Day 1 - Folkestone to Epernay

 In retrospect I made the very correct decision to stay overnight at a site in Folkestone before the early morning Shuttle Train. As is always the case though, sleep was light and I was awake at about 3am and raring to go.

The train was due to depart at 0920, and I had to be there before 0820 - in fact I was there three hours early and elected to get on the one leaving at 0720. All well and good.

Customs and immigration control was so laid back and easy, it really made me wonder why there were so few other motorhomes about.  The first office was UK control who scanned my passport, the next office was French control who also scanned my passport and asked if I had been vaccinated. A simple yes was all he wanted - no checking of Covid Certificate. The third office just asked me to confirm my gas had been switched off, and that was that. There was no checking of foodstuffs (annoying as all the info I had said it was going to be checked), no Covid testing, no locator forms, no...anything I was told to expect.

The train ride was its usual smooth crossing, with the wonder of how this huge complex structure manages to cosset you into thinking that what you are doing is absolutely normal.

At the other end you simply drive off the drain, down a service road and there you are on the motorway.

Tolls are an inevitable fact of life in France, and difficult to avoid if you want to get anywhere rapidly. I can safely say that arriving at a toll booth single handed in a right hand drive van is great fun! Sensors work out what size you are, but I found an anomaly - the ticket machine worked out that I was a Class 2 campervan, but when it issued the ticket it was presented as if I were a truck driver and it was way above my head! Toll charges to Epernay were €35, but the motorway was surprisingly quiet, very smooth, and stress free.

The tour organisers are Giles and Linda Downer, with whom I can definitely tell I will get on well with. Unfortunately Covid has taken its toll on the tour with people refusing to commit, or giving last minute cancellations. So far then it is just them and me, and more joining us as the tour progresses. The tours they have organised for next year are already filling up, and one (to Scandanavia) is already oversubscribed. Anyway Giles and Linda want to carry on with the tour, and so do I, so it is onwards and upwards.

The Municipal Campsite is Epernay is very good, and much like a good site in the UK. However, there are a couple of difference - not life changing but worth remembering:

You have to supply your own toilet paper, and the shower cubicles are small but the force of the water from the shower head is immense. Go in wearing Crocs because your shoes are going to get very wet!

I called in at Epernay Carrefour to stock up on things I wasn't allowed to bring from the UK - ham, cheese, milk and so on, but what a supermarket! It was huge, clean, bright and wonderfully stocked. You can buy anything there.

After a bit of lunch we went off on our bikes (we all have electric ones) at cycled up to a viewpoint overlooking the valley that Epernay sits in.

Then it was back into town for a couple of beers in a bar, and the realisation that now, in France, you will not be served anywhere without showing your vaccination certificate (which nowadays is on your phone, not a piece of paper).

The evening was finished off with a BBQ, and a pleasant "getting to know you" session. It all seems to be working very well indeed.

Thursday plans are for another bike ride in the morning, a trip to a Champagne House in the afternoon, and supper in a very interesting looking Indian restaurant. On Friday we ate off to Germany.