The Good Squad

Finally we were on our way to Bordeaux, arriving there a week late. Thankfully the Chateau said we could start work when we arrived, so that was good news and we were back on track. Chateau Gruard Larose in St Julien Beychevelle, was our destination and we hoped it was going to be as lovely as it sounded. The red wine is said to be exceptionally good from St Julien, in the Medoc region of Bordeaux, we will be sure to find out and let you know! So, in recap, we managed to get the precious additive that was needed to get the bus back on the road, and it worked a treat. We left Normandy and headed south, stopping for the night just past Le Mans, the outskirts of which looked horrible, very industrial. We set off about 10.30 the following day, Wednesday, and stopped off to walk Nina in a stunning place called Montsoreau, just the other side of the Loire River, which we had to cross via an extremely narrow bridge (we were grateful not to meet any oncoming lorries). The Loir...

19-25 September 2018 The poor bus, being towed :( We had hoped and expected to be down in Bordeaux by now, with a few days grape-picking under our belt, but circumstances have kept us here in Normandy and we’ve found it’s not the sort of place where anything gets done in a hurry! When I last posted we were stationed at a garage in Pont L-Eveque, waiting to hear if they could look at the bus on Monday (a week ago). The weekend passed enjoyably enough, the weather was great - we visited the town a few times, took Nina for some nice walks, discovered the local tip was just around the corner and got rid of some surplus bits and bobs we decided we didn’t need plus an accumulation of rubbish (amazing how it builds up in a small space!). Exploring The Normandy Coast Monday came and the RAC informed us the garage couldn’t look at the bus, not sure why, maybe because it’s automatic, or perhaps they were just too busy, but another garage 93 km away could have a look… on T...

14-15 September 2018 Wow. We’ve been here just 24 hours, and it feels like we have been here at least a week, a month even! It’s been eventful… but we’ve evened out the wrinkles and are having a brilliant time, despite a couple of initial hiccups…. Friday, the day we were leaving, was extremely busy, racing around last minute getting stuff ready; sold and dropped off Nick’s car, got the wrong gas connector for the gas tank so had a 20 mile round trip to change that in the morning rush hour, then the water pump on the bus was being unpredictable and needed adjusting, of course we also had to   clean and tidy the house ready to hand back to Ian, our lovely landlord.  Packing everything in to the bus we quickly realised we needed to edit it down massively, so had runs to the tip and charity shop. Got gone from home about 1pm, 2 hours behind schedule, missed seeing Auntie Fran on the way to Brighton. Got to Brighton around 3 to pick up some last minute buys – a t...