On the Road Again!

Vimy on 2017 Time has moved on since the last update on this potential run and I have heard back from the Vimy people in France. As with most years that aren't a big anniversary there will be the usual smaller scale commemoration at the Memorial. So I expect  numbers will be back into the hurdreds if not tens as previous years. The ceremony itself usually takes place on the other side of the memorial itself to that in the picture, although this side allows for a far larger flat space for the visitors! Last year there were many thousands and thousands of people. Mostly Canadian to celebrate a date that many see as "the birth of a nation". In 2014 there were maybe 100 people, no more than 150. So the plan. Unlike 2014 I will entrust my route to a TomTom. Which one I haven't decided but I have yet to try the 410 on the bike.  Once one gets used to it, it is a better piece of kit than the old Rider. I have fitted a new Bosch style plug to the end of the OEM wiring loom a...

After attending Vimy100 in April 2017 I have been looking at going again 2018. I fully expect that it will be a more relaxed affair than the Centenary this year where there were around 20000 people attending the event. When we went in 2014 we were able to park in the parking​ lot right by the visitor centre. Unlike this year (2017) where there were park and rides setup with buses to the site. I'll probably be Billy No-Mates/Jean Sans-Amis again but hopefully less of a cock-up like 2014 when I managed to get lost after deciding to leave the satnav at home! Although I did all the planning for the 2015 trip I was unable to go after my heart attack less than week before. So fingers crossed for good weather etc. More information. Update 23/10/17 Booked the Eurotunnel shuttle today. The cost is £30 so no point using the £50 voucher they gave me after so many delayed and cancelled services.

The day started a little later for me as I had misread the booking for the Shuttle and set off to arrive at 0850 when I fact the train was at 0850 and I was supposed to be there before 0820 when that train closed.  Curiously the automatic booking system didn't quibble and still gave me the crossing I could never make.   As usual there was a delay. I don't think we have been over using Eurotunnel for many years where the train has left on time or at least as scheduled.  The last time was with Reggie and Claire when we went glamping on the Somme (80) coast last October.  Delays both ways. Anyway.  Once I had done a few laps of the parking I slipped between the barriers.  When I arrived with my "hanger" - a thing that car drivers can hang from their interior read-view mirrors - showing crossing K, the staff didn't say, "Go straight to the controls", instead I would have done a 360 loop of the parking had I not snuck through the barriers after 180! UK passpo...