It often happens at the start of our trips that a little emergency-type incident takes place to remind us that we are not always in charge. It that shakes us out of our lethargy and gets us in travelling mode.
For example, the very first time we went on a trip in our brand new camper, the windscreen was chipped by a stone just a couple of hundred yards from the house. It took many months to get a replacement windscreen and it made us extremely nervous as we watched the damaged area grow and creep along the windscreen. The replacement cost our insurance £4,000. On another occasion we had a puncture on our way to Folkestone and had to be rescued by a breakdown truck.
Our departure on the 16th April was no exception and, whilst caught in a huge traffic jam on the M25, caused by a terrible accident that closed the M26 for the entire day, our temperature gauge indicated an engine overheat. We pulled onto the hard shoulder, made a cup if tea and waited for the engine to cool before proceeding gingerly on our way – we reckoned that no breakdown truck could get to us through the solid traffic on the M25. We travelled by Eurotunnel to Calais, parked up at Cité Europe and then contacted AA Euroassist. The following morning they directed us to the Fiat commercial garage in Marck, near Calais. They soon found the fault to be disconnected engine fans. Probably this happened in Bordeaux when we had problems with catalytic converter and they were rushing to finish the job before the weekend. All was sorted in an hour or so and we we soon on our way.
