Frozen Velcro

Monday 17th December 2012We have lots to tell and some really exciting news as it's been a hectic couple of weeks! We were a little concerned about what exactly we were going to do over the Christmas period as up until now we just make things up as we go along but this time there was a need for some proper organising. The small problem that faced us was the growing depth of snow and ice and the only campsites open were now the big Ski resorts. We had never geared ourselves up for the winter snows as we would have probably been back in the UK but the accident in Italy had put us back about 3 months in total. The expensive insurance policies of various types we had in force, still with over 6 months left to run would also expire as soon as we re-enter the UK and we would have to take out new policies if we returned back into Europe, so we were trying to avoid that option. Also it is law in Germany and the Alpine regions to have proper winter tyres fitted or risk a heavy fine so at over £800 for a set of four tyres we now wanted to head for lower ground and France. That's not to say we had enjoyed the snow especially Bradley and it is certainly different kind of snow all dry, powdery and warmer than the snow we get in the UK!. 
The internet was in overdrive now looking at every option and we came up with the idea of house sitting. With now large ex-pat communities that have escaped the UK and living in Europe there always seemed to be a house sitting opportunity available. We quickly joined the many house sitters registered for Europe, got some references and sat back and waited for the call. Also we had contacted our friend Phil in the centre of France and enquired if he knew of any houses that were available for us for short term. Within a few days Phil contacted us and had found a lovely farmhouse that was available in a lovely location next to a small town with all the facilities we needed and most importantly somewhere safe to park the motorhome. 
The maps were out and we were quickly plotting the course out of Germany 800 kilometres west towards Aigurande in France.The overnight freeze down to minus -10 was pretty severe that night but the blue sky told us it was probably going to be a good day to travel. It normally takes us about 30 minutes to get everything packed away and the engine started but the size of icicles and frozen everything was going to dictate otherwise. Firstly the waste water outlet was frozen solid and as there was almost a half tank (50 litres) we needed to offload this before driving. So out came Lorraine's hair dryer and with the aid of an extension lead 30 minutes later the plastic piping and tap defrosted. Next thing was the satellite dish, there was no way we could detract that so a bit like opening the hatch on a submarine out I went with the hair dryer through a roof window giving the dish and motors a nice morning blow dry. The strangest thing and something I had never come across before was frozen velcro. That is used at the front to stop the large silver cab window insulation covers flapping about and it would just not budge at all. Water had got into the velcro and then frozen solid making the seal better that super glue!. The hairdryer would not reach so it was down to me to huff and puff my hottest breath on it. Thankfully a few minutes later, out of breath and cross eyed the velcro started to rip away with some pretty awful cracking sounds to go with it!. Over an hour later and with the roads now ploughed and gritted we were heading for France.

Vive la France!