Brittany is a longer trip for me from The Hague….but I have been once.
GPX - Good day for it, too…. London Triathlon avoidance in north east France / Calais region
- Thread starter Wapping
- Start date
A gentle 2 days on the way down then another 2 days back up. Taking 3 days in the area to have a bimble about. In total a nice week away with bit of a change from the usual Eifel and Ardennes regions closer to you.
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A view of another of those crap north east France roads:
I am pleased to report that the windscreen wipers work and the lights, too. I am also pleased that a friendly French native pointed out that I had left the lights on, when I stopped for a coffee in Anvin again. A yellow’ish candle glow they might be, but there is no point overtaxing the battery’s patience too much.
I purposely chose to pass through some towns today, as it’s good practice coming off the overdrive as you come into the 50 kph zone. Similarly, it’s good practice going up and down the gearbox. The car will pull away in second, quite easily and will drive through towns in third or even fourth, without labouring the engine too much, but you need the high street to be fairly long to keep in fourth. Better to let it have a few more rev’s and get a bit of quicker pick-up.
It’s quite fun, ‘Doing a Micky’ and trying to arrive at the lights or roundabout, just as they go to green or the roundabout is clear. Providing that is, you don’t piss off a local doing it.
The French have discovered ‘Le Speed Hump’ some of which are Himalayan in construction. That said, there so far seems to be less than you might find in some Normandy villages. But Normandy is a long way away to the west.
I am pleased to report that the windscreen wipers work and the lights, too. I am also pleased that a friendly French native pointed out that I had left the lights on, when I stopped for a coffee in Anvin again. A yellow’ish candle glow they might be, but there is no point overtaxing the battery’s patience too much.
I purposely chose to pass through some towns today, as it’s good practice coming off the overdrive as you come into the 50 kph zone. Similarly, it’s good practice going up and down the gearbox. The car will pull away in second, quite easily and will drive through towns in third or even fourth, without labouring the engine too much, but you need the high street to be fairly long to keep in fourth. Better to let it have a few more rev’s and get a bit of quicker pick-up.
It’s quite fun, ‘Doing a Micky’ and trying to arrive at the lights or roundabout, just as they go to green or the roundabout is clear. Providing that is, you don’t piss off a local doing it.
The French have discovered ‘Le Speed Hump’ some of which are Himalayan in construction. That said, there so far seems to be less than you might find in some Normandy villages. But Normandy is a long way away to the west.
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The cafe at Anvin is busy at 11:15, with the locals in for a heart starter or three:
The large fires away to the south west have hit the local ‘Voice of the north’ newspaper. Maybe it’s not surprising, as the fires are certainly big. Big enough indeed for fire crews to be sent all the way from the north coast and Calais to assist:
The large fires away to the south west have hit the local ‘Voice of the north’ newspaper. Maybe it’s not surprising, as the fires are certainly big. Big enough indeed for fire crews to be sent all the way from the north coast and Calais to assist:
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A good time to be in Anvin, for their take on Bakerman’s hograost of times past:
Il s'appelle comment ? C'est Dave ?
A stop at the cafe in Wierre-Effroy, where I have arrived on the day of a village boules competition:
I can remember stopping at the cafe for the first time, many years ago, well before it was smartened up. The urinal was a simple matter; wander to the right side of the building and pee on the outside wall.
Happy days.
I can remember stopping at the cafe for the first time, many years ago, well before it was smartened up. The urinal was a simple matter; wander to the right side of the building and pee on the outside wall.
Happy days.
Back in St Omer.
The day, which started with drizzle and light rain, cleared up in the afternoon. I did though keep the roof up all day. As might be expected, there is a little occasional drip of water, where the roof latches latch. Nothing requiring a bucket, thankfully. The car was fine on the sometimes greasy D roads, which haven’t seen rain for weeks. At least the wet kept the dust from the gravillons down.
Inside the car, it’s best described as…. Um….. on the warmer side of warm. This is not surprising as there is a very large engine, just the other side of the thin bulkhead and the transmission tunnel / gearbox (which you sit alongside) all but acts as a heatsink.
As the wing mirrors on this car attach to the driver and passenger’s windows’ quarter lights, you can’t open them. Or rather you can, but the wing mirrors then point at…. Well, anything but what you want to see. The left one (nearside in the UK) is useless anyway. That said, the main mirror, mounted on the dashboard, is very good with the roof up or down.
The day, which started with drizzle and light rain, cleared up in the afternoon. I did though keep the roof up all day. As might be expected, there is a little occasional drip of water, where the roof latches latch. Nothing requiring a bucket, thankfully. The car was fine on the sometimes greasy D roads, which haven’t seen rain for weeks. At least the wet kept the dust from the gravillons down.
Inside the car, it’s best described as…. Um….. on the warmer side of warm. This is not surprising as there is a very large engine, just the other side of the thin bulkhead and the transmission tunnel / gearbox (which you sit alongside) all but acts as a heatsink.
As the wing mirrors on this car attach to the driver and passenger’s windows’ quarter lights, you can’t open them. Or rather you can, but the wing mirrors then point at…. Well, anything but what you want to see. The left one (nearside in the UK) is useless anyway. That said, the main mirror, mounted on the dashboard, is very good with the roof up or down.
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I didn’t know that the bar in Werre-Effroy had a restaurant of sorts, attached to it. It seems reasonably popular, so I’ll give it a go at some point.
The war memorial records the names of umpteen blokes killed in the First World War. It is hard to imagine that they all came from the one village though:
The war memorial records the names of umpteen blokes killed in the First World War. It is hard to imagine that they all came from the one village though:
We have friends who were visiting Bergerac and received the emergency mobile phone broadcast to evacuate the area a couple of days ago, and worryingly, some other friends have a house at Thiviers (which we stayed at in June) and is only 90 mins away from the fires.
We’re currently staying at Laon in an IBIS Hotel Restuarant, which surprised us by offering dinner on a Sunday night. However, knowing what a trial it can be to find food on a Sunday in France, we had stopped in a tiny village restaurant at midday.
We’ve had a great few days driving from Claviere in the Italian Alps up through France following Tomtom’s Eco routes, which are mainly D roads. Unfortunately, home tomorrow.
Thick Welsh….
Heart attack on a plate.
Heart attack on a plate.
Maybe, but worth it!
Get them to make sure that the throttle butterflies are fully open when you command full throttle.
Day four of four and God willing it’s homeward bound, via the Chunnel and probably the M20, M25 and A1 to north west London. Then home to E1 by one of several ways by car again.
So far, touch wood, it’s been a good trip, not least as I have achieved what I hoped I’d do, which was to avoid the London Triathlon, to do some miles on the D roads of north east France (but never be too far from Calais at any one moment) and to gel with the vehicle. The weather has been all but very kind to me, which was a bonus. The one downside? The cost of a short notice ticket for the Chunnel, made worse as I needed a Flexi+ ticket, in case my daughter needed me. Thankfully, the latter wasn’t called on. As things develop, we’ll all no doubt settle back into a more normal routine.
The Ibis Budget, St Omer has again proved very decent value, whilst the town square has been as good as always. That said, I got the impression that it wasn’t all quite as busy as it usually is in late July. I’ll hopefully be back with some mates in late September, going to and coming back from Spa in our cars. The little B&B cafe at Cap Gris Nez, definitely won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I like it and have done for years.
So far, touch wood, it’s been a good trip, not least as I have achieved what I hoped I’d do, which was to avoid the London Triathlon, to do some miles on the D roads of north east France (but never be too far from Calais at any one moment) and to gel with the vehicle. The weather has been all but very kind to me, which was a bonus. The one downside? The cost of a short notice ticket for the Chunnel, made worse as I needed a Flexi+ ticket, in case my daughter needed me. Thankfully, the latter wasn’t called on. As things develop, we’ll all no doubt settle back into a more normal routine.
The Ibis Budget, St Omer has again proved very decent value, whilst the town square has been as good as always. That said, I got the impression that it wasn’t all quite as busy as it usually is in late July. I’ll hopefully be back with some mates in late September, going to and coming back from Spa in our cars. The little B&B cafe at Cap Gris Nez, definitely won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I like it and have done for years.
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The weather is picking up again, which is good, as the roof can hopefully come down again:
No hosepipe ban in France. In the first picture, they are watering St Omer rugby club’s pitch:
No hosepipe ban in France. In the first picture, they are watering St Omer rugby club’s pitch:
Thanks for the write up.
I think ’bods’ might have to appreciate the roads of Northern France a bit more if the weather continues in this vein.
The campsites have been busy to full in Normandy this year and talking to people it’s the cooler weather that they’ve come for.
Normandy is 2.5 times bigger than Yorkshire so there’s plenty to go at and it really is lovely.
I think ’bods’ might have to appreciate the roads of Northern France a bit more if the weather continues in this vein.
The campsites have been busy to full in Normandy this year and talking to people it’s the cooler weather that they’ve come for.
Normandy is 2.5 times bigger than Yorkshire so there’s plenty to go at and it really is lovely.
The campsites were all but full when I went from Le Mans to Berlin / Poland and back to the UK via Belgium for the month of June.
Not full with Brit’s though.
Not full with Brit’s though.
“On our way ‘ome”, as Robert the Robot, used to say at the end of Fireball XL5:
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And back to where I started from:
465 miles, door-to-door, so an easy long weekend for anyone in the south east corner of England. Just be sure to book your crossings well in advance.
465 miles, door-to-door, so an easy long weekend for anyone in the south east corner of England. Just be sure to book your crossings well in advance.
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Are you cycling home (a la ............Stever1)
