A freezing gale and a whisky bottle!

A lot cooler today - after breakfast we walked up to town this time by the river which was very pretty - few pictures on FB and Instagram - it was lovely walking weather and we needed provisions having decided to stay one more night - I don’t think either of us realised to this point that a rest was needed. The only trouble now is, where to go? The plan was Spain of course, but we are at the point where we could skirt the Pyrenees and head for Italy but that may not necessarily give us the warmer weather. We are enjoying France so much and it is tempting to cross country and trace the coast up to Montpellier and Nimes and head for Nice. Now, we’ve been to Monte Carlo many times. After all, it is one of the favourite ports when cruising and every time we’ve been it‘s been very special. Maybe, by the time we get over to that area, the weather will be warmer too. Maps are strewn all over the table at the moment - I think we are going to sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings. What a joy to be able to be so free when travelling.

We are members of a few motorhome FB pages which are incredibly helpful. Moho owners generally post the ups and downs of their experiences and every so often there is a corker of a post which today brought to mind a memory for us. This has got to be many years ago, when we decided to rent a Moho in our home country to see whether or not we should be investing such a large sum of money into something we might ‘think’ we like but maybe not ‘use‘ that much! Alan, as usual, had a few factories up in Scotland and the North East to inspect (his business is electrical) so, with his usual thoughtfulness said why not couple that with a van hire and then I could go with him. Excellent news all round. Off we went. We picked up the van in Coventry and got to grips with it over the next couple of days and, of course, our fate was sealed. However, on the first night we drove up to our first camp site - it was Feb/March time and the campsites were well and truly empty. Well, when the rain started, it did not stop! And coupled with that, we had strong to gale force winds to contend with and to cap it all, it’s dark. We parked up, connected the electric cable and Alan - complete with Aigle jacket and flat cap - stood filling the van with water from the hose supplied with the van. Now, at this point, he’s looking through the window at me, I’m obviously inside - I have poured us a couple of rather large glasses of scotch in readiness for Alan’s return to quarters. Behind me and above the door of the van is the control panel which (for the novices here) gives you the readings of the fresh water, grey (waste) water, leisure battery etc. So I’m instructed via the window - remember Alan is out there, howling wind, horizontal rain, dark - you get the picture - I’m inside, first sip of whisky has passed my lips ........................ - he’s shouting so I can hear - “Tell me when the fresh water is three quarters full - OK?“. Me (equally loud) “OK” - I get the thumbs up from outside 👍 Me “It’s full! - you can stop now”. Great. By the time Alan walks around and steps into the van, the reading for fresh water is a big fat zero! Big sigh emanates from my beloved - off he goes again, squelching with frustration. Around to the said hose, back into the side of the van, tap on. “Tell me when it’s half full - that’ll do for tonight”. “Ok love”. Another sip of the amber nectar - “Yup, it’s halfway”. Well, dear of him, he marches around again and, blow me down, if the darned tank is now showing empty!!! Well, in these situations you can either laugh or cry and I chose to get the giggles probably emboldened by my alcohol consumption. My husband was getting very tetchy and this wasn’t helped by my half inebriated squeals of laughter from within. To cut a very long story short, once I got my sopping wet better half indoors and cosied up, we read the instruction manual that came with the van and - guess what - there’s a plug under the sink into the floor of the van that has to be plugged in before you can fill with fresh water. What with the dark and the rain, we of course, couldn’t see or hear that every drop of the water Alan was putting in the van, was coming out the bottom with monotonous regularity.

So now you will have worked out the post I saw on FB was - a guy who’d taken delivery of his van and a photo of the underbelly with water pouring out from beneath, wondering why every time he tried to fill his fresh water tanks, he couldn’t. There was a queue of us waiting to tell him what was wrong and it wasn’t going to cost him a penny.

Should be a more exciting blog tomorrow - when we decide which road to take ........ thanks for sticking with me.

Nighty night