Chapter 1

25 July 2009 (Isle of Man to Compertrix / Chalons-en-Champagne)

ROAD
Ferry from Douglas (Isle of Man ) to Heysham (UK)
Heysham – Manchester – Birmingham – London – Dover
Ferry from Dover (UK) to Calais (France)
Calais – Arras – St Quentin – Reims – Chalons-en-Champagne / Compertrix

DISTANCE
924 Kms (577.30 Miles)

FREEWAY COSTS
England free
France about 20 Euros

Although not a long leg, Isle of Man to Compertrix (Central France) just outside Chalons-en-Champagne), it took us about 20 hours. Mostly due to the 2 ferries we had to take, one from the Isle of Man to Heysham, England (about 4 hours sailing), and then from England to France (about 1 hour and half) as well as the many stops we had to make since we travelled during the night and we had to rest a few times.

Travelling through England during the night was definitely a good decision because the motorway was very quite and there were not many trucks on the road. I was very surprised to see how many people still use the ferry to cross the channel and not the EuroTunnel, given that they cost the same and the tunnel takes less time.

The section of the freeway in France from Calais to Compertrix was quite expensive; we spent more than 20 Euros.

In France we stayed in the same place as the previous year, a beautiful apartment called Entre Cour et Jardin located in Compertrix just outside Chalons-en-Champagne near Reims. If you are looking for accommodation in that area, then this is definitely the place to stay. Very tastefully decorated and a wonderful breakfast.

26 July (Competrix / Chalons-en-Champagne to Milano / Novara)

ROAD
Chalons-en-Champagne – St Dizier – Nancy – Epinal – Mulhouse (France) - Basel (Switzerland) – Luzern – Gotthard Tunnel – Chiasso – Como (Italy) – Milano – Morimondo - Novara

DISTANCE
720 Kms (447 Miles)

FREEWAY COSTS
Switzerland about 30 Euros
Italy about 4 Euros

Before leaving for Milan we did a tour of the city. It was very pretty and we bought some real French baguettes for our trip that day! The drive took us about 10 hours to reach Milan. The navigator sent us to a national road from Chalons-en-Champagne to Mullhouse near the border with Switzerland and Germany and not via freeway probably little bit longer but definitely cheaper (actually free!) and much nicer scenery.

The freeway in Switzerland is very good. It flows well and is normally 2 lanes and around cities often 3 lanes. The cost is about 30 euros for a vignette to stick to the window of your car, and which is valid for 1 year (Jan to Dec). The vignette can be bought at the border. Don’t even try to enter the freeway without the vignette, or you will face a heavy fine. The cost for the freeway in Italy was only about 4 euros.

In one of my previous trips I took a different road, Reims – Metz – Strasbourg and then across to Germany to Offenburg. From there down to Basel and then Milan. The toll cost for this section if I remember correctly was around the 15/20 euros

We stayed in Morimondo in Milan which is not far from Vigevano. The hotel where we stayed is an Abbey and again is a lovely place to stay, especially in Milan as it provided a tranquil place amidst the hectic and fast paced Milan.

Ferry in Dover

Accommodation in Compertrix, Chalons-en-Champagne

Chalons-en-Champagne

Road to Mulhouse