You've Got to Be Kidding Me!
The other day, while on a video chat with my mom, she asked how things were going and I answered: "Well, every day there are several 'You've got to be kidding me!' moments." She followed up with "Good or bad?" "BOTH!" I responded, and we had a good chuckle.
Nearly every day there is some obstacle or annoyance that makes me mutter "you've got to be kidding me!" But on the flip side, there is ALWAYS a positive YGTBKM — a spectacular view, a wonderfully new experience, the kindness of a stranger — and the latter ALWAYS outweighs the former.
That time we got stuck in the mud
As we pulled into our site for the night — a family farm with a lovely orchard — we tried to find the flattest place to park. The ground was a little bit muddy and Ash nonchalantly mentioned that we might have a hard time getting out in the morning. "Might?" I asked. "Most likely," he replied, "but there's nothing we can do now, so we may as well enjoy the night!"
Morning came, and right he was — again. We were STUCK! After many attempts at troubleshooting (including stacking sticks behind tyres and me hopelessly trying to push Beni), we determined we would need a tow. So Ash went in search of the farmer to ask for his assistance. I'm fairly certain we weren't the first motorhomers he's had to rescue — he quickly assessed the situation, hooked his tractor up to our Beni and towed us to solid ground. This is one mistake we won't make again!
That time we were left hanging — our laundry, that is!
One of the great things we've discovered on this trip is the prevalence of 24h outdoor laveries automatiques (laundromats). Thus far most have taken credit cards, so when we rolled up to do our laundry on this day we were dismayed to find that this machine accepted only Euros — and only in coin form. We had already put all our dirties in the machine, so we scrounged between the two of us to get the wash started, but we knew we wouldn't have enough for the dryer.
Did I mention it was Sunday? For those uninitiated, almost EVERYTHING in France is closed on Sundays. So we were quite lucky to find an open boulangerie a few blocks away. I was tasked with getting change for a €5 bill. Upon learning that the shopkeeper would only give me change with a purchase, I bought 4 beignets — there were strawberry and chocolate flavours, and 3 is not a shareable number!
Back I went with only a €2 coin — yep, NOT ENOUGH TO DRY OUR CLOTHES. So we pivoted and turned our camping-car into the ultimate clothes drying rack. And that night for dessert? You got it — beignets! 😋