Monday, 19th
September, 2011 Left Eupen about 9am to travel to Dunkirk via the
motorway. The large building which looked like a liner I had seen on
the way over, looked better from this angle going towards Dunkirk. It
was actually a Hilton Hotel, which I hadn't noticed on the original
journey. Again, no further problems on the road except when I hit the
Dunkirk area. I tried to find the Car Ferry port. There were long
queues going along the motorway, so I decided to google a Supermarket
and found an Auchan not too far away. But before I did, I saw a
McDonalds, had lunch, a bit expensive but free wifi. Caught up with
about 10 days of emails before I got home. Found the huge Super Duper
supermarket Auchan, to purchase red and white wine ordered by my son.
Found a very lovely lady assistant who advised me which wines were
good, in the price range that I required. Don't really like buying
wine for other people, you never know what is good. Anyway Simon, a
connoisseur of French wines (at least he knows more than I do),
reckoned that anything from Burgundy and the Rhone valley would be
OK. Kate and Simon had met in Beaune when they both worked for an
American Hot Air Balloon company back in the early 1990's. They both
speak French; Kate teaches French to youngsters in the Harpenden,
Hertfordshire area. I still get along with my schoolgirl French, with
my cockney accent! I am understood! Just!
By the time I found the
Car Ferry noticeboards heading away from Auchan, it was time for tea,
a quick nap, settling down for the night in the car park next to the
docks. A 6am early start was required to be ready to queue up for the
DFSL ferry service which I had booked last December through the
Camping and Caravan Club.
Tuesday, 20th
September, 2011 Good journey over, quite calm, not very crowded
either. Exiting Dover docks was uneventful as usual, not being pulled
over by customs this time. Found a Morrison’s Supermarket near to
Canterbury, to have a nap, it was a bit noisy last night near the
docks! At least it was quieter than the roadside lay-bys, you can't
have a nap very easily there, you are buffeted by the big lorries and
coaches all the time. Made it to Harpenden by 2.15pm, Margot didn't
recognise me. However it was a big game to keep me hidden when we got
to school to pick up Sophia and Rosanna. We were sitting outside the
wrong class entrance so the girls found Kate before they found me.
Big hug from Sophia, but even bigger hug from Rosanna, because she
didn't know I was coming back. It was so good to be with the girls
again, and my how they had grown in 5 months and also they looked so
much more grown up. We all went to the swimming pool for their weekly
lessons, came home, Simon was there, home early from work. Brought
the van down so that we could off load the wine for storage, and then
re-park the motorhome further up the road for the night. Home again
after nearly 5 months, 10,000 miles and lots and lots of memories. A
safe journey, the van performed brilliantly, no further hiccups with
the engine battery, but I'm keeping an eye on it! Tomorrow I would be
visiting my daughter Sally to celebrate her new job with Tesco's, her
new cat, and her holiday next year from St Petersburg to Beijing by
the Orient Express. Wow, I wouldn't mind doing that, have a change
from driving all that way, perhaps a few years time. Now to sort out
all this writing, photographs, mementoes etc. etc. Hopefully, my
travels will stimulate other single travellers to venture out there,
knowing that I managed, felt safe at all times, except for the few
minor glitches with the Turkish gentlemen! Happy adventures and safe
travelling.
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