Called back in to the workshop by the manager, we were able to see what all the banging had been: the bearings had failed on the axle, leaking oil through a failed seal, wrecking the brake disc in the process. The good news was that the axle had survived intact!
We could see that the repair would necessitate a new disc and pads – and we remembered from our warped disc adventure in Italy, that it’s standard practice to replace both at the same time. Plus some other bits and bobs of course…
What came as a surprise a bit later after a couple of hours squirming on the metal reception chairs, was being called back in to have a look at the passenger side again. The mechanics had discovered that we had a faulty hub from a previous repair where a bolt had sheared off and been replaced with a slightly longer one. Not a big issue if you are happy to drive with the other bolts taking the strain – unless you are a professional HGV/PSV garage of course where it’s just not done!
So a further delay whilst a new hub was sourced and delivered…
Still, we’d been reassured that if needed, he could get another mechanic on the job so we could be away late afternoon, fingers crossed.
Of course, as we were in a French garage, everyone stopped for lunch at 1230 – and we were invited to have our lunch in Evie in the workshop if we wanted – which of course we did! Appreciating their kindness and loving the idea that all the workers have a chance to socialise together over their midday break, we also managed a crafty nap, before it was time to let the mechanics crack on and for us to rejoin those chairs…
All seemed to be going well until the manager came out to see us again. Clearly not a poker player, it was clear that something else was up – WTF! After some intense use of Google translate it became clear that as the mechanics were testing the new brakes, it was clear that all was not well with the front ones. Nooooooooo! we cried – surely not? With careful explanations and with the evidence laid out before us, the driver’s side disc and callipers had shifted and warped, no doubt a product of insufficient braking power at the back whilst one of the wheels was covered in oil…
Can they be fixed we asked? Bien sûr, came the reply – but we won’t be able to get the parts until the next morning…
We had already talked through a contingency of getting a cab back into Dax if needed, but we were pipped to that post by the manager asking us if we’d like to sleep in Evie overnight in the garage? We jumped at the chance, and as we were marvelling at this incredibly generous and friendly offer of help, he added:
Would you like hook-up?
Access to the mechanics’ shower room?
Customer toilets and drinking water?
A demo on how to work the huge roller doors so we could get some air until bed time?
Flushed with the relief of being able to stay with Evie, which he clearly understood, we were given a quick tour of how to access the locker/shower room which turned out to be way better than many campsites we have stayed at!
We felt very humbled to have this level of trust invested in us!
As the team packed up to leave, we were invited to leave those lovely chairs in reception and check out our new pitch for the night. To add to the incredible thoughtfulness, the mechanics had also put Evie’s front wheels back on pro tem, and levelled her off for sleeping with a trolley jack!
Feeling very lucky indeed, we made full use of the showers, before having dinner in one of the most unusual locations of all our combined travels!
And we loved that amongst all the equipment you’d expect in a large commercial garage, was this essential tool…
Next morning we reflected that although we may not have had the best night’s sleep (it was sooooo hot once we rolled the door closed, and the compressor for the air lines cycled on and off all night) we were so lucky to have found such an accommodating and caring garage to help us on our way!
The mechanics had told us about a little café that opened 0630 to 1230 a short walk away, which is how we found ourselves, up, dressed, and eating out at an ungodly hour for us, as the delivery of the new parts could be any time from 0730!
Unfortunately, the delivery took longer than expected, and our hopes of getting off by mid morning-ish were modified to accept that we might end up doing another ‘drive and see where we get to trip...’
And then, with minutes to go before the 1230 lunch shut down, a smiling manager came out to confirm that we were good to go – hurrah! The bill was largely made up of parts – luckily cheaper and easier to get hold of in the EU than back home, with labour rates less expensive too. So, although it ended up being an unplanned big expense on this trip, it’s a risk we take travelling with an older campervan – and at least Evie now has a set of new brakes all around, and she drives better than when we first bought her back in 2009 as that empty builders van from Essex…
Bowling along and heading north towards Bordeaux, you can imagine our surprise and disappointment when a brake warning light suddenly lit up on the dashboard! Mr B immediately decided it must be a faulty sensor, with all the work that had been carried out moving and replacing bits (they can go off by driving over a pothole, for example, as the wiring can get brittle over time) but, even though we knew we were returning during lunch, we headed straight back, just in case.
As soon as the mechanics saw us returning to the compound, they came out to see us, got us straight over an inspection pit, and fixed – a faulty sensor!
Heaving a sigh of relief, we headed north again, stopping to shop, have lunch and refuel before deciding on our route home. With two nights to stop over before arriving at Dieppe on the third evening for the ferry at 1800, we decided to abandon our original idea of sticking to the west coast past Bordeaux, and head over instead towards Limoges, as we know this route (the free A20 and beyond) well enough to make some informed guesses at journey time.
Which is how we found ourselves pulling off the route at St Junien, west of Limoges, to try out what looked like an OK Aire run by the Camping Car Park consortium. We’ve stayed at a few, and the standard can vary hugely, but this looked OK and was convenient to get back onto the A20 the next day.
These CCP Aires (only one C short of a Russian joke) are a mix of old small aires that have been taken over, and a smattering of small ex-municipal camp sites that seem to be run in conjunction with the locals. This was one of the latter, and we were very pleased to see that it had a fully functioning toilet and shower block – as well as loads of shady pitches – phew!
After a very relaxed night, we were up almost with the lark and made our way to the exit barrier. Entry is via a code, generated by swiping your CCP card upon arrival. In the past, we’ve just had to scan the card at the barrier, where the fee is generated, paid, and off we go…
Not this time though. The system has been updated. Your CCP card needs to be pre-loaded with enough funds to let you out! Ours was empty, as we’d lost some ‘leftovers’ when we’d done pre-loading before… Still, it looked straightforward to load up, if vexingly in €10 bundles, leaving some ‘leftovers’ again… And sure enough, a quick visit to the CCP website allowed us to upload €20…
Except, no matter what angle Mr B offered the CCP card to the scanner, the barrier remained stubbornly closed...
It was at this point, blocking the exit for about 15 minutes or so, that an English voice piped up “you’ll not be getting out any time soon...those Brits over there have been here for three days trying…”
Preferring to trust his French negotiating skills with the CCP helpline, Mr B was soon chatting, in English, with a helpful person who could not only tell us where we were, but scarily told us to back further away from the barrier, and try again (CCTV)!
Success! The barrier opened and our CCP App was still showing a €20 credit! Having been told by the remote warder who let us escape that the system was experiencing some glitches following a software update, we were just glad to be back on the road, if slightly later than we had originally planned! (When we checked later, our CCP card had been debited for the correct amount – and we wait to see what happens with the leftovers!)
The drive north was long and hot. We stopped in familiar territory for lunch north of Vierzon…
...where we decided we’d just head further north, see how we fared, with the aim of neither stopping too late, nor too far from Dieppe. As the day wore on, and the heat chose not to relent, we remembered we had stopped at a small municipal site in St Remy-sur-Avre between Dreux and Evreux on our escape from the last French canicule back in 2019. With the timing about right to pull over for a cold shower and shady pitch, we followed our noses back to the site, only to find this…
...clearly not yet part of the CCP network, but hopefully only in limbo. So we had a tactics tea break in the nearby carpark of the leisure centre, which had also been flagged on our P4N App as a possible, where we decided to press on into the dusk to see if we could go full circle and get back to Auffay – where we had started over seven weeks ago!
And we made it, with a pitch just waiting for us, as usual! So with the light failing, and a French family next door having a dinner party on the one shared bench on the adjacent pitch, we did what we wouldn’t normally do on an Aire like this, and had a lovely last supper alongside Evie…
...accompanied by the local birdlife…
… and packing up at the point that our French neighbours did. The protocol with these aires that have a shared table is vague – it was right at the back of our neighbour’s pitch so even of they’d not been using it, it would have been weird having our dinner at the back of their van!
It rained in the night, of course, but it let up enough the next day for us to wander into the village for coffee and croissants, spotting our neighbours from the other side of Evie to go over and tell them their alarm was going off back at the Aire! They knew immediately what it was (steering lock likely moved on the wheel, apparently) and before long one of them had been back to deactivate it, and we had a pleasant chat about travels as seniors (they had just arrived the night before, and were heading south).
With just a small amount of shopping to do before arriving in Dieppe, we were very pleased to see the sun breaking out as we pulled up in the queue to go home…
The sailing back was uneventful, we managed to draft the remaining travel blog entries (apologies this has taken soooo long to edit!) and as usual, we reflected on the trip…
We were both grateful that we had been in a part of France that swerved the worst of the heatwave; couldn’t quite believe our luck with finding such a friendly garage in our hour of need; were really glad we had managed to get to see Chris and Sue; loved, as usual, the French approach to traveling in a campervan, the culture, food, drink etc etc. And although there was some regret that we didn’t make it to Spain (again!) we both really enjoyed our extended beach-side stays, which comprised the vast majority of our time! The beauty of a (largely) unplanned itinerary we think.
Our next European trip is due to start in late September/early October. Again we are planning to get to Spain, but…
S&J 26.09.26
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