We were up early, and packed to leave around 7am. We'd said goodbye the night before, but Sandie and Charlie were up, and we said goodbye to them again. Sandie packed us off with some spare bread, and she'd given us her supply of confit already, as Leader Price had had none in stock for us to buy (and we reimbursed her, of course). She also gave us an extra bottle of wine to replace the one that had exploded in our tent the year before. So very generous.
And then we were on the road again, on another brilliantly sunny day. We took a wrong turn getting to the A20, but soon set ourselves right.
In Brive, we stopped again to charge and have a very welcome coffee in the hotel. And then onto Chateauroux, in the increasingly cloudy conditions. The supercharger was next to a posh restaurant, right near an airport. After looking at the restaurant menu and deciding it wasn't for us (it was early for lunch anyway), we walked to the Carrefour, with Christian turning back to the car about two-thirds of the way there. It was good to get some exercise.
In Carrefour, I bought things for lunch (meat, cheese, olives, fresh rillettes) and the all-important supplies to take home - rillettes, sirop, wine, chocolate, Pim's biscuits. Christian picked me up (after helping with choosing the wine), and we got back on the road - the long way due to some roadworks.
After a while, we ate our lunch while driving, which Christian felt it necessary to take a picture of. Our next stop was the Rungis supercharger, in the car park of a Novotel, on the outskirts of Paris. This was a fairly short stop - Christian got a coffee. The furniture in the hotel was very funky. There was cycling on the TV.
We continued on the Paris ring road, and came across some rather nasty traffic, on some uncomfortably narrow roads. I didn't like it at all. It thinned out before too long, and we were on the open road again.
Our next stop was at the Senlis supercharger, in the car park of an Ibis, mostly in the middle of nowhere. I stayed in the car, while Christian went inside to get a coffee (I think).
Then there was very little traffic to Calais, as has been the case before. It was a pleasant part of the journey. We were ahead of schedule at the Eurotunnel, but hadn't bothered to change our crossing time, asssuming that we'd be able to jump on an earlier one.
Big mistake. Much like the way over, there were huge volumes of people waiting, due to extra border checks, and we had to take the crossing that we had booked. Even that looked to be delayed. We settled in for a few hours' wait, and finished our 'lunch'. We eventually got on the train without much fuss, more or less on time, and set off.
The train journey was uneventful, apart from the fact that we managed to get a carriage where the suspension was busted, and so we bounced around like crazy. At the other end, we drove off into the dark night on the wrong (er, right) side of the road. It was very late and we were both very tired. We made it back to Wycombe and fell into bed.
_____________________
This was a very interesting holiday. It was stressful as far as having responsibility for the car, and its ability to get from A to B with enough charge. But the flexibility was lovely, and we were certainly able to see more things than normal. The method of travelling with enforced stops to charge was not a difficulty, but in hindsight I don't think we'd do as many miles as we did on the day from Italy to France. It's the sort of holiday I would want to do again, now I know what to expect.
And then we were on the road again, on another brilliantly sunny day. We took a wrong turn getting to the A20, but soon set ourselves right.
In Brive, we stopped again to charge and have a very welcome coffee in the hotel. And then onto Chateauroux, in the increasingly cloudy conditions. The supercharger was next to a posh restaurant, right near an airport. After looking at the restaurant menu and deciding it wasn't for us (it was early for lunch anyway), we walked to the Carrefour, with Christian turning back to the car about two-thirds of the way there. It was good to get some exercise.
In Carrefour, I bought things for lunch (meat, cheese, olives, fresh rillettes) and the all-important supplies to take home - rillettes, sirop, wine, chocolate, Pim's biscuits. Christian picked me up (after helping with choosing the wine), and we got back on the road - the long way due to some roadworks.
After a while, we ate our lunch while driving, which Christian felt it necessary to take a picture of. Our next stop was the Rungis supercharger, in the car park of a Novotel, on the outskirts of Paris. This was a fairly short stop - Christian got a coffee. The furniture in the hotel was very funky. There was cycling on the TV.
We continued on the Paris ring road, and came across some rather nasty traffic, on some uncomfortably narrow roads. I didn't like it at all. It thinned out before too long, and we were on the open road again.
Our next stop was at the Senlis supercharger, in the car park of an Ibis, mostly in the middle of nowhere. I stayed in the car, while Christian went inside to get a coffee (I think).
Then there was very little traffic to Calais, as has been the case before. It was a pleasant part of the journey. We were ahead of schedule at the Eurotunnel, but hadn't bothered to change our crossing time, asssuming that we'd be able to jump on an earlier one.
Big mistake. Much like the way over, there were huge volumes of people waiting, due to extra border checks, and we had to take the crossing that we had booked. Even that looked to be delayed. We settled in for a few hours' wait, and finished our 'lunch'. We eventually got on the train without much fuss, more or less on time, and set off.
The train journey was uneventful, apart from the fact that we managed to get a carriage where the suspension was busted, and so we bounced around like crazy. At the other end, we drove off into the dark night on the wrong (er, right) side of the road. It was very late and we were both very tired. We made it back to Wycombe and fell into bed.
_____________________
This was a very interesting holiday. It was stressful as far as having responsibility for the car, and its ability to get from A to B with enough charge. But the flexibility was lovely, and we were certainly able to see more things than normal. The method of travelling with enforced stops to charge was not a difficulty, but in hindsight I don't think we'd do as many miles as we did on the day from Italy to France. It's the sort of holiday I would want to do again, now I know what to expect.
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