Lockdown Lifted, 22 July

Best laid plans, and all that.... Last night, the gas ran out, which was not unexpected, given that we had we realised, been using it 24/7 for the fridge.  We have plenty, so that is not an issue, and as it was the French cylinder that is empty, we can get more.  But, unfortunately, the fridge simply wouldn't start up again, no matter what we did to encourage it.  You could hear the self-starter clicking away, but nothing happened.  

This has happened before, in our old van, and was fixed up very quickly with a new filter of some kind - forget the exact thing - which took him all of 3 minutes to fix.  He said at the time that they don't last forever and ought to be replaced every couple of years. 

So we both slept badly and were cross and fratchety this morning.  As it is half way through our holiday, I changed things like kitchen towels and table napkins, and washed through the various masks - I just had enough to last, but wouldn't have had a fresh one to shop on Thursday of next week when we get home.

Masks drying in the bathroom.

Our route today was always going to be an exciting one, over Galibier and Lauteret. This is the monument at Galibier, and I'll put other photos, and photos I took of the wild flowers, on Facebook

Tour de France monument on Galibier

It was much colder up there, of course! We came down via Briançon, stopping somewhere for a lunch neither of us much wanted, and at a passing services that were badly needed, and then on to Gap to a motorhome repair place which refused to do anything to help us as they were booked solid for weeks. In vain did we please that it would only take 5 minutes (and at that, we could do it ourselves if we knew how to open the panel, which we will find out!). So we came away, and the Swan Whisperer said, despairingly, that he would give it one more go - and it came on!  It is definitely staying on until we turn the gas off for the Shuttle crossing and we will, of course, get a new part when we get home.  

So that has thrown our plans into disarray, rather.  We are not sure whether to find the places to stay we first thought of, or to change our plans again.  We did some shopping an bought diesel after visiting the unhelpful place, and then came on to this random aire that Park4Night recommended, and, indeed, it is very nice.  It rained and stormed, though, when we got here, which is actually nice as it was very hot and muggy (and we are still 960 metres above sea level, as at Abondance).  We don't really need to start home until Sunday.  Watch this space.....