Eleven litres of oil later.....

I'm back from my holidays!  So I think I will have to do a couple of posts to give you a good idea of the journey.  I really was one of the best holidays I have ever been on and John and I have definately been bitten by the touring bug!  So here is a little bit about the first three days.....

Here is John with the car (Ginger) all packed and ready to go in the typical Cumbrian summer weather, rain.  I think even the car looks nervous!  We drove to Dover where we stayed overnight, ready to catch the early ferry the next morning.  It was lashing down rain until we got to Birmingham, then it was just grey and cloudy.  We drove over the QE2 bridge in London, John said it would be good practice for me to get ready for the mountain passes!  I was scared and dreading the Alpes but keeping quiet about it, John couldn't wait to get there!     

This is waiting to get on the ferry about 7am.  We had checked the water in the radiator before we set off and it was fine.  We dipped the oil and it wasn't fine, there was nothing there!  So we filled it up and tried not to worry.

Parked at the front of the queue!  And right next to the lift as well so not too far for John to walk.  We really felt the adventure had started at this point.  We have a nice breakfast on the ferry and that passed the time.

Ready to drive off the ferry!  Of course John drove first but don't worry I drove lots as well!  Already the weather was warmer and it was the start of the sunshine!

First photo of France!  Just look at the blue skies and fluffy white clouds!  It was heavenly and this is the effect it had on John...

Happy John!  You can tell we haven't got very far, we stopped soon after and took our jumpers off!  It is so wonderful to feel the sun on your face and relaxing knowing you have all the time in the world, at least for the next few days!  We dipped the oil again at lunch time and put in another couple of litres.  We drove to Troyes where we met up with the rest of the group ready for the first official start the next day.  What a lovely group of people - tell you more about them later.  It was a lovely evening and everyone was very excited to be the first to roar out of the amazing underground car park.  Nevermind that it took us ages how to work out how to get into it in the first place....

DAY 1  Troyes to Aix-les-Baines 277 miles



This is the village of Orgelet.  It had the most beautiful church but for some reason I didn't take a picture.  This is a suggested lunch stop but we carried on, wanting to get some more miles covered, we ate sandwiches at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, it was so peaceful.

John working out the route at La Faverge.  Actually the car needed a minute to cool down and catch her breath, she isn't used to the heat either!  We crossed the Swiss border several times, it got to the point we weren't sure which country we were in!

John and Ginger at Lac du Bourget.  We were approching Aix-les-Baines and really enjoying the fantastic driving and scenery.  This is the road we had just driven along.

The lake was perfect, the car was running like a dream (apart from her little drink problem!)  Aix-les-Baines it a beautiful town and I would love to go back and explore it some day.  John and I had now become a little obsessive about dipping the oil, Ginger had drunk six litres by this point.  There were no leaks and no black clouds coming out the back so we knew the engine was at least using the oil and probably leaving a nice trail out of the exhaust.....

Anyway I will tell you more tommorrow!