Day 1

Well I'm writing this from my deluxe 30 Euro Formule 1 hotel room just off Route Nationale 151 near a town called Bourges which is about a two and a bit hour drive south from Paris. All in all I've done about 450 miles today which I guess is something like London to Edinburgh.

I got up at 0330am this morning and went to Dover via Asda as I'd forgotten to pick up Mr Kipling Apple Pies for Francy. Its such a boring drive down to Dover and it was the biggest hardship of the day to try and keep focused on the road. The SpeedFerries boat is quite cool, although its like drivng inside a multi-story carpark for dwarves. I found myself a nice comfy seat and fell asleep only to be woken up by some inconsiderate family and screaming kids.

Anyway I managed to meet Izzi for lunch in Beauvais, which was great because I hadn't seen her for a long long time. We got a takeway sandwich each and sat overlooking the Cathedral which looks like this......

Then it was off to Paris to descend upon Magali. Mags used to work at Eurostar a few years back and is still the only woman I know who's proud to flaunt her flatulence. I have missed her a lot in the last few years. Here are some photos from there....

Bertha gleams in a Parisian side street near to Mag's flat. Now thats what I call parking. If anyone comments along the lines of "monsieur", "taxi" and "kerb", then I shall abandon this trip and beat someone with my fackin' 'orn.

This is Magali's cat Napoleon. In his 2 years of life he's managed to eat 7 cats, undergo a sex change (i'm not joking), lose weight, undergo liposuction and after a visit to a pet behaviour specialist is currently on a course of feline prozac because he's depressed about his restricted diet. Only one of the above isn't true.

A typical French reaction to the credit crunch. Keep hold of your assets. Here is proof that a happy woman is also a shameless woman!

After leaving Magali, Napoleon, Scott and Stuart it was a little excursion for Bertha around the Arc De Triomphe, which I can never resist and then down to Bourges via Orleans. It was a pretty uneventful drive but theres a whole load of Wind turbines that look pretty cool at dusk.

Anyway. Time for bed.