In the morning we decide to check out where the water is coming from, so pull up all the bed and find there is water leaking through the inside of the van and is lying in the inside gutter. Very shitty, not another problem. It looked like the water pump was a problem to us as there was some water leaking out of there and every few minutes it would pump for no reason plus the filter housing was broken. We figure there must be a camper repair shop somewhere near and ask the reception lady if she knows one and ask if she could phone since it will be difficult to explain technical stuff in French. I am not that good, I can only speak simple French talk. She phones a place but they don’t want to know us, they are too busy. Another French camper had spoken to me earlier in the morning and we had had a great conversation. He thought we were from England and since his 18 year old daughter was there for 3 months thought he would chat to us even though he knew no English. So I went back to ask him if he know of another place nearby. He was a mechanic and had changed his own water pump so he goes with us to a nearby boat place as boats also have the same pumps but they don’t have the right one. He then drives with us to a nearby camper store where they have what we need plus a hardware store that has the fittings required. It is late when we get back and although Scot wanted to go back to the Skiff pub and have his moules et frittes (mussles and fries) but it is too late so we decide we are staying another day so he can have them.
Friday 6th November
With the help of the wonderful French man we get our water pump replaced. We are very grateful and can’t thank him enough. I want to take them out to lunch but they decline saying it isn’t necessary but It is a small payment for a huge help he had been. We have a lovely walk along the lake front which is so nice on a day like this one. We are 3 weeks from winter here and there is no snow yet on the surrounding hills when there should be and the day temps are at least 20 if not more (we were sweating…..well I was). Later in the day we buy the French man a few beers and take them over for him and then head out to the pub for a well-deserved dinner out. Beautiful food, but so much of it. I am feeling quite ill still in the morning, perhaps the profiteroles were too rich, but do you think I would have missed them out??? Mais Non!
We pull up the bed again to see if the underneath is dry, but unfortunately not. The pump was not the only problem we have had with water leaking. We now believe the other leak is coming from the hot water system which we rarely use. It has gas and electricity connected so is not something we can do anything about ourselves. The French man and his wife are leaving today and the campsite is closing anyway. Who closes a campsite a week early when there are still 20 people wanting to stay there a night and at 20euro I would have thought it would be worth it, but they obviously don’t. We head off to the camper store we bought the pump at, but they won’t help us with the leaking hws. We go to the next one and thankfully they agree to do a bypass on the hws as they can’t fix it as it is English and they have no parts. We have to wait until Monday afternoon though. Oh well I can think of worse places to stay than here and since the campsite is closed it will be freedom camping on the lakeside with the other thrown out campers. We head back to the parking area and sit in our chairs in the sun and watch people playing petanque, families walking with dogs, people cycling, very busy indeed. We sit and enjoy until about 4pm when the sun goes behind the snowless mountains and you feel the real air temperature which has quite a chill. We are parked with a number of other campers and feel quite safe here.
Sunday 8 November
We need groceries before we leave France so we decide to bike and find the Carrefour which is a supermarket we love here in France and also in Belgium. We get a bit lost and then we come across the typical Sunday market. I don’t really like markets and this one is no exception. Nothing worth buying, just lots of stuff that isn’t necessary to own. There is a little bit of food but it is expensive so we pass on that and there is also a second hand area of the market. The market continues for a huge stretch and encompasses all the surrounding streets as well. We end up having a coffee in a lovely wee shop before we head out away from the markets with our baguette for lunch. We missed the supermarket, it closed just as we got there at midday so we will go back tomorrow. Back at the van and we head along the lake front for a lovely walk feeding the ducks and water hens. It is really crowded being a beautiful Sunday when it should be cold but people here are strangely still wearing their winter jackets, boots etc and here are Scot and I in our t-shirts and shorts. We do get some strange looks, but who is the weird one, we are dressed for the sun.
Monday 9 November
Our appointment isn’t until 3pm so we decide to bike again to the supermarket and get a few things. We only have our two backpacks and it becomes very obvious that we need to bring the van to buy the rest of the things. We love being back in France, with the crisp baguettes, lovely cheeses, wines, and the food is cheaper than we have had for a couple of weeks. We can even find lamb chops for Scot which is a bonus after months of not finding them. Our staple baguette lunch and we head out for our appointment and another van expense. Thankfully it doesn’t take long to do the pipe bypass on the hws and we are back on our way, firstly back to the Carrefour supermarket and then on to our free camping park by the lake. Our last night here before heading into Italy. A man started speaking to me in the supermarket about sugar in French obviously and he spoke no English. It was funny but as I started talking to him we had a really great conversation and I revelled in how much my French had come along in such a short time when I had to speak it. The man really enjoyed the conversation as well I think because we were from the other side of the world and don’t have the opportunity to speak French. He was so nice and at the end of the conversation he said how much he had enjoyed the conversation and that I spoke quite well and wished us a great vacation. So nice. I have never found any French people short and rude like so many people say, but I have always put that down to the fact that I try very hard to speak a little to them.
I am not keen really to go as we have heard many stories from people who have been broken into and robbed in their vans around Italy. It seems to be one of the worst countries for it, Spain is only marginally better. We have been heard from people who have had small valuable items, jewellery, cash etc stolen through to people who had windows smashed and all their clothes etc stolen. What to do. We decide we will continue on, but we will limit the time in Italy and we will not leave the van alone in towns but we will have to stop in camp grounds and pay the price for security.
Tuesday 10 November
We stop on our way out of Aix les Bains at an Intermarche super where we find they have salmon for only aud15 a kilo and it’s from Norway. Shame I can’t freeze any but we buy a bit and some steak for Scot and head out of France. There is a huge tunnel between France and Italy and the cost is ridiculous. 57euro to go through the tunnel, 18 euro before it and then in Italy several further tolls just to cross the border. The alternative road was over the mountains which we were definitely not doing. We got stopped at the Italian border and asked for our passports and vehicle papers – the first time we have been asked for both. The police thought I was a bit over excited so told me to calm down. I have no idea what they were talking about as I was just my normal self, maybe a little apprehensive if anything coming into Italy. Anyway they were fine, after taking a look Into our van – not sure what they expected to see (they couldn’t see Scots beer stash) – we were off. We headed around Turin which you could see from the immense smog in the distance as we approached it. Probably the smoggiest dirtiest skies we have seen in all of Europe. I decided to get a sim in a small town out of Asti. I hate some of these sim costs. The sim itself was 10euro, but they then made me pay another 10euro for the plan fee, but they tell you initially it is only 10euro. Not able to communicate with them in Italian meant I had to pay the extra fee not mentioned initially and leave. Oh well they are only just another country that has ripped us off on internet data charges. We need the sim here to be able to book ferries across to Greece later on. We then head just out of Asti to a small secure camping place with power and water that is only 8euro for the night and has a fenced compound. Hopefully to be safe for the night before we head out to Venice.
The first thing about this secure campsite that assaulted us was the smell of cows in a barn next door to the parkup. Then as we were settling down to a pre-dinner drink the mooing started. It was like it was right outside the door and I then realised that it indeed was only about 10ft from the back of the camper. I can only hope that cows actually sleep during the night and we can’t hear them.
