Aragon Day 8, The Last Hurrah!

So Day 8 started off almost identically to Day 7, i.e. bloody cold but sunny, with a fairly stiff chill wind. I was togged up the same too. We skipped the hotel brekkie, opting instead to stop at McDs in Dreux, about 20 miles away. An egg and bacon Mcmuffin with a coffee did the trick and we were on our way again.

The route was pretty similar to yesterday too, being dual carriageway/motorway for most of the way. The difference to yesterday though, is that it never matters what the last trip on the way home is like, you just want to get home.

We made a fuel stop about 25 miles after McDs and then cracked on. We had another stop planned for fuel about 12 miles from the tunnel but we decided to give that a miss and fill up at the Auchan supermarket instead. We were going shopping there anyway. As mentioned previously, the Total garages seemed to be selling the cheapest fuel with long queues at many. I wasn't surprised, therefore, when we came across a rear end shunt, right by a Total garage! When we got to the Auchan, we found the cost of fuel had gone up since last week, a bit like the UK I suppose, so was €1.52.9 as opposed to €1.51.9 last Wednesday. Still considerably cheaper than Blighty though. We popped into Auchan, both dying for a wee, then did our shopping. I just had enough room in the panniers to squeeze 4 cans of the hard stuff in 😉 and some soft sweeties.

Shopping done, we made our way to check-in. We were quite early, so hoped to get an earlier crossing. No chance, they were all full apparently. At check-in the machine refused to accept my booking number. I tried it a couple of times, then tried my credit card. Computer says NO! I had to press for assistance. The chap I spoke to did something to reset it and all was well.

When our time came to proceed to boarding, it wasn't the French that caused a hold-up at passport control but the guy at British passport control in our lane, who insisted on scrutinising the photos of the people in the vehicles in front, with microscopic intensity. I knew watching him what was coming and sure enough, he asked us to take our helmets off, despite us both having flip lids! The other lanes must have moved at a ratio of 5-1, compared to ours. Hey, ho.

We had the usual wait and they finally squeezed us in the last carriage. It was a squeeze too, because apparently one car hadn't wanted to go 'upstairs', so to accommodate everyone in the final carriage, they had to be tight up against the interconnecting doors. We eventually left about 20 mins late. Of course, on arrival, with the car up tight to the connecting door, that meant they wouldn't open until everyone moved back. Unfortunately the French 'conductor' didn't make it clear what he wanted, so some bikes were trying to turn around, to leave by the door we'd come on by. Once those shenanigans were sorted, the doors were folded back and we could all proceed down, what was now, an empty train.

It was the usual ride home and as seems usual, the only incident in thousands of miles was just a few up the road from home, where a van not content to do the speed limit, nipped up the inside of me, then cut out on me. He got a long blast on the horn but clearly didn't give a shit. Luckily no harm done, just plenty of blue air inside my helmet.

And so the trip was over. I've had a great time. It's nice to get away with my bro' like this, it doesn't happen often, and we've enjoyed some great roads, spectacular scenery, some torrential rain and blazing sun, all in the space of 8 days, not to mention a few beers. Where we going next time bro'?

As usual, I'll have some stats for you to digest but that's all for now folks.