Last day! Sometimes it seems that we have packed a lot in, and sometimes it seems to have lasted a little more than 5 minutes. What could/would we have done differently/better? The easy answer is to add a second month, then we could have covered those long driving distances more sedately and over a lengthier period, thereby allowing us to opportunity to get some sort of a ride done each day. But, if you don't have two months and must cut your cloth accordingly ......
There is always next year.
Reveille was shortly after 0700, and breakfast just before 0800, setting off to T3 aiming at a 0900 check-in. Every time in the past, I have made some sort of wrong turning when heading to Ts 1, 2 or 3. Not so this day; straight to the door, bang on 0900. Not only that, the exit from LHR and onto the M4 & M25 was a dream too. Memo to self: always visit LHR on a Sunday.
Sunday, 20 September 2015
Saturday, 19 September 2015
Day Twenty-Nine : 19.09.2015
A day without haddock is a day lost. And all the better with mushy peas.
Not much to achieve today, except to do laundry, get Forest's bike boxed neatly (and hope it stays that way through customs), eat breakfast, eat lunch, drive down to Heathrow, find the Ibis, eat dinner and turn in. Haddock, chips & mushy peas had been mooted for lunch, so breakfast was kept smallish. Dinner too. The Ibis was noticeably dripping with F's country(wo)men.
We were thrilled that the clutch made it down the M40 without giving up the ghost; that seems such a long time ago now.
Day Twenty-Eight : 18.09.2015
Another laid-back start to a day; now that we had switched to Caen for our Portsmouth sailing, we had two extra hours to kill. We left at 1400 instead of 1200.
The drive back to Caen (actually, Ouistreham is where the ferry leaves from) was one of 40 miles, most of it squally. On this occasion, the ferry icons on the road signs definitely WERE to be followed, and very good they were too. After the check-in booth, we were ushered to the very front of Lane 5 on the waiting area. Other lanes were being filled sequentially. Why, then, were we so favoured? It became obvious later.
A coffee seemed a good way of filling the time until we were called back to cars to load up. Twas ever thus. Lane 4 started away. Then 6, 7, 8 and on up to 12. We sat there like lemons wondering how we could possibly have offended the port authorities. The rain came and went, then came again. It dawned that Lane 5 was being used for those folks who had switched/been switched from other bookings, and that the 'originals' were being pushed forward, despite arriving there approx 90 mins after us. The ferry was packed and we ended up loaded on a 30-degree ramp. Fingers crossed that the guy in front of me on that ramp would be good at handbrake starts. And that I didn't mess up when my turn came either.
We enjoyed quite a few Brit school groups on board, going home after a 'residential experience'. Just like old times? The kids were great, not one cross word in six hours.
Arrival at Portsmouth was late, and the queue to drive through customs used up another 20+ minutes, so we were not free of the port area until nearly 2015. Forest took over the driving shortly out of the city and took us the M27/M3/A34/M40/M42/M6Toll/A5 route home to Sutton Maddock. Arrival 0020. Pretty much everything was left in the car overnight. That's tomorrow's business. A cup of Rosie Lee and bed.
The drive back to Caen (actually, Ouistreham is where the ferry leaves from) was one of 40 miles, most of it squally. On this occasion, the ferry icons on the road signs definitely WERE to be followed, and very good they were too. After the check-in booth, we were ushered to the very front of Lane 5 on the waiting area. Other lanes were being filled sequentially. Why, then, were we so favoured? It became obvious later.
A coffee seemed a good way of filling the time until we were called back to cars to load up. Twas ever thus. Lane 4 started away. Then 6, 7, 8 and on up to 12. We sat there like lemons wondering how we could possibly have offended the port authorities. The rain came and went, then came again. It dawned that Lane 5 was being used for those folks who had switched/been switched from other bookings, and that the 'originals' were being pushed forward, despite arriving there approx 90 mins after us. The ferry was packed and we ended up loaded on a 30-degree ramp. Fingers crossed that the guy in front of me on that ramp would be good at handbrake starts. And that I didn't mess up when my turn came either.
We enjoyed quite a few Brit school groups on board, going home after a 'residential experience'. Just like old times? The kids were great, not one cross word in six hours.
Arrival at Portsmouth was late, and the queue to drive through customs used up another 20+ minutes, so we were not free of the port area until nearly 2015. Forest took over the driving shortly out of the city and took us the M27/M3/A34/M40/M42/M6Toll/A5 route home to Sutton Maddock. Arrival 0020. Pretty much everything was left in the car overnight. That's tomorrow's business. A cup of Rosie Lee and bed.
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Day Twenty-Seven : 17.09.2015
We must have been the last guests out of the Ibis Style, Bourges. This probably meant that everyone else had pretty much the same opinion of its décor, and could stand it no longer; the translucent, pukey-green, plastic chairs at breakfast were the last straw.
The day was almost a clone of yesterday: find the correct autoroute, point the car north, and drive at approx 75 mph until the hankering for coffee became just too strong. A little light relief was brought by leaving the A71/A10 monotony and using la route nationale 154 for a while across country via Chartres, Dreux and Evreux, before joining a different autoroute out to our destination for overnight, Honfleur. A regular Ibis has got our vote tonight, better by far, but the bath 'room' is a soupçon tiny; I have seen bigger broom cupboards. And expensive! Honfleur definitely fits the honeypot category. This was borne out by our stroll around the chic & authentic (but twee & chocolate-boxy) harbour area. How does €18 for two beers sound? Yes, exactly, we agree!
The excitement of the day came courtesy of an email waiting in Alan's in-box when we relaxed upon arrival in the hotel. Grace à Dieu, I decided to read emails at that juncture, and not leave it until morning, for instance. The ferry company had written to advise us that our crossing tomorrow has been cancelled! Having got the info early allowed us to spend an hour communicating with the company, ending up with us switching from a Le Havre departure at noon to one from Caen at 1400. The reason, apparently, is that the boat we should have been using has been confined to port somewhere by bad weather, and simply will not have got to Le Havre by the time it's needed. We wonder how many folks will not have got this info and will present themselves tomorrow morning for an absent ferry.
The day was almost a clone of yesterday: find the correct autoroute, point the car north, and drive at approx 75 mph until the hankering for coffee became just too strong. A little light relief was brought by leaving the A71/A10 monotony and using la route nationale 154 for a while across country via Chartres, Dreux and Evreux, before joining a different autoroute out to our destination for overnight, Honfleur. A regular Ibis has got our vote tonight, better by far, but the bath 'room' is a soupçon tiny; I have seen bigger broom cupboards. And expensive! Honfleur definitely fits the honeypot category. This was borne out by our stroll around the chic & authentic (but twee & chocolate-boxy) harbour area. How does €18 for two beers sound? Yes, exactly, we agree!
The excitement of the day came courtesy of an email waiting in Alan's in-box when we relaxed upon arrival in the hotel. Grace à Dieu, I decided to read emails at that juncture, and not leave it until morning, for instance. The ferry company had written to advise us that our crossing tomorrow has been cancelled! Having got the info early allowed us to spend an hour communicating with the company, ending up with us switching from a Le Havre departure at noon to one from Caen at 1400. The reason, apparently, is that the boat we should have been using has been confined to port somewhere by bad weather, and simply will not have got to Le Havre by the time it's needed. We wonder how many folks will not have got this info and will present themselves tomorrow morning for an absent ferry.
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