Alarm before 7am. Ouch. We got up and packed up the last of our things, leaving Sandie's air mattress, foam mats, and pump (and sadly, our electric pump in the room with the sleeping baby), and filled up the car. My ears were thankfully unblocked. Hurrah!
We grabbed some coffee in our insulated mugs, some croissants, and said a last goodbye to Sandie and to Rachael (who was still trying to get John up). We programmed the satnav to take us to Calais via Brive, Rouen and Chartres, avoiding any unpleasantness in Rouen, and set off before 8 into the blinding sunshine. We stopped and I got out to take a few photos of the sunflowers, being asked by a passing local whether I was OK. I didn't think quickly enough, and answered stupidly in English.
At Brive, we stopped at a Carrefour to get fuel, and to stock up on supermarket items. We had to wait until the shop opened at 8.30. We bought confit, rilletes, saucisson, camembert, Rocamadour goat's cheese, wine, beer, and various other things, costing us €120. Oops. We bumped into Rachael and John there. We continued on, stopping again at a supermarket to find coffee, but failing. Christian got tired (he hadn't slept well), and we stopped at a basic roadside park for me to take over the driving. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, as I'd got used to being on the wrong side of the road generally. I had to take an exit after about 20 minutes, and then stayed on the new road for about an hour, which I somehow managed to clear of traffic. We stopped again at the same l'Arche we'd stopped at on the way down, and Christian grabbed an iced coffee, and a diet coke. I drove on for a while longer, then stopped for another comfort break, where Christian took over driving again. We saw Rachael and John here too.
It was now lunch time, and we stopped at the next foody services near Orleans and got pasta salads for lunch. Back on the road again, we left the A21 and took a minor road, sharing it with a lot of farm vehicles, towards Chartres. At Chartres we got fuel. On the way through Chartres I could see the enormous cathedral and wanted to go there. Next time. We kept going to Rouen (avoiding road works), and I fell asleep around then. I woke up and made myself more alert, as Christian said he might want me to drive again. We stopped for a McDonalds coffee soon after, which included a comedy drive-through shouted conversation in French over my head. There was another cathedral in Rouen that I wanted to see. By now, Christian was properly awake again, probably because he had someone to talk to again.
From there we mainly hugged the coast up to Calais. We got stuck in a big road works traffic jam, while Christian badly needed the toilet. We stopped at a roadside park, used the disgusting facilities, and got covered in bugs.
At Calais, having arrived at about 6pm, there were no ferries until the one we were booked on at 8pm, so we checked in, left the car in the appropriate lane, and went for a walk in search of food. We failed. So we set up the laptop to watch some Game of Thrones, using bluetooth for the sound on the car system. After needing to buy some internets to get through DRM, we got about half an episode watched. Our ferry pulled up, and vehicles started coming off. We switched off GoT, and got hit by a massive storm. Luckily, it had passed before we went to go on.
We parked the car on the ferry, and made a beeline for food. I had fish and chips, and Christian had chicken schnitzel and chips. They were OK. We explored the ship, which was old, tired, and broken compared to the Dunkerque ferry. We went outside briefly, but it was still a bit stormy, and very windy. We went back inside. At about this point, I realised that the whole ship was heeling to one side in an alarming way. You'd think they'd distribute the vehicles a bit more sensibly.
We found a spot with some comfyish lounges in the bow, and settled down for the rest of the journey. Christian got a coffee, and did some reading. I gazed out the window at the horizon. At Dover, we docked, got in the car, and drove off without incident. Christian drove (on the left) to the M25 services, got fuel, and I took over driving, though a little unsure that I was in the right mental state. The M25 had a lot of road works, and was quite stressful, so after a while I asked to swap again, as Christian was feeling OK. I took an exit, managed to miss a roundabout, felt very stupid, and stopped to hand back the wheel. Christian drove the rest of the way home, and thankfully wasn't annoyed at me. We got home to our lovely flat, with a lovely non-inflatable bed, at about 11.30.
We grabbed some coffee in our insulated mugs, some croissants, and said a last goodbye to Sandie and to Rachael (who was still trying to get John up). We programmed the satnav to take us to Calais via Brive, Rouen and Chartres, avoiding any unpleasantness in Rouen, and set off before 8 into the blinding sunshine. We stopped and I got out to take a few photos of the sunflowers, being asked by a passing local whether I was OK. I didn't think quickly enough, and answered stupidly in English.
At Brive, we stopped at a Carrefour to get fuel, and to stock up on supermarket items. We had to wait until the shop opened at 8.30. We bought confit, rilletes, saucisson, camembert, Rocamadour goat's cheese, wine, beer, and various other things, costing us €120. Oops. We bumped into Rachael and John there. We continued on, stopping again at a supermarket to find coffee, but failing. Christian got tired (he hadn't slept well), and we stopped at a basic roadside park for me to take over the driving. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, as I'd got used to being on the wrong side of the road generally. I had to take an exit after about 20 minutes, and then stayed on the new road for about an hour, which I somehow managed to clear of traffic. We stopped again at the same l'Arche we'd stopped at on the way down, and Christian grabbed an iced coffee, and a diet coke. I drove on for a while longer, then stopped for another comfort break, where Christian took over driving again. We saw Rachael and John here too.
It was now lunch time, and we stopped at the next foody services near Orleans and got pasta salads for lunch. Back on the road again, we left the A21 and took a minor road, sharing it with a lot of farm vehicles, towards Chartres. At Chartres we got fuel. On the way through Chartres I could see the enormous cathedral and wanted to go there. Next time. We kept going to Rouen (avoiding road works), and I fell asleep around then. I woke up and made myself more alert, as Christian said he might want me to drive again. We stopped for a McDonalds coffee soon after, which included a comedy drive-through shouted conversation in French over my head. There was another cathedral in Rouen that I wanted to see. By now, Christian was properly awake again, probably because he had someone to talk to again.
From there we mainly hugged the coast up to Calais. We got stuck in a big road works traffic jam, while Christian badly needed the toilet. We stopped at a roadside park, used the disgusting facilities, and got covered in bugs.
At Calais, having arrived at about 6pm, there were no ferries until the one we were booked on at 8pm, so we checked in, left the car in the appropriate lane, and went for a walk in search of food. We failed. So we set up the laptop to watch some Game of Thrones, using bluetooth for the sound on the car system. After needing to buy some internets to get through DRM, we got about half an episode watched. Our ferry pulled up, and vehicles started coming off. We switched off GoT, and got hit by a massive storm. Luckily, it had passed before we went to go on.
We parked the car on the ferry, and made a beeline for food. I had fish and chips, and Christian had chicken schnitzel and chips. They were OK. We explored the ship, which was old, tired, and broken compared to the Dunkerque ferry. We went outside briefly, but it was still a bit stormy, and very windy. We went back inside. At about this point, I realised that the whole ship was heeling to one side in an alarming way. You'd think they'd distribute the vehicles a bit more sensibly.
We found a spot with some comfyish lounges in the bow, and settled down for the rest of the journey. Christian got a coffee, and did some reading. I gazed out the window at the horizon. At Dover, we docked, got in the car, and drove off without incident. Christian drove (on the left) to the M25 services, got fuel, and I took over driving, though a little unsure that I was in the right mental state. The M25 had a lot of road works, and was quite stressful, so after a while I asked to swap again, as Christian was feeling OK. I took an exit, managed to miss a roundabout, felt very stupid, and stopped to hand back the wheel. Christian drove the rest of the way home, and thankfully wasn't annoyed at me. We got home to our lovely flat, with a lovely non-inflatable bed, at about 11.30.
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