Day 1 (James): Stoke — Dunkirk — Bruges
Off we set on our 2 week journey, crossing 5 borders and driving circa 1750 miles in a 1ltr, 3 door Skoda Citigo. We left at 03:50 and made good time on the roads down to Dover. Our choice of music? Musicals. Defying Gravity being a personal favourite. A quick stop at Oxford Services for fuel and breakfast at 06:15.
Hit the road again at around 06:45 and switched drivers. The sun began to rise as we hit the London area. Excitement was building at this point and we were soon driving in the typically british overcast skies.
Had our first little glimpse of the sea at Dover around 08:50 and got excitervous (a word we made up). We arrived at Dover around 09:00 and nervously checked in. Security checks always make you feel unnecessarily guilty dont they? Mol and I had our first taste of the French with the gent at border check. Bonjour! and of we go!
Loaded onto the ferry at around 09:30 and my god do they know how to pack the things! Remind me to never offer a game of Tetris to these guys. Upstairs was roomy and there was a buzz about the place as other fellow travellers and holiday makers were beginning their own journeys.
We sat down for a coffee but quickly found ourselves bored. The novelty of the ferry wore off and the mix of an early start and sway of the English Channel was making us drowsy (and a little sick) and so we ventured outside on to the deck for a walk… it was cold and certainly woke us up.
Ferry docked in Dunkirk (Dunkique) at around 13:00. We both felt sick but for a different reason. This time it was because it had only just dawned on us the journey we were about to embark on. It’s important to note at this point that neither of us had done this before nor spoke the language so were relying on some basic translation apps and pure enthusiasm.
As soon as we got off the ferry we took to driving on the wrong (right) side of the road and pulled up as soon as we could to compose ourselves and get the car in line with EU regulations (GB sticker etc). Mol drove first and took to it with much more confidence than I thought she would. I co-piloted which mainly consisted of “s**t they’re all lunatics!”… I think I did well.
We found a place for lunch, struggled through the language barrier and headed into Belgium on the A16.
We found parking in the heart of Bruges (Brugge) in little over an hour. We were still getting to grips with driving on the right (wrong) side of the road and we had a few hiccups. The worst , I find, isexiting from roundabouts in the right hand lane. Terrifying.
By the time we got to Bruges the heavens had opened but it never ‘dampened’ our spirits. It was clear heading into Markt that the hustle and bustle of Christmas is yet to leave Belgium with the Christmas markets alive and booming. The sweet smell was the first thing we noticed as we got closer to the centre from buttery pastries to sizzling sausages. I was always taught to follow my nose! We strolled around; people watching, getting very wet and ultimately paying too much for ‘waffles on a stick’ which neither of us regret.
Day 1 done. Found a hotel and slept.
