**Over the next 2 weeks, Sal and Nia will be exploring various parts of Europe. Armed with a car, tent, gas cooker and a laptop, they hope to see as much as they can and share it on this blog. They will be writing as much as they can as the journey continues. But when there's nothing published for a few days, please take into consideration that they might not have internet access and probably very very hungover...**
 |
| Severn Bridge, Wales. |
During the
planning stages (in the pub) the excitement led us to think we should do as
many countries as we could in 2 weeks, but after calming down a little and
realising we actually wanted to enjoy the
trip we thought it best to have a rough plan of a few countries that were all
en route to the next. We decided
that out first night should be in Belgium, which is a 3 hour drive from Calais.
3 hours? A Doddle!
This
afternoon before we drove to Dover, we packed the car, fixed the bikes on to the rack and loaded the
dashboard with essentials (Monster Munch and Haribo). Sally went for a quick shower and I found myself
with nothing left to do. Filled with excitement and feeling the need to be on
the road, I went for a stroll to to our local town, Canton to visit the charity
shops just to see if I could find any interesting travel books that might add to our trip.
After wading
through various tack, chintz and elastic waisted jeans, I finally found a shop
that actually sorted their books out in sections.
And there it
was, calling me from the ‘Travel’ section; Traveller’s France by Arthur Eperon.
First published in 1978 this is one of many books by the well known travel
writer who also used to help out the production team on ‘Wish you were here!’. 'If he can help Judith Chalmers, he can help me', I thought.
1978 is the
year I was born and tomorrow, on the first day of our trip, it will be my 35th
birthday. My God. This is a Celestine Prophecy style coincidence if ever
I realised one, so I pay a whole £1 for the book and thank the lady who likes my
Carmarthenshire accent.
I then
become Sally’s very own personal audio book in the car on the way to Dover and
the content of the book changes the very start of the trip.
 |
| Traveller's France by Arthur Eperon |
The magical
journey the book took us on for those 4 hours driving to Dover made us realise that
we were practically ignoring Northern France even though we were driving through it.
So, inspired
by the book which is the same age as me, tomorrow we sail to Calais then drive
through small villages where we plan to stop for breaks, lunch, coffees and maybe even a
bbq on the way before arriving at our first overnight destination in Chalons en Champagne. Well it is my birthday after all…
