Living the dream - part 1

We have tried to find a spot between Amiens and Beauvais for some free camping. We were on the look out for a quiet spot in a town somewhere. Anyway, to cut a long story short we ended up in a town called Crevecoeur-le-grand. Not exactly a special spot, but for all intent and purposes please believe it is, so that the 'living the dream' part of our tour is a reality. 

Anyway, we went to find the local Aire as per sign post on the local map, however, this seems to be a discontinued site. So having been given advice by a local, and confirmed this advice with another, we parked by the town hall. All was good. Before tea though, the obligatory toilet and hand wash was followed by "there's a red light on the toilet!" Having never seen said red light before, upon further investigation we realised the toilet was full. Thus followed an apt and abrupt curse! However, as we were right next door to the town hall we noticed that there was a toilet, so we could use those facilities instead of ours. So we sat down and we had a lovely tea cooked by Clare of spaghetti bolognaise and home made garlic bread. Then a sense of urgency gathered as the cleaner decided to lock the toilets. After much muddled discussion and running around with a .....well you know what....we managed to use the town hall loos for an emergency evacuation and quickly got the whole procedure finished. Yippee! 

Upon embarking the vehicle for the next course following a thorough hand wash, the alarm was sounding that we were out of water. So the pump wouldn't pump water back into the toilet, the sink, or the water heater. So emergency measures were afoot to not use any water and survive the night somehow...when across the other side of the town square, I saw a girl at a water pump pumping water for fun. I decided that this was a frivolous waste of a rare commodity, and with bucket in hand, I went and filled it. With a certain relief that the problem was going to be solved, I ambled back to the van. The next problem arose though; how to get the water into the correct department in the van without losing all of it. So with a chopped piece of hose, half a water bottle cut with scissors (it's all sounding very Apollo 13 I know) and a measuring jug, we managed to fill a quarter of a tank of water. 

Happiness set in, so after reading and bed time stories, it was time for bed for Jasper and Maya. It then transpired that the town hall car park was a haven for youths, bicycles, mobile phones and then football. A brief discussion ensued and we are now sitting quietly in the van, the children are back in bed, and we are a few corners round the block in a car park. So you'll all be glad to know... We are living the dream!

Ha ha! 

Ed