A New Adventure in France

Joe is loving being able to use his Jeep in France and had hopes of being able to attend events with other Jeep enthusiasts. Often this means military vehicle events and can also include classic car events. Some events are further afield and travelling long distances in the Jeep to join them would be hard going, not to mention taking a lot of time.  So Joe has bought a car trailer enabling us to trailer the Jeep behind the campervan and signed up for a Jeep event in Provence in early September. We did a trial run to a car event near Bergerac in June, staying at a nearby campsite and all went well. The Provence event (Proven’Jeep) was a gathering of 40 Jeeps in the Baronnies region of Provence around Mont Ventoux. We spent a couple of days getting there and back, staying in picturesque villages and using a campsite near the start as a base for leaving the van and trailer.

The  organising committee put together two days of driving following excellent road-book routes, some off-road where local fire regulations for forested areas allowed and with stunning scenery through the mountains. A huge amount of planning must go into the event, including a lot of liaison with the police force of the two departments of La Drôme and Vaucluse. The group was not allowed to travel in ‘convoy’ but had to be spaced out in groups of 2 or 3 at 5 minute intervals to ensure traffic is not held up, although we actually saw very little other traffic. We were bathed in sunshine for the first day but the locals in the group told us that the strong sea breeze would be bringing rain for the  next day. The group took over most of the accommodation at a holiday village in Buis-Les-Baronnies and we enjoyed a ‘soirée gala’ with excellent company from fellow Jeep owners (all French). Everyone’s Jeep was well covered with tarpaulins and other protective covers and with good cause as we were woken at 3 am by a storm and rain of biblical proportions. We emerged tentatively in the morning expecting to find the Jeep and our belongings full of water but fortunately it had fared well.

The soggy group set off in dry weather with packed lunches following roads made more interesting by rain that increased steadily during the day. At our lunch stop at a lookout point there was unfortunately no hint of a view and the parking area became more and more sodden as we huddled under a lean-to to eat our picnic lunch. Some of the group took the direct route back at this stage but we continued following the road book along the scenic route and quite enjoyed ourselves. At least we only had a few minutes drive back at the end to the campsite and our van to dry out. 

Joe’s Jeep raised some interest, being one of very few Ford Jeeps in the group, as well as one of the oldest (1942) and it was quite special to be together with so many other Jeeps. A great experience and certainly one we would love to do again. We took two days to travel back and had a lovely overnight stop at the marina port of Homps on the Canal du Midi. The boat hire company has a base there and we saw quite a few holidaymakers arriving to collect their boats and having a quick introduction to how to drive the boats up and down the canal. There are quite a few bridges to navigate under, some where the boats only just fit under with the captain on the bridge having to duck right down to avoid hitting their heads. Many of the boats are battle scarred from hitting bridges and locks. I was impressed to see a female captain piloting her boat confidently towards a low bridge, but she eased off the power at the last moment and the wind took the boat at an angle as they bounced and banged their way through. 

The one year anniversary of our move here has seen a couple of major admin issues ticked off. Firstly we had to renew our one-year visas, submitting an online dossier of documents, some of which had to be translated by an approved court translator.  A wait of a few weeks and then we had confirmation that our ‘titres de séjour’ have been extended for another year. Rather than being a page in our passports, as for the first visa, we will actually get a ‘card’, rather like a driving licence.  We’ll have to go to the Préfecture in Agen in a couple of week’s time to collect the card and hand over payment. And then we’ll have to do the same thing all over again next year ….

The second item was the replacement of our septic tank as we are not on mains drainage. A new law came in a couple of years ago which requires that when a house is sold, if it has a septic tank that was installed before 2021, the tank has to be replacedced with one that meets the latest standards, and the work has to be done within a year.  We were aware of this when we negotiated on the purchase of the house and we submitted our ‘dossier’ (so many dossiers) within the first few months to the relevant authorities and got the approval to proceed.  Unfortunately it’s been a very wet year so the contractor didn’t want to start work until the (clay) ground was dry, so as not to work in a quagmire. With the summer holidays out of the way, they turned up in the first few days of September and quickly got to work.

The works have to be inspected by the environmental authorities before the trenches and earth works can be closed up to ensure distances from the house, ventilation, etc are all in order and to obtain the necessary certification. The contractor works regularly with the inspector so his visit was a short one and approval given. The trenches were quickly filled in but part of the garden has been rather chewed up so some reseeding of grass is required and a few minor landscaping works to hide new features. Joe was delighted when the contractors arrived a few days before works behalf to drop off their diggers in readiness. He casually asked if they might be leaving the keys but the son obviously got Joe’s number and made a big show of taking the keys with him. Otherwise I can imagine the garden would have looked like a battlefield with Joe practicing digging trenches everywhere!