A JOURNEY OF REMEMBRANCE Pt2.

By Dave Hughes.Airframes.


I suppose this part will not exactly inspire unless, like me, you have not been to the continent before as driver of a standard UK vehicle. For me, it was going to be a brand new experience. The RAF never allowed me the courtesy of visiting its units in Germany in order to gain continental driving experience so no help there. Yes, I've been to Spanish, Portuguese and Greek holiday resorts but, apart from a one-day scooter ride in the latter, I had not driven. And in Greece, some drivers seemed to choose either side of the road on which to practice their skills (?) so I cannot say that was of any help either.

So it was all going to be brand new and I felt I needed to prepare myself for it. One great help, right from the start, was that as I knew my wife wouldn't accompany me (through past illness); my offer to take those two teenage grandsons was readily accepted. As I said earlier, one of the reasons for this was that J . . . , at age 16, is already a skilled transport planner and navigator and it was these attributes that I hoped to tap into; I was not to be disappointed. The other grandson, D . . . , aged 14, was less skilled but very able and willing to learn and his role, use of maps and map book, would back-up satnav and mobile phone use.

A comprehensive map book of France along with Michelin maps for both Belgium (North and Central) and Netherlands (South) seemed to cover the areas through which I expected to travel so these were amongst the first items purchased along with a satnav download for those same areas. In that this download also included the area around Geilenkirchen in Germany to which we also proposed to travel, as did the Netherlands map, we seemed well and truly covered in this particular respect. I later found that of many apps on the 16 year-old's mobile phone, the one which provided him with comprehensive mapping, also proved to be a Godsend. You will have gathered from this that I am not an overly gen "kiddy" on such electronic wizardry. Yet these maps allowed comprehensive planning as to routes, areas to be specifically visited or to be enjoyed and all sorts of other options.

So what else would we require? If you travel on the continent, as I'm sure most of you do, you will no doubt be aware of the answer. I was starting from scratch and found the internet was quite informative but also somewhat confusing. Some sites recommend this as being essential, others make different recommendations. However, I next decided to acquire a Critaire Certificate. "What the hell's that?" I hear you ask. Well it's a certificate that relates to emissions from cars, in my case, my particular vehicle. Though its use is not universal in France, as yet, it is becoming more widely required, I gather. Earlier, it may only have applied to large cities. However, need to have it is reportedly spreading and I considered that at a only few Euros to purchase it online, as opposed to a considerable sum if you happened to have a fine imposed by the French fuzz who might catch you without one, it might just be worth it.

We booked hotels online, at Portsmouth, Caen, Mons, Nijmegen and near Leopoldsburg, our ultimate destination, the latter being on an Alpaca farm by the way. These varied from quite basic (Caen) to near luxurious (Mons) but all were of sufficient quality to ensure us a good night's rest, so we had no real complaints at any of them. Having said that, if I now suggest that prices varied from £15.53 pp per night to £48.81 you will see that the basic and the luxurious varied considerably. Also, the Nijmegen choice was not a brilliant one in that it proved to be a very active bar/café:/disco, and though I love my music, the 'thump'- 'thump'-'thump' of that disco, echoing through the place until about 12.30am, getting louder as the night went on, was something we could have done without.

My vehicle insurance company also felt they wished to contribute to my overall welfare during this journey, "But, of course, we'll have to charge a surplus for doing so, sir." 'Ching-ching' springs to mind.

Part of our planning included how we should reach and return from France and we decided to travel out on the Portsmouth to Caen ferry in order that we start our journey as my cousin had, returning via the tunnel a week later. Both these journeys were more than satisfactory. So, the movement of my car along with us in it was taken care of. But then there were the extras attached to use of the car. The French require you to have a set of spare bulbs for front, back and side lights; they also require you to carry a warning triangle, have either UK annotated plates or, if you don't have these, a GB sticker, and finally, headlights should have beam dimmers attached.

Then there is the requirement for high-viz vests, something I never really got to the bottom of in terms of what actually is required. As I help organize parking at a small concert venue local to where I live (I am known as 'Davethegate' and have a bright yellow cap to prove it!), I already have my own high-viz jacket. But then there is the view that it is not only the driver that should be so attired, when necessary, all passengers, including children, should also have one. There is a further view, namely that there should be a high-viz jacket for each seat in the car regardless of how many passengers are being carried. So should I have had one, three or five? Like I said, I was never able to get to the bottom of this one and in the end, opted just to take the one I already had. As we drove the roads, we noted people with and without said high-viz adjacent to broken-down locally registered cars, so I am even more confused.

Being ever cautious, and driving a car which doesn't actually have a spare wheel, I decided to avail myself of one of these, again, just in case. Yes, I know that the manufacturer provides a means whereby a puncture can be 'effectively' repaired in order to get you to a tyre bay. But, in a foreign country and driving along little more than our 'B' class roads with few villages, I opted for caution.

That brings me to the last two parts of our planning, fuel and Euros. We found that at most service stations the only means of buying fuel was via an acceptable card. I mention the word 'acceptable' because we did come across one fuel station in Holland which would not accept either of the cards I had in my wallet. It was their loss as we just moved on to the next one. As for Euros? Well, as the news today told me, it's not far off being on a one-for-one with the pound so there was little to interest us there, buying as we went.

My last concern, if it had actually been one, was how we three who speak no French, Belgian, Dutch or German, might cope. Actually, it was good to use my schoolboy French once again and I felt I coped remarkably well generally, without actually understanding anything that was said to me in return!! Having said that, on each occasion, we purchased what we required. As to the people, I found the French not entirely to my taste. In the other three countries just about everyone spoke English anyway, and when they found we had a story to tell, they would spend considerable time listening to that story, asking us all sorts of questions. At times, that made our journey truly worthwhile.

But the actual journey is for next time. Hope I haven't bored you.