Sque-eeeeeeeeeze!!! (April, 2018)

Saturday's job, once we'd got back from doing the money transfer at the bank, was to get the car packed ready for heading over the channel.

As the ferry journey isn't until Wednesday, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was premature (and I suspect Sally may agree with you), but here are my reasons:

  1. I will be away from home from early evening on Sunday and then working from home (and doing a long day) before we head off at 5pm. There simply won't be the time to pack on the Wednesday.
  2. Sunday is an option but we'd be working to a hard deadline (the train departure time for my trip 'up north'). I much preferred not to have this added pressure - especially as I knew the packing would be a challenge - and the more rushed you are, the more likely you are to forget something.
So, for the sake of one unnecessary day sitting packed and parked, it was a Saturday job as far as I was concerned.

I reversed the car onto the drive, This was partly to facilitate packing, but the other consideration was to avoid advertising that there was a car full of possessions sitting for four nights on the drive.

We had a mental impression of what we needed to get into the car and what the 'nice to haves' were. I have a bit of a reputation as an efficient packer of suitcases, so I was hoping to bring those skills to bear here. The Skoda Octavia's rear capacity has also always impressed me and I was confident she wouldn't let me down this time. 

As well as the usual clothes, toiletries etc., there were some seriously bulky and/or heavy items including:
  • A solid (and I mean 'solid') wooden futon/settee
  • 10 litres of paint
  • A substantial set of tools
  • Decorating equipment
  • Bed linen/pillows
  • 2 directors chairs
Nice to have included: 
  • A bucket
  • A washing-up bowel
  • Cushions
  • Secure document box
  • A hatstand
If I say so myself, I am impressed with what we got in. The hatstand defeated me (largely due to the odd shape) but everything else is there - and with space to spare as you can see:


It did look laden down though. Was it too much for the car - especially considering the length of the journey ahead?

I'd already checked the tyre pressures (and added extra pressure in the rear tyres as per the owner's manual). Now I decided to take it for a short spin, over some local 'sleeping policemen' and see how the suspension and steering felt.

She was fine. Perhaps a little more 'gas' when pulling off and I suspect stopping distances will have increased, but suspension and steering seemed OK. The lack of vision through the rear window will be annoying, but if van drivers can cope with side mirrors alone, then I should be able to.

When we unpack in France, if I remember, I want to take a photo of just what we have in that boot - I think you'll be impressed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Receipt of Compromise & Diagnostics Reports (Feb 2018)

I'm still building this blog, setting up the 'Retrospective' pages which describe our activities between first embarking on this adventure  and finally deciding to create this blog. However, I've decided to create the first blog post as we've hit the first major milestone to occur since I started blogging - the receipt of the Compromise and the Diagnostic Reports. The Compromise is the first of two contractual documents and commits both parties to the sale of the property. The other contract is the main contract at the end of the process. Rather than travel to France we had decided to give the notaire (similar to a solicitor but working for the State rather than the two parties) power of attorney  to sign the Compromise on our behalf. This seemed seemed sensible as it involved no additional fees and saved us the journey. We would still have a 10-day cooling off period and, even if we had traveled there, the chances of understanding even a small part of what we w
Read more

A Night at the Chateau. 4-5 July

Image
 Up at 05:30 and on the road, as planned, shortly after 06:00. Nice clear run to the Eurotunnel terminal, as a result of which we were offered the 10:20 crossing (we were booked on the 11:50). Great result! Except we then queued and queued as traffic crawled through the customs and security checks. Eventually we found ourselves on the 11:20 crossing - still 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Anecdotally, the return delays are currently even worse. Isn't Brexit bliss 😒. We had booked a night at the Chateau de la Bucherie, just to the west of Paris. And French leg of the journey from the terminal was a s smooth as the journey to the terminal. I can highly recommend the chateau. The price was very reasonable, the room spacious (all be it in the roof with only a moderate sized Velux window).  The staff were delightful and friendly and the grounds (with impressive flora and fauna) were exceptional.  The kitchen garden was well stocked and we weren't surprised to see its produce feature
Read more

Baking Bread without an Oven & Accosting Strangers - 28 & 29 June.

Image
  On Sunday we tried, unsuccessfully, to find the workshop of the bicycle repairman that had a stall on the market the previous year. He'd told us he was opening a shop but we failed to find it  – perhaps it didn’t survive the pandemic; perhaps we simply were looking in the wrong place. We more groceries (we can only buy a few provisions each visit due to transport being limited to the push bikes) and ordered a full size fridge-freezer. Sally reckoned it was a good price and we’ve been managing with a small fridge for long enough – especially as we’ll be visiting for longer periods now (hopefully). Delivery was only €10 so we arranged for it to be delivered the next day. In the evening we looked for hotels in Paris and, having booked three-nights there, changed our return train ticket; a surprisingly simple process. Up at a more reasonable time (07:45) on Monday – thanks to setting the alarm. We needed to be sure to be up in time for the fridge-freezer delivery (scheduled for s
Read more