Farewell Marcel

Marcel the 4L died today. I took the dogs for a walk in the vineyard this morning. We got into the car to come home, I started it up, reversed a short way, then noticed smoke coming from the bonnet. Remembering all those firemen's advice I leapt out of the car, got the dogs out of the back and hurried them up to the caravan where I locked them in. I ran back to the car and rescued my keys, phone and purse. By now serious smoke was pouring from the front of the car.

I rang Ali to ask her to come to the vineyard - I needed moral support. Then I rang the fire brigade. They asked for the exact address. What do you say when you're standing outside a stone hut in the middle of a vineyard at least a mile from any public roads? I described it as well as I could and rang off. I waited what seemed like an age until Ali arrived. Eventually three gendarmes arrived and phoned through the GPS coordinates for the fire emgine. By this time all five tyres and the petrol tank had blown sending columns of black smoke into the blue blue sky. The flames were intense and I was very concerned that the tinder dry grass would catch light.

Finally, 40 minutes after I called them, a fire engine and four firemen arrived to put out the flames.

Poor Marcel is a metal shell now. There's nothing of value left. He served us well, carrying us, the dogs, our harvest, endless logs and lots of machinery up and down to the vineyard every day. We will miss him.