Calais

Rode out of Bonn slower than the autobahn allowed. Less buffeting. And the rain was not heavy. Made for an easier ride. 
For those in North America, once past 130kph you cannot text, drink coffee, or put on your make-up at those speeds.  You actually have to look at the road and the traffic. 
I would argue that raising speed limits past 130kph will increase safety.

Meanwhile.
Back on the ride.
After a couple of hours the rain had stopped. and the sun was making an effort.

So, time to fill up and TLC for the bike. 
‎
Pasta the only option for lunch. 
Ate and headed out. I think I was in Holland. ‎That’s the trouble. One minute you are in one country. An hour later another 🙂
It’s great.

Some 30mins later, sleepiness started overtaking me.
Pulled over in a lay-by for a cuppa and some nougat. 
Rode on AOK 🙂

Ran past Brussels. Not raining this time. haha.

Then into France. 
How did I know? Remembered a lay-by on the other side of the road, that I used on the last trip.
I kid you not.

Filled up some 30klicks from my overnighter. 

Here comes another rant…..
Dutch programmers at BookingDotCom are insisting that we use an app that they have created called MessageCentre.
So if I want to see the information a hotel sent me, in the old days, I would check my emails, which are on my phone.  The email would catch up with me whenever I had the Internet. As I was probably riding at the time could not read it. But when I stop, there is the email. Perfect. 
Now I get an email saying I need to connect to MessageCentre. And sometimes I am in a spot where there is no Internet. There is no actual message in the email, so there is no way to judge the importance of the message. I have received messages as important as detailed instructions to park and pickup keys, to the  banal “Looking forward to seeing you”. 
aaaaaaaaggghh
Useless Dutch programmers. 
And there is probably a VP with his reputation on the line with this initiative, so MessageCente won’t go away. No matter how stupid it is.
…….Rant over. 

Parked in front of the Calais apartment building. 
Landlady arrived with the keys.
And the bike had indoor parking! Bonus 🙂
Unpacked.

The rain now joined the blustery wind. 
I forgot to mention the wind. Blustery since Belgium. If not before.
And the fellow bikers that I met at the last fill-up, still had to get to Northants.

Went looking for what the landlady promised as good curry.  Restaurant closed for what looked like electrical work 🙁
Went to the next building and found garlic mussels……

Then back to the apartment, and do a bit of laundry. 

An early night.
 

Up 6am on Tuesday morning to sunshine. 
TaiChi.
Packed.

Took the bike out of the garage. 
Ate breakfast (grapefruit and water). 
Loaded up.
Rode out. 

Sky of blue. 6km to go to the train. What could possibly go wrong?
Well. 
A train could be stuck in the tunnel. My train. 
So directed back to the parking. 
Had a bun and a doppio espresso. 
Sent msgs to let people know I was stuck. 
The procedure is that you have to keep watching the board. No announcements. 
My train popped up on the board. 
Rode over. 
Told to wait by the train. 
Once the carriages were loaded, I was slotted into the end spot of a carriage. 
Quite weird riding through a train. Nice weird 🙂
No straps. just park the bike wheel in the curb. Yup. There are sidewalks. 
Then another wait. 
And at 1224hrs am somewhere under the English Channel. 

Adieu Calais.

In other words, for all those who live in England.
Watch out. Watch out.
There’s a Lahodynskyj about 🙂