In a remarkable flurry of achievement, we all managed to board the van and leave home just 15 minutes later than planned this morning, unlike the pasta pan and our collection of soft drinks which didn't leave home at all. Hopefully, they are the only things we left behind.
At the Port, we struggled just a tad to find the right lane to get into for check-in. The Luton at the front hid the signs a bit. Queuing up for the Ferry at Dover without the engine running forced us to crank up the gas heating. It was freezing. The crossing itself was without incident and luckily, we were one of the first off at Calais. From what we could tell, there wasn't another Caravan Car on the boat and, in fact, it wasn't until this afternoon until we saw another one.
SatNav led us straight onto the coldest, foggiest and probably most expensive motorway in the whole of France. It was probably also the quietest which was worth the money (31 Euros). I was grateful that my first right hand lane experience was on a relatively quiet, flat road and before very long it was familiar and comfortable to me. I even mastered the art of overtaking lorries at speed in which the 'wash' from the lorry in front first of all pushes your front end to the left and then it sucks you back in making for a kind of slew effect.
Our first destination was Reims. We got there ok but then got lost in the city even though we have been there before and even though we had two electronic navigation guides (TomTom 510 and AutoRoute 2007) to help us. It turns out that these two compete with each other leaving the driver and the co pilot confused and arguing. This happened several times today which means buying a real feel paper map is a must tomorrow. The map is especially needy because I have no concept of where I need to go through to get to where I need to go. This means guessing at exits after toll booths for example gambling on heading in the direction of say Troyes or Metz. Sat Nav isn't clear enough to help there.
When we first stopped for fuel, the pump didn't work for ages. I had a mild panick when I started to wonder what French for Diesel was. Der. When I went in to pay what seems like a 60% of UK prices, the driver before me handed in his passport before the pump was switched on for him. I wonder if that is normal or if I was just in a dodgy place?
After losing patience with each other one time too many, I ran into a tourist shop and asked the way to Piper Heidseck. It was only round the corner and Mrs. F drove us there after moving the van out of the way of the car park entrance I was blocking. She found it ok and wants to do some of the driving tomorrow. We went on the tour of the caves and it was nice to avoid the queues and for the children to see how champagne was made. A couple of samples and small purchases in the shop and we were soon on our way to Epernay. We were now behind schedule so set off to our first scheduled stop at La Ferme de Hautes Freres in Eaux Pisseaux which we hoped to get to before it was dark. We didn't, of course, but we did still get here relatively pain free. From what we can tell in the dark, it looks like a nice place and is very, very rural.
Hooking up the leccy was a joy. I was expecting an assembly of connectors to get any power into the van, but instead, it worked straight up on just one lead. The power says 16 amps too although we managed to trip it out within 10 minutes of cooking. The battery in the smoke alarm was ripped out within 5 minutes of course to avoid the skwarking it made just on a boiling pan of vegetables. Our first dinner was a great success courtesy of Mrs. F's meticulous planning and also the high spec of the van's equipment. The kids ate in the back room and we had the kitchen table to ourselves hidden by the very useful curtain.
After dinner, me and Mrs. F did something we haven't done together for ages and it took about 20 minutes including tidying up afterwards. I haven't done the dishes for years and now I know why.
Act one of the bedroom conversion performance has just begun so it looks like an early night for all of us. Tomorrow, we plan to go to Clermont Ferrand via Chablis. We still don't know where we are staying and for the life of me, I can't work out how to use that bleeding Aires book….
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