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5th January 2021, 20:24 | #1 |
Team-BHP Support | White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport There is a saying that "Man proposes, but God disposes"! It is high time to change it to "Covid disposes". Our year end trip plan was almost getting disposed off due to the new Covid 19 variant being announced. I am going to narrate the sequence of events as a log imitating the way it was shown in Star Trek. But before that, a teaser pic! Whatever I say about this car will be an understatement. It has been a fabulous companion throughout the trip - Day 1: BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 19th Dec 2020: Time 12:30 PM Our Range Rover Sport aka The Little Devil has been serviced this week in preparation for the long trip to the Alps next week. Today is the last weekend before we start for the trip. Winter kit had been ordered and has arrived a couple of days back. Michelin Easygrip snowchains have arrived as well. The only thing pending is a good cleaning of the vehicle and we have planned to get it done today afternoon. AA Winter Car Kit (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) This includes folding snow shovel, LED torch, foil blanket and high visibility vest Michelin Evo 16 Snow Chains (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) I had bought an OBD II scanner as well because Range Rovers are supposedly unreliable and everyone suggests to keep a scanner handy! BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 19th Dec 2020: Time 17:00 PM Car wash has been done. I have never been so happy spending £20 pounds on a car wash, it was easily worth £50. The vehicle is shining inside out! BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 19th Dec 2020: Time 17:30 PM It is time to switch on the new electric heater and watch television while sipping on coffee. Chicken nuggets are getting warmed up as well. A quick glance at WhatsApp messages is also due. There is an update in one of the groups regarding the latest lockdown measures to be taken in the UK. BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 19th Dec 2020: Time 20:00 PM Our vehicle is running towards Folkstone, the UK border on the English Channel, at breakneck speed. The last two and half hours have been super hectic. My relaxing evening plan with chicken nuggets, coffee and Netflix got thrown out of the window after hearing Boris Johnson's statement about the new strain of Covid virus and that of borders going to be closed after midnight. A frantic call to my boss requesting for approval starting for Europe immediately, changing the Eurtotunnel booking from 24th December to tonight, packing all the stuff took us a couple of hours. Now we plan to cross over to France before they close the borders after hearing the news. The earliest Eurotunnel slot that we could get is 02:50 Hours, but we wanted to get there as soon as possible. We can see a lot of cars going towards Folkstone and the overhead signboards are showing that freights to Europe are delayed. Not a good sign! BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 19th Dec 2020: Time 23:00 PM This image says it all. We had arrived too early for our booked slot. They asked us to exit the Eurotunnel area and come back after 0:00 am. We are now waiting anxiously at a nearby service area, hoping that they will allow us to board the shuttle at 2:50 am! Last edited by BlackPearl : 12th February 2021 at 03:45. |
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7th January 2021, 18:18 | #2 | |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 1 Continued.. BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 20th Dec 2020: Time 3:00 AM We went back to the Eurotunnel terminal at 11:50 PM and they allowed us to enter this time. Waiting patiently for our number to come We had dozed off and when we woke up saw that our slot "E" has been rescheduled to 7 am. So I was planning to go off to sleep again when Rajsri said that there must have been some mistake as the 2:50 am slot boarding was in progress. We immediately started for the boarding gate. But by that time there was a huge line in front of us. It seemed that all the people from UK were fleeing to France! We had a heart in mouth situation when we saw that we were the last vehicle and two personnel were discussing something with grim face, occasionally pointing at our vehicle. Rajsri was furious with me for not starting earlier. After an excruciatingly painful wait for a few minutes, one of the personnels came towards us and apologised for the situation. He said that there was only one slot left in the HGV area where he would be able to squeeze us in. It was such a relief! Now we are sitting in the Euroshuttle, waiting for it to reach Calais in France. BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 20th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM On the way, Rajsri had called up a friend named Bobs who runs a BnB in Fanas, Switzerland. Unfortunately she can accommodate us tomorrow evening onwards. So we had to find a hotel in Bad Ragaz. The drive from Calais to Bad Ragaz was beautiful. There was no problem at the France Switzerland border. The first view of the snow capped mountains was exciting. Negotiating through fog on the way This is our second time in Bad Ragaz and it is a beautiful little town. From Wiki - Quote:
A few pictures in and around Bad Ragaz. The Christmas lights have made it look magical. Unfortunately, I found out that I have left the camera connector for the tripod back at home, so all the shots had to be taken handheld. Tamina Gorge (Taminaschlucht) Calling it a day as it has been quite a long journey from London to Bad Ragaz, almost 1200 Kilometers and that too with a lot of tension! The route from Google Maps Last edited by BlackPearl : 16th February 2021 at 03:57. | |
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19th January 2021, 22:13 | #3 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 2 - "Bad news" BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 21st Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM We had booking at the hotel in Bad Ragaz for just one night. Breakfast was part of the deal and it was a good spread. Today we left the hotel in the afternoon and came to Fanas. We had to work from car for a couple of hours. On the way, stopped at a Camera store to buy a ball head. The guy was very nice to offer me a used one at a steal price! The store Saw this beauty in a lane near Tamina Gorge (Taminaschlucht). Good to see that it is still leading a purposeful life! We had stayed in Fanas during our trip in August and it was lovely to come back again. The views were completely different at this time of the year. Since it was a work day we could not go around much, sharing a few pics of the place we are staying. At around 7 P.M. Bobs called us up and asked us to see the news. Switzerland has updated the quarantine policy. Everyone leaving UK after 14th December has to go into mandatory quarantine for 10 days by midnight of 22nd December! This was a shocking news as we would have to quarantine for the next 9 days and all our plans went out for a toss. Discussed with Rajsri and decided to leave immediately. France is the only country that does not have any quarantine rules yet, so will leave Switzerland and go towards Chamonix in France where we have booking from 25th December. After further discussion it seems prudent to start early morning tomorrow. Day 3 - Saint-Gervais-les-Bains BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 22nd Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM We started early in the morning today from Fanas after saying goodbye to Babs and her husband. It was a shame that we could not stay for a few more days there. Started driving towards Chamonix, but we did not have any booking yet. Rajsri started looking for places on Booking.com and finalised one in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, which is about 20 minutes from Chamonix. It was a 5 hour drive and we wished that it was 24th century and we could have a super fast mode of transport! The drive itself was average, encountered some heavy rain in between and quite bit of traffic till Zurich. There was checking going on at Switzerland-France border, at the entry point towards Switzerland and saw a queue of cars. There was no checking on our side during entry to France. The route - Fanas to Saint Gervais The place that Rajsri found is warm and beautiful. A few pictures of the rooms - It has been a hectic day today with the 6 hour drive and then office work. Will be hitting the bed early. Last edited by BlackPearl : 29th January 2021 at 17:04. |
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22nd January 2021, 19:23 | #4 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 4 - Saint-Gervais-les-Bains BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 23rd Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM Today has been a quiet day, have been working from this place. The building - Went to the high street in Saint Gervais during lunch break to get some groceries. Coffee shops are still open, but all the restaurants are closed. It is not a Casino but a grocery shop! A few pictures from the town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains It gets dark by 4:30 PM and there is curfew after 8 P.M. So not much chance to go anywhere after office. Set up the tripod in the balcony and tried my hands on long exposure photography. View from the balcony Tonight is very important for the customer I work for and have to be awake the whole night to ensure everything runs smoothly. The good part is that my planned vacation starts from tomorrow afternoon! Yay! Day 5 - Saint-Gervais-les-Bains BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 24th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM Last edited by BlackPearl : 16th February 2021 at 03:56. |
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27th January 2021, 21:25 | #5 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 6 - Chamonix-Mont-Blanc BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 25th Dec 2020: Time 9:00 AM It has snowed a lot from last evening and the view from the balcony is beautiful. It is time to pack up and leave the chalet in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains that has been our home for the last 3 nights. The stay has been comfortable. We are now going to go towards Plaine Joux. A few pictures en-route to the Ski resort of Passy Plain Joux BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 25th Dec 2020: Time 13:00 PM At one point the road became quite slippery and uphill. Saw one vehicle had fallen into a ditch on the side. A screen grab from the dashcam, the car can be seen at a distance in the ditch. We could not help them as we were not carrying any tow rope. I could see a few people parking their vehicles on the side and installing snow chains. Mostly the 2wd cars. We parked here for a while to gauge the situation. We saw that the 4WDs were doing fine and I had not faced any problem yet, so planned to continue without snow chains. The road beyond the ski resort was closed due to snow. So we spent some time there and took a lot of pictures. It was showing -3 degrees Celcius in the console and I have found it to be pretty accurate Last edited by BlackPearl : 4th February 2021 at 21:44. |
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28th January 2021, 22:56 | #6 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 6 Continued - BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 25th Dec 2020: Time 18:00 PM We left the ski resort of Plain Joux and went back towards Saint Gervais. The road was looking like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. Spent some time in the town centre of Saint Gervais. That smile after buying the favourite pastries! From Saint Gervais we went to ..... It was bitter cold and was getting dark as well. We stopped at a cemetery to take a few pictures and almost froze. The smiles you see in this picture are forced! We literally ran to the car after taking this pic and had almost slipped and fell for a couple of times doing that. The car was slipping a bit here and there on the ice. The road had become desolate and I did not want to push further without a backup vehicle. Wanted to take a U Turn and made a mistake by reversing too much into a slope. The Range Rover was not moving for a few seconds, the wheels were slipping. Finally I thought it was time to put the snow chains on. But before that, wanted to give it another go to see how the terrain response behaves if I do not let my foot off the accelerator when the wheels start slipping. It worked, the vehicle started moving after spinning the wheels for a while. Phew! Attachment 2114905 We started for Chamonix where we have the hotel booking for today. It was quite easy to find the hotel. We have parked the car in a private car park and are planning to go out for a walk in the evening. BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 25th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM As mentioned earlier, we went out for a walk to see Chamonix. There were quite a few people around and we wore masks to be safe. The hotel we are staying - Vallee Blanche We had burger at this place - A few pictures from the streets of Chamonix - Last edited by BlackPearl : 29th January 2021 at 06:54. |
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29th January 2021, 00:36 | #7 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 7 - Chamonix, Les Houches, Megeve... BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 26th Dec 2020: Time 2:00 PM We woke up to a beautiful view from the hotel room. Mont Blanc and the river Arve can be seen from the room. After a light breakfast, it was time to visit a lot of places around the Chamonix Mont Blanc region. Today we planned to fly the drone a little as well. Not sure how the drone would behave in such cold weather. Thankfully it had not snowed the previous night, so we did not have to clean the car in the morning. The road was treacherous - We parked the car at the side and flew the drone. Took a few shots of Chamonix from the top - The place was looking beautiful but it was bitter cold. Took a few more pictures and went back to the warm confines of the car. From there we went till the Italy border. We did not have any particular agenda, the plan was to roam around and soak in the beauty of the place. So we stopped at any place that we liked and took a lot of pictures. Mont Blanc is the highest point in the Alps but it does not look like a peak. Matterhorn in Switzerland looks much more dramatic. In fact, one will not even look twice at Mont Blanc if one does not know about it. But the name is beautiful! Last edited by BlackPearl : 6th February 2021 at 04:59. |
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1st February 2021, 22:34 | #8 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 7 - Continued... BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 26th Dec 2020: Time 18:00 PM Today is our last day in Chamonix and the hotel is not available from tomorrow. So we planned to stay in Megeve for the next couple of days. Before staying there, we wanted to have a look at the place as it was not far from Chamonix. We took an offbeat route, not shown on the GPS and it was extremely beautiful. Entering Megeve - From the moment we entered Megeve we did not like the place, though it is very famous in this region. There were too many people and cars. So we did not get down and drove through the town centre. All the pcitures are taken as screenshots form the roof mounted GoPro. While returning from Megeve we stopped at the MacDonald's drive through to pick up burgers and chips. Had a tough time explaining what we wanted. While returning to Chamonix, we were close to Les Houches when we got a stunning view of the mountain ranges. I thought of stopping the car to take a picture, but I have a problem that I cannot stop. I told Rajsri that it would have been a beautiful picture if we had stopped. Rajsri immediately told me take a u turn and stop the car at a place she had spotted. She said that we had plenty of time and there was no point in regretting later. Good that I had listened to her. I think this is the best picture I have taken ever. We still have one week left before going back to London, but we can't risk going to Switzerland as per the original plan. It will be a big headache if they don't allow us to enter at the border or worse, impose a quarantine. We had thought of staying in Megeve for a couple of days, but we did not like Megeve today. So will have to think of something tomorrow. Last edited by BlackPearl : 2nd February 2021 at 23:19. |
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3rd February 2021, 04:00 | #9 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 8 - Servoz BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 27th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM Today morning we left our hotel in Chamonix and went to the town to click a few pictures with Mont Blanc in the background. Yes, that is Mont Blanc! The Chamonix Mont Blanc region is quite small and all the ski resorts and restaurants are closed. We did not have much to do apart from roaming around the same places and clicking pictures. Flew the drone a bit as well - Spot the car! Had coffee at a lovely little place - Rajsri has been able to book a chalet in Servoz for a day. It was very difficult to find the place. Finally we found the chalet and it is a quaint little place. Rajsri took this photo from the balcony - The ground floor - The first floor - The place is so small that we are looking like giants! Also it is creaking under our weight. I had setup the tripod in the balcony hoping to get some shots, but could not spend much time due to the cold. Rajsri cooked an excellent dinner! After dinner we discussed that we have seen enough of snow and there is nothing else to see in this region. We have come to the conclusion that we will go towards the Provence region of France tomorrow. Last edited by BlackPearl : 4th February 2021 at 21:50. |
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4th February 2021, 22:10 | #10 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 9 - La Capelle-et-Masmolène, Provence BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 28th Dec 2020: Time 8:00 AM It has been snowing throughout the night and our sleep was quite disturbed due to the creaking noises in the old chalet. Though we were not afraid of anything, the noises were quite annoying. So woke up quite early and took a few pictures from the balcony. Rajsri has been busy looking for a place to stay in the Provence region. Meanwhile I went out to start the car as I was a bit worried that it might take an effort. However, it started at one go. Didier, the owner of the Chalet, was really nice to help me in cleaning the snow from the car. I flew the drone for a while but that ended in a mishap. My first drone accident! I think the sensors malfunctioned in so much snow and cold that it became uncontrollable. Just as I was bringing it home, it suddenly dipped and hit the rail of the balcony. The damage has been minimal though, just one propeller broke. Replaced it, but did not have the courage to fly it again immediately. A couple of pics taken with the drone - Rajsri has finalised a place in La Capelle-et-Masmolène and we will be leaving an hour or so. BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 28th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM Cleaning the car had been a futile attempt in the morning as it started snowing heavily soon after. View from behind the wheels A video - We started from Servoz for Provence and planned to take the B routes. It would take a longer time but it would be much more interesting than the expressways. We were not disappointed, passed through some beautiful places. The landscape had completely changed in a few hour's time! The route taken - We reached La Capelle-et-Masmolène in the evening after driving for almost 9 hours. The place we are staying is beautiful and the hosts are nice people. Last edited by BlackPearl : 16th February 2021 at 04:56. |
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5th February 2021, 01:13 | #11 | |||
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 10 - Provence - Avignon, L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Fontain-de-Vaucluse, Gordes, Roussillon, Lacoste, Uzes BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 29th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM We started the day a bit late today but had to cover a lot of areas. So could not click too many pictures. The track for today - Clicked on the way to Avignon- We went to Avignon first and filled up diesel. Avignon is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France, located on the left bank of the river Rhône. We did not stop in Avignon as it would take a long time to visit the places in the city. Our main agenda was to visit the small towns and villages of Provence. Our first stop was at L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Quote:
Rajsri did some shopping - Next stop was the beautiful Fontain-de-Vaucluse. Quote:
After Fontain-de-Vaucluse we went to Gordes. Quote:
These communes of Provence region are so beautiful that we realised we need to spend more than a day in each of these places. Winter is not the right time to visit Provence. We are planning to come back during the lavender season and spend more time in Provence. Next stop was Roussillon. Though it is not far from Gordes, still the topography had completely changed! It was red soil all around. It was quite late in the afternoon and was already getting dark. So we hurried on to the next commune, Lacoste. My first attempt at capturing the full moon. But I do not have a proper telephoto lens, so the quality is not good. Last edited by BlackPearl : 11th February 2021 at 16:46. | |||
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9th February 2021, 19:40 | #12 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 11 - Côte d'Azur BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 30th Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM Since the days of Need for Speed V Porsche Unleashed, it has been my dream to drive along the Côte d'Azur popularly called the French Riviera. The itch to drive grew manifold after our visit to Nice and Monaco in the beginning of this year. At that time we had promised that we would come back someday. Could not believe that it would come true in less than a year! We started from Masmolène in the morning after bidding goodbye to our lovely hosts and went towards the Mediterranean. For those who have not driven on this route, I can safely insist that it should be very high on the agenda or bucket list, whatever way you would like to say. We drove the whole day and took pictures along the route. The morning - First view of the Mediterranean - Found another person clicking photo of his car! The RRS enjoying a view of the blue Med. Our smiles show how happy we were with the drive, the weather and beautiful views of the Côte d'Azur We made numerous stops and kept on gazing at the Mediterranean, the beauty was enthralling. Rajsri has booked a place in Biot near Antibes. It is between Nice and Cannes. Today's track from Masmolène to Biot - Last edited by BlackPearl : 9th February 2021 at 22:22. |
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9th February 2021, 22:24 | #13 | |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 12 - Côte d'Azur and Monaco BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 31st Dec 2020: Time 21:00 PM The place we are staying in Biot. We have been fortunate to get lovely hosts wherever we have stayed, and this place is no exception. Today is 31st of December, so there is no place better than Monaco to spend the last day of the year. We started from Biot and drove along the Mediterranean coast through Nice. It was a great feeling to see Nice again. The travelogue of our previous trip in January, 2020 - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ce-monaco.html (Weekend in Nice and Monaco) Driving through Nice - The weather was stunning and we could not miss the view of Nice from a distance - Kept driving along the Côte d'Azur, soaking in the beauty of the place. I think I can spend every day of my life driving along this route! We reached Monaco in the afternoon and drove on the Formula 1 circuit. This is the start/finish line where the cars are lined up for the race, the markings can be seen on the road - The famous tunnel! Ferraris, Lamborghinis, AMGs could be seen everywhere. Monaco is a rich man's place! We parked the car and clicked this photo as a memento It was a pleasant surprise to see the restaurants open! We were famished. Immediately finalised one restaurant and booked a table. There was a waiting period, so spent the time clicking a few pictures nearby. The restaurant Huit & Demi After almost half an hour we got a table. It was worth the wait. The food was outstanding! Soon it was time to leave Monaco and we went towards Menton. Menton is near the border of France and Italy and we went till the check post before returning. Quote:
While returning from Menton we stopped at Eze. Rajsri bought a few perfumes from this shop. Today's track from Biot to Menton and back. Last edited by BlackPearl : 12th February 2021 at 01:06. | |
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12th February 2021, 01:08 | #14 | |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 13 - Grasse BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 1st Jan 2021: Time 21:00 PM Today is the last day before we start our journey back towards London. We spent almost the whole day in Grasse. Quote:
At Parfumerie Fragonard - The Historic Factory in Grasse A few pictures from inside the factory - A happy customer! After spending almost five hours in Grasse, we went towards Nice. It was raining today and the Mediterranean looked different. Since we like Nice so much, we took a drive through the place before returning to Biot. Last edited by BlackPearl : 12th February 2021 at 19:08. | |
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12th February 2021, 20:25 | #15 |
Team-BHP Support | Re: White Alps to the Blue Mediterranean in a Range Rover Sport Day 14 - Champagne BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 2nd Jan 2021: Time 21:00 PM It has been a heck of a drive today, from Biot to Champagne in less than 9 hours including breaks! A distance of 906 Kilometers The route from Google timeline The weather was quite bad on the way, it was raining for most of the part and then there was snowfall as well for a short period of time. This Maserati was going fast and I followed for quite a long time. It was helpful. We reached at Michele's place in Champagne at around 4 PM. We had stayed here before during our Switzerland trip last year and it was a lovely experience. We decided to come back because Michele is an outstanding cook on top of being an excellent host. But she does not understand a single English word. So our interactions with her are extremely funny. Our modes of communication include frantic hand and head movements, translations apps, over acting etc. We went out for a walk and it was quite cold outside. The sunset was beautiful The place where we are staying tonight - The room - Soon it was time for dinner and the food as usual was excellent. Dinner started with pumpkin soup with prawn and scallops. It was out of the world. Then came the veal chops, again outstanding would be an understatement. Dessert was a fruity affair which I did not like much, but Rajsri loved it. Day 15 - Champagne to London BlackPearl's Log: Earth Date 3rd Jan 2021: Time 19:00 PM Nothing to write much about anything today. We had started from Champagne in the morning, took the Euroshuttle from Calais to Folkstone. A few snaps of the Euroshuttle - Folkstone to London was an uneventful drive. It started raining as usual. We are back in London after a trip that we thought was not going to happen. A last minute desperate attempt turned out to be an excellent decision! Now begins the painful 10 day quarantine. A few statistics about the trip - Total distance traveled: 4657 Kilometers Fuel consumed: 528 Litres Average fuel consumption: 8.9 kmpl Cost of fuel: £740 --The End-- Last edited by BlackPearl : 16th February 2021 at 04:54. |
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