Halfway through my early winter break at The Money Pit and I've finally relaxed. To call the outward journey a bit challenging might be understating things a bit. Leaving home at 5 in the evening on Saturday I had been warned that the weather might be a bit ....shall we say.......blowy? Arriving at Dover in good time as planned at 8 I was then duly informed that the boat was delayed by 90 minutes.
Hmmm...not a good start as the idea of getting there at 8, some 2 hours before departure was to make sure I was on nice and early and picking the best spot in the lounge to get a couple of hours shut eye in before the long haul down the length of France through the night. This news meant 3.5 hours in the embarkation area, which didn't sound like fun.
It wasn't - especially in light of the fact that the cafe area was pretty rank and by this time the wind was at 50mph and the rain pretty much horizontal. Miserable in other words. Living near Portsmouth I usually go from there to Le Havre but Dover to Dunkerque was half the price and as I was travelling 'sans famille' I decided to try a different way.
Never again. It's 127 miles to Dover from Chez Jack, so you've done over 2 hours on the road before getting on the boat. From Dunkerque to The Money Pit is 657 miles and the older you get the harder it is to do that in one go. Bones and joints complain. Eyes play tricks. Muscles cramp up. At Dover I seriously thought about turning round and going back home, but as I was effectively transporting half of Argos and B&Q down to The Money Pit, I had to persevere.
In the end the boat was delayed by 4.5 hours! Which meant I'd been sat there for 6.5 hours in a steamed up car unable to get a decent radio signal or lay down and get some kip due to the load. Oh, and by the way, Norfolkline did not give us one single update during that time. SeaFrance on the other hand carried on merrily sailing away, as did P&O.
Ever had the feeling that things are against you? Well, in Dover I tried to lay across the driver and passenger front seats, hoping for some solace in sleep until someone decided whether or not we sailed. Whilst doing this I sat on my brand new 12v socket doubler allowing me simultaneous use of Sat nav and Dab Radio. Not anymore. Then at the first Peage, instead of doing as I'd planned and getting out of the car and walking round to pay I decided to stay dry and as I moved back into the drivers seat my shoulder hit the rear view mirror and it popped out of its socket. 600 miles with no rear view mirror was not the best experience of my life! The weather in Northern France was as bad if not worse, and the rain so bad I couldn't see the white lines in the road. From 05:30 until 07:30 (sunrise) my top speed was 40mph. i really wanted to go home at this point. I was driving the yellow Leon which saved our lives a few weeks back - so being a typical bloke had decided to be 13 years old and pretend I was test piloting a new aircraft. Well, it kept me going! Shortly after the mirror debacle a yellow warning light appeared on the dash. Apparently I have tyre pressure indicators! I decided after a cursory look, like any good pilot, that the error was a fault in the warning light and not the tyre. I carried on regardless.
Off the boat at 05:30, arrived at The Money Pit at 16:30! 11 of the hardest hours driving I've ever done and barring the journey home, not a trip I'll repeat, not on my own at least.
Anyway, after 2 days of unpacking and testing new Money Pit gadgets, hanging pictures, making the beds for Hellsbells when she arrives to open up in April (more bedding and towels here than a branch of Debenhams!), the revision has started although as feared it is bloody dull. The weather until today has been warm and sunny with a little high cloud. Today it was cold and rainy until about 6 when it cleared again. Sitting outside a little bar in the village square in the balmy evening sun, watching the world go by seems to have been the clinching proof that at last I have a couple of days to read and rest.
Fingers crossed for some Gallic peace and quiet.
Au Revoir, GJ.
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