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Travel between UK and Europe

PeeGee

Member
Hi
Our experience was similar. Eurotunnel at Folkestone was like a ghost town. Straight through and on a train an hour earlier than booked. - but we had no dog with us. Our local vet over the preceding months had gone from £160 to £250 and then finally refused to deal with the paper work at all! Our dog spent the summer with various friends and relatives. But during our month in France we found the solution with a local Vet. They agreed to give him a French passport for €10 next time we take him: so then he’ll be able to come and go to France more easily than we can!
We also had no problem with food at the borders although we were pulled over for an explosives check - tip: make sure your gas is disconnected.
On the subject of food, did anyone else fall victim to the current glut of courgettes in France - they say that if you leave your car unlocked in France it will still be there when you get back but you’ll find it full of courgettes. On a campsite we were approached by a strange French woman in a swimming costume offering us an enormous courgette as a welcome present!
As to your offer to update us about the border crossing into Spain - the border ceased to exist decades ago so you shouldn’t have a problem! As you drive over the Pyrenees on the old roads it’s interesting to see the abandoned sentry boxes from before Spain joined the EU.
Hope you’re having a jolly time still!
 

Blackrat

Active Member
Hi,
You are quite right, the border between France and Spain was non existent. It’s a journey we’ve done many times but we wondered if more checks would be in place due to travel restrictions. Maybe we were overthinking things as we were desperate to get to our place in Spain for the first time in 18 months!

Our camping part of the holiday had to be cut short thanks to the curse of the Marco Polo. We got to our first site in Spain and the roof refused to go up more than a few millimetres. More worrying was that it wouldn’t go down either. After many attempts with the emergency reset button it closed but the alarm won’t stop.
In the end we cut our losses and drove through the evening to get to our apartment.
Luckily the warning alarm cuts off after a few minutes. Had a brief search on here and apparently there’s a factoy reset to try, anyone have any knowledge of this?
Thanks in advance.
 

Blackrat

Active Member
When that happened to ours I took it to Mercedes Northampton and they replaced the leisure battery under warranty. Good luck.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Don’t think it’s battery related as it shows a full charge and everything else on 12v works fine.
We we’re hoping for an easy fix but might have to take it to a dealer here in Spain. They might actually know more about the MP than UK dealers!
 

Ashleyjbassett

New Member
Anyone had recent experience of the holyhead to dublin ferry, are they checking pet certificates prior to boarding?
In the middle of August we went Pembroke to Wrexford and back via Dublin Holyhead for two weeks round trip. Weather was great, views spectacular and please we had a MP over a VW on those roads!! They didn’t check the dog’s paperwork but did ask at checkin if we’d done the necessary (on the way out). Paperwork and tablet over £200. One the way back , €20!

The annoying thing, aside from the exorbitant cost is the paperwork lasts for 4 months, travelling anywhere across Europe but expires the moment you return to the UK. It needs to be done each time you want to take Mutley abroad with you.
 

Blackrat

Active Member
Quick update on our roof problem…………
We eventually managed to get it booked in at an MB dealer down here in Spain. They said that they had never seen a Marco Polo before so we weren’t terribly hopeful.
Even though the roof was completely non functioning, with the accompanying alarm constantly sounding they were able somehow to get it to raise. Once up they decided that one of the sensors was dirty and cleaning it restored the roof to full functionality. Due to the language barrier we are not sure which sensor was causing the problem.
Because the sensor was not actually faulty they said that they could not cover it under warranty and charged the grand sum of €50! This included a full valet!
We now plan to spend a leisurely three days driving up through Spain and France overnighting at Pamplona, Poitiers and Ardres ( near but not too close to Calais.) Our confidence in the MP is slightly eroded so fingers crossed for an uneventful trip!
Once home it’s booked in again for yet more warranty work so will try to get to the bottom of the roof problem!
 
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