifi and VW car stick have Three PAYG data sims in so I presume won’t be a problem.

Mike


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It depends if Andorra etc: are on "3" s list of countries. You might not get a bill but might not get a connection.

 

[Amarillo]

It depends if Andorra etc: are on "3" s list of countries. You might not get a bill but might not get a connection.

Following WG's reply, I've checked Vodafone's website. Monaco, San Marino, Lichtenstein and Vatican City are all included in Vodafone's European roam-free area. Andorra appears to be the only Western European exception.

I am going to complain to Vodafone, but I have little confidence in a full or partial refund.

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[Amarillo]

I am going to complain to Vodafone, but I have little confidence in a full or partial refund.

Full refund given. Thanks Vodafone.



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[T6 CFO]

Full refund given. Thanks Vodafone.



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Well done


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[The Merle]

Day 141 - Frejus

Today I received our Vodafone bill. It was much more than expected. I looked at it in detail and there were some alarming extras:

£3 - 2.01 MB data on Clare's phone Andorra
£6 - 4.00 MB data on car MiFi
£33 - 22.01 MB data on car MiFi

To put this additional £42 charge for 28 MB of data into perspective, we pay £25 per month for 30,000 MB data on the car MiFi (a device that transforms a mobile phone signal into a WiFi signal, allowing phones and iPads to connect and send and receive data at a cost to the MiFi device but not to the other mobile device.)

Europe £0.000625 per MB data
Andorra £1.50 per MB data

Data in Andorra is 2400 times more expensive than the rest of Europe.

As soon as we crossed the border into Andorra we had a text message saying "Hello. Welcome to ANDORRA. As you're in our Rest of the World Zone 3, it costs £2/min to make a call and £1.30/min to receive one. Texts are 50p and picture messages are 55p. Any data you use is £1.50/MB. For terms and info (inc. call charges to other destinations) go to www.vodafone.co.uk/travelling or call +441635691700 free from your Vodafone mobile. For emergency services call 112. Have a good trip."

We both put our phones onto aeroplane mode, evidently not until after Clare had used 2 MB of data. We didn't think about turning off the car MiFi, which sends a small amount of data to the van's Sat Nav giving traffic information. What an expensive oversight that was - £39 to know that Andorra's roads were free from traffic congestion.

Tomorrow we enter Monaco. We will stop and put both phones onto aeroplane mode and switch off the car MiFi before leaving the EU.

We will have to do the same if we make it to San Marino, thankfully Amarillo is highly unlikely to be allowed into the Vatican City which has produced its own Highway Code:

i You shall not kill.
ii The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
iii Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
iv Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
v Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
vi Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
vii Support the families of accident victims.
viii Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
ix On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
x Feel responsible towards others.

Unfortunately, "Thou shall not charge innocent travellers usurers rates for MiFi" has been omitted from the above.

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When I was in Andorra for a couple of day Vodafone blocked my data, I could only make calls/texts took me about 5days to realise they had blocked it (as they never told me). I kicked up a stink and the £30 data I had run up in Andorra they did finally give a credit.
Luckily I’m on Vodafone business and you get a slightly better customer service.
No harm in having a moan.

 

[The Merle]

Just seen it worked, I think I was a couple of days behind on your posts.
Keep up the good work Tom, will you be spending Christmas Day in the van?

 

[Amarillo]

Just seen it worked, I think I was a couple of days behind on your posts.
Keep up the good work Tom, will you be spending Christmas Day in the van?

My parents are coming out to meet us again over Christmas.

We have 18 nights in a villa outside Palermo to celebrate two birthdays and Christmas. My parents, Clare and Ben fly back to the UK soon after Christmas: Ben and Clare to visit Clare's dad and returning to Palermo 3/1/18. Our travels then resume. We intend to hang about in south Italy and Greece until the weather warms early March, and drive north through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungry, Slovakia and Czech Republic in the spring.

Our tenants move out of our home on 12 June 2018. By then Amarillo will have visited:
England
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Luxembourg
Spain
Portugal
Gibraltar
Andorra
Monaco
Italy
San Marino*
Vatican City*^
Greece•
Bulgaria*
Romania*
Hungry*
Slovakia*
Czech Republic*
Austria*
Slovenia*
Croatia*
Lichtenstein*
Switzerland*

*not yet visited in Amarillo.
^Amarillo will not visit, we will

That will include all EU nations except Malta, Cyprus and Ireland.

I'd like to do a six week micro-tour taking in Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Scotland summer 2018 for the sake of completeness.

Ben starts school September 2018.


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[Amarillo]

Day 142 - Frejus to Imperia

We have managed to persuade Vodafone to refund our roaming charges in Andorra. They have a roaming information line with a recorded message something like: "You can now phone roam-free in 50 European countries. If travelling further afield contact us for roaming charges". When I spoke to Vodafone, they said that I should have checked with them their roaming costs. I said that we had, and that their information was misleading. Andorra is landlocked between France and Spain and is NOT further afield than their 50 roam free area. They either agreed with me or capitulated.

We visited Monaco on our way to Italy. We managed to get hopelessly lost in its narrow twisty streets, stacked one on top of another, and probably completed at least six laps of the Grand Prix circuit before finally escaping.

So here we are in Italy staying on what is undoubtedly the worst campsite so far. And it's the most expensive off season campsite at 29 Euros; 19 Euros ACSI base price plus 5 Euros per child over two. Smallest pitch yet, worst toilet block yet and no playground facility for children. The receptionist is a kind and helpful Bangladeshi man who speaks excellent English with a south London accent. He spent six months living in Croydon and directed us to a great pizza restaurant, overflowing with local customers on a Monday night. The bill: exactly the same as our refunded Vodafone roaming charges. Thanks Vodafone.


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[Velma's Dad]

Well done getting somewhere with Vodafone Tom. I gave up on them earlier this year after a comedically awful, hair-tugging customer service experience spanning several weeks (and continents). And then even getting a PAC code out of them to move my number could only be achieved after multiple calls and a formal letter. Dismal.

 

[Amarillo]

Well done getting somewhere with Vodafone Tom. I gave up on them earlier this year after a comedically awful, hair-tugging customer service experience spanning several weeks (and continents). And then even getting a PAC code out of them to move my number could only be achieved after multiple calls and a formal letter. Dismal.

Maybe I struck lucky. But... when they told me I should have checked, I said, "I did", and was directed to their roaming information line: +441635691700. The recorded message clearly indicates that if only going "further afield" than Europe will roaming charges apply. Far from being "further afield" than Europe, Andorra is in Europe's heartland, squished between Spain and France, with the French president as joint head of state.


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