Trying to muffle the muffler.

Friday, 28 August

On starting the motor on Tuesday morning, I knew something wasn’t right. It started fine but it was just LOUD. We moved out of Geneva, the city of perpetual red lights, and onto the highway entering France and free camping for those so informed.

After a half hour, I pulled over and checked the exhaust (or Auspuff in German) system. It looked OK but I noticed a crack very close to where the exhaust connects to the engine. Bugger. Since it was raining, I didn’t want to spend too much time outside and we kept on going to our end destination at Cogin les Gorges.

I can only speculate that the crack was caused when the Bologna mechanics lifted the muffler too high to the body of Springy. It could have also been damaged by poor hangers (the rubber rings that hold up the muffler). Any which way, it was beyond my abilities to fix, so we took her to the local mechanic just down the road from our night’s stop.

The mechanic was able to weld close some of the cracked muffler but not the top part of the pipe as he couldn’t reach it. At least it was going to stay on for a bit longer. We found the camp site and met the owner, a lovely lady who became a Godsend for us over the next few days.

We visited another local mechanic (our new friend’s mechanic) and they organized to have the required bits sent and they would have it all fixed the following day. Facing the fact we were here for a couple of days, the camper owner took us to the local sites of the Abbey of St Anthony, where you could still see his bones and up into the mountains where the WWII French Resistance fighters were based.

Unfortunately, the mechanic couldn’t fit the new pipe to Springy, something about it being incompatible with her due to her age. It was a bit confusing to me as I couldn’t see the actual connector to the engine with the parts that were shipped. I then asked if the top part of the crack could be welded close if the pipe was removed. They could have a go but we had to bring Springy in the next day.

With that decided, we spent the day relaxing at our friend’s place waiting for the phone call from the mechanics. It was quite a relaxing day overall. I even started and finished making one medieval shoe, something I had been hoping to do for quite a while. We even watched, ‘Monsters Vs Aliens’ in French which was quite entertaining as we had seen it a thousand times before and wanted to listen to the translated version.

With the phone call from the mechanic, we picked up Springy. They were able to weld up the crack but they said it was still a bit loud. Turning on Springy, she sounded just as quite as she was before and we were all quite relieved. That night we celebrated our time with our friend by going to a very nice local restaurant. They even made me drive her left hand drive manual car, something that I had never done before. I thought I went fairly well.

Unfortunately, we now had to change our plans and not visit Spain at all since we had lost so many days. We’ll spend the rest of our time in France and maybe come back to the UK a day or so earlier.

Friday morning came and we had to finally say goodbye to our new friend. There were tears from the girls but we will keep in touch, even if we have to do it old school via email as she doesn’t have Facebook.

As the highway trip from Geneva to Cognin leg Gorges cost us 32 Euro in tolls, we decide to keep off them whenever possible. This will save us some money and Dee can enjoy more of the countryside. It’ll just take us longer to get to the end point in the afternoon. And wear me out a bit as highway driving is less mentally taxing compared to narrower streets, mad on-coming drivers and constant roundabouts

Along the way we visited an amazing antique shop which tempted us greatly, more so if we actually lived in the area and hand a few more dollars.

We also pulled off the road and found a shady area near 2 rivers to have lunch and bit of a siesta. Even though it wasn’t a main road, there did seem to be a bit of traffic some of it very close to us.  As we recovered from our kip we realised the locals were thinking we were prostitutes (remembering in Bologna some prostitutes were making good us of Springy-like campers) We quickly packed up because Dee was starting to panic that someone was going to proposition us, even though she was still saying ‘Bonjour’ to everyone who came by making it sound like she was a welcoming prostitute…..

And someone was practicing with automatic fire somewhere in the locality (not at or near us though).

AT 5.30pm, we finally arrived at Vallon Pont d’Arc (A little valley with the arched bridge). 20 years previous a massive cave system with beautiful 36,000 year-old drawings was found. What the French government had done was create an amazing replica of the site so you can visit the area without damaging any of the actual structure or paintings. I think the last book from ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ series actually uses the site as part of the story. We didn’t have dinner until 8.30 at night.

Tomorrow, we travel to Beziers the sight of a Crusade where the Gnostic faith was eradicated back in the 12^th century.

Saturday, 29 August

With an 8am start, we saw the Pont d’Arc, a natural landmark of the area. Water has eroded a hole through one side of a valley wall and has created an arch the current river goes through. They have evidence the area has been used for over 36,000 years and I’m has been used a clear reference point since then. It’s nice to think that almost all of the people I know should have ancestors who went, ‘Oh! Ahh!’ just like us.

The back roads to Beziers were nice and we saw some lovely country side but it took ages……

We found antique shops and large Saturday market just outside of Ales. I was able to find a set of small screwdriver heads which was exactly what I was looking for. The supporting screw for our water heater was loose (I blame the Eastern Bloc roads) and I couldn’t tighten it as it’s in a very confined space. With a short screwdriver head and my multi grips, I was able to get some tightness to it. Tomorrow we’ll see how much it rattles.

We made the executive decision and get a French gas bottle. I don’t believe our last English gas bottle has enough inside it to last the next fortnight. After the normal charades I had signed a contract for a bottle and then found out they were out of full bottles for the one I wanted. I then signed another contract for a different bottle, received my gas regulator then went in search for an adaptor to connect my rubber gas hose to the new regulator. I had to buy a complete, outdated, regulator to get the little piece I needed to connect to the hose.

After all that, I decided we’re going on the highway for the last leg (bliss) and we’re now parked in an olive farm in Beziers.