Closer to Getting Our Things Back!

We've heard back about our van in France, and they've quoted us 2000 euros (£1810 or $2730) to have the reconditioned engine fitted. The quote is in addition to the £750 ($1130) the engine will cost to buy and ship to France. We can't find that kind of money, so our only option now is to have the van scrapped and drive up to France with another van to retrieve our belongings.

Unfortunately it's caused a lot of frustration, because Hubby has replaced an engine single-handedly in the past, and, if he has the right equipment, it can take him 6 hours start to finish. The quote they've given us was based on 18 hours' labour, which we know is a con, but unfortunately they hold all the cards. It's illegal to tow a broken down vehicle through Spain, so we can't tow it to Hubby's Homeland. There isn't really any other way to get it here.

So we're making plans to travel back to France now. We've been offered a van by a friend, so we're just ensuring all the paperwork is sorted before we make our move. Parts of Europe are quite strict, so if we get pulled over, and it's registered in someone else's name, we could be in for more problems if they think it's stolen. So once that's all sorted, we will be on our way again. I estimate it to take around 4 days round trip, and hope to be leaving sometime this weekend.

In other news, I feel absolutely massive this week:


I'm surprised how much I've grown over the past week, but I'm definitely feeling it. The stretchmarks are taking over, and the aches and pains are coming. Hubby now needs to help me up off the sofa, and since we're sleeping on a mattress on the floor (our bed frame is on the van), I may as well be mountain climbing to get up out of it to go to the toilet during the night! But amongst it all, it's a good feeling. The baby is kicking lots. It will randomly stretch out, and make my belly a weird shape, which Hubby still finds alien-like!