Sunday 19/06/2011 Hamburg to Coventry -169112-169776 = 664 miles

Early session

I'm awake at 05:30. I didn't sleep that well because the airbed slipped down the back of the seat and I was on a quite reasonable slope. The Burger King doesn't open until 07:00 so I decide to make the most of the Sunday morning roads and do a pre-breakfast session. I hit the Hamburg / Bremen roadworks that I was expecting but there is so little traffic that I don't get delayed. I even had a 15-minute detour through the German countryside because one section of the A1 was closed completely. This was one of the few times that driving on the right was a bit tricky but the lack of traffic meant that it was no real problem. I wouldn't like to do Paris or Rome on a Friday afternoon though.

Morning/afternoon session

I stopped at a roadside café about 09:30. I got a coffee and took it back to the car. My daughter had given me a father's day card before I left and as it was father's day I opened it. The little darling had put a EUR10 note in the card for me to have a drink! I texted her to say thanks and that I was driving so I couldn't have a drink. So I had a father's day breakfast with the money.

The Bremen to Venlo stretch was the bit I was most worried about but I had no problems. Again it helped that it was Sunday but German efficiency wins again (unlike the French - see later). All the roadsigns I was expecting, turned up on time and the only detour I had was when a slip road was closed for roadworks. So I got to Venlo and straight through Eindhoven (almost literally) to Antwerp. I had a slight problem after Antwerp because I'd missed the E17 and Gent off my directions but no major problems. My fuel gauge even started working after a very bumpy road in Belgium! Everything went well until I get to France!

Why I hate the French

If you go to Plymouth and look for the Torpoint ferry, you see a roadsign that looks like a boat and points the way. The same or very similar sign appears in Dover and Puttgarden and Copenhagen and Stockholm and Umea. I'm sure that, if you went to every country in Europe, you'd see the same sign. But not in France! The French have to be different and for some reason only known to them, the sign for the ferry in Dunkirk is a car with a hat on! I got more lost in the 10 miles or so in France than at any other point on my journey. I arrive at the ferry port about 15:00. Unfortunately the car park outside the booking office is fairly flat, so I leave the 405 running and nip into the office. No chance! Although there are only 2 people in the queue it's taking an eternity to sort them out. I nip back out to turn the engine off. When I eventually get to the front of the queue I'm told I've missed the 16:00 sailing and it's EUR90 for the 18:00 crossing. Bear in mind it only cost £28 on the way over. I guess there's nothing I can do and I cough up the fare. On the way out I notice a couple of computerised ticket machines. I've got a couple of hours so I have a little play around on one of them. To my horror I find that I could have booked on the 16:00 ferry and the fare would have been EUR60!! Bloody France. I think next time I'll sail to Zeebrugge. Anyway, closer to sailing time, I get a push from some fellow travellers and go through ticket and passport control and into lane D. Again it's flat and again I have to turn the engine off. I spend the waiting time by talking to the other travellers and enlisting a posse of people to push me when the time comes. So I get on the boat. As I'm being guided to my parking position I speak to the officials and explain I won't be able to start the car at the other end. "Not to worry, we'll get you going" was the response. So fair enough and I turn off the engine again. At least now I'm going to be in England. They'll have to get me off at the other end and then I come under the umbrella of the RAC. When we arrive I explain to the man that my car won't start and he says he'll leave me to the end and he'll get some jump leads. I explain that jump leads won't work. This seems to confuse him completely and he proceeds to ignore the problem. Fortunately the occupants of the cars parked behind me come to my rescue, I get the push I need and I'm in Dover.

Evening Session

By now it's 19:30 and I'm very tired. I know I should have parked up somewhere and kipped but the thought of getting home forced me on. I got home at 23:00 with the, now working, fuel gauge reading "very empty".

I have had no problems sleeping in the back of the car for 11 nights but it's good to get into a proper bed.