Paging the Cross-Continental Ballistic Missiles

Mrs WUN and I are contemplating a visit to the in-laws place near
Fuengirola this Summer.

We are thinking about driving for a change. I don't want this to be a
"Shit-or-bust-who's-got-the-biggest-bladder" trip. More of a gentle
bimble. If something interesting crops up on the way down, so be it,
four days is not a problem.

Santander is not an option. Mrs WUN gets seasick walking on wet grass.
The bike is not an option (have you *seen* her shoe collection?).

So.

A look at the map suggests a three-day trip. Day 1: Calais - Bordeaux
(or thereabouts). Day 2: Bordeaux - Madrid (or thereabouts). Day 3:
Madrid - Fuengirola (OK, Torreblanca, but it's close enough for jazz).

What have I missed?

 

My wife's shoe collection was about 46kg, not counting those she took
when she left.
Can you beat that?

 

That's not a bimble (apart from maybe the third leg). HTH.

 

If it were me, and not planning to make the journey down a dawdle and
part of the holiday, I'd have a look at train possibilities.

http://www.seat61.com/

Price alone might rule it out, but it might just be worth a look.

 

Calais - Paris - Millau bridge - Beziers - St Felieu to Tossa de mar
coast road - Barcelona - Monserratt - Valencia - Granada -
Fuengirola.

A bit of a long way round, but you won't regret it. I did it on the
bike last year.

 

Apart from the fact Torreblanca is full of English cunts at that time of
year...

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Honda Transalp XL600V
Yamaha R1
Range Rover Vogue

 

If you want a gentle bimble then you're going to have to change your
plans, or spend 90% of the day in the car.

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

I'm like Mrs WUN with water, but modern drugs will sort her out for one
of the longer channel crossings. I'd do the overnight to Cherbourg,
which will get you on the road around 7.30ish, then bang off as many
miles as possible on day 1 to get into the Pyrenees. That'll give you
more time in the more interesting areas without wasting time on the
bits you could do another time on a long weekend.

 

I did the 1st leg a while back when the sprogs were small, it's pretty
much a full days drive, certainly not a bimble.

 

I suppose it depends on WUN's definition of bimble and of 'day'.

Calais to an hour beyond Limoges can be done comfortably leaving at a
civilised hour after breakfast and arriving in time for aperitifs before
dinner, with a break for a spot of lunch (but not the full French two
hour variety) and fuel/coffee/comfort breaks as dictated by fuel
consumption, tank and bladder capacity. Turn the wick up more and keep
an eye open for Gendarmes and you can reduce that significantly.
Bordeaux is a tad further, but would not include the motorway free zone
around Chartres and section of twisty 'D' road at the end that I have.

Unlike GB, generally, you can allow for mostly unimpeded cruising at
your chosen speed on the autoroutes, if you avoid Paris.

No idea about feasibility once in to Spain.


--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I think the french side needs another stop-over. The last leg gives
plenty of time. When we visit France, we stop over just north of Madrid
going up and back, and to be honest, we could cover a lot more kms, as we
normally arrive home shortly after lunchtime. Fuengirola is about an hour
further on from here.

 

Coast road is cack though, isn't it?

 

Portsmouth-Le Havre would be a better overnight crossing, shorter see route
& closer to the A28 which links to the A10.

Alternatively, if a sea route is out of the question, travel down to the
tunnel in the afternoon/evening. Blast 70-100 miles down the autoroute[0].
Campanile[1], breakfast, Millau for late afternoon. Touristy bit on & below
viaduct. Campanile. Down to coast, route through Spain, stopping at
whichever cities take your fancy. Just under 1500 miles so comfortable in 4
days if you start early and knock off 200 miles before lunch. That way, you
should get to your next destination by late afternoon giving plenty of time
to find a hotel and have a look around before a leisurely dinner.

[0] head west towards Rouen to go down western side of Paris on day 2. IIRC
this is what PF does, stop at Abbéville maybe.
[1] my guess at the minimum level acceptable to WUN, I'd stay in an Etap or
Premiere Classe.

 

Torreblanca is nowhere near Fuengirola (unless there are other towns with
those names). The two places are about 500 miles from each other. They are
further apart than London and Dundee! Fuengirola is near Marbella in the far
south, Torreblanca is east of Madrid, on the coast between Valencia and
Barcelona.

 

I have driven a ford Galaxy from Santillana del Mar, in the Santander region
of Spain, to Brentwood in a day fairly comfortably, including Dover-Calais
channel crossing. I couldn't describe it a "bimble" as I did most of it
circa 100mph, which helped (before speed cameras were a major problem).
However, I think this is the best kind of approach. Get the worst of it over
on day 1 and then bimble the rest. I would start really early and aim for
Burgos on Day 1. Stop overnight and then have a wander around Burgos the
following morning. Then an afternoon drive to the Madrid area (circa 3hrs
driving), followed by a relaxing evening. Then bimble over to Torreblanca
(about 5 to 6 hours driving)

 

Each time I do the Paris avoidance route via Rouen and Chartres to
Orleans they seem to have opened a bit more dual carriageway.

We often knock off the two hours or so from Calais to Rouen in the
evening after an afternoon tunnel crossing. We use an Etap in Cleon not
far off the autoroute beyond Rouen.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

@ps-fisher.demon.co.uk:

last time I took the car to France I stopped off at a huge Carrefour near
Cleon (Tourville) on the way back. We were using the LeH to Pompey route as
the sprog lives in Havant.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, TMack

That's odd, because I often stroll from one to the other in under half
an hour.

Thanks for the thinking on this, folks. We may add a day, or may change
plans entirely.

 

Must be another Torreblanca then.
<googles, zooms map, squints a bit >
Ah, I see. There is a Torreblanca that is part of the conurbation around
Fuengirola. All makes sense now.

 

Slip her a mickey finn and let her sleep for the Santander crossing.