Preparation.

So far I've managed to come up with a route which looks something like this.

Outward route

Ealing - Dover - Boulogne - Abbeville - Boulogne - Beauvais - Paris - Fontainbleau - Orleans - Bourges - Clermont Ferrand - Le Puy en Velay - Les Gorges du Tarn - Millau Bridge - Beziers - Carcassone - Nimes - Avignon - Beaucaire - Tarascon - Aix en Provence - Gordes - Roussilon - Gorges du Verdon - Grasse - Nice - Monaco - San Remo - Genoa - La Spezia - Pisa - Florence - Perugia - Macerata!

Homeward bound

Macerata - Urbino - San Marino - Bologna - Ferrara - Padova - Treviso - Verona - Trento - Innsbruck - Garmisch Partenerkirchen (or Bologna - Milan - Como - Lugano - Gotthard - Zurich - Schaffhausen - Stuttgart) - Munich - Nuremburg - Bamberg - Hannover - Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Eindhoven - Utrecht - Antwerp - Oostende - Ramsgate - Ealing

Although the original plan was to go and see some parts of Switzerland that I didn't get to see in August. Which maybe reverted to at the expense of Austria. Because quite frankly they're a bunch of racist bigots and all long for the return of the Third Reich. At least the Swiss have Rosti, nice beer, veal in cider sauce and pretty ladies. They might have a little Nazi gold but at least they've invested it wisely. We'll shall see. It'll be great to see Jazzy in Switzerland but there's a danger that I'll fill up the boot full of Falken Bier, plus the Swiss charge you Motorway Tax.

All I've managed to book so far are the two ferry crossings (Dover - Boulogne with Speed Ferries) and on the way back with Trans Europa Ferries (Oostende - Ramsgate). I've got full AA Breakdown cover because I would say that there might be a fairly decent chance that the old girl might break down at some point. Everything should be fine though.

Tonight I've also booked a few hotels en route. One in the lovely town of Bourges which is in between Orleans (where the frogs first sold out and then burned their heroine) and the industrial gateway to the Auvergne (think Volvic adverts) of Clermont Ferrand, where I've got a room in a cheap and cheerful Formule 1 hotel. The second night should be in Le Puy en Velay which looks a bit like this.......

Nice eh?

From there I hope to go to the Gorges du Tarn as it looked amazing on a Top Gear Episode and then go across the fantastic Millau Bridge. Then its a drive down to the Pyrenees via Carcassone to Perpignan (where I'll stay the night) in the deepest Basque country! Then its up the coast line through Languedoc-Roussilon towards Montpelier and Sete. I hope to get some accomodation in the Avignon area.

Anyway off to bed with a film now..