JAZ Adventures

Frequently Asked Question 1 – What is your itinenary?

The most frequent question we had before we started the adventure was “What are your plans?”. We’d reply with something like “To start, we’ll travel down the west side of France with the aim of getting to the north coast of Spain then to Portugal. We have a couple of places to stay booked in France, but our intention is do that part quite quickly.”

So why, after nearly a month are we still in France? Some circumstance have conspired to delay us. And, we were probably optimistic in our plans. First we had van issues, which took a while to resolve and stopped us travelling too far. 

• Issue 1: We broke the bed, which meant we couldn’t raise it to be able to stand up inside the van without risking damaging something else. As I type this we are sat in Rodez VW and the hinge is being replaced, but it took a week to get the appointment to figure out what needed to be done and another week to order and install the parts.

• Issue 2: The windscreen got hit by a stone and had a crack, so needed to be replaced. Fortunately insurance covered this, but it took a week and a half to get the appointment. That’s sorted now.

• And, we’ve been trying to register Zeus with ICAD and get his EU passport. More on that soon. We don’t think we need to stay local while we wait for his ICAD registration. So we’re hoping our next update has some further travel in it.

Frequently Asked Question 2 – Isn’t the campervan too small?

Another frequent question is “How will you cope with living in such a small space?” We did a lot of thinking before we left on what we needed in the van, and did some trial trips to practice. Now that we have some real experience:

• Lesson 1: Nearly everything depends on teamwork. For example in our apartment I could go and wash the dishes on my own. That’s not viable in the van – you need to wash, dry and repack as a single operation involving 2 people, as there is no space to move around easily.

• Lesson 2: Everything takes longer so we can’t fit as much in the day. This is either because you’re working in a cramped space or because it’s a task that wouldn’t be part of your normal home life. Examples are having to brush teeth one person at a time, making and un-making the bed everyday (otherwise you can’t close the roof), filling and emptying water tanks. Luckily we are now time rich and maybe it is a good experience for us as former city folk to have to slow down a bit (a lot).

• Lesson 3: The weather conditions really affect what you can do and everyone’s happiness levels. We had a several days of wet and cold weather. The van has no insulation so we’ve been sleeping in our clothes and wrapping Zeus up in several blankets. When it’s raining you can’t use the outside as part of your living space or choose to do an activity where you might get really wet as there’s nowhere to dry people or clothes. But you can make progress with reading or knitting projects.

We’ve found that after several consecutive days of cold and wet, we’re all tired and cranky. The main takeaway here for us is to find some milder and drier place to be.

That’s exactly what we did last Thursday after our first visit to the VW garage to assess the broken bed. We made a snap decision to drive down to the Mediterranean, via the awesome Millau bridge, for few days before we had to return for the windscreen fix. It was a good choice. We all slept much better. Zeus got to do some running on the beach (he loves to run). We did some good walks with views of the Mediterranean and Pyrenees. And, found some good bike trails.

The other experience we want to share from the last 2 weeks is our two stays at Passions. Passions are sites where campervans can stay for free for an evening, sometimes with basic facilities, typically at a farm, vineyard, cheese maker, etc. In exchange you might try and buy some of their produce. It’s something we’d be keen to do and the experience in both cases was great.

• La Ferme du Gazenas: This farm produces milk for Bleu des Causses cheese. We got to learn about the history of the farm – post WW2, the evolution of the farm with the introduction of EU and quotas. We learnt about the milking process and fed some newborn calves. We learnt about and sampled the Bleu des Causses cheese (it is similar in production to Roquefort, but is made with cow rather than sheep milk).

• Domaine Duffau: Is a vineyard in the AOP Gaillac region. Here we could try wine without having to drive afterwards. The most interesting wines we tried were both made with local grape variaties Braucol and Loin de l’Oeil.

Frequently Asked Question 3 – How do you use the loo in the campervan?

The final frequent question is “Does your campervan have a toilet?” No, but you don’t want to read about that. Or do you? Let us know if you’re interested 🙂

Staying put like it or not
It has gotten noticeably cooler with overnight temps reaching 1 or 2 degrees, and daytime temperatures in the low teens. So we decided to head to the Mediterranean for some hopefully warmer climes. But a number of planned and unplanned events have conspired to prevent us from driving south.

Zeus’ EU Pet Passport Application
We took our first key step in this process. We visited a vet and kicked off the ICAD registration process, the precursor step to the vet being able to issue Zeus an EU pet passport. We expect it will take a couple of weeks before the ICAD registration is complete, at which point we plan to return to the vet to get his passport. So we need to stay in the vicinity for that.

We’ll do a separate post that goes into the gritty details of what’s and why’s for those that are interested.

Bed hinge repair
If you read last week’s post you’ll know we made a rookie mistake of leaving stuff on a ledge where it shouldn’t have been, and so when we lowered the bed, it broke one of the hinges. The earliest appointment at the VW service centre we called was for this coming Thursday, where they’ll do an initial assessment. We’re expecting they may need to order the part, and then there’s still time needed for the actual repair.

This week’s unfortunate event
This week we discovered a crack in the windshield, which means we can’t/shouldn’t really travel until the windshield is replaced. We suspect a small rock hit the windshield when we were driving on the autoroute, and the recent cold weather may have aggravated things. We’re currently waiting on insurance to give the go-ahead for a replacement appointment here in France.

The good things we’ve been doing in the meantime
So we’ve been exploring place nearby in the interim:

1. We visited the marché in Caussade, and picked up supplies for some lovely meals we’ve had this week.
2. We did a great circular walk from Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, a pretty medieval town on the banks of the River Aveyron. We burned some calories on a super steep hike up the ridge, enjoyed amazing views of the valley and spotted a lattice stinkhorn mushroom.
3. We spent a morning wandering around Cahors – visited Pont Valentre bridge, wandered the medieval streets of the old city, picked up more yummy food supplies at the Halle de Cahors, and enjoyed our first meal out.
4. We visited our first vineyard, Ferme de Lafage, a small biodynamic winery located in the AOP of Coteaux du Quercy. We took home a bottle of their La Singlette, a lighter more fruit forward take on Malbec grapes, and a bottle of their La Suite, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Merlot.
5. We tried to do a walk from Penne, a town on the Aveyron River that has an amazing looking fort structure and remnants of a Chateau. But Zeus cut his leg while running from another dog, so we aborted the walk. Maybe one to try again when the weather is nicer.
6. James has been making a valiant effort of getting some daily exercise despite the recent bad weather. Aileen’s exercise routine needs improvement.

What next?
We’re certainly finding that you can’t really plan too much in vanlife, and are having to learn to get comfortable with going with the flow. If the vanlife gods are kind to us we’d like to be able:

1. Get the windshield replaced.
2. Start the process of fixing the bed hinge.
3. Maybe take a trip south to Narbonne or another coastal location.
4. Aileen would like to make progress on knitting some bed socks as they are becoming a critical need in this cold weather!
5. James would like to ride his bikes in the dry again.

We survived our first week hoorah. It’s been great with some hiccups and some key learnings – here’s a roundup.

Our Top 3

1. We’re feeling more settled in the van
To be honest we weren’t sure if everything would fit. It is a tight squeeze at the moment. It will be interesting to go through stuff in 3 months to make a “lived” assessment of what’s needed and what isn’t. One thing we have bought this week is a can opener. The requirement for a can opener was brought to our attention when we were getting ready to have a tin of cassoulet for dinner. 

We spent the first couple of days trying to put things in logical places. And we know where things are. We’ve managed to make and enjoy some nice meals in the van, and we’re now able to travel without fearing something awful will happen to the bikes – thanks James.

2. Our first aire camping experience went well
We’re finding that France is extremely friendly to campervans. And our first experiences of stopping at aire de camping sites have been good ones. If you’re not familiar with aire de campings (we weren’t), they’re designated parking spots for campervans and motorhomes. They may or may not have services available such as loos, water, grey water disposal, electricity. 

The advantages of staying at an aire are:

• Location – many towns that have something of interest to see or do will have them. We stayed in Vers and Bouzies this week. Vers had lots of MTB trails around, and Bouzies was at the start of some stunning hikes to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Both were along the Lot river, in stunning locations.
• Price – because the amenities are limited, aires are usually quite cheap to stay at. Vers was free as no one came to collect, and Bouzies cost us EUR 6 a day.
• Security/piece of mind – Parking a campervan loaded with 3 bikes is a tricky task at the best of times. We’ve found that aires provide plenty of space for motorhome sized vehicles, and because they’re designated for this purpose, the risk of damage/loss feels less likely.

The key disadvantage of staying at an aire is limited amenties. Because we’re in a campervan sans loo, the lack of loos was a particular concern for us. We’ve got means of doing Number 1 (think bottle), but no banana on Number 2s. Luckily both aires we stayed at had loos. They were basic, but they were loos. In a pinch we’d have to find municipal loos or loos at restaurants.

We’ve also got limited supplies of water, power, and gas, so running out of any one of these doesn’t sound fun either, but perhaps not as bad as not having a loo nearby when you need it!

3. We’re starting to relax and enjoy the experience
The first couple of days were exhausting. In the week leading up to our adventure, James had his last day at work, we packed up the flat, we drove to Somerset to pack up the van, then we drove back to London for some final sorting. So we were tired to begin with. 

In the first 3 days of the week we racked up over 1100 km of driving. We had to book some campsites for the visa application process so we booked 2 sites on the assumption we would head south fairly quickly. We stayed 2 nights at Sully-sur-Loire, then headed to Montpezat-de-Quercy.

On day 4 James finally got to take one of his bikes out for a spin in the hills surrounding Montpezat-de-Quercy.

On day 5 we finally got to do our first hike, a gentle circular route from the town of Lalbenque, a major truffle town of the region. 

On days 6 and 7 we enjoyed cycling and hiking along the Lot river.

Our Bottom 3

1. We broke something in the van 😦
We left some stuff on the small ledge by the bed hinge, and when we lowered the bed, the hinge broke. It’s a sad but workable injury. We have an appointment booked on the 24th at a VW garage.

2. Bad loos
The campsite at Montpezat had an uber stinky loo, made bearable only after a spritz or 2 of the Jo Malone deodoriser Aileen brought for this exact scenario. We had booked 7 nights. We stayed 2. Also, why have none of the service station loos we’ve been to, have toilet seats? How does one use a toilet without a seat?

3. Everything takes time in the campervan
You CANNOT rush things. And teamwork is crucial. We expected this would be the case, but we’re having to get used to it. As 2 people who are slightly obsessed with process efficiency, taking an hour to prep for and fry an egg can be a frustrating experience. The upside is we’ll have to learn to relax, and it will likely get easier.

In summary
After getting over the exhausting start, we are starting to settle in and enjoy the freedom to go where our whim takes us, and discover places we might not otherwise experience without the campervan. The Lot river valley was pretty breaktaking. The fall colours in the forested hills of Causses de Quercy have been a pleasure to drive or cycle through. The small quiet towns of Tarn-et-Garonne have been a pleasure to explore. 

What’s next for us?
We have a vet appointment this week to kick off the process of getting a pet passport for Zeus, so we’re saying local. We have yet to visit a vineyard and Aileen is discovering that the region has a number of AOPs, so vineyard locations have been noted on our map 🙂 . There’s hiking and MTB around river Averyon and Garonne to explore. We have yet to visit the bigger towns of Cahors (also a famous wine town), and Montauban. James is also desperate to go to a climbing wall.

After Zeus’ vet appointment we’d like to start heading east to explore the Grande Causses.