Font 2010 - day 1 - travel down
Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th April
On the Saturday we finally finished packing and made our way down south. The plan was to stop at my parents before departing for Font early on Sunday. The journey down was ok, although we arrived later than we'd planned. Instead of meeting up with Andy et al for a drink as we'd hoped, we had tea with the olds and a couple of glasses of wine. Early to bed for the journey down...
Andy, Chris and Rach arrived at 7 in the morning and after relatively little faffing we headed to Dover. We were supposed to be travelling in convoy but promptly lost them on the way to the motorway... There was nothing to speak of on the roads as it was early on Easter Sunday so the journey was relatively easy. We were travelling down the M1 and were approaching the M25 when I needed to pass a maroon car that was hogging the centre lane. As I passed it it seemed to drift into the outside lane and came close to veering into us - I passed it as quickly as I could and a little further down the road I looked back in the mirror to see whether it had moved over - this was when I saw it suddenly drift leftwards and smash into the rear off-side of a petrol tanker, spinning round to face the wrong way in the fast lane.
I've seen a car accident before and this one was just as shocking It is very bizarre to see a car smash up so easily, especially when there is seemingly no cause.
I was quite shaken up by this and pulled off at the next services, also to meet up with the others who were behind us. They had been caught up in the accident and said that they had seen all of the passangers out of the car and an off duty copper was there directing the trafic that was building up. This made me feel better as I was unsure as to whether I was obligated to stop or not.
The journey continued pretty uneventfully and we caught the Ferry at about midday. The drive through France was also straightforward and we took the peage as this cut 2 hours off the travelling time. We had arranged to pick up Taffa somewhere around Paris and he sent a message to say he'd got a train to Malesherbes. After stopping for refreshments and getting mis-routed in Paris (the Sat nav very unhelpfully took us straight through the centre of Paris!) we finally picked him up and got to the Gite at about 8pm. The gite was perfectly good for the 6 of us, comfy but not too cramped. There was also a covered climbing area in case it rains...
On the Saturday we finally finished packing and made our way down south. The plan was to stop at my parents before departing for Font early on Sunday. The journey down was ok, although we arrived later than we'd planned. Instead of meeting up with Andy et al for a drink as we'd hoped, we had tea with the olds and a couple of glasses of wine. Early to bed for the journey down...
Andy, Chris and Rach arrived at 7 in the morning and after relatively little faffing we headed to Dover. We were supposed to be travelling in convoy but promptly lost them on the way to the motorway... There was nothing to speak of on the roads as it was early on Easter Sunday so the journey was relatively easy. We were travelling down the M1 and were approaching the M25 when I needed to pass a maroon car that was hogging the centre lane. As I passed it it seemed to drift into the outside lane and came close to veering into us - I passed it as quickly as I could and a little further down the road I looked back in the mirror to see whether it had moved over - this was when I saw it suddenly drift leftwards and smash into the rear off-side of a petrol tanker, spinning round to face the wrong way in the fast lane.
I've seen a car accident before and this one was just as shocking It is very bizarre to see a car smash up so easily, especially when there is seemingly no cause.
I was quite shaken up by this and pulled off at the next services, also to meet up with the others who were behind us. They had been caught up in the accident and said that they had seen all of the passangers out of the car and an off duty copper was there directing the trafic that was building up. This made me feel better as I was unsure as to whether I was obligated to stop or not.
The journey continued pretty uneventfully and we caught the Ferry at about midday. The drive through France was also straightforward and we took the peage as this cut 2 hours off the travelling time. We had arranged to pick up Taffa somewhere around Paris and he sent a message to say he'd got a train to Malesherbes. After stopping for refreshments and getting mis-routed in Paris (the Sat nav very unhelpfully took us straight through the centre of Paris!) we finally picked him up and got to the Gite at about 8pm. The gite was perfectly good for the 6 of us, comfy but not too cramped. There was also a covered climbing area in case it rains...
If you tell your satnav you want travel via Mitry-Mory you'll save time, and stress.
ReplyDeleteaye lad, or maybe just 'avoid Paris' is a start! I won't be making that mistake again!
ReplyDelete