A long journey

We had a very long journey today driving to Switzerland. Usually it takes just over an hour from our house to the Eurotunnel crossing at Folkstone, but today it took nearly 2 hours to get there due to Operation Stack. For those who don't know, Operation Stack is a procedure used by Kent Police to 'stack' HGV lorries along the M20 to help control the flow of HGV traffic due to strikes in France or similar - today was the third day of Operation Stack being implemented due to a migrant worker dying while trying to enter Britain via the Eurotunnel, and as a consequence junctions 8 to 11 of the M20 were closed. It was a very slow process trying to get to the Eurotunnel.

The motorways through France were slower than usual due to road works everywhere. There was much anti-Francophile mutterings coming from the driver's seat and comments about how the tolls should be reduced if the roads were not in proper working order! It seemed as if every few kilometres we were at yet another peage paying to be using those roads.

It has been a long day as we have been up since 4am and we got here just after 7pm. Murdoch was very excited to be back here, he started quivering with excitement for the last 30 minutes of the journey - I am sure he recognises it as he has been here every summer for the past 9 years. This is the familiar view that greeted us as we arrived.

No time to look at journals tonight, but I will catch up in due course.