Decided to stay at an aire the Calais side of Rouen so
programmed the sat nag (with
co-ordinates given to me by Mr Always Right) and headed off.
He was driving for a change so I was navigating. I wasn’t happy about the route that the sat
nag was taking us so I kept questioning where this aire was. With very little help from the driver and not
having my notebook or the aires book handy and Rouen looming I made an executive
decision to head through Rouen towards Calais and worry about it when we got
out the other side – fantastic decision though I say so myself.
Had a fun time driving through Rouen – doesn’t everyone –
especially as the main road bridge across the river was closed so EVERYONE had
to drive through the city centre. It
took ages and we started getting fraught about where exactly we were going.
Note here – not easy to get through Rouen when the signs say
– “for Calais follow Boulogne” then you have a sign that says Calais left and
Boulogne right. Now when you are driving
a 7+ tonne truck you have to plan ahead when you want to change lane, however a
bit of bullying goes a long way – not many people argue with you.
Poor Iain, one of the few times he was driving. As soon as
we were through Rouen we pulled over into a motorway aire and Iain rolled a
cigarette – a proper one, not like the prison issue ones I’d been rolling along
the route to help with his stress. One
was so bad that the filter fell out one end and the other end didn’t have any ‘baccy
in it. Rolling cigarettes is a practice
for FT. Personally I gave up (again) at Christmas last so I’m a bit smug and
tend to rub it in a bit about the need to smoke. Time to relax and calm down
before moving on.
Now we found that we
were about 20 miles north of the aire that we had been heading for – and actually
(not that I wanted to be smug about that, but I was really glad that it wasn’t
my fault) and had I not overruled the sat nag we would have been miles away
from where we wanted to be. Settled on an aire about 20 miles further on
in a village at Mesniere-en-Bray. Turned out it was a bit of a community centre
in the village. Dump facilities only but
nice spot and FREE. Only one other van
around, shop and bar close by. Crib update 5/4 down.
Following morning left fairly early for and aire just south
of LeTouquet – another freebie – what a result, park up on the side road by the
sand dunes at the end of a (closed) campsite.
Not a bad spot, close to the beach
and probably very busy during the season. With 40 miles to drive the next day for a
morning ferry, we remembered to do our shopping before the day of our ferry as
we’d had some very bad experiences in past trips of rushing to find a
supermarket in Calais to buy our extensive stock of cheap wine to return to the
uk with. One year we even ended up buying at the tunnel and paying their
prices. Only bought 35 litres of wine as we would be returning………. Very soon
hopefully.
Before bed it was time for a last game of crib – time to get
even or lose miserably. I’d gone from
1/0 down to 3/1 up now it was 5/4 down –
that was a good run for Iain. Time to
save face or face defeat. Yes EVEN’s and
no time for a re-match – final score 5
all. Not that I’m competitive at all!!!!
Early night (no telly for 3 weeks) and got up really early
and left for Calais.
It’s the first time I’ve driven Jan in the dark and that was
scary (that seems to be my favourite
word for driving, doesn’t matter who’se doing it) to say the least. It was really difficult to see the kerb to
the near-side and if I had to do that often I would want lights underneath the
van to be able to see. Yes I was driving
again as Iain doesn’t like driving in the dark (no he’s not a woose, he’s been
having some surgery on one eye and it’s difficult so see in the dark). Luckily at 4 am there wasn’t much on the
roads which was lucky, especially as I seemed to be driving on both sides at
the same time. Ok when we got to the paeage though.
Totally uneventful crossing except that the seats on the
ferry were absolutely filthy – not that we were very clean – two nights on
aires we hadn’t bothered very much – but I mean they were filthy. We attempted to brush off a few crumbs and if
you banged your hand on the seat, once the cloud settled it left a dusty mark
around where your hand was.
Disgusting. So we decided to sit
on the plastic seats. Think I might
write to customer services about that.
Drove up to Hampshire where we got a freebie night in a pub
called The Three Horseshoes in Alton.
For those who like a freebie, they allow you to park your motorhome
overnight as long as you eat with them.
The food is excellent and very good value for money. Look them up if you wish but always let them
know you are coming and book at table.
There were three vans in that night and all were pretty big ones. Not much more space left. Desperate for a
shower (had to be clean to go out for dinner, not to mention meeting up with
Iain’s daughter and partner) used the facilities in the van and then very
extravagantly of me, turned on the generator – just so that I could dry my hair
– how wasteful is that?!!!! I was as quick as I could be.
In the morning I was chatting to the dog (as you do) and I
said “Well Connie, we’re off home today” and suddenly realisation hit me............
This might well be the LAST time we will be
“Going Home” – in just a few short weeks
Jan WILL BE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a couple of quick pics of the smelly one - she likes a sunny spot - but what's all this stuff on the settee taking up her space?
She's becoming quite an expert at sleeping now that she's getting to be an old lady. Her bed fits rather nicely between the cab seats - but she sleeps in her travel kennel when we are driving along.
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