Younger, fitter folk would drive from Montpellier to London with just one overnight stop, but one of many benefits of "
la retraite" is that we don't have to! So three stops had been meticulously planned, routes computed and overnight bags packed. The only issue would be how far north we could get before Bob would have to replace shorts with jeans:- it was "cold" as we set off! It was also a Sunday:- this is good news with
the ban on HGVs on French roads, but not too good if it is the day before the schools re-open after the
Spring break in some zone, and this was! Paris is in Zone C and we would be Paris-bound for two days. Also we would be Belgium-bound everyday and those cars with red rear plates"
go like the clappers" up the
autoroute! But they all still take a long lunch - so those are the hours for proceeding sedately northwards! We ere listening out on
107.7 FM for news of how the traverse of Lyon would be. We have encountered this before, and thought it inevitable with detours counter-productive. However, as the reported length of
bouchon at the dreaded
Fourvière tunnel grew and grew the nice man suggested (in French, of course) that if all you wanted to do was get from South to North the A46 was a good alternative.
As we had only to reach
Villefranche sur Saone, we took the advice and it saved a huge amount of time for about 10 extra miles, so that we arrived at the Campanile as the stragglers from Sunday lunch were leaving! As the toll is paid beyond the re-joining of the A6 we think it is no more expensive on that front and is recommended by Greyrocks! As is the
network of Campanile hotels. With advancing age we have upgraded to them from their sister chain Premiere Classe for a list of reasons, and they are now the default when planning overnights on a route:- consistent, easy to locate and a bit boring! Next day we drove, with only a few navigational glitches to outside
Troyes, and as we wrestled with the last few kilometres we realised we had done it before - but to stay in the Premiere Classe on the same site! (Today's research reveals it was in 2010)
Then it was to
Calais - and it was still shorts weather! We were motoring along confidently when we realised that the UK's
hostile environment at home and attack on stowaways - including the destruction of "The Jungle" on the outskirts of the city - had changed access to the port and our map for the Campanile was out-of-date. So more fun and games, and excess miles, but a good trip around Carrefour for last-minute supplies, a last supper (same menu as previous two!) and we girded the loins for pre-Brexit Britain.
Arriving early at the port we were put on the next boat and it was pretty empty. We bought coffee at the bar and said how restful it was with no school parties. The barman said we had got it wrong - they had been warned of 1500 kids about to board! And they did! "Zoot, alors!" It was good to disembark at Dover - but for the wrong reason!
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