[BlackPearl]

I never thought I would write a travelogue on England or Europe or maybe anywhere except India, simply because of the fact that I have never felt the urge to do so. In-spite of travelling extensively in USA and UK, I never wrote down anything. I don't know the exact reason, but I feel that I have been mesmerised by the beauty of India so much that I never gave enough importance to the other places! Another reason might be that travelling is so easy in these countries, to the point of being boring, that there is no sense of achievement in driving cross country. A three or four day trip to Gangtok from Kolkata is usually more interesting than these trips.

But this trip was different. I have been awestruck by the beauty of the European countryside, cities and the quaint little towns! Hence this travelogue, or a "photologue".

Preparation

Vehicle -

There are some pre-requisites for UK registered cars to be driven in mainland Europe.

1. Vehicles with old number plates, that do not have GB sticker, need to have a GB sticker at the back

2. The headlights low beams need to be covered with protective stickers. Notice the position of the stickers in the images below. They are put on the left side of the headlights in order to reduce glare of the oncoming traffic in Europe.

3. For driving in France, it is mandatory to carry a reflective jacket and a pair of unused breathalysers. The reflective jacket has to be kept in the cabin and not the boot so that it is accessible during an emergency stop. I got the AA kit for France from Amazon. It cost me £22. These are sold on the ferries from Dover as well, but cost more.

4. Get pollution stickers and pay for LEZ (Low Emission Zone) charges for cities like Paris, Brussels etc beforehand.







Human Permits

Schengen Visa is needed to visit 24 countries in Mainland Europe. More information can be found out at https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/
We applied at the French consulate and got visa for one year. The process was quite straight forward and we got the passports back in 5 working days.

Documents needed for Schengen Visa

Pre-requisites

• Application form dated and signed
• ID photograph
• If you are not a national of your country of residence, please provide proof of your legal residency in this country (e.g. residence permit, etc.).
• Travel document : national passport or official travel document issued less than 10 years ago, valid for at least 3 months beyond the planned date of return, containing at least two blank ‘visa’ pages

Purpose of travel/stay

• Proof of travel. A confirmed return ticket to France (plane, ferry, bus, etc…)
• Reservation confirmation of an organised trip or any other document describing the planned programme

Travel health insurance

• Travel health insurance certificate

Accommodation

• Hotel booking or rental agreement, showing your full name as well as dates and address of stay, or “Attestation d’accueil” issued by the local town hall of your host’s place of residence in France, or booking confirmation from a travel agency.

Funds

• Last 3 months worth of bank statements (UK current account) showing your full name and address, and proving that you have enough funds for the whole duration of the trip, or traveller’s cheques presenting the same guarantees. If you are financially sponsored by your spouse/partner : marriage certificate and bank statements of your spouse/partner.

Socio-professional situation

• Employee : recent signed official letter from your employer, and/or payslips for the last three months. Self-employed : - Recent letter from your accountant, banker or solicitor, specifying your professional independent activity or the ownership of a company in the UK - Letter from the British financial authorities Students : recent signed official letter from your school or University in the UK.

Transport

To apply for Schengen visa one needs to show the dates and mode of transport to and from Europe. Since we opted to take our vehicle we had two options, take euro tunnel or the ferry across the English Channel. We decided to go for the ferry. Again here are two options, DFDS (https://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk) and P&O (http://www.poferries.com/en/portal). We chose DFDS from Dover in UK to Calais in France.

Itinerary

Day 1: London to Amiens
Day 2: Amiens to Paris
Day 3: Paris to Versailles
Day 4: Versailles to Ghent
Day 5: Ghent, Brussels, Bruges
Day 6: Ghent to Amsterdam
Day 7: Amsterdam to London

[BlackPearl]

Day 1: London to Amiens

Finally when the day of travel came, we were excited to the hilt. In our excitement we reached Dover 2 hours earlier than our slot for the ferry. We thought we would have to wait for 2 hours, but the DFDS personnel was very friendly and allowed us to take the next available ferry that was going to start in half an hour.

A short but boring video of the journey from reaching Dover, taking the ferry and starting the drive from Calais in France. I made the video so that people can get familiarised with Dover and getting into the ferry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLtZnq677h0&t=167s

More than 20 of these huge trucks went inside this ferry


Leaving the port


The white cliffs at a distance


The weather


It takes about 1 hour 10 minutes to cross the English Channel from Dover to Calais. After leaving the ferry I had to continuously remind myself to drive on the right side of the road.
It took about 10 to 15 minutes to get settled in driving on the right hand side of the road and seeing boards marked in Kilometers instead of Miles. Needed to adjust the mirrors a bit so that I had a better view of the left hand side of the vehicle. It was a bit unnerving at first seeing vehicles overtaking from the left at 130 kmph plus speeds. Realised that speed limits are slightly higher in mainland Europe.

From Calais we drove to a place called Amiens and halted for the day at a B&B.



The room in the B&B



France is 1 hour ahead of UK. It was already quite late by the time we reached Amiens. There was nothing much to do. Had hour dinner and called it a day.

[BlackPearl]

Day 2: Amiens to Paris

Next morning we started from Amiens for Paris. We reached Paris by 9 in the morning but could not check into the B&B as the owners were not at home and had informed us earlier. So we parked the car near the B&B and took a train to Central Paris. Language was a problem and we were struggling to find the train and the platform number. Approached a person and he was so helpful that even though he was not able to explain, he walked all the way to the platform and showed us which train to take!

At the platform waiting for the train


After getting down from the train, we were famished and ordered breakfast at a lovely restaurant. In fact all the restaurants in Paris are wonderful and it gets really hard to choose.

The best Pate I have ever had


There was one mistake in our planning. It was a national holiday in France and all the museums were closed. So we roamed around in Paris and took pictures of the places from outside.











Notre Dame had been devastated by fire a few weeks prior to our visit.



Sacré-Cœur was open that day, but the crowd was too much to handle. So we did not go inside







We then went on to the famous Montmartre. Montmartre is known for its artistic history, the Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur, good restaurants and as a nightclub district.



We had walked a lot by now and it was time to re-fuel at one of the restaurants of Montmartre.

Steak


Mussels


Cobbled road


Beautiful by-lanes of Paris




After a late lunch we went to see the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to see it lit up in the evening, but there was a lot of time left for sunset. We took a river cruise on Seine river.

A few pics from the cruise










By the time we came back from the cruise the Eiffel Tower was lit and it looked charming.


We took a few pics and left for our B&B




It was almost midnight by the time we reached the B&B. In between, a funny incident happened on our way back. We were as usual struggling to find the correct train at the station. We were looking at the board for quite sometime and suddenly got startled by a voice that spoke broken Hindi - "Aap kahan se ho?" meaning "Where are you from?" We looked around and found a very tall and lean guy smiling at us. We replied in English and then he introduced himself. He is a French national but knows Hindi and Bengali as he is doing some research work on the Bible being translated to Indian languages. He helped us finding the right train and he joined as well as his stop was on the way. All the time he was speaking either in Hindi or extremely broken Bengali!

The B&B is run by a couple named Nicole and Mark and they are really wonderful. Mark was awake to let us in and chatted with us for quite sometime. He has been to India several times and has keen interest in everything about India.

The beautiful little porch beside our bedroom in the B&B

[BlackPearl]

Day 3: Paris to Versailles

Breakfast was not in the package at the B&B, but Mark and Nicole were nice enough to invite us. It was lovely with all homemade stuff. We clicked a few pictures with them and took our leave with a promise to go back again someday.





We went towards Versailles. It was a one hour drive.



After checking in at our hotel in Versailles, we went towards the famous Palace of Versailles. It was walking distance. But got a rude shock after reaching there. There were busload of people from all over the world with an entry line of over 200 meters. We had a pass but it was not a privileged one. So we were asked to stand in the line and I absolutely hate that. We clicked a few pictures from outside and went to have lunch.



Saw this Dacia Duster outside and it looked cool with the lights on top and the red decals. I like this grille as well.


We had lunch at a local restaurant and the steak was one the best I have ever had. Unfortunately we forgot to click any pictures, which is a rare thing. Proves how good the food really was!

After lunch we went for a drive nearby.



We went back to Versailles and clicked a few more pictures. The sun was setting and the light was beautiful.




In the evening we went back to the same restaurant and had dinner. Spent the rest of the evening roaming around the Versailles. European cities and towns are charming.

[BlackPearl]

Day 4: Versailles to Ghent



It was a four hour drive from Versailles in France to Ghent in Belgium. The distance was about 300 Kilometers.

The B&B in Ghent



We parked the car in Ghent and took public transport to Bruges. It was a mistake that we realised very late that same night.

Rajsri waiting at the bus stop in Ghent.



We reached Bruges in the afternoon and realised that there are many parking spots. It would not have been difficult to get a place if we had got our car to Bruges. But all online reviews had specifically mentioned not to take one's own car.

Bruges is a beautiful city. Some people say it is over commercialised and a bit over-hyped, but I liked every bit of it. We spent the whole day visiting the tourist spots and even took a city bus tour.













Belgium is famous for a lot of things, one of them is waffles.





It was quite late by the time we started from Bruges. Getting back to the B&B was a disaster. Google map was not able to show the correct buses or the stops as night buses in Bruges have different numbers. There were very few people on the streets to ask for help, and those who were there could not help due to communication problem. Finally, after struggling for more than one and half hours, we were able to reach the B&B.

[BlackPearl]

Day 5: Ghent, Brussels, Brugge

We started early and went to the Hergé Museum near Brussels.



It was a great experience and it was one thing that was on our bucket list for a very long time. A must visit for Tintin and Hergé fans.



After buying a few mementoes from the gift shop at the museum, we went to Bruges again. This time we took our car and found a nice parking spot. With car parked we could concentrate on roaming around Bruges again.

The Belfry Tower - a bell tower built in the fifteenth century













This is one of the most photographed places in Bruges - Rozenhoedkaai (Quay of the Rosary)

[BlackPearl]

Day 6: Ghent to Amsterdam



Amsterdam was about 250 Kilometers from Ghent. We reached the outskirts of Amsterdam by noon and checked into a lovely B&B called Villa Oldenhoff.



The location of the B&B was beautiful.



After getting fresh we drove to the city and parked the car a bit outside as directed by the owner of the B&B. From there we walked to the tourist attractions in Amsterdam. We clicked most of the pictures in Rajsri's phone as I was quite tired carrying the heavy camera around. Unfortunately we never backed up those photos. The phone got damaged at a later date and while writing this travelogue I realised that we have lost pictures forever. Posting a few pictures that I had clicked with the camera.

The famous canals of Amsterdam



A customary pic in front of one of the canals



The light was beautiful when we came back to the B&B. Clicked a few pictures of the Mini in the twilight.

[BlackPearl]

Day 7: Amsterdam to London



We started from Amsterdam quite late and went towards Dunkirk in France. Our return ferry was booked from Dunkirk at 10 PM. Since there was a lot of time in our hands, we thought of stopping at Ghent on the way. We had not seen the places in Ghent in-spite of staying there for 2 days as we were more interested in Bruges. Set ourselves a maximum time of two hours and visited as many places as possible.











After landing in UK it felt awkward for a few minutes as I had got used to driving on the wrong side of the road for the last seven days! A lovely trip came to an end. It was my first trip to mainland Europe and I have been bowled over by the beauty of the places, the heritage, history and the cuisines. Will surely go back as soon as possible.

[Gannu_1]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing Sumitro!

[navsjab]

STUNNING PICTURES! Really well taken. Nice to read the details of the trip. The Mini is looking beautiful along with the landscape.

Looking forward to seeing the newly acquired Range Rover Sport traveling around Europe now. Must be in the plan for the near future, since the Schengen Visa has sometime to expire. Congratulations on the purchase once again.

[Sunrock]

Awesome Photos! Europe is definitely a beautiful place to be. Especially driving there, nothing beats that experience.

What is the camera gear and editing software you use.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by navsjab

STUNNING PICTURES! Really well taken. Nice to read the details of the trip. The Mini is looking beautiful along with the landscape.

Thank you navsjab!

Originally Posted by navsjab

Looking forward to seeing the newly acquired Range Rover Sport traveling around Europe now. Must be in the plan for the near future, since the Schengen Visa has sometime to expire. Congratulations on the purchase once again.

Thanks once again. Need to plan for a trip after Christmas.

Originally Posted by Sunrock

Awesome Photos! Europe is definitely a beautiful place to be. Especially driving there, nothing beats that experience.

What is the camera gear and editing software you use.

Thanks Sunrock! We were using a Nikon D810 with 16-35 lens and Adobe Lightroom for editing. But I am a newbie when it comes to editing photos. I mostly use the auto mode in Lightroom

[Sutripta]

Great Travelogue.

Any tickets speeding, parking?

Any idea how long it takes to drive from Ghent to Aachen (Aix la Chapelle)?

Regards
Sutripta

[Samba]

There is nothing new to write on a travelogue crafted by you! As-usual it was an excellent read with some brilliant pics. Your red Mini is a looker! Rated 5*.
Great to see, you and Rajsri Di are chasing your dreams and living life to the fullest.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Saw this Dacia Duster outside and it looked cool with the lights on top and the red decals. I like this grille as well.
Attachment 1946443

Well, i sourced few similar looking scale models of the Dacia Duster last year from UK!
Placing the Thar in the backdrop was intentional.

[bharatbits]

Nice Black Pearl.
Was the Mini diesel or petrol? Rented? How much? Can Indians drive directly without a international license? How much did the trip cost and for how many days?

Bharat