The
weather forecasts had been full of warnings for Storm Benjamin that was going
to hit Northern France and England today and we were glad that we were going on
Eurotunnel and not by ferry.
We had to encourage the local geese to move out of the way as we left the aire.
They normally live in the moat by the town walls but had decided to wander
across the road and were reluctant to move.
The weather, although a little breezy was not bad on the 40 minute drive to
Coquelles. Jane had found a garage very close to the Eurotunnel Terminal that
had motorhome dumping facilities, which meant that we could empty everything
before putting the van into storage when we got back. We were offered a shuttle
that left half an hour earlier than we had booked – good news! There was a lot
of confusion on the electronic boards as we queued to board – they showed us
delayed to our original time, then said that we were ‘on time’. We were called
down to the platform and five vans arrived next to the shuttle that we had originally
been booked on. We watched as the cars were loaded on but, although our door
was open and apparently ready to take us, we were never called to load.
Eventually they closed the doors and the train left. So the five of us were
stuck on the platform without any explanation of what was happening. We rang
the Eurotunnel Information line to ask what was happening. This took some time
and involved two delays whilst the very pleasant helpdesk person consulted with
her supervisor. In the meantime, another shuttle arrived, discharged its cars
and then called us in. So we left about 15 mins after our original departure
time. Very strange.
Arriving at Folkestone, the weather was awful – very strong winds and heavy
rain. It was a battle with the steering wheel until we reached the M25 but the
weather gradually improved as we travelled further west to home sweet home.
People keep asking me how far we drove on our sojourns so this time I recorded
it:
Total mileage: 3,730
Fuel costs: Maximum – 175p/l in Switzerland
Minimum – 121p/l
in Luxemburg
UK on return –
144p/l
Photos: None
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