'Toothache!'
Is all I can think of. I wake up in the night with it, it gets worse if I eat on that side. I saw my dentist who refilled the tooth before we left and it was cured for 48 hours. I've never been bothered with toothache before. That filling he did was terrifyingly painful, so I'm now scared of the dentist for the first time in my life, and if I go they may not speak English, my French and Spanish are poor. What to do?
Is all I can think of. I wake up in the night with it, it gets worse if I eat on that side. I saw my dentist who refilled the tooth before we left and it was cured for 48 hours. I've never been bothered with toothache before. That filling he did was terrifyingly painful, so I'm now scared of the dentist for the first time in my life, and if I go they may not speak English, my French and Spanish are poor. What to do?
30, 000 miles in 2 years!
Using national roads we spend our first night at Cleres, just north of Rouen. Lovely quiet aire, but having been a gorgeous sunny day when we arrived, its pouring with rain in the morning. Bypassing Rouen we head towards Orleans and stay in a carpark at Chevilly. By now I have found an excellent French website called www.campingcar-infos.com. It lists every type of Aire in europe and beyond, including over 7000 in France. The rain has followed us and there is nothing at Chevilly so we stop after about an hour on the road at Lamotte Beauvron, just south of Orleans. Parking next to a small ornamental lake we spend the afternoon walking around town and along the canal. Very pleasant, and we nearly stayed a second day to cycle further along the canal to a Chateau on the Loire. That excursion is put on the back burner when it starts raining again so we pack up and drive to St-Eloy-les-Mines, north of Clermont Ferand. There are lots of quiet villages along the route and a Saturday, hardly any traffic on the road. This aire is next to a lake as well so I take the opportunity to 'power' walk around it and speed up my cardiovascular system.
The canal at Lamotte Beauvron
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The toothache mentioned in paragraph one has not been forgotten. I'm consuming regular quantities of ibuprofen and paracetamol, and I think its getting better. Who am I kidding? We park at an aire on the edge of the historic old town in Millau. Watching the motorhomes manoevre between the parking spaces provides entertainment on the rainy Sunday afternoon and I Google 'Dentist Millau'. There are loads of them dotted all over the map. As Tourist Information opens on Monday morning, I'm in the office asking for help. Communicating in my poor, unpracticed schoolgirl French and gesticulating. The employee at the desk was initially disinterested but as she made a few phone calls she bacame more empathetic and motivated to help. She also Googled the dentists in Millau and rang them all. They were either closed or fully booked and after about 10 minutes she announced,
"I bet you don't have this sort of problem in Britain."
Good, she speaks English and she must have seen the opening ceremony of the Olympics. But, this was the last of her English speech and after another half an hour on the phone she handed me contact details of a practice that would be open that afternoon and may be able to fit me in. We weren't going to hang around for a maybe appointment. I'd plucked up the courage and now I didn't have to go through with it.
"I bet you don't have this sort of problem in Britain."
Good, she speaks English and she must have seen the opening ceremony of the Olympics. But, this was the last of her English speech and after another half an hour on the phone she handed me contact details of a practice that would be open that afternoon and may be able to fit me in. We weren't going to hang around for a maybe appointment. I'd plucked up the courage and now I didn't have to go through with it.
Spanish church tower in Millau
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Covered market in Millau
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Where the clothes washing was done, way back then
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One of the river crossings in Millau
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The sun had returned and after completing the walking tour of Millau, we decided to get to the coast, and now Spain is within reach. Mike has seen the dentist in Spain, they don't seem to lack dentists, so we drove to Platja D'Aro about 100kms north of Barcelona on the Costa Brava.
A smart resort, on a good cycle path network with a clean sandy beach, trendy boutiques, cafes, bars, restaurants in town and all the amenities for us. Last year we found an Aire near the bus station, fortunately its still here and so are we.
A smart resort, on a good cycle path network with a clean sandy beach, trendy boutiques, cafes, bars, restaurants in town and all the amenities for us. Last year we found an Aire near the bus station, fortunately its still here and so are we.
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