Home to Limoges, 480 miles
So, top tip - don't fret over weather forecasts before a trip. Looking at France the night before, it looked like a large boat with pairs of animals was going to be needed, not a car. Thunder and lightning (very, very frightening - Galileo....sorry) everywhere, warning triangles...jees. I packed an extra waterproof and coat and loaded my drill and bits, in case I needed to replace a wiper again (see this post). In the event, nothing was further from the truth...
Alarm failed to go off at 5am, as planned - luckily my son's did and he woke me; great start. Traditional (OK, done it once before) photo of my odometer so I can see how many miles I do:
Short 65 mile hop to the Eurotunnel and our 7.20am train:
First annoyance of the trip; I'd forgotten my Liber-T widget, which meant at every toll peage, I had to undo my seat belts, clamber over my passenger seat and stretch my phone over to pay, then the reverse to get away - a tad embarrassing. Fortunately, we somehow only managed to need to do 3 of them, so not too bad. More of a panic was me forgetting where I'd put my passport - a real senior moment until I realised I had a whole bag of stuff on my passenger seat with my passport in that. Bloody he'll, didn't need that...
The sun was burning hot at Calais but I had my coat ready...we slogged down the autoroute until Rouen where the Beast proceeded to deafen everyone in the 2 mile long tunnel. After Rouen, we swapped to some N-roads to avoid going anywhere near Le Mans and had a great run in sweltering sun (my gear knob became almost too hot to touch).
I cannot understand why people complain about this part of France - come off the autoroute and its beautiful; long, flowing roads, the occasional chateau and water tower to break up the monotony, little cute towns with squares and tabacs and, BEST of all, hardly ANY traffic. The French just don't know how lucky they are to have so much space - my son was amazed and wants to move to France just so he has space to drive. Surrey is going to seem like a go-kart track after this.
A brief stop for lunch:
...and then a cake stop in a town called Uck (or something like that):
Sorry, forgot to get a cake picture; a local yoof in a knackered old Merc 190 skidded to a halt next to us when he saw the Beast and spent the next 10 minutes slathering over it - wasn't in the least interested in Zedster. We got a lot of that...although this will also be a common sight over the next few days:
We finally hit a patch of rain that lasted 15 minutes before the sun broke out again and after an enjoyable thrash via Chatres and Blois, we reached Chateauroux which looked amazing - as we flashed past. Would have been nice to have time to stop but it was getting late and we were knackered, so we took the Autoroute for the last 60 miles to Limoges (where it did finally rain for the last 30 miles or so).
Parked up at the hotel, with a covered space for Zedster - luxury!
Dinner at a nearby restaurant and an early night planned - tomorrow is the Millau Viaduct...
Map of todays route:
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