A wide tunnel at Stratford Station
An Olympic Road Trip from Diss to Marseille, France - 3rd August 2024
It's almost a school reunion as Nosher, Sean, Hamish - plus Rowan - head off on a road trip to Marseille to catch some of the Olympic sailing, as Sean's girlfriend Hannah is racing as part of Team GB in the ILCA 6 class. Hamish and the rest are driving up from New Milton, which means getting the train from Diss to Ashford where we meet up and continue in Hamish's van via Le Shuttle across the English Channel followed by another 600 miles or so on the road. As it's quite a long way, we stop off on the way down at Guignicourt, near Reims, for a night in a campsite, and as the accomodation isn't ready for another day, we stop again in Chateaurenard near Avignon for another night under canvas, catching the racing as we go. Finally, we get to the villa which Sean booked back in February. It's very impressive, although it's also at the top of a steep hill, which in the very hot weather is more than hard work.
next album: Hannah and Olympic ILCA 6 Sailing, Marseille, France - 5th August 2024
previous album: Harry at the Zoo, Banham, Norfolk - 28th July 2024
The concrete bowels of Stratford International
A Class 395 Hitachi Javelin rolls into the station
There's a stack of escalator steps at Ebbsfleet
We reach the LeShuttle terminal
Rowan plays the piano at La Gare café
Hamish roams around with a coffee
Sean shows something to Rowan
Sean's on his phone again
We watch one of the ILCA 6 races in the van
A paraglider sails over a chalk horse
We head down to our train
Driving inside a train carriage is always weird
France is full of wind turbines
Rowan and Sean set up their tent
A sweet beer at Camping Au Bord de l'Aisne
A fancy French stable block
We wait for an outside table at Le Relais café
Our charcuterie board arrives
French houses in Guignicourt
Hamish, Sean and Rowan walk through Guignicourt
The sun sets near the Église Saint Pierre
Hamish has an actual coffee machine for his van
Sean has a coffee in the morning
Hamish potters about
Donald Duck graffiti on a farm building
A woman cycles past a field of sunflowers
We stop at another services for a wee
Fancy wooden structure at the Aire
Sean, Rowan and Hamish get some food
Hamish and Rowan in a car park
We're deep into wine country near Dijon
It lashes rain briefly
We drive through yet another toll plaza
Work and Respect on a hut
A heavily-graffitoed building
A cartoon bird/pig on a building
More graffiti in Lyon
Some sort of French Colonel Sanders on an oil tank
Hamish fills up the van
A quaint village on a river
We drive throuigh a nice tree tunnel
A derelict garage
It's quite industrial near Cruas power station
The cooling towers of Cruas nuclear power station
More post-apocalyptic scenes near Cruas
Some anti-Macron graffiti on a road sign
A Mr. Bricolage
Sean and Rowan in a supermarket
The Donzère-Mondragon Dam
The A7 is hosed southbound, where we're going
We make it to the next campsite
The campsite even has its own wine
Camping La Roquette in Chateaurenard
The bucolic campsite of La Roquette
We hang out by the van for a bit
A ruined castle on a hill
Our first glimpse of Marseille
Giant graffiti on a Marseillaise building
The old abandoned port area
Heavily-graffitoed aggregate rail wagons
A goods yard near the docks
People sunbathe on the rocks
An impressive 1930s house on Avenue de Monaco
We get our first look at the impressive house
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A wide tunnel at Stratford Station
A wide tunnel at Stratford Station
The concrete bowels of Stratford International
A Class 395 Hitachi Javelin rolls into the station
There's a stack of escalator steps at Ebbsfleet
We reach the LeShuttle terminal
Rowan plays the piano at La Gare café
Hamish roams around with a coffee
Sean shows something to Rowan
Sean's on his phone again
We watch one of the ILCA 6 races in the van
A paraglider sails over a chalk horse
We head down to our train
Driving inside a train carriage is always weird
France is full of wind turbines
Rowan and Sean set up their tent
A sweet beer at Camping Au Bord de l'Aisne
A fancy French stable block
We wait for an outside table at Le Relais café
Our charcuterie board arrives
French houses in Guignicourt
Hamish, Sean and Rowan walk through Guignicourt
The sun sets near the Église Saint Pierre
Hamish has an actual coffee machine for his van
Sean has a coffee in the morning
Hamish potters about
Donald Duck graffiti on a farm building
A woman cycles past a field of sunflowers
We stop at another services for a wee
Fancy wooden structure at the Aire
Sean, Rowan and Hamish get some food
Hamish and Rowan in a car park
We're deep into wine country near Dijon
It lashes rain briefly
We drive through yet another toll plaza
Work and Respect on a hut
A heavily-graffitoed building
A cartoon bird/pig on a building
More graffiti in Lyon
Some sort of French Colonel Sanders on an oil tank
Hamish fills up the van
A quaint village on a river
We drive throuigh a nice tree tunnel
A derelict garage
It's quite industrial near Cruas power station
The cooling towers of Cruas nuclear power station
More post-apocalyptic scenes near Cruas
Some anti-Macron graffiti on a road sign
A Mr. Bricolage
Sean and Rowan in a supermarket
The Donzère-Mondragon Dam
The A7 is hosed southbound, where we're going
We make it to the next campsite
The campsite even has its own wine
Camping La Roquette in Chateaurenard
The bucolic campsite of La Roquette
We hang out by the van for a bit
A ruined castle on a hill
Our first glimpse of Marseille
Giant graffiti on a Marseillaise building
The old abandoned port area
Heavily-graffitoed aggregate rail wagons
A goods yard near the docks
People sunbathe on the rocks
An impressive 1930s house on Avenue de Monaco
We get our first look at the impressive house