To France through the Channel Tunnel
Finally we made it! We opted for a crossing on the Channel Tunnel as the price of the LDLines ferry shot up for a Thursday crossing. The Tunnel is very flexible with crossing times and will move you to an earlier or later crossing on the day, usually with no charge, which is great for two people who are pathologically late! The timetable is still reduced after last February’s fire, so there’s a crossing every ninety minutes but that will increase soon to every 30 minutes.
The unusual snowy weather in the UK held us up from getting away for a day, but we were fortunate that the drive to Folkestone was relatively easy – even the M25 bit – and there was hardly any snow left on the roads. Driving the van onto a train was strange but the whole crossing was very easy and fast. You can check in automatically but we chose to talk to a real person who was really friendly and helpful. The terminal building has several shops – Dixons, WHSmiths and others – which are tax free and looked nice and cheap…but closed. That’s what you get for taking a cheap, late-night crossing.
In France the weather is pretty similar to England – blue skies today, rain last night, a little ice on minor roads and some remnants of snow on the side of some. I hear the snow is coming down again in the south of England so I think we escaped just in time.
We should arrive in Morzine tomorrow late morning. We’ve opted for the non-toll route as we can better afford a few hours extra travelling than the €90 total toll charge. This way you also get to see more scenery and look out for a McDonalds restaurant as the hunt for wireless internet begins!
(Obviously we found one because we’re online now!)
Miles - 530
February 6th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I’m glad to hear your journey is going well. I see it’s cloudy and possibly raining in Morzine atm - just like home!
February 7th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Hope you enjoyed the channel tunnel we did thought it was far better than ship you don,t get sea sick that way lol.hope all goes well good surfing
February 8th, 2009 at 4:20 am
It was much better than an uncomfortable night trying to sleep on a ferry. Although I did squeeze forty winks in during the half-hour crossing!