Just thought I would share a tale of our recent escapades in France and Spain - this is a negative one I'm afraid.
After having taken Lucy Wire my trusty N&B 6700 Flair South to escape the imminent poor weather at the end of February we found ourselves tootling quite happily along the southern roads of France and in to Spain.
We were mostly keeping off the Autoroutes (Peage) and most obvious toll roads and after a couple of days in Benidorm (different story/thread) had decided for a little mountain peace and quiet - off to Almocita (recommended).
We were on the A7 just heading towards Almeria and decided to pull over at one of the larger fuel stops, park up and grab a spot of lunch. Had everything with us so didn't even need to open the door and put the steps down. Finished lunch and then............
A car parked behind us, in our blind spot but visible on reversing camera, a guy got out of passenger side, reasonably well dressed and approached our right hand side (we are a lefty) where my wife sits. He had a map in hand. Knocked on window, which my wife opened to speak to him. (Hindsight: mistake)
Now bear in mind we are in an N&B Flair A Class - the windows open horizontally and not vertically and the way the van is built the windows are quite low!!
Guy thrusts in full scale unfolded map and blathers on in broken English (Hindsight: He should have been talking Spanish or to Spanish people for directions?) - my wife isn't good with maps so passed the map over to me. It was quite clear that where he wanted to go was noted on the map, but also on the motorway signposts - so I couldn't understand what help he needed. After I pointed this out he grabbed the map and headed back to his car.
Under cover of the unfolded map he had reached in and stolen Sharon's handbag.
Not a cheap one I may add and also containing all her worldly possessions. Sharon had assumed that the bag being on the floor and not on display was relatively safe......... (Hindsight: after checking what could be accessed through the open window we were surprised just how vulnerable we were!)
We didn't realise the theft for a while though as Sharon didn't need anything from her bag until the next day in Almocita - when we discovered it had gone. Usual credit cards, cash, glasses, memory cards for camera, in fact Sharon is still discovering things that were in the bag...
I plan to fix either a bar across the window or possibly a Perspex lower cover to restrict access - I don't want it to look like a prison van - but needs something to stop opportunistic thefts like this.
Big lesson learned - don't open the windows unless you know who and why you are talking to someone outside.
As it was towards the end of our travels we decided to come home early - holiday a bit soured by the events.
Still waiting for insurance to finish deliberations :-(
Hopefully there are a couple of take aways in there for others.
Robin & Sharon
After having taken Lucy Wire my trusty N&B 6700 Flair South to escape the imminent poor weather at the end of February we found ourselves tootling quite happily along the southern roads of France and in to Spain.
We were mostly keeping off the Autoroutes (Peage) and most obvious toll roads and after a couple of days in Benidorm (different story/thread) had decided for a little mountain peace and quiet - off to Almocita (recommended).
We were on the A7 just heading towards Almeria and decided to pull over at one of the larger fuel stops, park up and grab a spot of lunch. Had everything with us so didn't even need to open the door and put the steps down. Finished lunch and then............
A car parked behind us, in our blind spot but visible on reversing camera, a guy got out of passenger side, reasonably well dressed and approached our right hand side (we are a lefty) where my wife sits. He had a map in hand. Knocked on window, which my wife opened to speak to him. (Hindsight: mistake)
Now bear in mind we are in an N&B Flair A Class - the windows open horizontally and not vertically and the way the van is built the windows are quite low!!
Guy thrusts in full scale unfolded map and blathers on in broken English (Hindsight: He should have been talking Spanish or to Spanish people for directions?) - my wife isn't good with maps so passed the map over to me. It was quite clear that where he wanted to go was noted on the map, but also on the motorway signposts - so I couldn't understand what help he needed. After I pointed this out he grabbed the map and headed back to his car.
Under cover of the unfolded map he had reached in and stolen Sharon's handbag.
Not a cheap one I may add and also containing all her worldly possessions. Sharon had assumed that the bag being on the floor and not on display was relatively safe......... (Hindsight: after checking what could be accessed through the open window we were surprised just how vulnerable we were!)
We didn't realise the theft for a while though as Sharon didn't need anything from her bag until the next day in Almocita - when we discovered it had gone. Usual credit cards, cash, glasses, memory cards for camera, in fact Sharon is still discovering things that were in the bag...
I plan to fix either a bar across the window or possibly a Perspex lower cover to restrict access - I don't want it to look like a prison van - but needs something to stop opportunistic thefts like this.
Big lesson learned - don't open the windows unless you know who and why you are talking to someone outside.
As it was towards the end of our travels we decided to come home early - holiday a bit soured by the events.
Still waiting for insurance to finish deliberations :-(
Hopefully there are a couple of take aways in there for others.
Robin & Sharon