Monday 9th March

We started off as usual at four in the morning.  Pitch dark and minus 1 degree C.  The road from Bergerac to Perigeux is the worse; the road swings from a dual carriageway to single lanes, it is almost totally unlit and winds through heavy trees.  Eventually we come out onto the A89 and an hour’s drive to Brives La Gaillarde where we stop for a rest.  My wife has a sleep in the back of the car and I go for a Grand Café Au Lait and a Pain au Raisin.  We set off again as the dawn breaks, today was rather pretty, a soft pink which gradually lightened as the sun rose on our right.

Straight up towards Limoges and the temperature was minus 4 but slowly warmed up.  We crossed the Loire at Orleans and then on to Paris.  Last time the sat-nav took us through a long tunnel south of Paris but this time we ended up driving North West along the Seine through West Paris and then crossed and joined the Motorway towards Amiens and Calais.  It was 20 degrees in Paris and sunny and we stopped in a delightful little aire and had tea and sandwiches in the sun while the dogs rooted around and examined the doggy deposits on all the trees.

As we neared Calais though the skies clouded over.  What is it about Calais?  It is always bad weather.  Often raining and cold and the wind is biting.  Today it was 3 degrees again and we scampered into the services.  Very disappointing; a Burger King, a Starbucks and a Duty Free which was half-empty and had a tawdry selection of wine and spirits and a few chocolates – all of which you can buy cheaper in any supermarket in France. It obviously appeals to the English !!!

Home by eight.  Tired but quite happy.