Back in La Guerche,

Drove down from Calais yesterday afternoon after an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn Express only 5 minutes from the 'Chunnel' which proved an inspired choice as it meant we had no more UK roads to cope with (not a lot of fun) before heading to France. The drive down was a joy,(even negotiating Rouen was straightforward), compared to what we had experienced in the UK. The dive through the north of France was framed by lines of trees made enchanting by a heavy frost.

Looks like we timed ourreturn perfectly as the Met Office has only just issued new snow and ice warnings covering the whole of Scotland and parts of Wales and England,

In need of a Super Sleauth!

We were up at Montlouis-sur-Loire yesterday and as we needed fuel I decided we should try and find Super U in the town - something that had eluded us in the past (was sure they were lying to us). Now it should be straight forward, as you approach the town from the direction of Tours you arrive at traffic lights at the junction by Lidl, turn right and just a few yards up the road you come across the above sign - ah,only 2 mins, that should be easy!

As I said I had tried before and failed, I know, switch on Sat-Nav but hey, my masculine intuition kicks in and I need help from no one.

The route had occasional help with little 'super' signs but if any of you have driven in the town even they seemed a little distracting. We enrolled the help of a local who waved us off with a knowing smile  and a 'tout droit' in what was the correct direction but the twists and turns of the town meant that was impossible. Eventually,seemed like an eternity, I had to give in to Sat-Nav as Pauline thought I would explode with rage or worse! BTW it is a lie,it's 5 mins ! Is this the worst place to drive through in Touraine? 

Parking mad!

Spotted last week in Descartes, someone suggested that perhaps they are not good at reversing so they do not want some one in front of them but in that case why not just drive into the space?

Not so smart...

A long stretch of the M6 motorway currently has a 50mph speed limit while work takes place between junction 16 and junction 19 to convert the section of road into a 'smart motorway'. The 20 mile stretch of motorway is being converted into an 'All Lane Running' Smart Motorway.This is where all four lanes are open to traffic, with regular refuge areas available for emergency use in place of a hard shoulder.
Unfortunately on our way south on Saturday we got caught up in traffic jam which meant it took us 25 mins to do 2 miles, very frustrating although we hope it wasn't due to someone being involved in an accident - no real clue as to what the cause was.

As for smart roads, these will be useless while we still have the not-so-smart drivers. At various points of our journey we had man driving between two lanes while on his phone,another driver with head back finishing off a packet of crisps with one hand on the steering wheel plus I had to take evasive action when 'white-van-man' to my left wandered into my lane while munching on a sausage roll!

On Sunday on our way down to Dover we switched on our new travel companion, Google maps, on my smart phone which we have only recently started to use more, especially for getting in and out of cities. Our lady friend,who I have to confess has suffered a fair bit of verbal abuse recently, was at it again, directing us off the M 20 as it was apparently closed. Pauline wanted to follow her route but as the motorway peeps had no information displayed re any problems I stayed put...it wasn't closed!

Would you take your car here?...

We did - the service was good and price fair, 

Its just on the edge of Descartes on way to Barrou /Le Grand Pressigny