Week One in the Camping Car

This is the first time I have fired up my computer in a week! We are currently parked up at a lovely campsite in Montréjeau in the south of France where we are taking our time getting properly moved into our new home. The proprietors are nice, shopping is just down the hill and the view is spectacular! It's everything we had hoped for, especially given the stress of the past, oh, I don't know, weeks? Months? 

It seems longer now, but it was just last week we packed up all our belongings and managed to stuff it into our little car. It all seemed so familiar. Early Thursday morning we said goodbye to our little maison and took off for Toulouse. We are really going to miss this place and St. Julien but, we had an appointment with Bijou at 5:00 p.m.

We are really honing our packing skills in the past few months!

We kind of dreaded the trip. Not just the trip, if I am to be completely honest, but the whole process of the walkthrough and the paperwork. It's stressful enough to do all that in English, it was overwhelming to know we would be doing it in French. Plus, we had our doubts that the dealership had actually followed through on some of the items on our agreed upon list. Both of us were pretty much a ball of nerves. Spoiler Alert: They missed a few things but nothing major, gave us cheap-o rear tires, not Michelin as we expected and they didn't clean as well as I would have liked, but you knew I was going to clean it anyway, right?

In spite of being on edge, the eight-hour drive was fairly enjoyable and we arrived at our hotel in plenty of time to have a little catnap before heading over to the dealership. We had heard tales of a secretary who spoke a little English, but he/she never materialized. So with the use of five iPhones and Google Translate, we somehow managed to sign, initial and date reams of papers. All that was left to do was the walkthrough with our tech, Remy. When we first arrived at the dealership, our sales guy said if we wanted the walkthough today, it would have to be a short one. If we wanted to wait until tomorrow, we could have the long one. Since they chose the time, we insisted on a long one today :)

Reams and reams of paperwork and a little help from Google Translate.

There she is! Doing the walkthrough at the dealership.

In addition to the few repair items agreed upon at the time of purchase, we also added a Gaslow propane system (more on this later), two additional 220v electrical plugs and a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter. Remy was awesome because he actually enjoyed using his limited English and learning new words as we went along. He would say a word over and over and point at something until one of us got it, then we would say the word in English and Remy would smile and exclaim, "Exact!" 

Steven looks like he might be on the verge of a cardiac event.

A few minutes after closing time, 7:00 p.m., we left for our hotel relieved and happy this day was finally over. The next morning we returned to unload our stuff from the car to Bijou, then we drove to the Toulouse airport to return our rental. We managed to grab a taxi with a driver who drove so furiously that we were tossed violently from side to side. It was unbelievable. We were a tad frazzled when we returned to the dealership but we were ready to get going. Now all we had to do was secure our stuff and hit the road. It sounds easy, we thought it would be easy, but it actually took us over an hour because we kept finding things we didn't understand, or couldn't figure out (like how to put Bijou in reverse...) which prompted a few trips into the dealership and a "Excusez moi, Gautier, un moment s'il vous plait?" He must have come outside a dozen times to show us how to do stuff. 

Finally feeling a little excitement about moving our stuff into Bijou.

The taxi driver had found the traffic through Toulouse to be so hideous he suggested we go another way after he learned we would be driving in our new camping car. But I had already studied the map and was familiar with the route we had chosen so, hideous or not, we weren't deviating. The first day I drove Scoopy after we bought her we went through Sacramento. Four days later I drove through Portland and Seattle. Traffic has never been much of an issue for me, but throw in a stick shift,  a zillion crazy roundabouts and a few toll booths and things out of Toulouse got a little hairy. As we made our way to the southwest of the city, we drove on a couple of different toll roads. Each road requires that you first take a ticket, then pay the toll at another booth where the toll road ends. Each time we stopped at a toll booth, I had to put Bijou in neutral, put on the parking brake, undo my seatbelt, roll down my window, get up out of my chair and step down into the well by the door, reach out to retrieve the ticket, or put in the toll ticket and then the credit card. Before I could take off through the gate, I had to do all that in reverse! I'm sure muscle memory will someday make this routine, but right now both Steven and I are on high alert and talking through the steps each time. 

As we got further away from the city we started to relax a bit. It was a perfect warm, sunny day and traffic was light. Then we got our first view of the Pyrenees mountains and it took our breath away. Sometimes we get so involved in our daily lives we kind of forget where we are. This morning I read a new headline stating avocados are being recalled in six states and since I had just bought some, I had to think for a second to remember where I was. Oh yeah, I'm not even in the States!

We were looking forward to arriving at our campground. We had no idea what that experience would be like, but after the stress of the past couple of days, we were eager to get settled in and crack open a bottle of wine. There was just one big thing standing between us and a lovely happy hour. (Not really. There were a hundred big things, but we like to tackle them one at a time.) We had to refill our propane system. Bijou originally came with two large gas bottles that, once empty, could be exchanged for full ones. The problem is that the gas cylinders are not always compatible from one country to the next, so you could end up toting around an empty bottle from France that is useless in Spain and vice versa. You can see how this would be an undesirable system, which is why we had the Glaslow system installed. Gaslow is a refillable, twin cylinder system that, in total, holds 22 kgs.of propane. The key word there is "refillable"  With a handy set of adapters, it can be refilled throughout Europe. 

Our Gaslow propane system.

In France, we have to refill it ourselves. Here it is called GPL and can be readily found. We use a website called myLPG.eu that offers an interactive map where you can drill down and find places that offer propane. We had found one just before the exit to our campground, so we thought we had it all figured out. Except we didn't. In a nutshell, we went to the wrong lane. Bijou's system is on the passenger side, and we went to the one on the driver's side. We were too tired to try and figure out how to move, because lanes at these toll road stations are blocked off six ways from Sunday and they don't make it easy to turn around or get repositioned. It probably is easy, it just wasn't obvious to us. We just went on and decided to tackle the GPL challenge another day. It would have to be soon, though, as the dealership put in just enough propane to test the new system and we had no idea how long that would last us. 

We arrived at our campground and got checked in. There is a discount camping program called ACSI that is much like Passport America. It has a ton of participating campgrounds throughout Europe. When you check in, they take your ACSI card and keep it until you are ready to check out. They never asked for any other I.D. (Non-ACSI campgrounds ask for passports, etc. before you can check in). And, rather than pay upfront as we do in the States, here we pay when we check out. I guess they figure you won't want to leave your ACSI card behind. 

We got set up in our site and when Steven went to retrieve the electrical cord from one of the bays the door handle fell right off in his hand. Also, we had no food, no wine, and we needed a hose so that we could put fresh water into our tank. Off we went to the nearby Carrefour, about a kilometer away, on foot, to see what we could find. Thankfully there was also a hardware store nearby, so while I shopped for food and wine, Steven went to find a water hose. Of course, walking downhill to the store is easy enough, but carrying all that stuff back up the big hill was more than we could handle. We called a taxi to drive us home. That was an expensive one-kilometer ride. Bikes would not have been helpful in this instance because the hill up to the campsite is about a 10 percent grade. And yeah, we could have driven there in Bijou, but I need a bit more experience with parking lots here before I just blindly wheel in like I own the joint. 

 Oh oh, looks like we need some duct tape.

Actual re-enactment. The load Steven is carrying is about half what we had the day we decided to take a taxi. :)

Steven had gotten a set of tools he needed to work on getting that bay door open. Without that cord, there would be no electricity. An hour and a few curse words later, we had electricity! Next, he went to hook up the water hose and fill our tank. No water flowed from the site faucet. After inquiring, we found out it had not yet been turned on for the season. But, we had a back up plan for this very circumstance! We had purchased a collapsible water container that can be filled at any (working) water source and then simply poured into Bijou’s gravity fill tank. Tedious, yes, but we didn't need much. I think in the end he put in about 30 liters, and our tank only holds 100 liters. So, not too shabby! 

After returning from the well, Steven fills the tank with water from his handy dandy collapsible container.

We had stuff scattered everywhere and while Steven was taking on his challenges, I had a few of my own, namely unpacking. It always sounds fun to unpack and go through new stuff, but really it's a big chore. As I am working away, Steven appeared at the door whispering, "Our new neighbors speak English!" He made a beeline for their campsite for a quick introduction and later, they joined us for wine and conversation. Steve and Jackie are Brits who live in Spain. They've been camping for years and years and, on this trip, they were on their way back to the U.K. for a wedding. Our little campground is one of their regular stops along the route they have taken many times before. 

And by unpacking, we mean getting our essentials in order.

Our main closet begins to take shape.

As we were yakking and laughing, we noticed a new motorhome slowly making its way down the lane. As it got closer, we all jumped up out of our chairs incredulous at what we were seeing. Squeezing down the narrow lane was a giant Fleetwood Expedition! It looked to be about the same age as Scoopy and just about as long, followed by a tow car on a trailer. The driver stopped right at our sites and unhooked his car. Once he had that off, he manually pushed his trailer into an empty site. Then he proceeded to get turned around using all the nearby empty sites for reversing (I still do not know how he managed this...) and took the site next to ours. In doing so he scraped off a few trees, tore up the trim over his rear tire, scratched the arm of his awning and ran over a row of bushes separating our campsites. It was both hilarious and horrifying to watch, but as you can imagine, it made for great evening entertainment. 

Reminded us of the good old days although we like the more compact version in Europe :)

Steve and Jackie’s cozy little pitch.

Steve and Jackie only stayed one night and we were sad to see them go. It was so wonderful to meet our very first camping friends! We hadn't realized how starved we are for conversation we can actually understand and for the company of people other than ourselves. We have promised to let them know when we are in Spain so that we can all go camping together! How fun! 

Hanging out with our new friends, Steve and Jackie.

On day two, the unpacking continued. And, out of sheer necessity, we learned how to empty the toilet cassette, affectionately known as the "Schlitterbahn". Though Steven has gamely taken on this task as his own, I came along this time for moral support and also to take photos. Oh, and I did carry a bucket of water for rinsing, because we weren't exactly sure where that water source was located. I mean, we barely found the dumpsite, because if you don't know what you are looking for, you'd never just intuitively find it. Thing is, I think there are lots of different types, so we may always be on the hunt for a dump because the Schlitterbahn must be emptied every day or two. We won't be boondocking for weeks at a time like we did in Scoopy.

 

Dumping the black water European style!

Day three is kind of a blur, but I know this is the day we walked nearly 2 kms. to Lidl with our big backpacks. We filled them up and walked home, which was a bit of a challenge, but we considered it training for our upcoming walk across Spain. (Yeah, that's only three weeks away!)

On day four we decided it was time to try again to fill our propane tanks. While we were at it, we thought a shopping trip was in order. Steven found a place not too far away, which happened to be right by a big shopping store and an Aldi. We again studied the map to make sure we were being sent on larger roads and not through narrow village streets. We soon learned that there really aren't any "larger" roads and unless you are on a major highway or toll road, they all go through villages. I haven't really gotten used to the length of Bijou, so getting into a teeny gas station with multiple curbs and barriers was a bit of a keystone cops event. We must have looked like idiots, but who cares, right? We had received thorough instructions from Shani and Todd about how to pump propane, and they advised Steven to wear something over his mouth to protect himself from the inevitable spew from the disconnect. Steven stepped out with his Survivor buff around his neck. Honestly, he looked more like he was about to rob the place than someone who was about to pump propane. He put his credit card in, got everything hooked up, pushed the button aaaaaand, nothing. Again and again he tried. Still nothing. Finally, after about seven or eight tries, a message appeared on the screen. "Pump Out of Order." I thought he might cry.

If you look closely, you can see how close the barriers were on the other side of Bijou. Everything here is a tight fit!

Propane bandit.

We gave up and went to the shopping center where we parked way out there, just like we used to do at Walmart. It felt oddly familiar to us and we were happy to be able to put our groceries away and not have to take a taxi home. We sat in the parking lot trying to figure out what to do about the propane. We decided to go back to the big station off the toll road, the one we tried on our first day. We figured since we had been there before, at least we know where the pump is and can hopefully get into the correct lane this time. When we got there we learned how to circle around the lanes a few times, but finally got ourselves positioned properly. Five hours from the time we left we arrived back to our campsite with a full fridge and full propane tanks. We were exhausted. 

In the remaining days of the week we've settled in, learned a few more things about our new home and continue to enjoy the most perfect weather. We've hardly had a cloud in the sky the entire time we've been here. We have had three different neighbors beside us in site 9, all of whom have been Dutch. It's interesting, because the Dutch are like the common denominator, they speak everything. They "Guten morgen!" to the Germans and "Bonjour!" to the French and "Hello! Good morning!" to us, the Irish-Americans. We are envious of their communication skills. 

Despite all our challenges, this makes it all worthwhile.

We are sleeping well, eating more than we should and enjoying the wonderful French wines. We are happy.

UP NEXT: I need to stop putting this here because IDK.