Day 1 - Saturday 1 June 2013
Having left the house in the safe hands of Nicola & Chris, we picked up the van at 0800, thanks to a bright and breezy Ian - he clearly enjoys early morning starts! We unpacked and put all our stuff away then hit the road. It was a pretty boring, gruelling drive. The M25 was as usual - packed - so we stopped on the M20 services for a quick bite to eat and a cuppa. Refreshed, we carried on for the remaining 27 miles to the tunnel. It was just as well we left so early as we only had about 40 minutes to spare on arrival at the terminal. This was our first trip on the tunnel. Cathy enjoyed it (especially as she could have a lie down and a stretch) but I definitely prefer the ferry - being under the sea rather than on it isn't natural for me!
As we we arrived in France quite late we decided to overnight at the Motorhome Parking at the Cite de Europe. Not the best of views, but the Carrefour's open until 2200, which means we can stock up on a few essentials to get us through our first 24 hours, particularly with tomorrow being Sunday. We popped into the hypermarket and bought a few goodies. Dinner tonight was Crevettes with a homemade garlic mayo, tomato, onion & pepper salad, plus some baguette and lovely sea salt butter. A glass or to of Beajoulais helped wash it down, finished off with some fresh fruit. I noticed the fridge gas light was flashing so sent a quick text email to Ian - he replied quick as a flash to tell me to switch it off and back on again. That sorted it and I remembered him telling me to do this on Wednesday!
So we're stocked up on provisions. There are quite a few motorhomes parked here, most of them British, so this a popular stopover. It's now 2100 and we're both shattered, it's been a long day. So I think we'll be asleep soon, then up early for a quick breakfast and then head south towards Epernay and our first full day in France.
Having left the house in the safe hands of Nicola & Chris, we picked up the van at 0800, thanks to a bright and breezy Ian - he clearly enjoys early morning starts! We unpacked and put all our stuff away then hit the road. It was a pretty boring, gruelling drive. The M25 was as usual - packed - so we stopped on the M20 services for a quick bite to eat and a cuppa. Refreshed, we carried on for the remaining 27 miles to the tunnel. It was just as well we left so early as we only had about 40 minutes to spare on arrival at the terminal. This was our first trip on the tunnel. Cathy enjoyed it (especially as she could have a lie down and a stretch) but I definitely prefer the ferry - being under the sea rather than on it isn't natural for me!
As we we arrived in France quite late we decided to overnight at the Motorhome Parking at the Cite de Europe. Not the best of views, but the Carrefour's open until 2200, which means we can stock up on a few essentials to get us through our first 24 hours, particularly with tomorrow being Sunday. We popped into the hypermarket and bought a few goodies. Dinner tonight was Crevettes with a homemade garlic mayo, tomato, onion & pepper salad, plus some baguette and lovely sea salt butter. A glass or to of Beajoulais helped wash it down, finished off with some fresh fruit. I noticed the fridge gas light was flashing so sent a quick text email to Ian - he replied quick as a flash to tell me to switch it off and back on again. That sorted it and I remembered him telling me to do this on Wednesday!
So we're stocked up on provisions. There are quite a few motorhomes parked here, most of them British, so this a popular stopover. It's now 2100 and we're both shattered, it's been a long day. So I think we'll be asleep soon, then up early for a quick breakfast and then head south towards Epernay and our first full day in France.