BogMonster Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Getting stopped for a dirty number plate and referring to the gendarme as a ar$shole is worth 60 euro’s (negotiated down from a 100)…………… I take it that the price reduction was before the conversation deteriorated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bull Bar Cowboy Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Negotiated down when I told him I didn’t need a receipt ………… and yes, it was a very interesting conversation ………… there are certain bits of anglo saxon that don’t quite ring the same bell when said in French…….. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cols110 Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Yep, never leave home on a decent trip without a set of belts, rad hoses, 2xUJs and wheel bearings. Most other things like bulbs etc you can get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill van snorkle Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 What are beam benders ? Is it something that only high vehicles require ? Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reedx Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 get from the PO and fill out an e111 form. E111 forms weren't valid from the end of last year. We only realised this a few weeks before going on holiday. You could get the new European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) forms from the PO and send off/wait/hope but much quicker to apply online. I filled in the online details on a Tuesday luchtime and the cards were on the doormat on the Thursday morning. If you can remember you name, address, dob etc. the only other thing you need is your NI/NHS number . Details via this link https://www.ehic.org.uk/InternetPROD/home.do Colin www.REEDX.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 What are beam benders ? Is it something that only high vehicles require ? Bill. Driving on the left as we do in Great Britain and her empire, our headlamps, on dipped beam, point down and a little to the left (Confusingly marked as LHD) so as to avoid dazzling other drivers. Beam benders block or divert that portion of the light going to the left so as not to dazzle drivers on the continent. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MJG Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 Anyone ever seen a foreign car in the UK with beam benders on? Chris Funny .... when i was posting this I was wondering how long it would take before somebody (was going to say something else) jumped in with.... (engage best tight @rse accent....) "don't bother mate you never see foreign cars driving in this country with beam benders on" or the like.... Chris......you need to check out the newer type.... they are not yellow or black and therefore not easily spottable .... they are a grey/silver finish and when affixed to the lights very hard to see. On Jan's MX-5 they were exceptionally hard to spot from beyond 10ft unless you looked very very closely.... you certainly couldn't see them if the vehcile was moving so how would you know if a foreign vehicle driving in this country had them fitted or not....... You'd be very hard pressed to see them on a moving vehicle even if you were looking very very closely. As I said to the guy who posted a similar retard in the MX-5 forum "i'm amazed at the lengths people will go to to save a fiver......" FGS why risk causing an accident....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 when i was posting this I was wondering how long it would take before somebody (was going to say something else) jumped in with....(engage best tight @rse accent....) "don't bother mate you never see foreign cars driving in this country with beam benders on" or the like.... I never suggested it was a bad idea or that people should not fit them. I stand by my suggestion that visitors to the UK do not use them - or that the modern type do not work. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill van snorkle Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Driving on the left as we do in Great Britain and her empire, our headlamps, on dipped beam, point down and a little to the left (Confusingly marked as LHD) so as to avoid dazzling other drivers. Beam benders block or divert that portion of the light going to the left so as not to dazzle drivers on the continent.Chris Thanks Chris. Probably not something many of us in the Antipodes would have to worry about then. And being a tight arse I would probably rather spend five minutes adjusting the lights with a screwdriver and spend the hard earned fiver on fuel. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Thanks Chris. Probably not something many of us in the Antipodes would have to worry about then. And being a tight arse I would probably rather spend five minutes adjusting the lights with a screwdriver and spend the hard earned fiver on fuel.Bill. Can't be adjusted Bill, it is about the way the light units are made. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bull Bar Cowboy Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Beam benders are a bit of a misnomer ……….. they tend to blank off the light that will dazzle and then not throw much light in the wanted direction. The end result is that you may as well use candles instead of headlights. I have found that on vehicle with adjustable headlight height, if it is kept on the lowest setting, then I never got flashed by other drivers. Some of the beamers and mercs have switchable left/right headlights Yes Chris, you are absolutely right ………. note how many mainland visitors to the UK have ‘beam benders’ ……… very, very few……………. You will of course be fitting them for your trip to Belgium Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 You will of course be fitting them for your trip to Belgium Ian I always use Gaffer tape cut to shape. ...and never remember to take it off until I get off the motorway in the dark coming home. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwilson Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Just back from a 2 week trip to the Le Pas Opton campsite in the Vendee region. Very nice. Roads were excellent there & back. Diesel at a fraction over 1Euro per litre (including a filling station just outside Caen ferry port) made it even more enjoyable. Lack of traffic lights & a road system that seems to just work was good as well. I cancelled my RAC cover & took out the Brittania Deluxe package as that covered Europe & I was not being asked a ridiculous premium for the Discovery that RAC wanted. Took a few spares & tools but thankfully did not need them. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MJG Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Yes Chris, you are absolutely right ………. note how many mainland visitors to the UK have ‘beam benders’ ……… very, very few……………. You will of course be fitting them for your trip to Belgium Ian At the risk of this developing into a game of forum ping pong ( or even worse handbags at thirty paces ) - I just want to ask my question again - if, as I said the new type are so hard too see (which the ones we used this year were) - how on earth do you know this to be the case????? You would never spot them on a moving vehicle and I can't imagine you sat checking the cars of foreign visitors as they come of the ferries and Eurotunnel in some sort of in depth research project (that is unless you are really really sad....... ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MJG Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Just back from a 2 week trip to the Le Pas Opton campsite in the Vendee region. Very nice. Roads were excellent there & back. Diesel at a fraction over 1Euro per litre (including a filling station just outside Caen ferry port) made it even more enjoyable. Lack of traffic lights & a road system that seems to just work was good as well. I cancelled my RAC cover & took out the Brittania Deluxe package as that covered Europe & I was not being asked a ridiculous premium for the Discovery that RAC wanted. Took a few spares & tools but thankfully did not need them.Neil You are correct there is something just ruddy good about the French road system we encounter very little in the way of traffic (unless of course you hit the big cities/towns). One thing I have noticed - they do seem to take a very cautious approach to road works - by that I mean long sections of half the carraige way seem to get closed off at a time meaning long distances between temporary traffic lights and longer waits. However the traffic vbolume generally meant long queues did not build up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted August 23, 2006 Author Share Posted August 23, 2006 Alright - enough with the beam bender debate. Whether or not individuals travelling elsewhere have the habit, I'll be using gaffer tape. Black tape, for those who are interested. Anything else I might forget or should consider before heading for the ferry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas90 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I always use Gaffer tape cut to shape. ...and never remember to take it off until I get off the motorway in the dark coming home. Chris I bought a pack of beam benders a few trips ago to France, blooming expensive at Newhaven. However, I didn't fit them, keep them in the door storage bin of the NAS and use them to cut gaffa tape to correct shape / position. When I bought the NAS from Harwoods it still had LHD lights fitted so I asked them to be changed and they had thrown perfectly good lamps away when I went to collect the vehicle. B**tards! Could have been so easy going on overseas trips..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettisse Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 http://peter.kutschera.at/LR/LandRoverDict.pl take a look at this site for some useful translations, hope you don't need it, I've been up and down France for the last 20 years and I still love it. All the obvious things are still relevant but I've found you can't beat the Michelin maps, the yellow series, they have good detail and are not expensive in the supermarkets. Have a good trip, i'm sure you will. Best regards Bill Westley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troddenmasses Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Remember to take ALL of your driving paperwork with you. You'll see lots about warning triangles, first aid kits etc. but apparently you can do porridge for forgetting your MOT certificate.Chris Oops. Have just got back from a driving trip to the South of France (can't help but think that it's what gave Turbocharger the idea) and I just took my driving license. Oh well, I didn't get stopped. Another idea - take minimal stuff, and if something breaks, get yourself into a hotel/campsite for a couple of days. I will go to see Pete at Christian Autos (shameless plug for an incredible LR supplier) and post whatever you need down to you. will cost you about 50e in tolls to get to the south of France. It cost us 28 euros to get to the spanish border. We went down the west side of the country - bordeaux - biarritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Another idea - take minimal stuff, and if something breaks, get yourself into a hotel/campsite for a couple of days. I will go to see Pete at Christian Autos (shameless plug for an incredible LR supplier) and post whatever you need down to you. That would be my favoured option. Take a bare minimum of spares, plenty of tools and worry about the big stuff as and when. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troddenmasses Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 I can just see it now. John has sold his girlfriend on the idea of a nice trip to the south of France. She is thinking about plentiful wine, sunshine, French food and frolicking on a golden beach without a care in the world. He is thinking about drive down French back roads on Grizzly claws, with some planned maintenance at the other end (perhaps a UJ, a wheel bearing or two and an oil change) with the possibility of some 'unplanned' maintenance at some point in the holiday. You're going to have a wonderful time - enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 John has sold his girlfriend on the idea of a nice trip to the south of France. She is thinking about... ...frolicking on a golden beach without a care in the world. Perhaps I should go too... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasterdly Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 evening, having traveled from cumbria to southern spain, last year,covering nearly 4500 miles in my 110 defender, the following points maybe of use. i serviced the landy fully from top to bottom before departing. made 3 photo copies of all my documents ( leaving one set in the safe at work ) bought 2 new updated maps of spain and france ( ring binder versions are better ) carried 2 x jerry cans full of fuel ( although filling them once in france is a good idea, as alot of ferry companys dont like you carring extra fuel ) took 40 litres of water the toll roads are not as expensive as alot of people will tell you ( for mileage covered ) the speed limits are lower than in the uk, on normal roads, which can, in places take ages to get anywhere most shops shut around 1pm ( french time ) and reopen later in the day fitted a fire extinguiser, never used, but everything gets that little bit hotter, especially on the plains of spain, where it hit nearly 100 degress ! i had to be real careful as i have a 110 hardtop, when joining motorways etc, but i adjusted my nearside mirror to help with the blind spot rechargeable batteries and 12volt charger, (for torches, cameras etc ) spare wire and connectors a short wave radio is a nice option, in case you get homesick ! some things have been mentioned on previous posts, so in all, i would say most things have been covered,spare parts are a personal thing,some people would have you taking everthing, others nothing, common sense should prevail. i camped on various sites, but avoided the bigger municipal sites, as i wanted a quiet holiday. I have just come back from touring scotland,to the tune of 2000 miles and took the same things as i went abroad with. the rest is your adventure ! cheers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Frenchman Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 I drive in France on a daily basis and have covered over 18,000kms here in the past 8 months in my CSW. Roads are absolutley fab and if I ever have to drive in the UK again I will probably get a push bike - quicker on cr*p and congested UK roads in the long run. N (routes Nationale) roads are generally good but can get congested in towns during peak times. Toll roads are always clear (barring accidents) and IMO good value for money. Most independent french garages can obtain parts or will repair Land Rovers easliy. Check out the the LandMania site for French enthusiasts. They're all quite barmey but they love their vehicles and are really into their off-roading which is fortunate in a country with so much green space to enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share Posted September 18, 2006 Right, the car is cocooned in blind-spot mirrors and we've got more guide books than you can shake a stick at. All the bearings are greased or oiled and I've got to figure out how I get the little 12v compressor to blow air through a 2" filler plug. All good. Major problem now though - the 600W inverter won't run my girlfriend's 75W straightening tongs. It runs a laptop charger and 100W household bulb quite well, but when the straighteners are plugged in, nothing. Not even the LED. Is my holiday to fall at the last hurdle, preparation complete but for a square/sine wave oversight? She won't go if each day brings wavy wavy big hair. Help me o forumeers. (Seriously, all's well and we're set for a fantastic time. 240V would be handy though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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