During the night I had an awful thought. I had bought some beam benders. It's the contraption you stick on your headlamps that stops the headlight pointing to the left and dazzling the oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, the instructions were just beyond me so I put them on one side 'to do later'. I'd still not stuck them on. In fact, they were on my desk back in Chesterfield. To make matters worse, the one hour time difference in France meant that at 8:00am, it was still dark. At least the French won't see me heading down the road on the wrong side!
As luck would have it, as I headed to the cafe on board to get a cafe and croissant ( when in France!) I noticed gag there was a little shop selling travel "things' in the window were 'beam benders' and it was open. Phew! I quickly bought pair, and a couple of maps. One of France and one of Spain and Portugal. I have little idea of the geography of all three countries so despite the "super dooper Mini Cooper fuck off GPS with lifetime maps, it would be nice to see where I was heading so I could programme it.
As we headed into port the intercom suggested all drivers headed for their vehicles, pronounced 'Vee Hi Cals' by the French lady on the tannoy. That made me smile. On the Vee Hi Cal deck I located by van and quickly stuck the 'beam benders' on. No fuckin clue if they were in the right place!
I needn't have concerned myself. On boarding last night the boarding crew were having great difficulty getting a static caravan on board. It was massive. They obviously succeeded because now they boarding crew were having great difficulty getting a static caravan off the boat. In truth, they had got it stuck. By the time they had it sorted it was well after 9:00am and light. No beam benders needed.
So.... Here goes, driving on the wrong side of the road!
Actually, it was easy, no worries. In anticipation of anxiety I had programmed the GPS with a "camper stop' only a couple of miles from the port. As my coffee and croissant had been superseded by the 'beam benders' I hadn't had breakfast.
I arrived at the camper stop in no time, no drama, no arm waving frencies in berets. Nothing. As I pulled up, went to the back of the van to have a pee I had a strange 'motion' feeling. Strange I thought, although I have experienced that feeling before after being on a boat, the crossing was pretty smooth. At that stage I realised in my excitement of doing my first two miles of driving in 'foreign lands' I had forgotten to put the handbrake on. The van was heading across the car park into the sea! I don't think I've ever moved so quickly, pulling the handbrake on and thankfully coming to a stop. Zut Alors!
A cup of coffee I think!
So.... Where to go. I had made a decision that I was going to avoid 'toll' roads within reason. I was in no rush and I wanted the trip to be as much about the journey as the destination (wherever that might be). I was also quite keen to keep the driving to a sensible level, no more than 200 miles a dat. That way I could leave early and reach my destination with time to explore. Perusing the map I saw Carnac. Now Carnac was the first and only foreign holiday I took with my parents and the rest of the family. I must have been 15 so it was back in 1974. Three families hired 2 Gites and we had a really nice time. There are a few things I clearly remember:-
* Being sent for the baguettes in the morning - I can actually smell them now.
* My uncle Bob - not my real uncle - betting me 10 French fracs I couldn't
swim around the buoy in the bay. He won, I was so knackered I was hanging
onto it for a good 30 minutes while he came and rescued me in a pedlo.
* My Mum imposing a fine of 10 franc from my spending money every time I
was a twat. I recall I came back owing money.
So, first destination. Carnac it was. I programmed it into the GPS, opted for 'no tolls' and it gave me a course, 145 miles that's a reasonable sensible first day.
The weather was beautiful, cloudless sky and really quite warm. I had a couple of 'misdirections' but arrived in the little town of Carnac just after lunch time.
The continent, particularly France is well set up for camper vans, or camping cars as they are known. To encourage owners of 'camping cars' to stop off in cities, towns and villages and spend money they have what are known as Aires. These are stopping off points, often in the centre of town and often free.
So, ready to bed down for my first night on the continent.
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Location:Carnac - Brittany - France
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