If you take a trip and don't write about it on your blog, did it actually even happen?!
We took a road trip over to Europe in April, and yes, I am just now getting around to writing about it. I've been meaning to since we got back, but work started, time flies and somehow it's been almost two months! Seriously, where does the time go?
Well anyway, I'm here to write about it now. Hopefully, I can remember everything we did, it was quite the whirlwind of a trip!
Once Steve arrived at ours, we started off by driving about 50 minutes north to our friends Amy & Ben. For the past year, we have been having monthly game nights with them, and we figured another game night was the perfect way to start a two-week vacation. We had dinner together, played several games, and spotted the most amazing double rainbow from their back garden! It seemed like a very good omen about our upcoming travels.
We left theirs around 11pm, planning to drive through the night to get to the Channel Tunnel (aka the Chunnel). This is the underwater railway tunnel that connects the UK with France. Steve said it used to be very cheap to take, like £20 for a return ticket. These days it cost £120 to go one way - and that was at 4:00ish in the morning which was discounted from more peak times. It would have been cheaper to take a ferry, but we wanted to experience the chunnel at least once. And an experience it is!
We booked our tickets online and were able to use the self check-in when we arrived. Easy peasy! Then you drive through the complex that takes you up and down and around - I think it is designed to accommodate long lines of cars, but it was pretty deserted at 4 am. There are places to stop and shop, eat, use the loo, even walk your dog if you are traveling with a pet.
As you drive towards the entrance, the signs keep pointing you to France!
Before getting on the train you drive through passport control with the UK and with France. We had to show our passports and explain what we were planning to do on our trip. I didn't take pictures of this part! Then you keep following the signs and start driving down a big ramp.
Then you find yourself on a train platform just like you would in any major city, except you are in your car!
Then comes the really weird part, you drive onto the train!
We were the first to get on in our section, so we drove up the ramp and then all the way down a long passage to the front.
We parked right by the big metal door that would be our exit when we arrived. The sign says to leave the vehicle in first gear and put on the handbrake, but we just parked. We cracked the windows a bit for air and that was it! You could get out to go use a loo if you needed to, but they encourage you to stay inside the car.
Once we were settled it was only about 10 minutes until departure. Then the whole trip only took about 30 minutes!
Now, I have to admit, this whole thing was not quite as exciting as I expected. I didn't quite realize it, but I had totally been picturing the tunnel as one of the tunnels you go through in an aquarium, you know, the kind made of glass where the fish are swimming over your head? Obviously I realize now that wouldn't be at all practical for a 50 km underwater railway tunnel...but still, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a view.
[Yes, Joel and Steve thoroughly poked fun at me for this expectation. But Amy said she used to think that when she was a kid, so I feel a bit validated.]
Anywho, while the train did the driving for us, we ate some snacks, listened to some music and before we knew it, the train had stopped and the doors were opening in front of us. Joel did not like being at the front as we had to figure out what to do rather than follow someone else, but it was pretty simple to just drive off the train and follow the signs out of the complex on the other side.
And then we were in France! Since we were taking our British car to Europe, we were now driving on the wrong side of the road, aka the right side of the road. We had to make a small modification to the car headlights by adding special stickers - but they don't care that the steering wheel is on the wrong side! Other than pulling over to have Steve add the stickers to the car, we didn't make any stops in France, instead heading straight to our first destination of Bruges, Belgium.
I finally got a bit of sleep during this part of the journey (the plan had been for me and Steve to sleep a lot more of the journey but we were too excited!) and woke up in a whole new country!
I will share all about our day in Bruges in the next post!
XOXO, Bethany