Monday 24 July 2017  M26  – Tuesday 25 July Vimoutiers France

Ok so I barked, once and loudly.  Well so would you if a few maps of France had fallen onto your nose.  I had been having a quiet doze next to my brother, Brandy, when it all kicked off.  The lolling motion of Zygie, the family motorhome, seemed to have stopped quickly followed by a loud bang from behind and the floor jumped upwards underneath me.  I saw T jump out with his phone in hand and putting on a bright yellow jacket thing.  K swore and then turned round to calm us both down.  Both, I should say just me.  My brother still dozing in shock with glazed eyes had not moved. Gosh I wish I knew what he was on cos it seems great but he keeps his supplier a secret!.

Well the upshot of it all apparently was that a little transit van from Poland had been pushed into the back of us by a huge French artic.  T was concerned that with neither of them speaking English and with his Geordie accent things could get complicated. However I watched as Traffic Officers arrived from Highways England after a call to the police by T.

Thankfully they seemed to take command of a situation that was alien to me (and T I think).  Paperwork in different languages was exchanged while the rain slowly put a total damper on the start of our trip to France.

The little Polish van I heard was in a poor state and not able to be driven.  T felt sorry for the young lad as he had used his phone to translate from Polish into English “It was not my fault but that stupid French man!”

B and I both listened and felt proud as K got into ‘insurance mode’ and started talking to Zygies insurers.  She’s good at that.

After what seemed ages and with a desire to see a tree we were off to our stop over in Ashford, we were in for super time but were not to know it then.

Whiskey – Brandy still dozing.

The Flying Horse, Broughton Lees, Ashford

I had booked this BritStop some months ago when we knew our dates and tunnel times.  We were not to be disappointed by the choice. Straight after stopping in the carpark I took The Boys out to their field for a run around and some synchronised pooing!  Later we took them into the pub restaurant and eventually they settled down. I think this afternoons events still had them a little hyper, especially W.   Thankfully no one had been hurt and everything is fixable and we had a crossing in the morning and did not have to rush to the terminal that night.

 

Tuesday 25 July – La Croix Blanche, Vimoutiers ( click here on  Lat 48.9253 Long 0.1687 )

Great drive across Northern France with the sun shining all the way, I had also forgotten how smooth the roads are over. Now square wheels at the side of a lovely working farm, drinking wine in peaceful quietness – bliss.