Hotel du Beffroi Gravelines

... the last bit of driving before crossing over to the wrong side of the road. We arrived at Dover at around 5am...perhaps a little early for the 9:15 ferry, but as I learned when catching the ferry to the Isle of Man - it's better to be an hour early than a minute late! The weather wasn't so great - infact it was windy as hell - which meant that some of the SeaFrance ferrys to Calais had been cancelled, but fortunately our ferry with P&O was only ...

... all our technology and man made world. They had created somewhat of a car park and garden. It is much easier if you look at the pictures then if I explain but I found it to be a fun art piece that was both thought provoking and easy to understand at the same time.

A nice little French town like all the rest. I'm starting to forget which town was which. Thank God for pictures and blogging or I would never remember!

Next stop was Calais, sort of. We didn't really stay in Calais but we kept getting drawn back there for one reason or another. It is the closest city to the U.K at just 34kms of water in between the two. We first decided to stop there to stretch our legs and grab a bite to eat. The city isn't huge and besides a few nice buildings there wasn’t too much to see. We got some good food at a restobar ...

So this is where it all started. We all gathered in the Restaurant, with our vehicles lined up outside.
The teams were all given two eggs to keep safe for the week, and a set of challenges including a bingo card to collect photos of things we might see on the way.

The Road book was handed out, along with the t shirts, and we all lined up for team photos ...

... to walk out, and me throwing up right outside!!! Not happy Ooops...

That was last night,

Today we will drive 580 + miles in our spongebob squarepants painted Volvo, to Sarnen in Switzerland. Our challenge for today is 'Picture Treasure Hunt' of 1 hot air balloon, 4 cop cars, 1 Mustang, 1 Ferrari 430 with one team member in the picture, 1 flag etc.

We got 6 out of the 8 – a fun days drive!!

... to a strangled cat heard accross the campsite. Dave Shayler had gone for a shower only to find a token was needed for warm water and the camp office was shut. The screaming carried on until we were all showered - apparently it was refreshing!

The snoring started very shortly afterwards.

... site. Duncan orders snails much to the disgust of the boys but they both try them. Our chance to be smug Mom and Dad.
We have had a lovely holiday, with some memories to last forever. Try as we might thoughts keep on marching on towards new adventures and the Isle of Man that lie ahead.

We set off to France today for a new period in our life in Europe.
Work still chugs on, but with only 12 shifts in 42, we have plenty of time to ourselves.
We decided those "spare" 30 days should be spent in Europe.

I'll skip over the months of research and prep work and bring us up to today where we are now on the 4pm ferry instead of the 2pm ...

We soon climbed out of the tunnel and raced towards the train's first stop at Lille. The land was flat, bathed in sunshine and looking decidedly and strangely 'foreign' !!!

We were served with a late lunch during this section of the ride. Well cooked and well served! Also with a nice glass of champagne!!!

Arrived at Dover late, after a 10 hour Journey that should have taken 5 hours. 7 times the M6 / M1 had 2 out of 3 lanes closed, and then there was an accident on the Dartford Crossing. Luckily, we got the last spot on the 8am ferry, so its all good. Time to try and get some sleep in the car park :-).