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After a relaxed breakfast in the hotel, we leisurely pack up our stuff and loaded the car, my heart slowly sinking as I realise this is the last day. All being well we will be home tonight, although it will be during the early hours ( 03:30 I expect ).
It's a beautiful morning in Dijon and by the time we set off it's approaching midday and its 21 degrees. We fuel up the car just down the road from the hotel ready for today's 612 miles home. The satnav takes us around the Dijon ring road then onto a lovely scenic road though the countryside for approximately 10 miles before joining us back onto the A31 motorway. We crack on with our journey and get a good 2 1/2 hours under our belt before having a break. The temperature fell to 16 degrees and became overcast.
We originally decided to stop off for sightseeing at Reims and possibly St Quentin. But I put an alternative to them, " as the weather is deteriorating shall we crack on and try to catch an earlier ferry? " We all agreed so after checking the ferry timetable, it's clear that if we get a move on we can catch the 8PM sailing, two hours before our scheduled departure. So the relaxed leisurely drive which started earlier had now yet again turned into a clock watching rush. I think quite a few had the same idea, as the closer to Calais we got the more like Wakey Races it became, with the odd English car flying past, either after an earlier crossing too or maybe just late.
We exited the A26 for Dunkirk and it was evident that we would make it, but will DFDS let us change our crossing? I hadn't paid for a flexi ticket. We had time to nip in a supermarket to fill up on cheap fuel before arriving into the port. It was a Carrefour branch and I was shocked to see how cheap the fuel was. I squeezed as much fuel in as I could at only 77 pence a litre. Typical that I only found this out at the end of our journey. Upon entering the port, there was two lanes, Check In ( within two hours of crossing ) or Tickets and Amendments. I thought it best not to push my luck and proceeded to the sales office. At the desk a lady checked the confirmation and agreed to my request for the 8pm sailing. We promptly checked in and for the first time though out of the whole trip they checked the dogs passports and handed us a microchip scanner to scan the dogs. Once the microchip numbers had been matched and they had checked the dog passports for the necessary treatment we cleared check in. It took less than 5 minutes. We were then in queue F for the boat. It wasn't long before the ferry arrived and we were loading.
Upon leaving the dogs in the car for the two hour crossing we went upstairs to get a prime location in the restaurant by the Bow window and had an evening meal. Surprisingly it was delicious, although a little pricey. The ferry pulled away from the dock a few minutes early and we were on our way home. We remained on the table for the duration of the crossing as the kids watched a DVD and France disappeared and the lights from the English coast slowly got closer. The crossing was a little bit choppy compared to our outbound crossing, but thankfully seasickness didn't rear its ugly head!
Upon return to the car all was well, the dogs have been excellent, no mess in the car or hotels at anytime. Although I cannot say the same about dog hair! We cleared the port of Dover without hindrance and we were soon on the M20. Luckily all the motorways were open, just a quick stop at Newport Pagnell for the dogs.
We pulled up on our drive at home 01:30 Saturday morning, thankfully two hours ahead of schedule with 2473 miles driven since we left just under two weeks ago. The dogs seemed to be happy to be back home as we walked into a freezing cold house!
Would we do it again?
ABSOLUTLEY Yes we would.
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