First departure of Paris Sunday June 22 :

We pass one of our last days in family and we let us benefit from it fully.
This Sunday, we thus lunch quietly after the arrival of White.
White is the author of the drawings and water drops who will be used for to us to communicate towards the child on the set of themes of water, Blanche is also a friend of the family and it is it which will finick us the car.
Eh yes, the day of the departure it remains to us still things to make and not the least, since it S acts to finish the joining of the logos and the loading of the car.

As of the end of the meal we put ourselves all at it. White occupies itself of cutting out the stencil key sets which we will make it possible to paint the address www.hydrotour.org on the car.
During this time we gather the whole of the elements which we will be able to put at it. Our great fear is, and will always remain, the ponderal overload.
Such pretty small nice, our Acadyane (for which we did not find a name on this date) must pay attention to its weight.
Weight which will not cease growing during the first two weeks of our voyage.
Here thus the list of what we put in this car.
The loading took 7h30 to us, of 16h00 with 23h30.
7h30 during which Papa and Mom will be without stop with us to clean by-Ci, charge by-there, weigh, to label, paint, inventory, etc...
It should be said that that made nearly three months which the house does not turn any more but around our project. Oh well on, there was the marriage of Roland, our elder brother. But, always in background, then in the foreground, this famous voyage around the world.
During this last Maman week a case of help was occupied to prepare us, to find us the last contacts and to even organize us a starting mass.
While Dad him, occupied himself of our car. And as it is a pretty small young lady, it had to be avoided inside and outside many elements essential with our comfort.
There initially was the installation of a wool lining on the ground (recovery of fitted carpet lower part) in order to soundproof the cabin (quite useless alas, because the acadyane is really noisy). Then the installation of electricity, in order to enable us to have a catch lights cigar to reload our apparatuses (computer, camera, telephone and numerical camera). Or the installation of a board out of wooden with the back to allow us to sleep. And finally the installation of our wall cupboard with gasoline on the right side of the car, true trunk intended for the origin to receive a spare wheel and which for us, will be used as arrangement for the jerry cans of gasolines.
All these installations passed initially of course, by rough negotiations. For example on a side there were the followers of the bed of camp, the nights to beautiful star and the net of protection intended to retain the businesses in the event of brake application or worse of barrels. And other, followers of the boards out of wooden to same qualities, but allowing in more of sleeping with dryness, even downtown full. We thus chose 20 kilos of boards dating, for the small history, of 1938.
Once the last charged case, the car appears to us to touch the ground. And we are not yet inside!!! However our calculations are good. We have right to 450kg and we let us have of them hardly 200.
It is thus 23h30 when we "take off".
Completely as our diary envisaged it, I reads: "Departure for Grenoble of Mesnil-the-King on June 22 with 19h30!"

Fortunately we are not sleepy and good and long road awaits us.
Good, good!! It was without counting the roadhogs and the unforeseen ones.
With 3h00 of the mat', first adventure, Loïc are at the wheel and in the zone of deceleration before toll, it sees in a its retro car arriving quickly! Too much quickly! And pretence to forget to uncouple. A small blow of wheel of Loïc brings us in the hard shoulder. And, at the same time, alarm clock of the phantom driver who, giving a violent one brake application and wheel, exceeds us in a continuous squealing of tires, strikes keeps it insane right, then left (three ways nevertheless!) ended up rectifying the vehicle and continuous as if nothing were.
Second tile, 7h00 of the morning we are on the périphe in the south of Lyon. Loïc leads again and Geoffroy finally starts to fall asleep on the boards for the first time. Suddenly we hear a sharp snap which transforms our avoids north wind in diamond lake. Made checks, this N is not a blow of our good fairy covering us with richnesses. But they are unfortunately 200 euro of additional expenses and especially of a large concern: there remain to us 1h30 to be with the press conference of Grenoble.
After grinds reflexions we decide to continue like that, without anything to see.
Horrible experiment, as much as dangerous and never not to make. To direct us, we must stick derrières the trucks. Moreover the sun is low and transforms our diamond lake into a dazzling mirror. We will have much chance because we will reach Grenoble in time and without accidents.

Second departure, Sunday June 29. Mesnil the King:

Mom organized us a barbecue where most faithful of our friends found themselves to wish us good luck and to encourage us.
Enough oddly, our parents us never expressed fears, but well a certain pride. Pride that dad showed us in its discourses of goodbye and mom in a letter "to later open only on the way". In more of this pride we will have thanks to them a back base for all small European worries (taxes and other administrative paperworks) like making us follow mails and other enthralling drudgeries.
The support of Roland on always was exemplary well especially that he regretted a little not to be with us. It thus decided to help us financially and made a point much of seeing us taking along a series of remembering that it brought back each weekend of Luxembourg to us or besides. Most useful without question the jerry can of 20 Liters is which is useful to us for the gasoline.
Marie-Gabrielle and Olivier also enormously spoiled us by giving us money and by as often as possible surrounding us before our departure. In Paris they will be our back base on the level finances since Olivier is our treasurer.
Our friends, as for them, will have really reacted in very different ways.
Some immediately adhered to our project and supported us during the preparations as well morally as financially and this, in a spontaneous way.
This one made the Internet site, that one a drawing, that one a telephone call to his/her father, that one a list D addresses, etc…. They put all there, friends of friends, friends of our parents, friends of the family and especially full with future friends.

Others never guaranteed this departure of two "glandeurs" around the world. Jealousies or disinterests? Of aucuns will say clearness.
We know it:
Our turn of the world even shocks irritates: "That will wonder of the money companies to make a turn of world? You of the spoilt rich brats?!" "Why not to assemble an association and to collect money to dig a puitss or to build a school?"
Yes! In fact why not?
Loïc is an Agricultural engineer, Geoffroy sup of Co Grenoble (Sales engineer for the Belgians). Whereas is what two young people of 29 and 25 years well will be able to bring to populations having many different things which we do not include/understand?
To bring money, which will make it possible to build a puitss in a village?
But this puitss will they really correspond to waitings of the villagers?
Even largest ONG made their errors, and today all work jointly with experts in hydraulics and sociologists.
This was not in our cords and not in our ambitions.
However this year is the international year of fresh water. What wants to say that everyone must speak about the problem of water.
What wants to say that at March in Kyoto was held an International forum of fresh water. No the chance, it fell at the time from the events from Iraq.
Blow, nobody knows that this year is special, nor did not hear the results of this forum.
We want to bring our small stone to the building or rather our drop to the ocean.
Not to be caught for experts, not!
Not either for tourists!
Yes! We want to live an adventure!
Yes! We are solved food between brothers.
Yes! We want to open this adventure with the others.
From where these children (more or less 5000) who will follow us once per month, at the time of water classes that they will have with their teachers or their professor. And this on the basis of of texts, images and materials which will be on our Internet site (updated every fifteen days).
Particular case, children of the two hospitals (Trousseau in Paris and Reine Fabiola in Brussels) which will follow us only once with their teacher because they on average remain only 4 or 5 days at the hospital.
We will be their eyes, their arms and their legs during their stay at the hospital and can be their convalescence if it continues to follow us on their premises.

We will show them lived of water to the four corners of the world: of French who washes his car with drinking water, with the native of Niger who makes 8 km per day to transport 25 Liters of more or less drinkable water.
This sensitizing of the children appears essential to us, because water C is the life. However the children will be the guards of this life tomorrow.
They will be able thus with the court of these water classes to be familiarized with the problem of water in the world and to see our chance with us French and Belgian.
It is as a desire for showing them and for showing you as behind all these problems there are solutions. There are people who fight tous.les.jours to regulate these problems in a local way. The goal is thus to deliver a message of hope.

And then there is also what they will be able to do in their class to show their interest and their implication for water.
Initially drawings, that more the artists of them will realize in reaction to our texts and photographs and whose best will be exposed on our site.
Then the charter of water, that most literary of them will be able to write, article by article, month by month.
Others still will send questions a little more practical to us about the life of the populations than we will meet or even on our life and our adventure.

All these achievements took months of preparations to us: 5 months full-time for Geoffroy and in hours sup. for Loïc (evening and w-e).
Then still 2 months full-time both.
Time to seek sponsors, to contact of ONG, associations or even of the private individuals likely to present their project, their combat to us.
For this reason let us believe we in it and why by our work and our adventure, we will gradually convince more the skeptics.

For our departure we still have a press conference Monday June 30 in Grenoble Ecole of Management and then we leave officially towards Italy.
Semi-officially, we must still charge of the businesses which we consider essential and who will not be useful to us can be never.
In more of all the material which overloaded us already we took along two large bags
with back for our personal businesses and two small for the sensitive material. These bags we will have spent one night whole to buckle them (between the 29 and on June 30). One night to make the turn of all our official papers, all our computer files, all our drawers, cupboards, cases. To be on nothing to forget. Or can be to goodbye say to this environment so familiar that we will leave. Small fears? Small anguishes? Even not! Just much of unconsciousness from what awaits us. Unconsciousness which plunges us in a kind of sleepwalking and carries out us of this drawer to this cupboard and still to this drawer.
And that there? With these photographs of childhood?
This spring recovered on a pen will ten years ago be useful for me?
Not! Not! Drop. Essence, one needs just essence, because all the remainder will weigh on your back.
To go, it is 5h30, one goes there! If our acadyanne awaited us all the night last week, the train him will not await us and it is necessary that one is in Grenoble with 12h00.

Departure! Good-byes!

Departure of Grenoble Wednesday Morning after a last jump at Car Glass which replaced us one avoids north wind by guaranteeing a sealing completely worthy of the most fabulous fairy tales. Such an amount of worse it is too late.

Newspaper of the Departure written by Loïc

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