And the marmot greets you every day

It's unbelievable: the tailwind is letting us down. We are stuck and this time for good. But let's start from the beginning.

The light on the caravan flashes and shines again, the sun shines from the azure sky and we still have a whole two weeks of travel time.
My big wish for this tour is a trip to the weekly market on Saturday in Pont-Saint-Esprit.

You can stroll along crowded stands under the shady plane trees. Every corner smells of delicacies, aromatic herbs, spicy olives, fresh goat cheese, warm bread, crunchy sausages or freshly caught fish. Full fruit and vegetable stands alternate with melon and shoe sellers. You can marvel at the warm slippers for the upcoming winter, as well as the huge, captivatingly scented garlic braids - a paradise for all the senses. I want to go there!

The smartest way from Valence to this paradise takes us southwest over the Ardèche mountains. Not only the eponymous river, which is very popular with paddlers, but also the Loire rises here in the wooded landscape of volcanic origin. The area is also particularly known for its numerous sweet chestnut trees and their really tasty products, from the irresistible crème de marrons spread to candied chestnuts, tempting ice cream and sweet liqueurs.

On the way we set off on the steep path to the Rocher du Brion. Zappa suddenly stops our slow vehicle and collects loads of chestnuts from the ditch. They look like green sea urchins, but they fall from the tree and their prickly shells hurt your fingers.

We are very surprised at how steep the climb is on the narrowest forest paths to the basalt rock made of cooled magma, we didn't expect that. You only go up the four kilometers in first and second gear. There is no way to turn around on the narrow strip of asphalt, no parking bay, no passing area, no access.

The robbers' den bravely snorts up the hump with the chateau in their luggage. Suddenly, just 50m from the summit at an altitude of over 900m, there is a loud beep and the red coolant indicator on the dashboard lights up brightly. Bon merde!
With the remaining momentum, Zappa just manages to steer the car and the caravan into the safe parking lot. The hood is already open. Everything is hot, but luckily there is no hissing or steaming. Zappa is just surprised that the radiator fan isn't running at full speed, which he should be doing now?!

As an immediate first aid measure, the hero opens all the doors, turns the interior heating and fan to full power as a backup cooling system, causing the red warning light to go out within a few moments. Lucky again!
With sheep bells ringing and a sunset in all shades of red and purple, we can then enjoy the evening on the mountain with a magnificent view of the volcanic hills that were extinct millions of years ago.

After we replenished our supplies during a little market stroll in Le Cheylard - which was only possible by leaving the caravan at the gates of the town, otherwise the search for a parking space would have been completely hopeless! After the small market and a subsequent petit café in the Tabac bar, we continue our journey.

Today the destination is the village of Borée at the foot of Mont Mézenc, where we want to marvel at the menhir field. On the way, however, a short siesta is due, the stomach is growling and the fresh goat cheese urgently needs to be tried together with the sweet Muscat grapes. It's hard to find a really nice spot here in the rough mountains, so we stop at a high stack of pine wood in a parking lot on the small country road.

As we wanted to continue on our way, strengthened and rested, the almost unbelievable thing happened: the car wouldn't start! The engine rattles twice more and then it's over! Bon merde!

Oh no, oh no, oh no! That can not be true! The oil control and ABS system lights light up in the display. Zappa only checked the oil yesterday and why ABS? Perplexity spreads among both of us. The engine just started just fine!!! It doesn't help, I resignedly take out the yellow membership card and dial the number of the equally yellow angel.

I don't have to wait long before I can explain to the young woman what happened, what is no longer happening and where we are. However, it takes a while until she locates us on the small D237 at the Dupons family's mailbox number 3310. Then she promises that the tow truck will come in an hour.
Dejected, I set about removing the prickly shells of the chestnuts from the precious fruits, so maybe we can roast them later.

Unlike in Spain, Monsieur Depannage is with us punctually to the minute after an hour https://vakantio.de/chateauprojekte/la-grua He first tries his luck by testing the car battery, but this time the problem isn't there. Monsieur suspects that the starter is defective and takes us to the nearest Renault workshop, which actually doesn't have the next available appointments until mid-November.

Aaaber: he didn't know that we had a caravan with us - funny, I told the lady that at least three times. I call the yellow hotline again, where the next lady tells me that the caravan won't be towed. I tell her that this service is included in our insurance and that this has been done before in Spain.

She contradicts me vehemently and puts me in a bad mood. I explain to her that the caravan is in the middle of the road - well, what don't you do sometimes - and that you can't stay here. She then speaks to Monsieur Depannage, who in turn strongly advises her that the chateau is parked in the middle of the forest and needs to be taken away. He was already positioning the tow truck's hitch anyway.

And so we sit down in the comfortable seats of the big car. Madame Depannage, who came with us, climbs into the fund behind us, so that this time Zappa doesn't have to take the wild ride in the caravan like in Andalusia https://vakantio.de/chateauprojekte/schon-wieder-warten-auf-den-grua

After about an hour over mountains and valleys, through narrow hairpin bends and tiny cow villages, we reach a small workshop with a large Renault sign and a few wrecked cars around it. Monsieur pushes the caravan with us into a gap and wishes us goodnight, because it's already a peaceful end of work here.

First we find out where we actually ended up. The town is called Mazet-Saint-Voy, is located in the Velay at an altitude of 1000m, which explains the rapidly falling outside temperatures, has a bakery, a pharmacy, two bars, an Office de Tourisme, a botanical garden and there is a market tomorrow morning.
Nothing can actually go wrong.