We left the house at 6am and hit the M6 motorway. It was busy, as expected but not too bad over Thelwall. The road works were annoying and we were 10 minutes behind schedule when we got to Stoke. Husband drove.
We went on the M6 toll and stopped at the services for a loo break. Very disappointed, the standards of cleanliness seems to have plummeted! Far better was our stop at the next services by Silverstone race track. They are always good. Our experience here was far better than last year because it was here that we began to think there was something wrong with the car. From here on we spent the whole trip worried until it finally broke down! This time there were no problems at all and we arrived at the Eurotunnel within plenty of time. We had even more time than expected as our train was delayed by 30 mins due to an earlier cancellation. I took over the driving for the next nine days.
Once our car was called to proceed, we made our way to passport control. No problems here but then we were pulled in for a security check, as were most other vehicles. I've never seen so many being processed. We were asked the usual security questions and if we had any weapons! The driver's door and the dash board were all swabbed for drugs/explosives and a man in while gloves went along the side of each vehicle, touching the wheel arches and handles.
Once this was completed we were all allowed to make our way to boarding. We entered the train, parked up and then had our lunch. I have a travel fridge, which is wonderful for these journeys.
I set the car up for travelling on the continent, changing the units to kilometres from miles and changing the country on the sat nav. The Discovery has one built in but it's rubbish, so I have a really good TomTom. In fact, we use the two together, as the onboard one is only good for on the motorways, as it indicates when the next services are coming up and what's there!
We arrived in Calais and disembarked. There was a large police presence on the site as we drove out. We saw three immigrants who had been turned away by them as they had presumably attempted to gain access. The first twenty minutes driving is always testing, getting used to being on the opposite side of the road in an English car! However, I soon settled and got comfortable. The weather was iffy, rain clouds, then rain, then dry. It really didn't know what to do! There were lorries queued for miles, waiting to go to the UK. I'm not looking forward to the delays on the return trip!
We got to Dunkirk and we turned right, heading south to Lille. As we had been delayed over half an hour, I knew we would hit traffic there and we did. However, it wasn't as bad as its been in the past, just slow moving. We carried on to Belgium, passing the turning for Ypres, which we'll be visiting on the way home. The land is very flat here and I don't particularly like this part of Belgium. However, we were soon approaching Charleroi airport, where we will be staying on our journey home so that we have time to visit Ypres. It will be a very long return drive from Austria to here in one day, but worth it.
After a few hours we were approaching the Ardennes. Now this a my favourite part of Belgium, having stayed here a few years ago for a memorial ceremony for WWll. It brings back very happy memories! We were nearing the border with Luxembourg when we stopped at our favourite services, Air de Wanlin. It looks like two tepees across the road! We pulled in and parked, amazingly next to a transporter carrying THREE new Land Rover Defenders! They had been souped up, just like the Child's so I took lots of photos to send to him.
It was here that we found out the cost of the loo - 70 cents. All the loos are very smart, many have revolving toilet seats. They only do that once they are flushed and it's a way of disinfecting the seats.
After we left these services we entered Luxemburg. It only takes 15 minutes to drive from one side to the other and I always make sure that we stop for fuel before we cross over into Germany, as its so cheap. Once this was done, we were only a few minutes from our hotel, the Sonnenhof at Perl, just over the Moselle river and the heart of wine country.
The hotel is near to the autobahn, but in the countryside and is really lovely. In fact, we just cannot fault it and have returned for our third visit. The rooms are modern, clean and comfortable. The food is really good and the staff very nice, although English is not spoken here.
So, we checked in, went straight down for dinner then went up to bed for a good sleep, ready for the next day's journey to Austria!
No comments:
Post a Comment