Well, what a
day!....
We have
discussed a lot about what to do for the next few days….we are so fortunate
that we have 5 weeks here, we have no need to rush so we decide to go just up
the road to La Roque Gageac. We were
ready at 10am, Chris goes to start engine and it was dead. ARGHHHH!!!!!! Luckily
the nice Dutch couple next to us gave us
a jump start, Chris thinks that the leisure battery or split charge is draining
the starter so suggests we buy another battery in case it goes again.
We drive to Sarlat and stop at an auto
shop – it is just a man and a counter and Chris goes in to try and explain what
he needs…. The guy has no English so I end up asking him to come out to see
what was already there so he does. There
wasn’t an identical one, but one was close enough which Chris says he can make
fit. Feeling pleased and relieved that
we had managed to get what we wanted we left.
We entered a roundabout, Chris put Flo into 2nd gear and then
the whole gear stick came off in his hand!!! Which he then handed to me!!!!! ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
So we’re driving along the town bypass in 2nd gear with no stick!! I start panicking but desperately stopped myself screaming/crying/hyperventilating/swearing/vomiting etc. so as not to panic the kids!!! Chris wasn’t panicking; he drove quite calmly around 2 roundabouts (without stopping!!) and took us back to a large supermarket car park which would be a safe spot for us to stop. Personally, feeling pretty sick, and still desperately trying not to cry, I was relieved to get out of the van and so I took all the kids into the L’Eclerc, whilst Chris got on the phone to the breakdown insurance.
So we’re driving along the town bypass in 2nd gear with no stick!! I start panicking but desperately stopped myself screaming/crying/hyperventilating/swearing/vomiting etc. so as not to panic the kids!!! Chris wasn’t panicking; he drove quite calmly around 2 roundabouts (without stopping!!) and took us back to a large supermarket car park which would be a safe spot for us to stop. Personally, feeling pretty sick, and still desperately trying not to cry, I was relieved to get out of the van and so I took all the kids into the L’Eclerc, whilst Chris got on the phone to the breakdown insurance.
The insurance gave us the option of a hire car or a hotel, and they arranged for a pickup truck to come and get us. We decided that we should have a hire car and we’d buy a cheap tent so that we could at least still drive around and visit places whilst Flo was being fixed. So the lady arranged a taxi to collect Chris and take him to the car-hire place but before it arrived the pick up lorry arrived. Again the guy had no English so I explain to him that Flo is in 2nd gear and he nods his head and winches her onto the back of his truck! He then says that he will fix the gear stick today and that we should all get in his cab (!!!!) so we did, not a seat belt on anyone!!! He drove really fast for about 20 minutes to his garage at Souillac and opened a waiting room for us. Multiple games of hangman, eye-spy and a couple of films on the ipad later (taking about 4hrs rather than the 30 mins it should have because he was doing 100 other jobs at the same time!) he’d welded the gear stick back on and Flo drives as well as she did before –for now!!!
So after a
very stressful few hours we found ourselves on the road again! Thankful for the blessing of having Flo back
and not having to have been separated in order to get hire cars or be sleeping
in a tent or hotel room tonight!! We
decided we would be too late to get a place at La Roque aire now, so Chris
chose an aire 20 mins north of Souillac called Turenne. Turenne is another one of Frances ‘most
beautiful villages’. I was in complete
turmoil about what to do for the rest of our holiday now, my gut reaction was
to say that we've had a fantastic relaxing week in Dordogne, brilliant fun in
the pool and some great weather; I feel like I've been on holiday and could go
home now if necessary. Chris is more calm
about it – he says we shouldn’t rush the decision but he does say he doesn’t
feel comfortable pushing Flo to go all the way down to Avignon as we had
planned, so we’ll do that another year.
We decided we would go head slowly north, stopping at places along the
way…my father text me saying “just go with the Flo…!!”, he’s not often funny
but this I like!!!
Turenne is a beautiful medieval village on a rock, the houses are built into the rock leading up to the remains of a chateau on the top. The houses all have red and yellow flags and the streets are cobbled. There was even a rainbow so make it look amazing!
Chris took the
children for a walk after tea to explore and found a live band playing in the
main square, the kids loved seeing them.
It really is one of the most beautiful places I've seen and it is for
places like this that we love this style of holiday so much.
It was all lit up when it got dark and we could hear the band playing, a perfect way to help us unwind after the worst day!! It certainly helps remind us that despite all the trauma of the day God is still God, we were all safe, the sun was shining so all was good!
