After crossing the border from Germany to escape the winter, we finally arrived in Belfort, France — but the journey didn’t go as smoothly as planned. As soon as we reached the city, my alternator started causing trouble.
So with my Border Collie by my side and the bicycle as backup transport, we explored Belfort on foot and on wheels, trying to find a workshop that could help. From wandering the streets to checking local garages, the search wasn’t easy… but eventually we made it to a Fiat dealer who managed to fix the car at last.
If you enjoy travel stories, life on the road with a dog, unexpected breakdowns, or discovering new places, this episode is for you.
Thanks for watching!
👉 See our cycle route — https://www.komoot.com/tour/2691796227?share_token=a08l6Ik5IzVGzPg28K96er43OGYilov3UIBRe59OcJLcvghFxJ&ref=wtd
Last gas is burning out. That’s good. Now I know the bottle will be empty and I will switch bottle and can fill up this one up to 20 lers of LPG gas outside is raining drizzle 1°ree but that’s not all. Tonight will becomes to zero and minus one. and and then and then again will be cold but probably heater will works very well. Heater will works properly because of new full gas but chapa is still in bed. Chava is still in bed. What about the generator light? battery light. The things are following. Yesterday I got under the car, took off cover and find out that tensioner bracket screw which is holds bracket against the engine broke down. So I don’t have a tools to remove it. probably I need to go to workshop and uh since batteries are not topping up actually it’s it’s a stupid to go somewhere and stay on the road without you understand so I need to find the shop or I need to figure out how to do it but then it becomes to I wouldn’t say it’s a problem It’s a nasty stuff. Outside is a 0° and yesterday I check uh I found three shops and this circle is around 17 kilometers. Actually 17 kilometers cycling. It’s it’s not bad. It’s good. But outside is drizzle. Outside is rain. Outside is rain. It’s the worst combination. Rain and and and 0 degrees or below zero. Uh you can get sick unpredictably fast. So that that’s could be the real problem. I don’t have a running car and I getting sick. So we’ll sit a little bit. Maybe rain will stops then we’ll go with the chapa at least to one shop which is only few kilometers away from here and then we’ll see how it will goes and uh of course no nowhere disappear the issue that we are in France and and and France and people in France don’t speak English as you see I’m smiling because nothing else I has to So I have to figure out how to deal and get out of this situation. Me and Chappa we are coming back from first service decide to walk because not because we like to walk so much but because start snow this where we going to this is chateau in Belfast. No ball bal for and start to snow at the first shop they told us they cannot find they don’t have a parts like that I don’t understand how it works and for example in Baltics countries everybody has old part but okay they address us to some specialized fiat service. Probably we going to go to Piet. So we’re And this is Belffort Shadow Castle. Castle. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. are here. We are on our trip to find to find workshop already attend two of them actually three of them and none of it deals with with the screws. That’s strange because in Baltics you can go in any shop and they they probably will if they have capacity they can they can they and they can get your car in then they will fix it. But here in France all of them all of those shops even motor home specialized shop they sent me to Fiat dealer. That’s strange. And in in France, they cannot get a specific uh car brand part except if you are not a dealer. Maybe I’m wrong, but this is how they explained me. So, and the snow ended. It’s still around zero, maybe plus one, maybe plus one. And uh Chapa is running very nice valer roots. And now we are going to And now we are going to specialized dealer to Fiat. Then we’ll see how it’s we’ll see how it’s how it’s uh will goes if they can fix fix us or not. Otherwise the things doesn’t look pro so much promising because it’s going to be real winter and maybe on only Monday we’ll go to some pluses. We’ll see. I have to fix to to know it today then otherwise yes otherwise otherwise we will be forced to stay here in France for a long time which actually I don’t want because we have here language issues even in one shop I speak with them what I speak with them what language ah They they found a Polish woman and in first shop they little bit speak English and in first shop they didn’t speak any other than French and we communicate through Google translator. That sucks. But okay, it’s no, it’s not anybody’s problem since everybody can can talk as he want. Right. Right. Okay. We’ll go further and we’ll try to fix our problems. at the dealer center there there was one guy who who speak English but but but but he’s almost assured me there is no chance they will get spare parts I tried to explain that I need simply another bolt but they as a dealers they don’t care about other bolts except of catalog so and there is No other chance like to figure out how to tension generator by myself. Tension generator. I going to make new generator tensioner. We are now our dealership at Fiat and uh uh so the case is they got bus in there is and the things is it cannot be repaired properly. There is no chance because there is no spare parts. There is no time and there is a time frame. See our bus is out of the shop. At least something. At least something. I hope there will be positive result. I hope very much for positive result. Okie dokie. Later. Good evening. And so short update on uh things uh uh what is going on. Uh we staying here for second night already and uh yes chapa is already in bed. Tonight will be min -5 up to -5° C. Very cold. Very cold. Miracle happened. And the guys in in a dealership, they fix the car. They what they has been done is uh they replace uh bracket main bracket bolt which was we ve weed out pretty bad and they replace that bolt with a new thicker one. Broken bolt which attached to tensioner arm. Tensioner arm was welded directly to the broken bolt piece. This means I don’t need to care of it until uh we’ll need to replace water pump because uh this bolt it’s actually not a bolt. It’s a Yeah, it’s a cold pressed bolt into aluminum body of uh water pump. So now it’s welded. Due to extremely cold weather, we left uh Belffort and we moved uh 200 kilometers more south to the place and to the small town. Suess is pronounced in French as Squa Abess or more simply Squa Andres. pronounce it again. Of course, it’s pronounced as Santua on breast. Uh I will not remember that name. So uh actually that’s that short update and we will continue tomorrow and uh I forgot to mention about cost of repair as a I was hoping for miracle but not as much for miracle because the guys didn’t charge me at all. They just wish me good luck. And that’s it. God bless France and especially those guys at at Bedford Fiat dealership. [Music] [Laughter] [Music] city. City [Music] different. [Music] [Music] [Music] See [Music] optional center option. [Music] Thank you. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Jesus [Music] [Music] Christmas. [Music]