To help bods imagine what the assorted route options mean, I have broken them down into their assorted legs.
ROUTE MILES TIME
1 Chunnel to St Q (via St Pol) 126 02:30
1.1 Chunnel to St Q (via Cambrai) 128 02:16
1.2 Chunnel to St Q (Direct) 112 01:40
2.1 St Q to Peronne 27 00:30
2.2 Peronne to Hesdin 67 01:30
2.3 Hesdin to Cap Griz Nez 48 01:00
2.4 Cap Griz Nez to Chunnel 17 00:25
TOTAL 159 03:25
2.1 St Q to Peronne 27 00:30
3.1 Peronne to Auxi le Chateau 61 01:30
3.2 Auxi to Cap Griz Nez 68 01:30
2.4 Cap Griz Nez to Chunnel 17 00:25
TOTAL 173 03:55
2.1 St Q to Peronne 27 00:30
4.1 Peronne to Valery sur Somme 114 02:40
4.2 St Val to Cap Griz Nez 73 01:30
2.4 Cap Griz Nez to Chunnel 17 00:25
TOTAL 231 05:05
Thoughts:
(a) They are all doable, for sure
(b) The times are very approximate and assume no stops at all
(c) To a degree the routes can be made interchangeable.
(d) From regular experience, 230 miles down French N and D roads will take all day, just as it does here in the UK. That is after you allow two half hour coffee stops and a lunch break of say one hour or more; five hours grows to seven plus very quickly.
(e) The weather forecast is still favourable and the light is definitely still good.
(f) I still fancy the 230 mile option, leaving St Q at say 09:00 on Sunday morning. That should definitely give us the luxury of some spare time to add in either a longer lunch stop, a longer fuel stop / flower pressing / picture opportunity / an extra coffee stop / Robin's gaspers etc. etc. St Valery would make a good lunch stop, even if it is also popular with half of France. If it is packed or we are running late, it's possible to take the small coastal road to La Hordel and find something by the lighthouse. Let's take a view on the day.
What sometimes works well is finding a bakery and buying a 'sandwich' somewhere en-route; then scoffing it at lunchtime'ish. Let's see how the mood and trhe day takes us, I suggest.
(g) Whichever way we go, we will never be much more than 100 miles from Calais as the crow flies. There are assorted very direct options, should we encounter any significant problems.
One Saturday, there is a chunk of Payage, either to St Pol or Cambrai which we will have to pay for. I looked at assorted options to miss it out, but the later crossing time of noon (13:00 frog) meant that it wasn't really practicable, not lesat as I wanted to have a coffee stop somewhere between the Chunnel exit and our hotel, all arriving at some sensible time for a beer or whatever.
On Sunday, I have near enough avoided any motorway and I hope any pay-up section. The only stretch is to by-pass Boulogne, if we take the longest St Valery option 4.1 and 4.2.
Missing out Boulogne and what can be a slowish grind on the D940 coast road through Wimereux, Ambleteuse and Audresselle, each chocked with seaside families (no harm in that) is worth it.
If anyone is struggling loading the routes / hasn't got a GPS don't worry. It's a small group, so we can all watch out for each other, for sure. If anyone wants to bring a map (I will) I suggest Michelin 511 and 514 would be excellent. 791 or 792 will get you out of a hole pretty well, too.
I think that's the lot. Any problems, questions or whatever, sing up
Richard