The One with all the Weather.......Day 1......travel day

[hildasmuriel]

This trip report may sound more like the weather forecast than anything else, but the weather did have an impact on the holiday, hence the title of the report.

Going this time:

Me - have been a few times before (hem hem)
Husband - usually only goes once a year
Daughter - nearly 13, not yet a grumpy teen.

Staying at home:

Son - aged 18, has been at University for a year but this is the first time he has stayed at home without us. Ulp.

Day 1 - Saturday August 14
It's always a bit disconcerting when you're packing for holiday and
you look out of the window to see it pouring down with rain. The
forecast had been gloomy for some days, so we didn't hold out much
hope for sunshine. As usual I had left lots of stuff until the last
minute and we were a bit later leaving than I had wanted. Husband had
told Dtr that she shouldn't take all her plushes this year. Yeah, it
didn't take her long to talk him round.

Hang on, it's stopped raining.
Is that a bit of blue sky I see over there?

There were delays on the M25 as usual and then the rain started again
which slowed us all down. It was no surprise then that we were late
for our Eurotunnel crossing by 15 minutes. There is no problem with
that though, they just slot you onto the next available crossing. Are these new information boards? I don't remember them - very clear signage.

We were in France by 5.30 local time and then drove for about two and
half hours to get to our Etap hotel. We drove through some really
mixed weather - blue sunny skies followed just a few miles down the
road by downpours like this.

That's with the wipers going full pelt.

At the Etap our room was identical to last years - perfectly adequate for an overnight stay.

We had eaten our main meal before we left home so we had a snack in our room and watched a bit of BBC World News ( how depressing that is!). We then discovered we had left our 3 voltage adaptors at home- grrrrr- but decided we weren't turning round to get it.
Time for an early night.

 

[A Small World]

Hurray youve started your TR

Im surprised you didnt get stopped and searched at customs though - Im sure you could have had someone hiding under all those cuddlies trying to smuggle them out of the country

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

I've thought about staying at the Etap for a night before a trip - good to see some nice photos instead of the little ones on the website.

 

[Ware Bears]

I always enjoy seeing the photo of your DD's plushes sat on the back seat.

 

[CRITCHK]

Good start to your holiday, love the plushes.

Do you ave to pay an amendment fee if you are late to the Euro tunnel or did you have a flexible ticket?

 

[hildasmuriel]

No supplement and it wasn't a flexible ticket. They are just really good about time of travel. This is what the booking confirmation says:

*Please keep to your booked departure time if you want to be assured of a fast crossing.
However, we do recognise that it is not always possible to plan your arrival time at Check-In accurately. So, if you arrive at Check-In within 2 hours of your booked departure time, we will, at no extra charge, transfer you to a space on the next available shuttle. Your booking will not be transferable if you arrive at Check-In more than 24 hours after the booked departure time.
However, please note that this could be quite a long wait if we are very busy.

 

[CRITCHK]

Thanks for the info.

So we are booked on the 07:50 shuttle and feel this is a bit too early for us. So we could arrive at 8:30 - 9:00. problem is the bit where it states next avail shuttle and long wait. in theory we could be waiting around till evening?

 

[susannah365]

love the photo of your daughter with all her plushes. that's just like my daughter, except that she has to share the back seat with her brother so she can't fit them all in, but they get packed in all around her, it's so cute!

can't wait to hear the rest of your report.

 

[Nubbedy]

Wow - that rain! Are you sure this is a summer trip?!