Villages Hotel Calais

... Dan and Charles. It's a beautiful little town and one I was keen to show Kim. It is has high walls that runs 3km around it (perfect for our run morning run the next day!) and is situated atop a hill, so very picturesque.<br><br>PS. Le Coq Hardi is the local brand of beer

We awoke to the noise of trucks and early morning deliveries..Took Lucy for walk and packed van ready to hit the road again..Start? Yes!!<br><br>Breakfast at the Happy Chef opposite the Marina in Dover was very welcomed, and to be recommended. We will be checking out Uncle Sam's next time we pass through. Now down to the Ferry port for check in..<br><br>Ooh la la......<br>

... the motorway at the first opportunity, and retraced our steps, along with the Landyprikkers, but we lost them shortly afterwards, as they sailed off missing the turning again.<br>We then followed the roadbook ok, but missed most of the things we should have seen along the route.<br>The Landyprikkers caught us up later, and we travelled together for a while.<br>

18th September<br><br>Staples 2 Naples &#8211; Day 1 &#8211; Calais to Sarnen.<br><br>Last night I was well fuelled up on continental 6% European blond beer! Real lethal stuff, it was served in 3 litre tubes, we had 3 of these between 4 of us!!<br><br>Not a good mix after just 1 hour sleep in 2 days! <br><br>After drinking this and signing up for the rally, with a few more beers, i was told we are heading for a ...

... fixed once the part was shipped out. No other problems at all. The 1150 GS's were a different animal, with a huge list of problems leading to Baz's bike being towed almost half the way back. Tim's didn't escape either with a cracked frame and a rear shock that had to finish the trip with just glue holding it on! <br><br>I will try to get the other guys to add some post-trip comments and pictures ...

... due to a couple of little incidents on the way. We had a new inverter delivered yesterday morning as the original failed on Friday so I attempted to install that this morning but ran out of time. We were making good time to Dover but we needed to fill up the gas before we left the country as we had no time to get a French adaptor. The pump we found filled ...

... for long periods of time in these low temperatures? Well yes I have, it's impossible to sit in a car at -7C for breakfast without it and a couple of other occasions before that Oh and the night before. He smiles a big Ah! Did I buy fuel in the mountains? That explains it, no problem it will go out later, don't worry, long idling on sub standard fuel. I'm so relieved and so tired, by mid-morning I desperately need a sleep and ...

... are. We ride the ferry to Calais with them. There is some weirdness about getting a cart upon which to place our luggage. It gets sorted out in the end and the ferry trip is relatively uneventful as we work our way across the English Channel. The ferry takes about 2 hours and our French coach driver is waiting fo us when we arrive. His name is Eddy, and despite being a little greasy looking, he is quite personable. The ride to Paris takes about 4 hours, so ...

The Ferry was crowded for a Sunday with plenty of kids running around and it looked like the arcade game deck got a hammering and we managed to hold of buying dinner to make use of our sandwiches during our journey. The crossing was pretty smooth and nothing to complain about really and I managed to get a few video and still shots ...

... and signs. Some of the signs were difficult to read due to aging or accidents. Oh, and I had no idea what the speed limit was in Belgium, so I paced the traffic in the fast lane (or tried too-my little car can only go 165 km/h without feeling 'goosey' (yes, that is slightly over 100 mph-most of the time I kept it between 130-150 kph). The rest areas were in worse shape. The roads and rest stops reminded me of the parts of I-5 in Seattle and other highways through Utah, Idaho ...