Hi All
This isnt a strictly FL2 question but you are all so knowledgable and helpful on this forum that I thought you may be able some advice....
We are driving to the Dordogne in a couple of weeks and usually we go at night. However, this time we are going in the day (overnight ferry to Caen) We cant get in to holiday home until 4pm so would like a middle of the day stop for lunch and a bit of walkabout. Can anyone suggest a halfway point of interest, not far off the beaten track where we could spend a couple of hours?
Any thoughts would be gratefully received.
Kind regards
Edward

Chinon, lunch in the old town
Saumur for fizzy wine,
Ambiose

http://www.touraineloirevalley.co.uk/disco...-in-france At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Go via Yorkshire, you won't be disappointing.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

After going via Yorkshire, anywhere looks good

Edward, we did exactly this last year, on a different though, what I would suggest is look at your route, google street view and look around the villages, it adds a day onto your holiday discovering these places, great restaurants for lunch, or grab a baguette or two, soft cheese, pate etc and make an ad hoc picnic of it.

Err, you mean Barnsley.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Morning Guys
Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. Last year we brought back 12 cases of vino so a detour for fizzy wine sounds attractive.....
Thanks again
Edward

Only 12 cases! we always bought back about a years supply around 240 litres, some cases and 5 or 10 litre boxes, if you look around the big caves there are some very nice boxes to AOP standard. the same grape can taste entirely different even a K away, the M&S, Waitrose etc £6-£7 bottles are a blend of the €1.5 -€2/ litre cave wines anything about €6-€8 is very good anything above that is wine snobbery. The price is always higher where you can buy wine not where wine is sold, many Bordeaux and Chablis wines come under the buy wine heading. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

the fizzy stuff is cremant de loire , an often overlooked fizzy booze as good as many champagnes and much better value than cava

Akerman saumur do a good tour of their caves (presented by an eye popingly attractive tour guide when I was there) At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

In France at the restaurant at a vineyard. Turned out the chef was Australian! It was good food, but a bit expensive!

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Thanks again guys. God knows how you get 240 litres in a Freelander. I am going with three girls and 4 bikes plus roofbox and I will be stacked out! Blooming battery light has started coming on now after a new alternator fitted a couple of weeks ago. Not good timing for the trip!

How old is the battery?


The 2 of us lived out of a Fiat 500 for a month in Italy, mostly camping! 4 in a Freelander will be easier. You need to be fanatical to the extreme & only take what is absolutely necessary.

Similar situation in the Australian outback but for different reasons. You need to carry your water & you don't waste a drop on cleaning. If puts things into perspective at what will keep you alive.

Only 98 litres here. two will use 5 litres a day in winter & you need to keep 20 litres for emergency, if you break down.

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I have had the car since Nov 15 and just checked the paperwork. No new battery receipt for a while but it is checked on service and reported OK. Would have thought they would have checked when new alternator went in 2 weeks ago? I took it in when this first happened and the alternator and battery were reported as without fault.... an annoying fault!
I stopped the car when the battery light came on and when I restarted it was off.... Have read about the 'blue cable' issue... could this be related?

Good idea to add a second cable. Replace the battery, you are on borrowed time after 4 years. If you are not sure how old it is, replace it.

My car is a MY13, but bought it new end of 2014. So the battery was probably made in 2012, so already 5 years. I'm replacing it at the next service. I have noticed over the last 6 months it takes that fraction of a second longer to start the engine.

Not worth a battery ruining a holiday, & I know who all the girls will blame, it's just not worth it!..... remember that holiday back in 2017 when we got stuck at ........

Take a set of jumper leads, these are old welding cable 200amp continuous. There is a fair bit of room inside the spare wheel. Jumper leads you can wrap around the tyre. Also spare toilet paper, when the roll has shrunk a bit you can squeeze the roll through the spokes.

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Good advice.
Its booked in for a service next week so I will get it done.
TTFN

.... and I have all the gear in the boot inc a trolley jack and compressor! But no room for a spare battery!