You see these in many aires in France.
€2 coin in the slot for power or water.
The aire was to the left, but we
ended up in the Sports Complex car park.
Little shrines are scattered all about the countryside.
Another decorated roundabout &mdash this time
with a school theme.
We drove on up to Dunkerque and Calais. We passed through the town of Estaires. Huge church, chaotic traffic.
We continued to Calais, where we dropped off to visit a McDonald's. This was a most imprtant stop, as we decided to try to book our Eurotunnel passage ahead, rather than just fronting up at the terminal. It worked well, and we were booked for a crossing at 3.50pm.
Getting close!
Getting close!
We got to the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles (a suburb of Calais) in plenty of time, and went through the check-in and passport process — it all happens on the French side!
We were directed to a 'waiting' car park, where electronic signs let you know when to make your move. We went into the Charles Darwin terminal, where we found a Starbucks wor a caffeine fix, an a W.H.Smith store where we could get our first copy of the Times for a long while — and an English
crossword puzzle book, not to mention a few Toblerone bars at duty-free prices! Luxury!
Finally we were called, and we'll let the photos speak for themselves.
The Garmin got it right!
The queues for boarding.
Vehicle check-in. They particularly wanted to check
that we had turned off our gas. (We had!)
The electronic boarding information.
It actually turned out that shuttle X filled more quickly
than expected, so we dropped to the next shuttle, A
(16 minutes later)
Driving down to the shuttles.
Ours is on the right.)
... and we drove into this long empty space!
Gertie comfortably tucked up for the crossing.
You stay with your vehicle, so we just sat and did crosswords!
The Garmin got it right!
The queues for boarding.
Vehicle check-in. They particularly wanted to check
that we had turned off our gas. (We had!)
The electronic boarding information.
It actually turned out that shuttle X filled more quickly
than expected, so we dropped to the next shuttle, A
(16 minutes later)
Driving down to the shuttles.
Ours is on the right.)
... and we drove into this long empty space!
Gertie comfortably tucked up for the crossing.
You stay with your vehicle, so we just sat and did crosswords!
On the other side, it was so-o-o-o English. The cars were on the other side of the road! The vegetation comes right up to the road, so you sometimes feel as if you are driving through a narrow, dark tunnel.
We were on our way up to a campsite in Canterbury, when we noticed a lovely stop opposite Farthing Common, not far out of Folkestone, so we decided to pull in there for the night. The view was tremendous, the Common a popular walking spot for ramblers and dog-walkers. And the sunset was another Hollywood extravaganza!
Distance driven — today, 80 miles ( 129 km ); to date, 28,479 miles ( 45,833 km )
Nice journey-variety galore and a wonderful night sky again. I guess you feel a bit invisible in the shuttles-looks very complicated to me. Still, me direction finding and navigation skills are zilch, so that's not surprising. Horrible electric power giants, anyway I guess nano molecular energy will be fascinating eventually. Hope you slept well. Hugs, Cath
ReplyDelete