Around the end of march I travelled along with my wife and son in a 4 by 4 on the euro tunnel from folkestone to calais. Booking was surprisingly easy and you can access eurotunnel.com to see how. The printout acts as your ticket on the day. on arrival at folkestone we were given alphabetical cards to hang on the rearview mirror to identify the bays in which we needed to park at the ’station’.
The carpark has speakers allaround and when it is time, an announcement is made and according to alphabet the boarding takes place, that is you drive onto your coach. This is very easy as there are plenty of personnel to examine passports visas and herd you on board. There are good facilities and discount shops at embarkation.
For a large 4 by 4 I found moving my vehicle inside the carriage slightly disconcerting as the wheels occasionally rubbed the sides. but for the average car it should be all right.
Its half an hour under the north sea to calais! you can choose to listen to eurotunnel radio enroute, while you sit in your vehicle. The windows are wound down. You are parked nose to tail about 4 vehicles to a carriage. Yes , there are toilets and you can get out of your vehicle and walk to them.
I was a little apprehensive about the prospect of driving on the other side of the road, having done it only once before in holland about 8 years ago. There was nothing to fear, the roads and signposting are even better than the uk. Very quickly one adapts to taking roundabouts anticlockwise and looking left, rather than right.
If there is a large vehicle ahead its best to leave a gap if like us you happen to be in a right hand side drive vehicle, to get a better view. I was armed with a good map, a hotel guide and a map of paris, along with a little booklet of useful phrases in french. My son rahul, speaks french, that proved a major pluspoint as communication can be quite tricky!
We were travelling north to south. The french keep their roads beautifully maintained, by a toll system and you will pay out euros at frequent intervals if you use the motorways. Payment is easy and can be done by card.
We spent the first night at an establishment, called ’le croix blanche, ’ out of my hotel guide book in a very picturesque location-a village called saumur. The inn was historically linked to the abbey next door and both dated from the middle ages. We bought some lovely artefacts in the village, in the morning.
The next stop was the charente region which adjoins cognac and is home to some of the finest cognac. miles and miles of grape cultivation and we stopped at a small farm house. We were warmly welcomed by the farmer and his wife and a large dog. I said I would like to purchase some of his cognac, ( a fine brandy, for the uninitiated). Glasses were produced, generous measures poured. I said I would like to see how they produced it. They led us to what looked like an outsize garage which had a very impressive very old copper still, in it.
The proprietor kept up a patter of french explaining the process of production while I got everything on video. We purchased a couple of bottles at a very reasonable price and an elaborate bill of sale with an entry of sale in a large ledger, and parted amicably.
Onwards to bordeaux famous for its reds and we were unfortunately just a tad late getting there just after 5 pm so all we could do was stare at the factory shops and their displays wistfully.
I needed to find an exit road from bordeaux to pau and on to lourdes, however the onset of darkness and my lack of local geography conspired to make this a frustrating hour of crisscrossing the city. Eventually we were on our way.
We were well south now and heading to the pyrenees. Amazingly even the non motorway roads were beautifully maintained there were very few vehicles and people on the road. my video cam was sorely in need of recharging. We booked into the ibis hotel at lourdes. I heartily recommend this group of hotels as they are all over france are inexpensive and offer real value for money. At lourdes we visited the grotto. collected the water, wandered around the church and chapel. (the main church is currently being refurbished.)the stations of the cross are really worth a visit and I tried out walking up and down the steps on my knees-which I would not recommend at all.
It was the pre easter period and I felt fortunate in viewing the life size figures depicting the life and death and the resurrection-these are seriously impressive. lourdes is quite picturesque and over the snowcapped pyrenees is spain. I was told that there was in fact a picturesque journey by train that one could experience through the mountains.. I could not however plug in my videocam as a universal adaptor is a must-they take round pins in france.
Our travels took us through toulouse and limoges. Limoges porcelain is famous and there are some fantastic bargains to be had in the factory shops which are well signposted. We then made a beeline for paris and again booked into an ibis hotel of which I gather there are over 40 in the environs of gay paree. we wandered down the champs elysee and watched the preparations for the visit by queen elizabeth. Had lunch in the shadow of the arc de triomphe and sampled some exotic pastries. I found the prices surprisingly inexpensive as compared to a comparative location in the uk.
I would recommend getting a map of paris and travelling by metro. We, in fact used the bus and walked a lot - there are just too many places to see and experience. I saw a fishmonger sell crab, mussels, oysters at 1 am in the morning, to well heeled people coming out of restaurants. There is much wine, music, laughter and good style.
We drove back to calais just in time to duck into a well stocked duty free before an uneventful ride back. I will definitely visit but the next time make an effort to speak a little french. They do appreciate the fact that you are trying to speak their language.
On the way back I tried to think of all the various things and realised that the sounds and smells and good humour and even the frustrating bits were really a very memorable mental collage which I will store carefully in a corner of my mind, to take out and polish when I’m feeling low. I would recommend travelling like we did - totally unplanned if you are prepared to foot the bill for unexpected expenses. If you are on a budget, a fully booked and paid up trip is really the best value.
vive la france.