After a really good night's sleep we are packed and ready to leave at 10:05. This morning is a cool 14C but it is sunny as we head towards Le Mans and its Musee des 24 Heures - Circuit de La Sarthe. The museum is very well laid out in 6 sections. Starting wih 'The Heros' we pass each of the life sized photos of legendary people connected to Le Mans, some of which are accompanied by an artefact such as Tazio Nuvolari's leather helmet and goggles, Etorie Bugatti...

We rise at 7:00 [local time] after our fitful night. Leaving the cabin we head for the lifts to wait for the disembarkation clearance, but a steward tells us we can go down now. We have plenty of space and plenty of time, but soon the lorries are moving and we follow. We park and wait for the others as agreed last night. Chris and Roger set about fixing our buggy rack plug which got damaged by grounding on the Torpoint ferry's steep ramp. The plug is broken...

At last the day, and then the hour arrives. After all our planning we are about to set off on our longest trip yet. We make a final check of tickets, passports, money etc and leave home at 15:45 to beat the tea-time chaos in Truro. We have a good drive in sunshine arriving Torpoint and 17:30 and drive straight onto the ferry with no queue. Traffic through Plymouth is light and we reach Millbay docks at 17:50. Check in begins at 18:30 and we are second in lin...

Roscoff is 40 minutes away and we have until 15:00 to be there so there is no rush this morning. Before we leave Ali visits the cidre shop and buys cidre and biscuits. The N12 is almost deserted as we head west before we see what has signalled the end of all our French holidays; the artichoke fields of Finistere. We drive into St Pol de Leon to fill up with fuel. It's €1.27 (about £1.08) as opposed to £1.36 at home. Leaving St Pol we stop and buy some on...

It rained heavily last night and it's still drizzly when the workers arrive but when we are ready to leave only the dog is around to say goodbye. We have around 170 miles to go today but most of it is dual carriageway and the traffic is fairly light except around Nantes and Rennes. North of Nantes the rain stopped and it got brighter by lunchtime. We stopped in Caulnes and got some bits in Intermarche then went to the nearby aire and made lunch. The aire is i...