Country roads and motorways

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Day 1Pickworth to Gravelines.
After saying farewell to all our lovely neighbours we were on the road to Dover on what was an uneventful journey, with 2 exceptions,
no.1 - just past Sapperton a badly stowed vegetable box flew off the shelf and peppered poor Logan with it's contents of onions and potatoes, we had a quick stop to clear up the offending vegetables and stow the box correctly.no.2 - we stopped at Birchanger services on the M11 for lunch, where incidentally the toilets smell of old wee! Whilst parked Les who's in charge of maintenance noticed a water drip from the bottom hose of the radiator, he reported that we needed to keep an eye on it and use some clogging up stuff ( technical term) if it doesn't stop, he topped the water up and off we went.We arrived in Dover at 16.00hrs and drove to the check in, I said we were very early, 'no problem was the reply, unfortunately the next ferry is full for high vehicles but we can fit you in on the next Dunkirk ferry, will that be ok?' the very polite assistant asked. Yes we replied, so that is about two hours ahead of our booked time!We joined lane 43 to wait for the ferry, maintenance made a repair to one of the indicators where the earth connection had failed as we arrived at Dover and put some tape onto the headlights to deflect the main beam. Maintenance reported that the leak from the bottom hose had stopped and the water level was ok. Next we walked Logan, we were very impressed when a DFDS employee directed us to a dog exercise area complete with a mini agility course, Logan soon had the hang of it and enjoyed the exercise and stimulation, we saw the lady as we left and told her what a great facility it was. We had the obligatory wander around the shop and visited the conveniences where I met the same lady, we exchanged pleasantries, a few minutes later she found us out and gave us a bag of pet travel essentials. We are definitely impressed with the customer service.We boarded on time and we left the UK at 18.00. Due to leaving earlier than booked we ate our evening meal on board, before once again doing the obligatory walk around the shops.By the time we docked in Dunkirk, the sun was setting, it is only 6 miles to Gravelines, where we plan to stop overnight. The Aires looks out over the marina and only costs €7.50 for 24 hours.The beer and bottle of wine we opened was enjoyed before we went to bed. Day 2Gravelines to St Valery-sur-SommeMy body clock is still on British time, so I was wide awake at 5.00, Les was quietly snoring! So I tossed and turned for an hour.Once up, breakfast eaten and washed up problem no. 3, the cutlery draw is full of water! The waste pipe from the sink is leaking. Head of Maintenance is going to need some silicone to reseal it.Gravelines is a lovely town with high walls and moat around its fortress, we walked to the centre to get some cash, croissants and look for a silicone shop, the first two were easy to locate, but a trip to the supermarket was needed to find silicone.We returned to Dream Catcher for coffee and Les began the waste pipe repair, amongst a lot of grunting, but no swearing! He lay on the floor completing the task without being able to see what he was doing. Next we drove the couple of minutes to the service area to empty the waste water tank as the water from the sink was slow emptying. As we waited for the vehicle in front of us to finish I went to talk to a couple of animals of the equine bread, one a donkey and the other looked like a giant donkey, it was about seven foot tall with a giant cartoon like head and the longest ears I've ever seen that must have measured 12 inches long, the poor beast didn't seem to have control of them and they seemed to waft about in the breeze!After lunch we set off destination Spain, Doris our satnav tells us that we will arrive tomorrow at 13.20, no chance, we will only get two or three hours in today.Doris directed us along quiet roads passing through a string of pristine villages with pretty houses and gardens. Around 4.30 we looked for an Aires to stop for the night, we chose Saint Valery-Sur Somme, situated on the estuary it has medieval ramparts, a lovely waterside boardwalk and old town centre, which we will explore tomorrow morning. Once we had parked up we walked Logan and cooked and ate our meal washed down with a couple of drinks. An English chap came to have a look at Dream Catcher, he was very impressed! The waste water is still slow emptying, more work for head of maintenance! But is this problem no.4 or still part of no.3? Day 3Saint Valery-sur Somme to Pont de L'ArcheA lovely sunny morning!Chef is happy with the investment in a new diesel hob that Les fitted before we left, the old one had become very unreliable, sometimes it wouldn't start up, other times it would only run for 20 minutes before switching itself off, the new one is making chef's cooking stress free.First job today is to have another go at the waste, we will call this problem no. 4. Whilst maintenance is busy I take Logan to a grassy area for some ball throwing, he would chase a ball all day, but the temperature is rising, so we return to watch Les work, still no swearing, so things must be progressing well.Problem no 4 sorted, with the waste pipe shortened and repositioned all waste water is now free flowing.Time for a walk around the town - a pretty place with narrow cobbled streets filled with fishermen's cottages leading to the centre situated alongside the estuary where the main industry used to be shrimping and collecting lug worms on the beach to sell as bait. The town must have been very affluent as there are many large ornate buildings. We walked up to the top of the town where there is the remains of a medieval walled town, there are a lot of old timbered buildings.Today is flying by, 14.00 and no miles driven. Doris tells us there is still 551 miles to Spain, we had better get going.The route is mainly through rolling farmland, all but the corn crops are in and the farmers seem to be busy ploughing or stacking straw bales. By 16.30 were ready to stop and notice an Aires on the bank of the L'Eure just where it runs into the Seine, that will do nicely, €5 for 24 hrs. It's very hot so once we have walked along the river bank with Logan we sat and drank a chilled beer, and strummed our ukuleles to an appreciative 2 year old, he's obviously got very good taste. There was a group of older teenagers nearby, the boys were trying to impress the girls with gymnastic flips and hand walking, this girl was impressed with all those sculptured muscles! Later in the evening a few twenty something chaps arrived to the same spot and were playing "music" too loudly from a car stereo drinking and chatting, we hoped that they would have gone by bed time but the annoying boom boom of the bass became irritating, we went to bed hoping they would go away, Les managed to doze off but I lay listening to the music until it fell quiet around 23.30. Day 3Saint Valery-sur Somme to Pont de L'ArcheA lovely sunny morning!Chef is happy with the investment in a new diesel hob that Les fitted before we left, the old one had become very unreliable, sometimes it wouldn't start up, other times it would only run for 20 minutes before switching itself off, the new one is making chef's cooking stress free.First job today is to have another go at the waste, we will call this problem no. 4. Whilst maintenance is busy I take Logan to a grassy area for some ball throwing, he would chase a ball all day, but the temperature is rising, so we return to watch Les work, still no swearing, so things must be progressing well.Problem no 4 sorted, with the waste pipe shortened and repositioned all waste water is now free flowing.Time for a walk around the town - a pretty place with narrow cobbled streets filled with fishermen's cottages leading to the centre situated alongside the estuary where the main industry used to be shrimping and collecting lug worms on the beach to sell as bait. The town must have been very affluent as there are many large ornate buildings. We walked up to the top of the town where there is the remains of a medieval walled town, there are a lot of old timbered buildings.Today is flying by, 14.00 and no miles driven. Doris tells us there is still 551 miles to Spain, we had better get going.The route is mainly through rolling farmland, all but the corn crops are in and the farmers seem to be busy ploughing or stacking straw bales. By 16.30 were ready to stop and notice an Aires on the bank of the L'Eure just where it runs into the Seine, that will do nicely, €5 for 24 hrs. It's very hot so once we have walked along the river bank with Logan we sat and drank a chilled beer, and strummed our ukuleles to an appreciative 2 year old, he's obviously got very good taste. There was a group of older teenagers nearby, the boys were trying to impress the girls with gymnastic flips and hand walking, this girl was impressed with all those sculptured muscles! Later in the evening a few twenty something chaps arrived to the same spot and were playing "music" too loudly from a car stereo drinking and chatting, we hoped that they would have gone by bed time but the annoying boom boom of the bass became irritating, we went to bed hoping they would go away, Les managed to doze off but I lay listening to the music until it fell quiet around 23.30. Day 4Pont de L'Arche to Cloyes sur le LoirAfter breakfast we walked around the town, again it is very pretty and historical, the centre is overpowered by a very large ornate church who's stone work needs some restoration. There are numerous wonky old timbered buildings squashed In between ugly modern constructions, and the usual cafes with older gentlemen enjoying their early morning coffee.We hit the road around 10.30, Doris reporting we have 471 miles to Spain.After around an hour we stopped at a supermarket to stock up on supplies, Dream Catchers fridge only has enough capacity for 3 days of food, energy and beer., so time consuming wander around the aisles is necessary, followed by the logistical challenge of fitting the food into the fridge and storage draws, we remove all the packaging from around fresh food and put it into stackable boxes to maximise fridge space, we are then left with a bag full of plastic waste! It really reinforces the argument for supermarkets to get rid of packaging. Whilst parked up we had an early lunch before setting off once more, unfortunately Doris had decided that she needed a rest and wouldn't connect to the satellites, luckily we have a spare satnav, Madame Edith! She joined us from a French supermarket several years ago when our ancient satnav overheated in hot sunshine travelling south on a similar route. Madame Edith doesn't have any English mapping only the rest of Europe, all those years ago she must have new about Brexit!Today's route is on much faster roads passing through larger towns, twice we recognised places where we had stopped overnight on previous travels. It's very hot today, by 16.00 we had found an Aires for the night. We sat out in the shade until the sun went down, we ate a meal and then walked Logan into the town which didn't have any outstanding features, but boasted a lovely large park beside the wide lazy river which was filled with Lilly pads. The light was starting to fade when we arrived back at the Aires, Les put the awning away whilst I washed the dishes. The Aires has another German camper and a British car and caravan parked up, there is also an estate car with a lone lady sat in it.We turned in early after watching a couple of episodes of Only Fools and Horses which Les had downloaded onto the hard drive, I don't remember watching the early episodes before, although often the humour is predictable, they remain very amusing.

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