Donkeys & 'We have a problem Houston!'

29/04/2012- Canet-en-Rousillon.

I bent slightly to look out of Sadies side window and could not believe what I saw. I did however, immediately understood the commotion going on outside.

We were parked high above the village of St Miche-de Llotes. This is just off the N116 from Mont-louis which is high in the Pyrenees. We had spent the previous couple of nights up in the mountains. It had been one hell of a drive up there and one hell of a drive down. Exhausting but spectacular, which is why we had hung a right in the foothills before we reached Perpingan. We needed a perch for the night. Exhausting but spectacular involves driving a 3.5ton van with a house on it's back close to the edge of a hunking great cliff. Now; Sadie is Right Hand drive which means the driver, me, keeping her correctly positioned on the road by purposefully positioning myself where I start to 'brown trouser' as it feels like, and looks like we are just about to go over the edge. I now appreciate passenger nervousness on such journeys where they are the ones closest to the edge. Sadie does have a tendency to wander as well so it is pretty hard work and the only way to really enjoy the stunningly beautiful, awesome but highly vertiginous view is to go slow. This of course annoys the drivers behind (no secondary road this!) so I have to continually pull in to the, thankfully frequent, lay bys and passing places. And guess what? The worst were the tourist coaches which, when let by went hurtling off ahead screeching round the steep zig zag downhill chicane. God knows what state the passengers on the right hand side were in. Wonder if the seats were brown coloured?!

So we spent one night recovering in the main square of St Michel-de-Llotes and next morning did a walk up into the hills and discovered a cracking wee wild camping spot up a forest track. It was pretty steep but accessible and with a lovely little spring at the first zig zag to top up Sadie's water supply. I just could not resist it. Plus Tanya needed a break from driving. I think she gets, or is developing, travel sickness. She is often off her food after we have had a couple of days of mainly driving. And yesterdays drive. Well that was enough to make anybody sick.

That was Saturday. It is now Sunday morning after a peaceful night and an excellent long walk/bike on up the forest track to the top of one of the hills. Brilliant! We just kept going as long as it was up hill cos I knew the ride down was going to be soooo easy. I was not mistaken but many more rides down rough steep forest tracks like that and not only will the bike need new brake pads but Tanya will need a new bum. She loves it I think. She sits there harnessed in and at times she must be nearly bounced out of her green charabang. I dare not ever try to look round or all would be lost. Bike, Tanya and me would be spreadeagled in trees off the edge of a cliff!

I diverse. Back to the commotion. I downed tea towel and wet cutlery, leaped out of Sadie and shouted for Tanya to come to heel. She is usually pretty good with that command but not so keen when protecting her territory from an invasion of Donkeys who themselves were panicking and being pushed hard down the forest track towards us by a group of cyclists behind them.

There was now outside of Sadie at this wide turning point cum junction of two forest tracks a group of 'all dressed up for the Tour de-France' cyclists skidding wildly all over the place in their effort to avoid running into the donkeys and each other. The Donkeys meanwhile had a new problem. They not only had cyclists behind and among them. They also had a small wild black thing in front of them barking wildly and running between their legs in her enthusiasm not to let them anywhere near 'OUR HOME' but to send them right back up the track from whence both they and cyclists had appeared.

For a moment or two it was bloody hilarious. A big milling mass of brightly coloured cyclists at odd angles who were making a wonderful job of creating a cloud of dust with their rear wheels. Then there was this bunch of irate and stressed wild donkeys with a manic dog darting about among them. This dog was herself being shouted at in a foreign language by some guy standing in the middle of a big quiet French Pyrenean forest in front of a solitary, completely unexpected and, in Donkey language; “wot the brayyyyin hell is that” as they faced up to Sadie the motorhome.

Like most of these instances it all happens in a few seconds. Cyclists gathered themselves and disappeared off down the track with a few french obscenity's floating in the air behind them. Tanya did come to heel and seemed to be quite pleased with herself for being the centre of attention of such mayhem. The donkeys. Well they quickly settled down and in fact stayed around for a bit and as the photo shows, made friends with Tanya, well up to a point anyway!

“Gotta write that down” I says and reach for mobile phone. Press switch, no response. Hmmmmm! 'we gotta problem Houston.' thinks I. Well it seems my 7mnth old super duper smart phone. My main communication medium plus my sat nav is majorly KAPUT. Nothing I have tried gets a glimmer of response from it. So what do you do when at just about the most South Easterly part of France your UK mobile phone does a 'F**k you I've had it!' and shuts down?

First off is not to panic ….. AAAAAAArrrrrrgh!!!!!! …....... Then think of a plan......Oh God....Not bloody plans again!!

Panic did not happen and plan is in action. I've got it in mind to stop for a week at a camp site a bit further south. So we have moved to Canet-en-Rousillon right on the coast East of Perpignan ready for tomorrow, Monday, when we will head off in search of a mobile phone shop. On the way I did manage a coffee in the local McDonalds and availed myself of their WI FI to e mail family re lack of communication.I also sent in a fault report to HTC to see if they have any ideas why phone has downed tools and gone home. Bet I don't hear much from them!

Update Tues May 1^st from 'Les Criques de Porteils' campsite (with WI FI – whoopee!) between Argeles Plage and Collioure on the Med coast.

Seems phone will have to go back to UK for repair. Internet indicating major hardware problem with the power on switch. Process for returning it....nightmare....Ah well and Ho Hum eh!

First things first though. Laundry tomorrow and then bath and trim one grubby but well healthy dog. Then it's basically take it easy for a few days here at this lovely campsite overlooking the Med one way and the foothills of the Pyrenees the other. There are Brits here too. Ahhhh, conversation! It'll do me for a few days!