FR16 - Day 1 Pt1

A bit of a fraught start with the car seemingly needing to be bigger than it is. In the end the Tardis effect worked and the boot/trunk was full and half the back seat not occupied by Reggie was packed too.

Once we had filled the tank and checked in to find we had an hour delay we had time to let Reggie have a run about in the dog exercise area.

Our original departure time was 1020. The huge board by where I parked said it was now 1050.

We rushed into the terminal to get a coffee. Huge queues so made do with a crappy machine.

We should have bothered. We sailed through passports, UK and French, and into Lane 12. It was 1014.

Our place for the next 50 minutes was that queue. It rained a few times and that 1050  crossing faded.

Almost an hour was up and we moved up to the next queue, tantalisingly close to a train.

On the down ramp we could see another train loading in parallel.

1120 came and went. At 1141 we finally wheezed out of the station.

Delays of over 30 minutes on UK railways are eligible for compensation but not Eurotunnel.  The lack of information is the main source of frustration.

Finally in France and the exit from the train was to turn left and out of the back entrance rather than the usual right turn and out past the petrol station.  Who knows why. No one bothered to explain!!!

The run down the A16 to Abbeville tested the new toll tag I got from SANEF the French autoroute operator in the North. You just drive up to the toll, it peeps and off you go. Pay later.

First stop the Baie de la Somme services for a coffee and sandwich. It's always a reliable stop and plenty of parking.