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Day 3 14.01.2005

Hm Day 3 and only just left England!! Not called the Wanderer for nothing.

Not in the swing of recording the mileage properly. Also finding that for some reason the GPS switches itself off when we restart the engine. As we took a while to realise this was happening it hasn't recorded the distance accurately.

We have been taken by surprise how much colder (10 degrees) it is in the north of France than England. So our main aim now is to head south and look for warmer weather.

Day 4 15.01.2005

When we woke up this morning the market was in full swing just up the road so we were able to stock up the fridge. French markets take some beating for variety of desirable food.
The most exciting thing on the journey was using our electric kettle purchased at the last minute and finding the flex is far too short so although we could use it, it was quite hazardous.

Arrived in the dark at la Fleche, which is in the Loire valley but confusingly on the River Loir.

Day 5 16.01.2005

We started the day trying to get some fuel. Being Sunday nothing was open so we had to use the automatic pumps. We asked other customers and were assured that we could use any credit/debit card. There was no indication on the machines as to which were acceptable. All our cards were rejected by the first set of pumps. The other people in the queue for petrol examined our cards and said ours should work as we had Visa on them and so did they on the cards they used. We drove to another set of pumps on the other side of town to have the same thing happen. Again the other customers said yes yes they should work. They took our cards and tried themselves. On examination their cards had CB on them, which ours did not. None of ours were going to work and there were no manned pumps in town on a Sunday. A wonderful French woman who kindly used her card in the pump rescued us, we filled up and gave her cash.

We are now on the way heading down the A10 towards Bordeaux with the Wanderer tanked up with diesel, dry roads and 2 nights of refreshing sleep. Michele is driving at the top end of the speed range (100-110 k/hr), as usual. I think we should have bought a Landcruiser after all!

The temperature is definitely rising being bitterly cold in La Touquet. We have been very grateful for the Eberspacher heater in the mornings. The whole question of exiting our comfort zone is an interesting one but doing "cold" was not on the agenda!

Having spent some time in the Uk after we set off, reorganising the interior of the Wanderer we seem fairly well organised and know where most things are. Also having spent holidays sailing on Michele's father's boat, we are well indoctrinated with the discipline of keeping a log book (probably should be called a "road book"). So we are developing our own. The iPod has also been a great success and the speaker system I installed seems to be working well.

Today, as navigator, I sorted out how to calibrate the Brantz2 rally trip meter, which we have installed as a backup to the GPS. Over tricky parts with poor mapping, it is possible to accurately measure how far you have travelled and in combination with our vehicle compass, "dead reckon" our position instead of relying on the GPS.

Stopping and sorting out the tent, doing vehicle checks and preparing the evening meal will all have to be done before nightfall once we hit Africa but for now we are happy to roll into a town at dusk, looking for a hotel.

We feel more relaxed now that the trip has begun. The last few weeks after stopping work before leaving were somewhat frenetic in preparation. I think by the time we reach Gibraltar we should be more in tune with the Wanderer and have reorganised everything so we know where each item might be.

We hope to be meeting up with Martin and Debbie in the south of Spain or Morocco, They are leaving after us but at the rate we are travelling they will be there before us. We are easily distracted!

Day 6 17.01.2005

Had a rest day today catching up with domestic chores.
Biscarrosse is a busy small town although mainly a summer place. We have been here before, camping with the family years ago. The beach at Biscarrosse Plage (nearby resort) is a huge expanse of sand pounded by Atlantic rollers. We had a great walk (loosened up the knees). Back on the road tomorrow.

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