Ok, finally returned from the South of France. Not as exciting as some trips here, but for those who are interested...
2 observations to start:
1- The person in charge of maintenance on the British motorway system is as mad as a bag of toasters... Why are there roadworks on the M20 M25 M40 M42 M6 & M54 (and these are just what I saw coming back) all at the same time... Making a trip from Dover to Holyhead a nightmare.
2- The quality of diesel varies a lot... My driving was pretty constant. Tank of diesel bought in Ireland returned 21mpg. UK diesel 18mpg, French Gazole 14mpg, and French excellium diesel 17mpg.
Day 1- The drive was fairly straight forward. Left Ireland on the 9 am sailing from Rosslare. made very good time apart from one strap that decided to unravel from its cable tie and jams on the M25, so we missed our channel crossing, and had to divert to Dunkirk. Got to the Campanile in St Quentin at 3:40 a.m
Day 2- hit the Autoroute at 7:30 am and kept the rig moving along.. No substitute for power... Arrived in Frejus at 6:40 pm. That's an average 64mph
Our campsite pitch
Beautiful monastery in the old town
Wandering near the port, we came across this hard working 70 - though he abandoned towing the Suzuki as he couldn't get the dolly wheels under the side skirts!
Left Frejus after 5 glorious days and headed to get down to business in Monte Carlo.
Big traffic jam on the A6 and then the kicker - Monaco tunnel was closed. So off he headed through La Turbie and down the Moyens Corniche with the trailer. It was tight on the hairpins, and slow going, but the views were fantastic
Parked up in a decent spot for the week outside the theatre Princesses Grace... VIP parking!!
We had a great time with our show, even performing in front of Prince Albert himself.
In our spare time we went galavanting, spotting this rather clean 80 on Monaco plates
And paying a visit to the rich and famous at the Casino
After 5 great days in Monaco, we hitched up the trailer and headed for home.
Is turned into an 18 hour marathon drive from Monaco to Amiens due to crazy traffic jams caused by pure volume in the South. We also pulled in to a Hypermarche in Macon and purchased a large quantity of squashed grapes!
The following day is when I decided that I hated the M25 with every fibre of my being, as well as traffic comes... Millions of them! But we made our ferry and got home to our bed at 2am.
Already looking at the Alps and Lake Garda for next year... No bloody 2 ton trailer though!!