{"id":32,"date":"2018-08-27T08:17:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T08:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=32"},"modified":"2018-11-18T22:53:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T22:53:59","slug":"france-2018-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappstravels.co.uk\/?p=32","title":{"rendered":"FRANCE 2018. 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, this is a new departure – blogging, that is – although, to be fair, it almost wasn’t a departure at all. \u00a0For several reasons.\u00a0 We lurched from disaster to disaster…\u00a0 <\/span>First the brake pads on the car needed replacing as did all four tyres. So, that’s just money (disasters 1 & 2)… On the Friday – the day before taking the ferry – I noticed a crack in the top rear near-side corner of the caravan. Ahhh – Coachman strikes again (with disaster 5)!<\/span>
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So, off to the caravan repair shop to get some proper sticky silicone to hide (and seal) the problem. Out of sight, out of mind! \u00a0Much delayed by the repairs and a spot of gardening, we were eventually ready to head for Plymouth by 7.30 pm – an hour after planned.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the hole outside our drive that the gas pipeline replacers had dug over the last few days had been filled in enough that we could squeeze the caravan out into the road (nearly a disaster). This operation completed the job of totally blocking Higher Warborough Road to passing traffic.<\/p>\n

As Glenda was checking the lights before setting off she noticed another crack on the other top corner!!! A few rude words were muttered and we unlocked the garage and collected the silicone and applicator gun. Repairs will have to be done on the hoof. (Disaster 6)<\/p>\n

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Did I mention that the week before we left home the upstairs underfloor heating pump had jammed on (disaster 3). This means water is circulating in the system – although not under the floor fortunately. Our erstwhile electrician who has emigrated to Australia put in local fused switches for the systems on both floors. However, sadly, he appears to have forgotten to connect the things into the circuits. The only thing that they appear to do is make a satisfying click when operated! \u00a0While we are away we have a simple solution to this problem. Switch everything off at the master boiler controller.<\/p>\n

Add to that I discovered that the gas fire in the garden room isn’t working. It won’t light (disaster 4). I’m just hoping that when the gas engineer comes to sort out our gas appliances after the enforced gas shut off (as the pipes to our property are replaced with plastic ones) he can fix it!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, later, as we were sedately hurtling down the A38 towards Plymouth the tyre pressure loss indicator burst into life.\u00a0 It told us to slow carefully and get the puncture safely repaired. Thank you very much for disaster 7. Bran new tyres and a possible puncture within the first 30 miles. Fortunately, after a mild bit of panicking it turned out to be a false alarm. All pressures were \u21b5good and at the top end of their ranges. I guess the garage didn’t recalibrate the pressures properly after fitting the new tyres.\u00a0 Panic over. We can still go to France. Even though Glenda doesn’t want to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now it’s time to see if I can launch this successfully!<\/p>\n

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