Spain/france diary

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EURO DRIVING FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

firstly here is the latest what car …
1 …

2 …

3 …

4 …

5 …

6 …

ok here we go
day 1 …

as usual monday morning is spent doing paperwork, washing the truck and loading the trailer. once thats all done its a slow drive down to pomey for the afternon boat. once on the boat and a few hours into the crossing i decide what im going to have for dinner. looking at the menu i see prawn mayonaise and think great so i order that and a main course. when the starter arrived i took one look and said what is that, pawn mayonaise he replyed. im not being funny but i dont like looking down at my dinner to find that my dinner is looking back at me. and ive got twelve of the little critters doing it, whats making it worse is they are giving me that lost puppy look what am i supposed to do with these i say a fellow driver says pull that bit, twist this bit, lift that flap, hang on i say thats its ■■■, sort of he says, trust me i no a prawns ■■■ when i see one i feel an impression coming on so i grab one by the tail and chase it round the plate whilst in an ozzie accent i say crikey… your all right mate. much to the disguest of some of the more refined diners i call the waiter back and say take it away, he says there is a problem monsieur, yes is say me and the dirty dozen down there arent seeing eye to errrrr eyes so i had soup instead. the rest of the crossing was ok. i got off and parked in the docks for the night.

day 2…

leaving at seven i take the usual route via rennes, nantes. after a break its across to niort then down the a10 to bordeaux, round the ring and down the forest road parking at aire muret for the night.

day3…

a quick sprint down to the border at irun then on towards bilbao passing san sebastian

coming off the a8 and heading for vitoria the burgos. after lunch its a straight drive down to madrid

shooting round the m50 i am soon on the a3 and i park at a shell services called area77.

day 4…

i find out at today is a public holiday in spain but i can still drive so its down the a3 then the a30 to murcia then onto almeria and finally onto el ejido where i find the garage closed so i park up for the rest of the day

day 5…

this garage is where the nine metre motor home is that i mentioned ina previous post, my boss has sent me here to have a look at it and see if it drives etc


it wont drive but it will roll. that done i head on the coast road for malaga

i get to churriana around 2pm and have to wait to get the car for the rest of the day loading and leaving at 10pm i load a saab that has been reppossed

i get onto the a92 and park near granada .

day 6…

back on to the 92 i head for murcia looking at the mist between the hills

after passing murcia its onto the a7 for alicante and the beach for the weekend.

i had great fun watching another vehicle get stuck in the sand

day 8…

i wait around till mid afternoon for a phone call to get loaded in elche i load a stollen recovered discovery

once loaded i set of north

im driving along day dreaming, i look up and think (zp) me thats ayres rock

i park up four and a half hours later in a services but i cant for the life of me remember where

day 9…

straight up the a7 i join the a2 and come of at lleida then head into the mountains for a town called tremp







i go to the town police station to meet the guarda civil who are going to take me to court to get some papers signed by the judge to get the mini bus released this is 2pm but the judge has gone home for the day so its park up and wait.

day10…

more waiting for a phone call at 1pm i get the call and go to the court for the papers then its off to a layby 10km away where this mini bus has been abandoned. this minibus is stolen recovered

now it is a dodgy drive through the mountains heading for france








the border i went through was called vielha and it brought me out in france on the a64 between toulouse and bayonne. once i got to bayonne i shot down to biarritz and parked outside a garage for the night.

day 12…

up first thing i loaded an accedent demaged motorbike

back noto the forest road and round bordeaux again then straight up the a10 coming off at tours i get to the village of auzouer en touraine i find the garage just before it shut , i loaded a vw transporter van

getting back on the 10 then the a28 i stay at the shell services for the night

day 13

an easy run up to caen for the afternoon boat , getting off at 22.15 im one of the first off and promptly get caught by customs . 40 mins later im off and get to chichester

day 14

up to the yard to get tipped and loaded for monday

2

Excellent diary and pics as usual mad monk
I’ve done the “border at irun then on towards bilbao passing san sebastian,”
I even recognised the stretch of road in your pic of day3 but the rest was new to me, so thanks for that :smiley:

3

I will start the bidding with a Rover 75

4
  1. Vauxhall/Opel Vectra saloon :smiley:
  2. Alfa 147 :smiley:
  3. Ford Focus :question:
  4. Mitsi Space Wagon :question:
  5. VW :question:
  6. Vauxhall/Opel Astra in Pineapple Yellow :smiley:

Pretty sure on no’s 1,2,4 & 6

Great diary and pics as well, heading down to Vitoria myself on Monday :sunglasses:

5

Fantastic photos and diary mate.

6

Sprinter:

  1. Vauxhall/Opel Vectra saloon :smiley:
  2. Alfa 147 :smiley:
  3. Ford Focus :question:
  4. Mitsi Space Wagon :question:
  5. VW :question:
  6. Vauxhall/Opel Astra in Pineapple Yellow :smiley:

Pretty sure on no’s 1,2,4 & 6

Yep,

Vectra
Alfa 147
Focus… I think too
Mitsubishi Space wagon
Metro (!!)
Astra

Good read again MM - you get to see some grand sights!

TC

7

An excellent read as usual - keep `em coming :smiley:

8

Great diary and photos as usual.

Thanks for taking the trouble to post these diary’s mm, they’re always a good read

9

The_Catman:

Sprinter:

  1. Vauxhall/Opel Vectra saloon :smiley:
  2. Alfa 147 :smiley:
  3. Ford Focus :question:
  4. Mitsi Space Wagon :question:
  5. VW :question:
  6. Vauxhall/Opel Astra in Pineapple Yellow :smiley:

Pretty sure on no’s 1,2,4 & 6

Yep,

Vectra
Alfa 147
Focus… I think too
Mitsubishi Space wagon
Metro (!!)
Astra

Good read again MM - you get to see some grand sights!

TC

Same as apart from The Focus, I reckon its a Ka

If the Mitsi has a sliding rear passenger door then its a SpaceStar :wink:

10

Vaux Vectra
Alfa 147
Clio
Mitsubishi Space Wagon
VW Golf
Pug 406 Coupe.

11

Very interesting diary mad monk. Keep em coming please.

12

yet again you lot have beaten me in the now famous what car.
the results are as follows
montana man=nil point…a very poor effort this time mate
coffeeholic=nil point…shocking
dieseldave=nil point…1000 lines…i must try and guess the cars, on my desk by monday please
wheel nut=1 point a good effort but wrong
sprinter=3 points you got four right well done
harry monk=5 points coz i like ya
the_catman=6 points you got 5 right well done mate for spotting the metro
b1 ggk=same as above
8wheels=3 points you also got 4 right

13

Whoohoo :stuck_out_tongue: 1 point!

Are Harry Monk and Mad related?

14

Great diary Monk.

One thing that puzzles me is why anyone would steal an LDV minibus.

And drive it all the way there before abandoning it.

And surely the cost of repatriation would outweigh it’s value.

Hang on that’s 3 things, but all the same.

15

8wheels:
Great diary Monk.

One thing that puzzles me is why anyone would steal an LDV minibus.

And drive it all the way there before abandoning it.

And surely the cost of repatriation would outweigh it’s value.

Hang on that’s 3 things, but all the same.

From what I understand repatriation is done for several reasons.

1.Scrapping the vehicle in a foreign country usually means the vehicle has to be permanently imported to be scrapped which results in a VAT / Importation charge even though the vehicle is worth nowt. Scrapping the vehicle also has to be recorded for the insurance company resulting in more expense.

  1. Insurance companies hope that when the vehicle is recovered that its “resale” value at auction will realise some revenue to negate the loss.

  2. Insurance companies do not trust foreign garages to accurately describe a loss.

  3. The log book can be stamped as total loss etc if it is recovered to save any scam by unscrupulous persons transferring the chassis number to another vehicle of the the same model.

I personally have recovered “total burn outs” and shake my head at the expense but it does give me a living.

Ossie

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

16

I reckon

1 - Vauxhall Vectra
2 - Alfa Romeo ?
3 - Ford Scorpio
4 - Mitsubishi Space Wagon
5 - MG Metro Turbo
6 - Vauxhall Astra MK3 or poss Opel Kadett

17

mad monk:
dieseldave=nil point…1000 lines…i must try and guess the cars, on my desk by monday please

But Mr Monk Sir, 1,000 lines is maybe a bit harsh for a candidate of my humble ability. :cry:
:blush: I’d struggle to recognise anything newer than a Ford Cortina. :blush:

:open_mouth: TBH, I wouldn’t know the make, never mind the model, when they’re new. :open_mouth:
:laughing: So how would I know, or even guess, what they are when they’ve been “reconfigured” by numpties :question:

18

1 - Vauxhall Vectra
2 - Alfa Romeo
3 - Renault Clio
4 - Mitsubishi Space Wagon
5 - Metro
6 - Vauxhall Astra

19

MM,great diary and pics thanks for your time and effort,I too was a little puzzled at somebody paying money to recover an LDV,I had one for 2 years and I would have payed you to take it away and hide it,it was nick named “hope on a rope” cos thats were it spent most of its time.
regards derek

20

:smiley: Excellent diary MM,I see they’ve improved the Viehla road immensley :laughing:

montana man=nil point…a very poor effort this time mate

New strategy, I score more by not competing :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: