Alsace Wine Tour – Home to Calais
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Home to Calais via Eurotunnel
Our first European trek in our motorhome since lockdown, we’re somewhat nervous, especially after being caught out by the sudden onset of lockdown. We were enjoying a trip through Portugal when suddenly the world changed and we ended up driving all the way from Lisbon to Calais to return to England. Check out the trip here.
We are hoping this trip will not end the same way, now that we are safely back in the UK once again it has to be said that it was a good experience, minor problems and extremely hot weather were the issues on this trip.
An early start from home leaving 0915, we have a long drive ahead, about 325 miles from Lancaster to Folkstone to cross the Channel via Eurotunnel. Google maps gives an estimate on the travel time, but we know from experience that we will take longer because we are travelling in our motorhome which means keeping the speed down for two reasons, economy and effort. The Hymer is easily capable of travelling at 70 miles an hour, it uses more fuel, but more importantly it just makes driving more difficult because you are constantly changing lanes, passing cars and trucks all the time. Life in the slow lane with the trucks is much easier, and it’s surprising how little extra time it takes, especially when the motorways are congested.
Our first stop is at a supermarket in Bamber Bridge, just off the M6, where we fill up with diesel at 196.7 pence per litre, £133 in total, the Hymer has a big tank and uses a lot of fuel on these long journeys.
We swap drivers regularly, take very short breaks but today is not a good day on the motorways. Temporary toilets at the motorway services, totally inadequate, good thing we had our own facilities or we would have been there an hour waiting. There are many delays which mean we arrive at Folkstone with little time to spare. We like to eat at a Nepalese restaurant there, but tonight we have to tell the waiter that we have little time. Our meal arrives quickly, we eat and leave quickly. A short drive to the Eurotunnel entrance then the usual check-in procedure and to my surprise the screen offers us an earlier crossing at no extra cost, of course we accept that but know we will have to drive through the terminal quickly.
Passport checks are quick, including the stamping by the French officer, then the usual check to verify that our gas is turned off, finally into a queue lane to await boarding. Two minutes later our lane gets the green light and we head for the train, then stop, almost 20 minutes later we finally board and are on our way. An uneventful journey so the next thing we know we are driving on the right and heading out of the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais, taking great care to stay on the right, make long left turns and go around the roundabouts the ‘wrong way’. Our Hymer is left-hand drive, so once in europe is feels natural to be on the right-hand side of the road.
The aire de camping cars at Le Grand Gravelot is still €10 for 24 hours, it still has the screen set very low so you have to crouch down to see it but it’s still there. Around 70 motorhomes are staying tonight, the overflow area is open but there is still plenty of space. We sit quietly, relax with a glass of red wine, adjust the clocks to French time then find out just how tired we are. A good sleep follows.
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