Where's Bertie? Tonight he's at the Aire at Wissant, where he has been quite a few times before. On Tuesday and Wednesday night he was outside the Hymer dealer in Izegem.
Weather: Cooler, slightly murky starts, gradually clearing and warming up, but still mainly overcast days.
With the saga of the design fault on Bertie's bed having dragged on for 17 months, and with the customer relations at the dealer where we bought Bertie being seriously lacking, we had little faith that we would come away this week with a properly functioning bed*.
Things did not start well on Tuesday morning. Having been present, back in June, when the timeslot was found where three technicians would be available for two whole days, and having delayed our return to the UK to make ourselves available for that timeslot, we soon learnt that there were actually only two available, and one of them only until lunchtime. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!
Two days were spent sitting at a table in amongst brand new motorhomes, waiting, waiting and waiting some more and, to our great surprise, by the end of yesterday the necessary bits of the bed frame had been replaced, plus the only other major issue (a drivers seat that moves from side to side whilst driving isn't ideal...) and a few more minor ones had also been addressed. Hopefully we'll only need to make one more visit to get the last few things sorted, and hopefully nothing else will be found amiss during the warranty period.
I did get a couple of runs in whilst I was there, took a walk around the local area (remarkable for how uninteresting it is) and did a fair amount of crosswording, knitting and internet surfing.
Being 7.30 by the time we had Bertie returned to us last evening, we drove him all of two spaces along the car park (from a sloping slot to a flat one), plugged into the dealer's electricity supply and stayed another night.
This morning we left Belgium, stopping only for LPG on our way (49.8c/litre - bargain!) and drove straight to Lidl in Coquelles (by Calais) to do the traditional 'leaving France' shop consisting principally of wine, beer and cheese. Now, every time the fridge door is opened, Mick accuses me of having smelly feet. I'm not sure he believes me that it really is that camembert he chose.
It was coming up to quarter to one when we pulled into the Aire in Wissant and, having not had elevenses, we were ready to eat a scabby dog. No time was wasted in heading into the village for Moules Frites. Last year we opted for the most expensive eatery. This year we went for the mid-priced one next door, whose menu contains two options: Jambon + Frites ou Moules Frites. Like us, every other customer had opted for Moules and the servings were not small:
Walking down to the beach afterwards, the scene was a contrast to last year. That was a hot, sunny day, the tide was out, the beach was crowded and the sea full of people. Today there were a few families dotted around on what little beach wasn't under water, but the sea was full of wind- and kite-surfers. It was a bit breezy.
Tomorrow morning we'll be up early. We're booked on Eurotunnel at 0750. And that's it. The end of another trip. I have no idea how it went by so fast!
Weather: Cooler, slightly murky starts, gradually clearing and warming up, but still mainly overcast days.
With the saga of the design fault on Bertie's bed having dragged on for 17 months, and with the customer relations at the dealer where we bought Bertie being seriously lacking, we had little faith that we would come away this week with a properly functioning bed*.
Things did not start well on Tuesday morning. Having been present, back in June, when the timeslot was found where three technicians would be available for two whole days, and having delayed our return to the UK to make ourselves available for that timeslot, we soon learnt that there were actually only two available, and one of them only until lunchtime. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!
Two days were spent sitting at a table in amongst brand new motorhomes, waiting, waiting and waiting some more and, to our great surprise, by the end of yesterday the necessary bits of the bed frame had been replaced, plus the only other major issue (a drivers seat that moves from side to side whilst driving isn't ideal...) and a few more minor ones had also been addressed. Hopefully we'll only need to make one more visit to get the last few things sorted, and hopefully nothing else will be found amiss during the warranty period.
I did get a couple of runs in whilst I was there, took a walk around the local area (remarkable for how uninteresting it is) and did a fair amount of crosswording, knitting and internet surfing.
Being 7.30 by the time we had Bertie returned to us last evening, we drove him all of two spaces along the car park (from a sloping slot to a flat one), plugged into the dealer's electricity supply and stayed another night.
This morning we left Belgium, stopping only for LPG on our way (49.8c/litre - bargain!) and drove straight to Lidl in Coquelles (by Calais) to do the traditional 'leaving France' shop consisting principally of wine, beer and cheese. Now, every time the fridge door is opened, Mick accuses me of having smelly feet. I'm not sure he believes me that it really is that camembert he chose.
It was coming up to quarter to one when we pulled into the Aire in Wissant and, having not had elevenses, we were ready to eat a scabby dog. No time was wasted in heading into the village for Moules Frites. Last year we opted for the most expensive eatery. This year we went for the mid-priced one next door, whose menu contains two options: Jambon + Frites ou Moules Frites. Like us, every other customer had opted for Moules and the servings were not small:
Walking down to the beach afterwards, the scene was a contrast to last year. That was a hot, sunny day, the tide was out, the beach was crowded and the sea full of people. Today there were a few families dotted around on what little beach wasn't under water, but the sea was full of wind- and kite-surfers. It was a bit breezy.
Tomorrow morning we'll be up early. We're booked on Eurotunnel at 0750. And that's it. The end of another trip. I have no idea how it went by so fast!
Well, I've thoroughly enjoyed my daily Bertie fix - missing you already!
ReplyDeleteI’ve enjoyed these missives as well. Thanks Gayle. And I’m pleased to hear that Mick’s injury is on the mend.
ReplyDeleteDon’t despair, HMP3, ‘Summer in the Alps’ has another three weeks to go....
Anyway you should be off somewhere interesting yourself if my memory serves me.
Heading for Les Ecrins. Yum Yum
ReplyDeleteHello Mick & Gayle .. glad to see you are both still getting out & about, although your blog has been a bit quiet this last month or so? Pleasant resting, I hope.
ReplyDeleteSomething awful has happened: I have developed the urge to buy a motorhome. To start with, I assumed it would soon wear off like all my other daft ideas, but it hasn't. So, I have a couple of questions about Colin, Bertie etc, is it possible I could email them to you please? Just send an email to me, jerry at jerrywhitmarsh dot com will do the trick .. thanks in advance!