Europe Tour #2: Day #1 ‘A Very Steep Learning Curve’ – the journey to France
We set off this afternoon on our second ‘Tour de Europe’. With the caravan fully stocked and ready to go and with star dust in our eyes we started off on this next chapter in our great journey. This trip has taken much more planning than the last one – especially due to the caravan. We are stocked up with safety kits that include warning triangles, spare bulbs, reflective vests…and so on.
We assumed we were prepared for everything...and we were, until the caravan decided to go into a snake while travelling on the motorway towards Dover. They say that in times of truly scary times your life flashes before your eyes. This is so true. It seemed to take forever for Matt to convince the caravan to go back on the straight and narrow path that we needed for our safety. All I saw in the side mirror was the sight of the caravan weaving all over the road, threatening to take us all on a very bumpy ride. Eventually the calm returned…to the caravan anyway. We were all very quiet as we regained our composure and looked for a layby to stop in for a moments rest and another safety check. When Matt and I opened the door of the caravan to get out some supplies we never imagined the chaos that awaited us. The floor was covered with all of our cooking supplies, which we had so carefully packed. Luckily, nothing was damaged and we were able to repack it all again… this time we put the tin cans in the bottom shelves (not the top) and put all the really light stuff up high. Once all was settled (and our nerves not quite so shot) we headed off again for Dover.
The rest of the day was very easy. We made it to the Eurotunnel Terminal with time to spare so we sat and had a cuppa in the van while we waited for our call to proceed to the Eurostar. Once in Calais Matt very easily adapted to the right-hand driving again and we headed off towards Normandy, intent on finding somewhere to stay for the night on the way. Just outside Calais we found a great Service station, as did all the other caravans, motor homes and trucks passing this way, and set up the van for a nights rest. I say rest because sleep is very difficult when your nerves are still completely shattered…here’s hoping!
We assumed we were prepared for everything...and we were, until the caravan decided to go into a snake while travelling on the motorway towards Dover. They say that in times of truly scary times your life flashes before your eyes. This is so true. It seemed to take forever for Matt to convince the caravan to go back on the straight and narrow path that we needed for our safety. All I saw in the side mirror was the sight of the caravan weaving all over the road, threatening to take us all on a very bumpy ride. Eventually the calm returned…to the caravan anyway. We were all very quiet as we regained our composure and looked for a layby to stop in for a moments rest and another safety check. When Matt and I opened the door of the caravan to get out some supplies we never imagined the chaos that awaited us. The floor was covered with all of our cooking supplies, which we had so carefully packed. Luckily, nothing was damaged and we were able to repack it all again… this time we put the tin cans in the bottom shelves (not the top) and put all the really light stuff up high. Once all was settled (and our nerves not quite so shot) we headed off again for Dover.
The rest of the day was very easy. We made it to the Eurotunnel Terminal with time to spare so we sat and had a cuppa in the van while we waited for our call to proceed to the Eurostar. Once in Calais Matt very easily adapted to the right-hand driving again and we headed off towards Normandy, intent on finding somewhere to stay for the night on the way. Just outside Calais we found a great Service station, as did all the other caravans, motor homes and trucks passing this way, and set up the van for a nights rest. I say rest because sleep is very difficult when your nerves are still completely shattered…here’s hoping!
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