Breakdown!

 

Just when everything was going so well...

It’s very cold, getting dark and windy. Aimile has puttered to a halt on the motorway from Dover to London. Chris has pushed him as far onto the narrow hard shoulder as the fence will allow and we’re contemplating what to do next…

 It’s all been smooth driving through France. Uneventful and uninteresting flat scenery, with some snow still lurking in gullies along the road. Every so often, there’s deeper snow as we climb, but nothing to worry us. It’s grey, damp and unpleasant. The heater is working though and we headed for a large booze outlet just outside Calais. It’s a tasting joint too, so we can sample before we load up. With no back seats, there’s a lot of space and the allowances are still quite good, despite Brexit. The helpful shop guy shows us how to get the French tax back too – a very small benefit of the UK’s departure from the EU.

 Neither French nor English customs or passport control delayed us and we were soon in a line, waiting to cross the channel. Grey dismal weather stopped just short of rain. People are taking photos of us along the way. We had hoped to be in London by early evening.

 Alas it was not to be…

 Now at the top of a slight hill, we are stranded. Chris tries to get help from the Europe Assistance he’s joined. He has to call Greece and they are not being very helpful. We’re in quite a dangerous situation, with lorries thundering past and rocking the car. At least the citric yellow is clearly visible. He tries to figure out what might be wrong. Could he have put the wrong fuel in? Could the heavy load have affected something?

I remember I might have some roadside assistance from an old travel policy and thankfully that works. It’s the lowest level of AA cover but a phone call elicits a response. As we’re in a bad place, they will give us priority, but we may have to wait up to an hour. They have strict rules. Put up the warning triangle, get out of the car and stand behind the barrier, leave lights and hazards on and wear something bright. Chris has a good red rain jacket, and we huddle on a narrow strip of mud and wait.

It's really cold. I have boots, gloves, thermal socks, several layers of fleece and a hooded anorak. Still my fingers and toes are beginning to go numb. In just under an hour help arrives. The mechanic is young but has an interest and lots of experience with old cars. He’s interested in our trip and does his best to help. But he can’t get Aimile started.

So, it’s plan ‘B’. We ask him to tow us to somewhere we can stay for the night and hope to fix Aimile the next morning. It’s too late for a specialist mechanic tonight and too dark to see much. We’re exploring the countryside somewhere near Brands Hatch and a friendly wayside inn proves illusive – it’s a Wednesday night but everything is full. My phone has given up, we’re all soaked. Our AA friend has checked the fuel – no problem there – and can’t find anything else wrong. Eventually, he takes us to a place he knows and we find a bed for us and a safe parking place for Aimile. We feel we’ve earned a glass or two of something tonight and order a pizza and some wine just before the bar closes.

Next morning it’s lighter and brighter, not raining and everything looks a bit better. Chris thinks he can clean the engine a bit, get a jump start and we’ll be on our way. He finds a helpful valet crew in the car park and together they get the engine running – he calls me so I can hear it!

Meanwhile, I’m looking for breakfast. In the UK, it’s not a biscuit dunked in coffee as is usual in Greece – but the full English. Today, it’s bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, hash browns, sausages and baked beans. Only problem is we’re too late – it’s all packed away. The manager takes pity on me when I spin him a sob story and brings us a loaded tray. It’s a good way to set ourselves up for the day.

After another jump start, we’re once more on our way. The relief was short-lived as we ground to a halt after about five minutes, but Chris was confident and we were soon moving again. We decided not to risk the motorways again as the AA were not so likely to be sympathetic again, so we took the roads less travelled.

London, here we come!