Val d’Aran

After the long drive north from Limoges with no hold ups, we managed to catch an earlier LeShuttle than originally planned on Tuesday evening.

We lunched at a Buffalo Grill in Chambly, just north of Paris. As the name suggests, this is a Wild West themed restaurant chain, all delivered in a very French style. If you’ve driven in France at any point since the early 1990s, you’ve probably seen the red roofs of Buffalo Grills, usually close to autoroute junctions.

When we checked in at the Chunnel, we were offered a crossing due to go within less than an hour, and which was immediately calling us to get ready to board - and so we got straight in the (thankfully) short queues through French and British border control.

We just had time to finish eating the last snacking sausages (which would otherwise have been prohibited by the UK’s current ban on the importation of dairy and most meat products from the EU without full phytosanitary inspections and the like).

The car was also swabbed for explosives but not sausages, and we were allowed through, to more or less drive straight onto the train. We appeared to be the last vehicle on, at least on the upper level, and we were soon on our way.

Having got back to the UK earlier than expected, we then continued on home after a quick pit stop to see my parents as we passed through Kent.En savoir plus