A day to forget, but so many memories

Tuesday 19/6, today we planned to head west to the coast then northward through Calais and Dunkerque and onto Brugge; well that was the plan. Yesterday Annie started misbehaving, proof that all women can’t do more than one thing at a time, whenever Annie was giving spoken instructions she never moved the map and after she finished talking it took several seconds before she updated the map; so, often 600 metres or more passed before the map was updated. This meant that visual cues were not available at intersections. Yesterday, a couple of times, I missed the correct corner; but that wasn’t a problem, just do 3 sides of s block and we are back on course. Today, without the visual cue, I missed a corner and ended on the entry ramp to a toll-way. OK, I pay the $2.40 toll and then find that the new route to the destination is now 20km LONGER. Next, I miss our exit and find that we are now on the way to the Calais-Dover tunnel. Luckily, we find a last exit and head off towards Dunkerque. We arrive and find the Tourist Info office is closed for lunch, so we go exploring on our own. Oh, a Kodak scene, out comes the camera, point and NO PHOTO, the battery is flat. I knew I forgot to do something last night. Well, we just have to rely on Jean’s camera for the day. It too has been misbehaving, sometimes just refusing to take a shot or waiting 4 or 5 seconds before doing so, and missing a great opportunity. Time for a coffee, then the Tourist Info office is open, so we get directions to the Dunkerque War Museum for Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of the Allies from Dunkirk in WW2). Well, Annie made the 1km drive into about 5km and 20minutes. If she keeps misbehaving like this, we may need to rename her Fanny. Anyway, the Museum was very interesting and moving. While having lunch, I did a reset of Annie, unloaded the European maps and reloaded them. After the museum visit, we decided that we didn’t have enough time left to visit Brugge, so we set a course north along the Belgium coast to a small town of Veurne, and Annie got the message, she behaved well. Veurne is a beautiful little town, and guess who sniffed out a fabric and patchwork shop? From Veurne, we headed of towards Ypres, yet another magnificent town. From here we headed to Armentieres (with my eyes open for a Mademoiselle or two). The old churches in these small towns are just amazing, and again we weren’t let down, well almost; because now the battery was flat in Jean’s camera, thank goodness for phones that can double as cameras. Then it was off back home to St Omers, a great dinner and soon a sleep to prepare for tomorrow on French roads, and hoping that Annie continues to behave. French roads are reasonable but their signage leaves something to be desired. French street name signs (if they exist) are small and hard to read, but there are numerous speed signs. On an open country French road we get 110, then 90, then a warning of an impending 70, then the 70, and a 50 and maybe a 30 followed by a 50 and then an “End of 50”. What does this mean? 70, 90, or 110? But don’t worry before you get to 100, there is another warning of an impending 70. Some freeways are 130, but there are few service stations. Belgium roads are far better. All freeways are fully lighted for night travel; there are regular service stations, and the road surface is better than the French. Also, there are distance markers every 100 metres! The Dutch roads aren’t fully lighted, but the surface is even better than the Belgium roads, again regular servos, and their 100 metre distance markers are on both sides of the road or freeway and also contain the Freeway or highway number and the current speed limit. What an expense, but so good to drive with. Lane discipline is also very good here, except for trucks in France where they are not limited to which lanes they can use. In Belgium and Holland trucks are limited to the slow lane, and only occasionally the middle lane when there are three. It is similar in Germany. In Germany, trucks are limited to 80, buses to 100, and cars to whatever. Well enough of my ramblings. This has been prompted by the lack of internet at the hotel, but access is back again, so I will stop typing, and post this. Till the next episode, au revoir.