Day 7: Travel day
Welcome
Yesterday we left the United Kingdom and traveled under the English Channel arriving in Calais where we stayed the night.
The Best Western Princes Marine Hotel in Brighton is a fine establishment and carried a more than respectable breakfast menu. I ordered the smoked, fried Kipper with poached eggs.
Tristan was in the pilot’s seat as we left Brighton and headed East towards Folkestone and the Eurotunnel. There was one stop along the way and that was Sevington Inland Border Facility where Jonathan had his usual job of getting the carnet signed and stamped by the customs officials.
One of the most crucial things you learn about UK customs facilities is that you must always wear an item of high visibility clothing if you wish to be taken seriously, and you must never walk in an active lane. Luckily the staff are quick to inform you if you have walked in an active lane and it’s easy to avoid after the first few times.
It was only a few more minutes on the road to get to the Eurotunnel facility and we were lucky that there was no wait to get processed by the border guards. The border crossing into France happens at Folkestone right before you board the train and it makes the other end of the trip very simple with no queues or delays, just a clean exit at Calais.
About to cross the border into France.
The trip almost had to be called off when the Eurotunnel software crashed at the last second.
Entering the train (at 16x speed).
The train journey was over before we knew it and we emerged into the overcast daylight of Western France, pulling up to the platform at Calais Eurotunnel Station to disembark. Tristan managed to choose the correct side of the road when we entered our first French highway and he got us to the hotel in one piece. With all of the important tasks completed we headed into the Calais old town for a look around and ended up at a delightful cafe overlooking the harbour where we sat at a corner table while the maître d' served us delicious and strong beer.
The Famous Eurotunnel boring machine Virginie.
Calais Harbour.
