The snow stopped during the afternoon yesterday and today was much warmer – 10° C. We were pushing on to La Rochelle today but had time to get distracted by signs to a Gallo-Roman Temple at Oiseau le Petit. This turned out to be a small open site with a well presented reconstruction of the temple and an information board showing baths, a theatre and numerous other buildings in the area.
On then to La Rochelle but about an hour before we arrived, driving along the flat at a constant 90 kmph, I heard an unusual sound from the engine accompanied by a slight drop in power and, more worryingly, the diesel ignition light started flashing. I had no idea what this meant and Jane retrieved the Ford Transit manual to find out more. This is in German, given that that the motorhome was bought in Germany, and this makes diagnosis a little more difficult! With manual in one hand and German dictionary in the other, Jane quite quickly established that the manual said that we could continue our journey whilst driving gently – so this is what we did. The engine was definitely lacking in power with acceleration in higher gears very poor and any hill (fortunately there weren't many) resulted in the need to change down to much lower gears.
The first camperstop that we went to in La Rochelle was at the Esplanades des Parcs but there was a fair in the car park and no spaces available. Fortunately, there are two other camperstops in La Rochelle, one of which is only open in the summer but the other at the Jean Moulin Park and Ride Car Park is huge and open all year. Unlike Esplanades des Park, there is a charge but, at €5 per night, it is very reasonable. It also had motorhome services despite the fact that the Camperstop Europe guide said that it didn't. The good news was that, although it had been raining without a break since the moment that we left Alencon, it had stopped just as we arrived in La Rochelle.
We were too late to go to a garage but we decided to walk into the town (approx. 15 minutes – simple map provided by the car park information desk) to find the Tourist Information Office. Here we got better maps of the town and were given directions to two Ford garages in the town.
We followed a one and a half hour walk detailed in the French guide to the town and had a drink in the Café de la Paix (near the Hotel de Ville) surrounded by gilt and mirrors. Whilst there, we found out that this café appears often in Simenon's (of Maigret fame) novels. A tour of the many restaurants followed with viewing of the menus increasing our appetites until we settled on L'Aunis, which was obviously popular with the locals. We had an excellent meal and returned to Henrietta replete and happy.
Photos: Gallo-Roman Temple at Oiseau le Petit.
No comments:
Post a Comment