Trip to France 18/03/15

[Dieselman]

Late on Tuesday evening I decided a trip to France was in order, so booked a ferry and 100 minutes later set from home in patchy and sometimes quite dense fog. This was enough to upset my SatNav gaining reliable views of satellites, so it kept recalculating the route for no reason.

2:00am GMT on the ferry at Dover. The crossing was the 2:20am and it takes 90 minutes to cross. An advantage of an early crossing is that the ferry is nearly empty so no loading and unloading waits, or delays at customs or immigration, though I was stopped for a spot check to check the boot.



On leaving Calais I found the fog was more like persistent mist, but on I went.

6:50 am CET a little village in Picardy called Mézières-en-Santerre. This is 180km from Calais. My final destination was Le Plessier-Rozainvillers, the next village.



At 7:00am CET I was at my destination, an XM enthusiast and recycler.





Frederic has quite a collection of XM...18 roadworthy ones and quite a few in various states of being dismantled.


S2 PRV V6-24




No less than four Multimedia.







Of which he let me drive this one. It was a very nice drive indeed. A very relaxing and competent car.







A little bit of work saw me with the bits I wanted.





After a bit of a chat about his cars and the shows they have been featured at I headed off the 185 Km back to Calais to catch an earlier than booked ferry. Due to the crossing now being peak time, I was originally told that I would have to pay the full price of £60, but a bit of haggling saw this reduced to £20 upgrade.

The XM aroused a bit of interest at the ferry terminal and even got me a Thumbs up from some Lads in a van at Dartford crossing.




I came back over the Dartford crossing so now have to pay the Dart charge of £2.50, which is not in force before 6:00am or after 10:00pm.

All in a good trip, 665 miles, 3/4 tank of fuel and no driving fatigue. I was tired as the last sleep was Monday night and due to having to duck down in my car due to the sunroof reducing headroom, had a little back discomfort. Not back pain, just from being a bit cramped, especially since I had to move the seat slightly forwards for the return journey.
With a little restraint, I think the tank of fuel could have managed 1000 miles, but not this time... I think 800 miles will see it empty as it is just over the last marking now.

All in an enjoyable trip.

[Peter.N.]

So that's where all the XMs have gone, its a bit like taking coals to newcastle. Unusual to see an estate over there, there were only one or two the last time we went but that was about 10 years ago. Pleased you had a good trip.

Peter

[russ92xmsed]

Well we know what you're up to Will! look forward to how you go about it.

Can't believe he has so many Multimedias. What a place.

[robert_e_smart]

Interesting project Will.

What way are you going to go about this roof swop? Are you going to change the top skin, or cut and join at each pillar? I remember the CXers used to cut the pillars to replace roof sections.

[Dieselman]

I'll swap the skin only, don't fancy a cut'n shut.

[Ciaran]

Fantastic trip Will, I love spur of the moment things like that, just a 'lets go!', well done

I notice on the ferry the cars aren't tied down, is that usual?
Anytime I get the boat from here to Scotland, there are tethering points at regular intervals on the floor, and once the cars are left the crew tie them down with ratchet straps through their towing eyes or chassis members.
For this reason I always fully lower the XM suspension before leaving it, so it can't sink and relieve the tension in the straps.

Ciaran

[MTXM]

Well done Will and please let me know if you need a co-driver next time!! It certainly looks like a place worth visiting again. With regards, Matthew T.

[captainhaddock]

The things you do to get rid of a sunroof: incredible

Ciaran, I rarely have seen any cars strapped on any ferries, even last time I was on the Cherbourg Rosslare crossing with very severe weather, they did not strap cars. They do keep a look out for cars not properly parked with handbrakes on which apparently happens loads of times. I know this from a Stena line crew member whom I know, so yes it is usual. Trucks do get tied down though in severe weather.

[Ciaran]

Wow, that's reassuring Jaap!

Funny it's Stena I always go with and I can't recall one time the cars haven't been strapped.
I only usually sail Belfast or Larne to Cairnryan / Stranraer though, I've never been on the Rosslare to Cherbourg.

Ciaran

[White Exec]

Did once go down onto the car deck during a rough Channel crossing (probably not possible nowadays), where every car was strapped down. Crew were doing this as soon as the cars were parked. Quite a sight to see a whole deck of cars bobbing up and down in unison, the tethering being ratchet straps passed over the wheels. I think I must have been checking that the Chateauneuf was securely wedged!