Going downhill!

Monday May 23
Our 2016 adventure has turned into quite an experience and we are still reeling!

Our usual procedure when doing a home exchange is to reserve the day before we are due to leave for cleaning up and getting the house right for the home owner. We were to leave Wednesday 25th and by Sunday had seen all the places that we had planned to see. We decided we wanted to see a bit more of the Cevennes whose scenery had really appealed to us. We set off in the direction of Ganges where we had coffee and then we went on to Le Vigan where we embarked on a circular zigzag journey up Mount Aigoual. It was a D road so Jim was happy that, eventhough it zigzagged, it had plenty of room for two-way traffic.The day was much cooler than previous days and there was a strong wind blowing. As we ascended we noticed temperatures dropping from 15 degrees to a low of 3.5. We hit mists and showers. The view was fantastic and the road was fine.

As we began our descent we noticed a sign for a viewpoint but the pull in opposite had quite a dip so we turned the corner where there was a better hard shoulder to pull in on. Jim pulled in to the right, put the car in gear and put on the handbrake. We jumped out as we were, braved the cold and wind for the Observatoire des mouflons, and ran up to the lookout point where we spent 5 minutes or so. Not having binoculars we saw no mouflons. Mouflons are wild mountain sheep, a distant cousin of sheep and their habitat is sheer rock and scrub.

We returned towards the car and, as we were about to cross the road, we had to wait to let a car, travelling loudly and fast, pass. Just as it passed our car and as we were starting to cross the road we noticed that our car was moving! We both started to run but I felt I was going to go head over heels. At this stage the car had left the hard shoulder and was moving slowly down and across the road in the direction of the opposite verge which was a drop through trees and rocks into a ravine. Jim got the car door open but could not get in and was dragged across the road by the car. He tried to get the steering wheel to turn to change direction but without the keys the wheel was locked. The car was getting closer and closer to the sheer drop on the other side and I yelled and yelled at Jim to let go and let the car go on. In my mind's eye, I could see him going over with the car. At the very last moment he let go! 

Jim got to his feet and we just clung to one another and listened as the car plummeted down crashing into trees and rocks until finally the last crash followed by an awful silence... Jim's knees were pouring blood but he was alive! The place was deserted. Then it dawned on us that there were so many things in the car that were vital - the keys of the house in which we were staying (there was no other way to get into the house where all our luggage and passports were and nobody else had keys), my handbag with my phone, tablet, purse and all my cards, coats - it was so cold. We had no idea what to do. Jim had his mobile but, at the best of times, he is barely able to operate it. We tried to make a 999 call but neither of us could stop shaking sufficiently to dial the numbers. Then we heard the sound of a car and a white van was coming down the zigzag towards us. I jumped up and down waving frantically and it looked like the driver was not going to stop. Then he did and reversed up, parked and came across to us. I explained as best I could in French what had happened. We could see the back of the car with its IRL sticker way down among the trees. He rang a garage in the town up above us but there was no reply as it was just after midday. I persuaded him to ring the police; he said they wouldn't come. After a long and difficult conversation with the police, whose main concern seemed to be that we ring our insurance company to sort us out, they finally agreed to send someone when they heard Jim was injured. The man from the white van said it could be up to 3 hours before they would come and off he went leaving us at the side of the road half way up a mountain!

There we were, shivering on the side of a mountain, in total shock, not knowing how long we would have to wait for assistance. We wandered up and down the road, neither of us able to sit down. Jim was visibly contemplating trying to make his way down to the car and I was screaming, pleading with him not to even think of it! After about ten minutes a car pulled in where we had been and two men emerged, glanced at us and went to the boot to get their lunch, which they ate in the car.  I couldn't believe that they could ignore our plight, after all Jim was streaming blood and neither of us was dressed for the weather. I suppose they were wary but we were hardly Bonnie and Clyde! Finally they emerged again from the car, packed the boot and cautiously approached us where I proceeded once again (in my far from articulate French) to explain our ordeal. They then cleared the back of the car and got me in and put a blanket around me. Jim was too agitated to get into the car but we were both relieved when the two men announced their intention to stay with us until help came.

Just before 1pm the sapeurs-pompiers (firemen/ambulance/emergency services) arrived and put us into the ambulance to tend to Jim, check for any other injuries and fill in forms. They took Jim’s blood pressure and were happy with it given the circumstances. They then took mine - sky high of course! Because Jim is diabetic they checked his blood sugar which was ok too. Meanwhile 2 young female gendarmes had arrived. They had to get all the information for their report. They were insistent that we ring our insurance company so I had to ring Brian to get him to get the number. I could barely hear with the noise of talking and engines, so spluttered “The car is gone Brian but we’re ok”. Fortunately he interpreted this as the car had been stolen and so he was not overly concerned about our well being - it was just as well as it was much later that evening when I finally got to tell him what had happened. My attempts at getting the insurance company were futile as there was intermittent mobile coverage. I reassured the Gendarmes that we would pay for a taxi to get us back to Calvisson (200km away!)

One of the sapeurs-pompiers had suitable shoes and equipment to go down to the car and retrieve things for us. He went down 4 times coming up each time with things that we would need. He used my mobile to take photos of the car for the insurance company. Finally, when we were in the Gendarmes' car ready to be transported to the nearest town, Jim remembered that he would need his driver's licence to hire a car. And the sapeur-pompier went down once more!

The Gendarmes were obviously used to the road and travelled at top speed around the zigzags. I was sitting bolt upright in the back seat with my eyes popping out of their sockets contemplating our imminent demise after Jim having escaped death only a few hours before. They caught sight of my horrified face and laughed! At any rate, we survived and were deposited at the Office du Tourisme in Valleraugue where the woman, working behind closed doors because it was a Monday, took us in to wait for a taxi and gave us coffee. The taxi arrived after an hour and a half and after another hour and a half (and at a cost of 190 euro) we got back to our house in Calvisson.

Our plan when we had the car was to stop at a big supermarket and get something for our evening meal. That plan had hit the ravine and we had not eaten since 7.30 am! We walked into Calvisson hoping the  Casino supermarket would be open but, being Monday, it was closed. Fortunately a little delicatessen was open so we weren't going to starve!

Then we had to figure out some way to hire a car. It was at this stage that we realised how fortuitous it was that the half dead plant had been stolen and that we had, as a result of the alternative arrangements for leaving the keys, met the Scottish couple on Saturday night. We had no option but to ask their help and they very kindly brought us to Nimes on Tuesday where we hired a car. They also gave us dinner Tuesday evening which was a lovely, kind gesture that we were delighted to accept.

The journey from Calvisson to Roscoff was fraught with anxiety as there was the petrol panic and worry about the weight of our luggage which we would have to carry on to the ferry at Roscoff.( My phone call to Irish Ferries to notify them that we would be making the return journey sans voiture had resulted in an extra charge of 38 euro and the information that we could take only what we could carry and that there would not be anyone to help us!) However, we needn't have worried. Everything went smoothly enough, we managed to get petrol, the Irish Ferries staff were very helpful and we got to Rosslare where Mary, Jim's sister, met us. A few day's later, Philip, Mary's son, brought us home.