We've come to a long-term decision. It's just too hot to come here during July, and probably August as well. It's fun being in the early-mid 30s for a while, but mid to high 30s day after day is really draining. It makes doing anything a real effort, and precludes anything which involves physical effort. We've only had a consistent fortnight+ of it so far, and we feel for those who live and work here permanently and must face it unrelentingly week after week. A large part of Europe (and elsewhere) is struggling with ongoing very high temperatures, drought conditions and the threat of wildfires. If this is what is going to be the norm from now on, we are going to become European autumn/winter bunnies.
We know we are extremely lucky to have the option of being able to come out here at all, let alone be able to choose our timing. We've arrived in September a few times before, mainly because it's been a good time to tackle our renovation projects and also to work with our builder and other tradesmen. That will definitely be our plan from now onwards. The Ceret Cherry Festival in May is loads of fun, and April-June is great, but we are currently wilting and sorry not to be able to get outside at all during the afternoons. Ceret has a lovely feel at 7am when we get up and go for a walk, but the coolness wears off very fast.
This morning we were up before 7am so we could catch the bus to the industrial zone nearby and source a new battery for the car. However, firstly checking the size of the battery, we realised that a switch for the running lights had been knocked into the 'on' position. Hah. Maybe that was the problem after all, so instead of buying a battery (the store didn't open until 9am) we first tried Intermarché (which opened at 8.30am) and to our surprise found a starter booster. Excellent. We could keep this booster unit in the car permanently and it should allow us to start the car at any time if the battery is low, e.g. when we pick it up from its storage garage each year.
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| How to break a 20E note |
When rushing to the bus we realised we only had a 20E note. We had to break it so nipped into a bakery on the way to buy something and get some small change!
We caught the next bus back to Céret and we were back home within the hour. After fully charging up the booster, back to the car to connect the leads onto the battery, turn the key, and great, it started straight away. We leapt in and drove up the valley for a decent way to make sure it was charging, then stopped off at Lidl on the way back to Céret to stock up on Montepulciano. We figure we need to get into the swing of Tuscan wine before we arrive there. We've also been searching for some low or no alcohol beer, which is very hard to find here. Many of the beers are 5-6%, and nothing in the 2-2.5% range we are enjoying in NZ. We found some in Lidl and it is now in the fridge waiting to be tested.
Up for an early walk on Thursday afternoon, and some weights/exercises/stretches before getting ready for lunch with friends at a restaurant just up the road. However, we are conscious we have yet to pay for the garaging of our car over the last 2+ years. The owner of the garage runs a hotel in the neighbouring town of Le Boulou. We planned to go there first, then head to the restaurant. One problem - the car wouldn't start again. This means we definitely have a problem with the battery - it hasn't held any charge from running the car up the valley yesterday. We readily started it using our little battery booster and headed to Le Boulou. Unfortunately Antoine was not in that morning, but we could catch him tomorrow. No worries. We sat down to recover from our rather frenetic morning, had a coffee, read L'Independant newspaper, then drove (it started this time) to Reynes to meet up with our friends.
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| Rather lovely Maitre de Cabestany frieze above the Le Boulou church entrance |
Lunch was at La Dulcine, a rather fancy restaurant. Our English friends know all of the restaurants and wineries within about a 30km radius of Ceret, and chose it. Indeed, it was a splendid meal, and it was a very enjoyable few hours chatting together. The air-conditioning unit in the restaurant is also much more powerful than the one in our little apartment!
John is currently searching the web looking for the best-buy options for a battery when we go into Perpignan tomorrow morning.
Friday morning dawned early. Bella Skyped us with news about their first day in the snow with the kiddies. It turned out to be a very memorable day for them, starting with scarily running over a freshly-deposited large boulder on the ski road (it was either that or drive off the road downslope into the snow), Nic hitched back to find help then ending up helping others upright a car that had rolled, he borrowed a campervan to go back and collect Bella and the kids off the ski road. Loads of people offered to help them, including a big hand from Ashley Bloomfield. A friend drove down from Nelson to collect the family and then took them all the way up the ski road so they made it onto Rainbow skifield, the kids having a great time tobogganing, and Violet having to be retrieved because she refused to let go of her tobogan when it was whipped off by the strong wind. It all ended well, with everyone safe and sound, but I've no doubt Bella and Nic were both mentally and physically exhausted.
It turned out that our own day today was to be extremely challenging for John and me. I will let John write it up. I'm still recovering.
We had finally worked out that the battery going flat was due to the radio being left on, so softly we hadn't heard it, but enough to drain the battery. We decided that if the car battery could still start the car after 2.5 years, then it must be ok. Hence all we needed to do today was to pay Antoine for the garaging, then get to the wheel alignment appointment.
The payment went really well. We offered Antoine the hotel-owner substantially less than the full 32 weeks worth of rental, a substantial sum. Antoine was very happy to accept less, in fact he was positively embarrassed to take it. Two happy parties, as we were thinking we might have to pay a lot more, and we got a pair of coffees thrown in. The car started fine, and north to Norauto with the windows wide open and the fan on full. We did some very successful shopping at the Auchan mall while the car was being sorted.
Back to the car and it had been finished really early. It wouldn't start, perhaps because the technicians had been running the fan while working on it, or perhaps not. That blew our theory that the battery was in fact fine but the radio had been draining it, as a trip to Perpignan should have been enough to give it a good boost. Also when it started, there were a swarm of warning lights on the dash, combined with a constant piercing beep-beep-beep, and none of the electrics worked. Thus a drive to Carter-Cash for a new 12V battery, without openable windows and no fan or aircon. It was horrific. It was 36 outside, and must have got to an airless 40+ inside. By Carter-Cash we were a ghastly dripping mess. At least we did get a good Asian-car-sized battery (not easy elsewhere), and after a bit of a struggle I got it fitted.
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| Fitting the new battery |
Unfortunately the electrics were still out, and I finally worked out that a big fuse had blown, probably when boost-starting it after the wheel alignment. Replacing the fuse shouldn't have been a problem, as we were sitting outside an auto parts store, but there were in fact two problems - it was closed for lunch, and it turned out not to have the fuse we needed. Fortunately there was a Lidl next door, so we grabbed some lunch, some drink and settled in to wait. To fill in time we opened up our e-readers, and to add insult to injury, Karen's one was dead flat. Having confirmed the fuse wasn't available, the obvious answer was to go to Hyundai to get a Hyundai fuse. Simple you'd think. Another appalling drive in the roasting cabin (now 38C outside), but Hyundai wasn't where it was last visit, though our GPS thought it still was. Aaaarrrggghhhh! To Kia, and they pointed us to the new Hyundai location. Got there OK, but unbelievably, they said they didn't have the fuse and we should go another few kms to Feu-Vert, another auto shop. Got there, dripping yet more, and no luck. Nor at Norauto next door.
At this point we were despairing. I decided the only option was to temporarily short out the blown fuse with bits from an aluminium can, but in the end found I could squeeze the two sides of the fuse together with pliers. Problem solved for now, windows down, fan on and back home to Ceret to sort out another source for the fuse. Last throw of the dice was a small auto parts shop at the industrial zone. Bingo! They couldn't have been nicer. "Of course monsieur, that will be 6E and it will arrive 8:30 on Monday morning". Nobody else had even hinted that they could order it.
The frustrating day hadn't ended. Having been fobbed off by Hyundai, we thought we'd try to get somebody else to fix the aircon, so I went across the road to Mach & Fils to see if they could do it. After half an hour in the heat waiting unsuccessfully for the owner to come and talk to me, I decided they were just as useless as Hyundai, so we should stick to the appointment with Hyundai. Unfortunately Hyundai had rung that morning to delay the repairs on our air-con unit from next Monday to next Thursday!
Home after 7 hours. A couple of good clothes purchases, the garaging happily paid, a straight-running car, a new battery, and probably 5 kilograms of sweat lighter. Not a fun day.
