Travelling, running away & other stories
This one is the story of a week travelling through France and onto Greece.A pikey’s life for me!
Pre-Day One
I suppose after I had made the decision to leave Abby it was just a matter of time. It is quite ironic really, that I left her on April Fool’s Day … do you think she would take it as a joke?
Nah! Neither do I.
There were some tense moments while I was sitting at Plymouth ferry port waiting to get on the ship, but I was absolutely exhausted by the time I actually found my berth. I nearly ended up in a 16 year old girl’s cabin by mistake … mine was 142, I got given the key for 124. I unloaded my stuff and was actually going to get in the shower when I decided to take a look around the ship
By the time I had got back to 124, she was trying to get into the cabin. I checked my paperwork and I was hurriedly whisked away by the Ship’s Purser to my cabin.
Day One
I slept like a log. I was awake by 615 and had showered, changed, and breakfasted by 715. I spent some time putting a lot of music on to the iPod I had purchased the day before, and as the ferry was docking, I had packed it all up and had about 8 hours of music on the little beastie.
Whilst I was on the road south, the thing that hit me the most was the lack of cars on the road. I don’t know whether it was because it was a Sunday, or because I was in the middle of nowhere, but it was great. The car I have got has cruise control, so, I stuck it at 56mph and headed toward Morlaix.
Driving was a complete pleasure, nice roads, no numpties cutting me up, in fact there was an awful lot of tolerance.
About 1230, my stomach told me I was hungry, and the fuel gauge told me I was going to be pushing soon. So I pulled off at Broons, and found a car park, that the caravan and I could comfortably park in. Just across the road was a butcher’s shop, so I wandered over there and they had, in little plastic serving boxes, smoked pork and dauphinoise potatoes. They also had some coffee grounds, milk and sugar. So, life is looking good.
I filled both me and the car up and off we went again. The weather was alternating between torrential rain and blinding sunshine.
I decided to go for better weather than touring across France, so at Rennes, I headed due south towards Nantes. The plan being, to find campsites along the way to hook up the caravan with electricity and water. If I find somewhere nice to stay, then I might just anchor for a little while. The book I have got is all about top rated caravan sites in France, and the one I am in now is top quality.
Comments (3)
The distance from Cagnes-sur-Mer (between St Tropez & Nice) to the ferry port in Ancona, Italy was 490 miles. That works out at a bit over 8 hours if you travel at 60mph. Not accounting for the wrong turns, getting lost, filling up with fuel and having breakfast I did it in 9 and a half hours. I was glad I left as early as I did, as the ticket buying building was a good 10 minute walk from the place where the ferry leaves from. So I paid for me, the 4x4 & the caravan €239 (£175) from Ancona to the Greek mainland. I will then catch another ferry from there. I paid for the open deck, which means I can sleep in the caravan, and don’t have to sleep on the floor like I did when I came back the other way 15 years ago.
The ship, in true Greek style left late, so we departed at 1640 (40 mins late) and it is a 16 hour crossing. So all being equal, we should be on the mainland by 9am tomorrow morning. All showered and ready for another exciting episode.
All in all it has not been a cheap trip, crossing from Plymouth to Roscoff was £280, when I landed in Roscoff, I had about €140 and £4000. I converted the sterling into €uros and that totalled about just under 5800 euros. I now have €4600 ish. That breaks down into about €130 on food, €250 on motorway tolls (Italy is more expensive than France!) €40 on campsites for pitching the caravan, €240 on ferry to Greece, and the rest (€540) on fuel. I still have to purchase the ferry ticket from the mainland to the islands, and that should be about €100 or so. So the whole trip will have cost me about £1000 all-in-all! When I come back, I will ditch the caravan and stay in cheap hotels. It will be autumn/winter and the prospect of staying in a drafty creaking caravan is not one I will relish. Plus the fuel consumption will be lower and I can get all my stuff in the 4x4. It will be easier to park up and a lot more relaxing. But anyway that’s for another 5 months time!!! So in 5 months, I have to save £2000 to recover what I have spent getting here and in preparation for the trip to Germany. Should be relatively easy, as I will have no accommodation costs! But it has been fun so far. All I need now is a job in a bar that serves food and I should be back to square one with no expenses and all major items covered.
.... But it didnt quite work out that way
Sooooooooo, "it didn't quite work out that way"....
MissB