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[Tai-chi wanderer]

Hi lots on the Forum about building and planning, can I put down horror stories straight away. Most are coming from peeps in flimsies (custom/A class motorhomes), so already they are travelling with a huge target on their sides.  Look at me £80k m/home and all the valuables inside.

Mark will poke me for being negative but after living/traveling the roads for over 30 years we have a cautionary tale. It will never happen to us, hmmmmmmm.
We let our guard down, last year in September.

Okay horror story..... It happened to us.
Down a tiny country lane, nr. Gueret in the Limousin region, heading for St Dizier. Rain coming down, skies low, Tom Petty on the cd.
Pulled over because a huge Mitzi Animal was storming towards me, it barrelled past and took off my wing mirror. It was quickly followed by 2 more big 4 x drive vehicles, and 2 small cars.
My mirror was gone. no more, blank hole, empty scenic space. I pulled off slowly, bewailing that would cost me.
5 minutes down the road all L erupted behind me, flashing lights, horns blaring. I thought it might be an ambulance, (Brit thoughts akimbo) It could not pass so I pulled as close to the ditch next to me and tried to breath in. Still the lights flashed and mud was being churned from the adjacent ditch as the vehicle could not pass. I stopped.
Now we are seasoned travellers and have done Spain and Italy for over 30 years, first rule, don't stop, second, have camera handy, third, have a can of hairspray to the fore, forth, baseball bat down the side of the door (masquerading as a door handle lift, to pull you up the step).

My passenger rolled down the window, wrong side of the road don't forget. He was almost pulled  though the window frame by a hairy Frenchie, about 6.4 tall, wearing a boiler suit. I stepped out the other side, and ran around the front. Immediately I was spat on and shouted at, possibly exceeding 120 decibels. I had 2 elderly passengers, we had booked a Gite to stay for 2 weeks. My wife was in the back, unable to see what was going on.
In seconds I was surrounded by about 10 guys, my passenger says 14, I did not count. All the cars had turned about and chased me down the lane.

So I was lost in France 14.00 hrs, gendarmes at lunch of course and me defending 3 elderly peeps as an only driver ..... With my rough French, I sussed out they wanted 100€ for their smashed mirror. Walking over to look at their damage, I looked in the cab a saw 2 rifles and a shotgun propped up against the dashboard.
Wrong move, I've lived in France, out of season hunters, pink caps and raiding somebodies 'chaise' plot. Then I got a thump on the chest by mister big n hairy. There was a horse fair we had passed further down the road, so hunters and gypsies on the make from Johnny tourist.
I'm pretty fiery and teach tai-chi and contest taikwondo, but here I was going to get a good kicking, too many.
Even tho I was tempted to demonstrate the Glasgow keees, because his spitty face was bent so close to mine and my knee was so precisely aimed.

His spiel was, we Brits always had a sob story about how broke we were and how we hated their country and the French and yet made a mess of it by visiting, etc.

Rather a long thread so I'll cut it there. Unless you want to hear the end.
Time this was set in, September 2014. Moral..... do not stop, just drive to the nearest town, village, whatever.
Never been stopped before, never had any t