A family goes on a road trip but their bus breaks down after 80 km: they have been stranded for 5 months in Ille-et-Vilaine

Cécile Perrichon, Mathieu Pacaud and their two children had prepared this project step by step. The goal was to travel across France and Europe as a family. To do this, they sold their house in Saint-Père-en-Retz (Loire-Atlantique) and bought a bus. After traveling only a few dozen kilometers, the bus broke down. Since last August, they have been stuck in a motorhome area in Guichen Pont-Réan (Ille-et-Vilaine).

Cécile's family has been stuck in Guichen Pont-Réan, south of Rennes, for around five months, as reported West France. Since August 2024, they will have only driven four hours and covered 80 km, while their road trip in Europe was supposed to last 18 months. The couple decided to launch an online fundraiser to finance the purchase of a new vehicle and make their dream come true.

“Dead and irreparable clutch, faulty mileage, rust…”

“We were supposed to go touring Europe with our bus but ultimately… We went around the Nantes Rennes expressway,” the family posted on January 4 on their Instagram account called “The tribe goes for a walk.”

To finance the purchase of this bus, the couple sold their house and the adjoining land. With the money from this sale, they bought a 1978 bus for the sum of 56,000 euros, specifies BFMTV. But after four hours of driving, while the happy band was preparing to make their first stop towards Finistère, the vehicle showed “signs of fatigue”, the mother told our colleagues.

On the site of the Leetchi prize pool launched by Cécile Perrichon, the latter explains that the verdict fell after these first 80 kilometers: “Dead and irreparable clutch, defective mileage, hidden rust despite a fresh technical inspection, dangerous electrical problems with discharges on all metal parts since winter. »

“More than 60,000 euros have already been swallowed up, and we are still at a standstill”

The bus has therefore been immobilized since August 8, 2024 and the family is forced to live in this motorhome area with their two dogs, three cats and a guinea pig.

Due to this mishap, Cécile and Mathieu have to face numerous additional expenses, including towing, expertise and legal proceedings. “More than 60,000 euros have already been swallowed up, and we are still at a standstill,” underlines the mother on the jackpot website. The couple, who knew nothing about mechanics, admit to having blindly trusted this unscrupulous seller.

The objective of this fundraiser is to raise 20,000 euros in order to buy “a reformed, solid and reliable school bus” and to “start the first arrangements” since it will become the family’s new “home on wheels”. So far, 62 people have participated in this prize pool and more than 1,200 euros have already been collected.

“We wonder how he was able to pass the technical inspection”

The couple, who took the bus seller to court, thus embarked on legal proceedings and for this, had to surround themselves with a lawyer and an expert. “During the assessment, the mechanics were frightened when they saw the condition of the vehicle. We wonder how he was able to pass the technical inspection,” the couple revealed to our colleagues. The court must deliver a first verdict on January 25.

To top it off, on January 8, the bus had to be moved near a cemetery due to floods forecast at the Guichen Pont-Réan motorhome area, following bad weather. In a story posted on January 14, Cécile, however, announced the imminent return to the camper van area, which Dominique Delamarre, the mayor of the town, also confirmed with France Bleu.

This incident was not without consequences on their family budget. Forced to call on a towing company, moving the bus cost them 660 euros. Knowing that this new location does not have an electricity connection, a generator was installed. However, it does not work during the night and the little family complains of the cold.

“Media coverage allows us to move forward and believe in it”

However, Cécile tries to remain positive in the face of all these challenges. “Yes, 2024 should have been the year of the road trip, the year of geographical discovery. But ultimately, it is our sense of adaptation, our resilience and our ability to reinvent ourselves that we discovered,” wrote on his Instagram account “The tribe wanders” on January 2.

As for the couple's two boys, Nathan, 12 years old, and Antoine, 9 years old, their parents are responsible for their education, which is in fact compulsory for all children aged 3 to 16 years old. Before starting this journey, the couple had to request authorization from the academic director of national education services (DASEN) of the department of their residence. “We obtained a 'yes' after two appeals,” it is stated on the Leetchi website.

Many media are interested in their story. Cécile notably appeared on Julien Courbet's show at the beginning of December. “Thank you everyone. Media coverage allows us to move forward and believe in it,” the mother wrote this Tuesday on the prize pool website. “Your support is much more than financial aid, it is the hope for our children to see their dreams come true, to go on adventures, to experience the extraordinary,” she said. assured.