A bit before 7pm, Alice, Wolfram and I met in the parking lot at work. We transferred our luggage into Alice’s car, already packed with Pampers boxes for her sister, and quickly hit the road. On Sunday, Alice and I will walk the 20K of Paris!
After a bit of traffic jam on the ring, it got better and we started to have a good speed. When Alice noticed that the man in the car near us was waving at us. He by-passed us so we ignored the waving. A bit later he actually slowed down to be at our level on the other lane and was making signs again. This time, as it was on my side, I looked. Based on his signs, we might have a flat tire, although it didn’t feel.
In doubt we stopped at the next exit only to realize that indeed the left tire at the back was looking pretty empty. We drove to the nearest gas station, giving Wolfram the opportunity to demonstrate how great the Navigon GPS app is on the iPad.
Pressure in the tire was only 0.8bar. That’s very low. We filled it up and waited to see what would happen. After 15min, we had lost 0.1bar and after a lap around the parking lot, another 0.1bar. There was only one possible conclusion: the tire was losing air.
Alice called the assistance so they would come and change the tire. We had to wait 30-45min during which Wolfram offered to get us a Coke at the nearby Quick. We’re not big fans of Quick and believe it or not, even their Coke tastes bad.
Eventually the assistance arrived, changed the tire, and confirmed it was not a real tire i.e. we cannot drive more than 80 km/h. At this point, still being in Brussels we decided to drive back to work to get Wolfram’s car.
Of course we hit traffic jams on the ring… 2 hours after we left we were back on the parking lot.
We transferred everything from one car to the other, including the Pampers as we all agreed that “there would be no Pampers left behind”. Alice and I visited the toilets (thanks the Coke) and at 9pm we were back on the ring, direction Paris. Round 2.
We drove easily across the border and decided to stop at the first service area for some food. Food for us and for the car as it was asking for oil. Having called the assistance already once, we were not so keen on repeating the experience.
Around half past midnight we arrived at Alice’s sister place, somewhere in Ris Orangis, unloaded the car and inquired for a gas station. For about 80 km, we were in the now classical situation: the gas light is on, I’m stressed, I want to stop and fill the car as soon as possible while Wolfram is playing it relaxed and cool about it, claiming he can still drive another 100km at least. The longer he drives the more I stress especially when the car is showing that there are only 4km worth left in the tank.
We drove to the nearest gas station and filled up 60.2 L of gas… apparently we still had 2 L in the tank i.e. enough for 20km. I don’t want to know.
With a full tank we made our way back to Paris, to the Ibis hotel where my mum was supposed to stay but given we were coming so late it was making sense we take the room there so they can all sleep at my sister.
2am, we’re in the room, exhausted. It only took us 7 hours to get to Paris!
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