One last Morocco experience: We stopped at a toll booth on the motorway en route to Tanger Med. As we drove off we passed a couple of policemen who waved and blew their horns at us. As we slowed down Tony spotted some youths jumping off the back of our truck and sprinting up an embankment. They were teenagers rather than young men. We think they were just joyriding. The police didn’t give chase but I checked every nook and cranny in the truck just in case someone was hiding.
We took the GNV (Italian) ferry from Morocco to Italy. We thought it was a two night trip so we were disappointed on the second day when it dawned on us that our destination would not be reached until the morning of the fourth day meaning three nights at sea – cabin fever began to set in.
The public areas on the ferry were not particularly pleasant places to spend our time. Many passengers didn’t have cabins and dossed down wherever they found a space to lie. “No Smoking” signs were not enforced and the public areas were full of male passengers who were coughing, sneezing (without covering their noses) and even hawking.
There was an oversubscribed self service buffet with queues stretching half the length of the ship. The other restaurant was “fine dining” and opened for lunch 12-2 and again in the evening from 8 pm (9pm on the first night). That was the one for us. The restaurant food and service was excellent and expensive.
On disembarking in Genoa we had our passports checked but no customs checks. Then we headed north and crossed into France by the Fréjus road tunnel (13 km long and cost us €200). We stopped overnight at a motorway fuel station where the sign indicated there was a hot food bar. We walked over the footbridge only to find the area was closed and shuttered. When we enquired of the sulky assistant what time it would open, she just shrugged and said it was closed.
The following day we decided to leave the toll roads and follow the national roads. It was a beautiful sunny day and the surrounding agricultural land was a joy to see. Driving was slow progress and the roads we much busier than we expected, there were a surprising number of tankers and articulated lorries travelling that route, causing mayhem in the narrow streets of French rural towns.
We assumed the commercial vehicles were on the rural roads to avoid the high motorway charges. Later on we realised that the French farmers had blockaded the autoroute. When our road crossed over the motorway we could see the tractors and trailers parked across the empty carriageway. The farmers had built a big bonfire and, according to the local radio, were being supplied with food and drink by the local people. Apparently they were enjoying chicken cooked on open fires and copious amounts of wine.
On our journey towards Calais we stayed overnight either at fuel stations or one of the Camping-Car Parks, a system of aires that provided parking with electricity, wifi, water and waste disposal for €12 a night. We had a pre-loaded card which opened the barrier and automatically charged our account – such a good system. It was off season but there were often a dozen or so other vans using the facility.
We arrived at Calais and stocked up on wine and stuff at Carrefours before taking the super efficient Eurotunnel (€290) to the UK. As French time was an hour ahead of the UK we left at 2.45 pm and arrive at 2.20 pm!
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