A Night in a Wrecking Yard in Southern France

It’s end of August 2013 and although it’s almost 10pm, the air is still filled with the heat of the day and the vapor of the sea. Standing the queue to board the ferry, I’m thinking of how my life might change from next week on. Where will I end up? What will I be living from? How will I survive after losing all my savings? One thing is sure, I’m not going back to my parents admitting that I’ve failed.
Scary but at the same time also exciting. I love change and adventure.

It’s our turn to show the tickets and find our cabin. My friends Sarah and Jack* go to have something for dinner, but I rather stay in. After all the stress, challenges and obstacles on Mallorca, I can breathe a sigh of relief finally. It’s Saturday night but all I can think of is taking a nice shower and getting into bed. I can’t wait to leave the island.
Just as I finish, Sarah and Jack are back as well. We’re all excited about what’s coming up. By tomorrow night, we should have arrived in Friolzheim, a little village near Stuttgart, Germany, where Jack is going to start his new job on Monday. Sarah and I haven’t found any jobs yet but are very positive. She’s an excellent hairdresser and I can do any office jobs in German and English. We are confident that we’ll find something.

As we are watching the lights of Palma passing by, I’m a bit nervous about the unknown but also happy about closing this weird chapter of my life. I started the year working in a ski resort in Austria, then went back to my family in Hungary and then came over to Mallorca to have a great summer. I wanted to spend a couple of months here until the winter season kicks off and I can be back on my snowboard again. Everything went smoothly until I got here. I don’t think I’m ever coming back. Goodbye, Mallorca.

We wake up to a sunny Sunday morning. The water is calm as we are approaching to the port of Barcelona. The city looks so majestic and beautiful in the weak morning light.
Without any traffic on the streets, we get to the highway pretty fast and soon we are driving in Southern France. As I look out the window, I notice some familiar city names like Narbonne, Montpellier and Beziers, and I realize we’re driving through the province of Languedoc. This is where the historical novel Labyrinth by Kate Mosse is located which I read just a couple of weeks back. It’s such a nice feeling to be here and see a bit of this beautiful region with my own eyes. I’ve always loved to know where a movie or novel played and used to look up the cities online so that I could imagine the story in full authenticity.

The province of Languedoc with its hills and vineyards is a beautiful region. As we are approaching Bezier, Jack notices that something is off with the van. His cell phone stopped charging and a warning light popped up on the dashboard. He stops the car immediately. Unfortunately, there’s no emergency lane, so we have to stay on the roadside which is not the safest thing to do. Cars and trucks are passing by at a high speed. We all get out, put the breakdown triangle behind the car and put on the high-visibility wests so that the other drivers can spot us. This is our only chance to stay safe since the left side of the van is almost standing on the edge line. Jack lays under the car trying to find the problem but without success, so we decide to call the breakdown service. Since my English is the best, they send me to the call box.
I thought I’ll get back to them relieved and with good news. Well, that isn’t the case since the employees of the emergency call center don’t seem to speak English at all… Why would they need it?
After some painful attempts of explaining the situation to three different staff members, I’m totally surprised that the tow truck arrives pretty soon. The driver is a super nice guy from the area who, guess what, only speaks French…

He brings us to the wrecking yard of Nissan in the outskirts of the little town Séte. Since we are broke as hell and can’t afford a night in a hotel, not even a hostel, we decide to camp there. Now the next challenge is to explain the driver that we basically don’t have any food with us and need to get to a grocery store. We’re mixing English words with the few we know in Spanish and Catalan and are hoping that he understands the context. Success!
He’s very kind and even offers us to take Sarah and me downtown. So we grab the two bicycles we have in the van and go with him. During the drive, he shows us many street signs and buildings so that we can find our way back easily (nope, back then we didn’t have mobile internet abroad). He even gives us his business card so that we can call him if we get in trouble. Such a nice guy.

As Sarah and I start cycling, we realize we are in a gem of Southern France. Séte is beautiful! With all its canals, waterways and hidden ports it’s like the Venice of France.
We find a 24/7 store, do the shopping and want to go right back to Jack when we discover this cute little pastry shop in the next alley. We can’t resist, we have to get in. I mean, how often do you have the chance to try some beautifully decorated cupcakes, tarts and macarons from an original French pastry shop? I think I’ll never forget this heavenly smell.

Happy with our purchase, we head back to Nissan. Riding along the Quai de Bosc, we notice that the locals are gathering together for a festivity. Some patriots of the town are dressed as sailors and are preparing for a fight on boats in the main canals. This annual festival is called Fête de la Saint-Louis and it’s honoring the patron of the town. It would be so nice to see the whole show but we have to get back to Jack who’s probably starving by now.
By the time we arrive at the wrecking yard, the whole property of Nissan is closed so we have to lift our bikes above the fence, give them to Jack and then climb in. At least we’ll have some stories to tell the grandkids.
We are all exhausted and hungry and just cook some noodles with tomato sauce. We can’t wait to eat those tarts and macarons made in heaven called patisserie.

So, here we are, locked in in a wrecking yard sitting next to a Mercedes Sprinter and treating ourselves with some French sweets. We have no clue how long it will take for the car to be repaired, how much it will cost or when we will arrive in Germany.
It’s Sunday night so one thing is sure, Jack can’t start his new job tomorrow… We have to notify his employer first thing in the morning. Not the best way to make a good impression.

As we have no other option, we shower after each other under the sky using a camp shower. It works pretty well and the warm water cleans and soothes us at the same time. We wash away the stress, the worries and pamper ourselves putting on our PJs and having a movie night outside the car. It can be pretty beneficial to have a satellite receiver and a huge flatscreen TV hanging in your van, especially if you can rotate it in any direction.
It must look surreal that we’re sitting on camp chairs in our PJs and having the best time of our lives watching an awesome comedy. At least, I guess that’s why the owner of Nissan looks so puzzled when he shows up on the yard after a tennis match. I’m sure he wanted to know what three foreigners have been doing on his property. He’s easy-going though, more curious than serious. I decide to grab the opportunity and go into the building to use the restroom. A little luxury on unplanned camping.

Around 11pm, we crawl in our beds. I sleep on the three front seats which is not the comfiest place but I’m simply happy to fall asleep after this crazy day.

The next morning, we are up super early and waiting for the Nissan staff to show up for work. We need to get back on the road asap and we have to call Jack’s future employer that he’s not going to make it today. Since I’m the only one who’s fluent in German, I talk to them. I don’t know if they believed our story but they were kind and said it wouldn’t be a problem that he starts a day later. They even offered us to use the sanitary facilities after arriving at the company.

When the van got towed, it also got inspected thoroughly by a Nissan employee and he ordered the broken part asap. Fortunately, it arrived this morning but Jack decided to change it himself. Although it took him 2 hours, he figured it out and now we are ready to go. Germany, here we come.

After paying toll at least 100 times on the French highways, around 9pm we finally arrive at our destination, Friolzheim. A quick shower is all we need and we fall into bed.

The next day, we go straight to a mall and buy new SIM cards and some basics. I think it’s time to inform my mom, so I send her a text message: “Hi mom, I’m in Germany.”
Let’s say, she was a bit surprised. 😉

 

P.S.: My cell phone died right after taking some pictures of the Fête de la Saint-Louis and so, unfortunately, I can’t show you the beauty of Séte. This photo was taken on Mallorca before we left the island.

 

*names have been changed due to privacy protection