Drive through the Eurotunnel

So my journey into the next half century is starting to take shape with a list of 50 firsts I've created to enable me to push myself outside of my safe and well contained box! For this year’s family holiday we decided to do something we have never done before and drive all the way to the Italian Lakes! This exciting journey started with one of my challenges to go through the Eurotunnel, a brilliant fete of engineering whose services I had never used before.

We pulled up at Passport Control and were told (as we were early) we could go on an earlier train, which the kids thought was great, so after a much needed loo stop (having travelled for some two hours) we made our way to the queue passing a white chalk picture to our left which was carved into the hill. We spent ages debating what the drawing was as the angle at which we approached it didn’t really give the game away. Anyhow, finally we moved alongside and we worked it out to be a dancing horse, thank god it was something sensible as the guesses were far from that!

Next was the train and the kids and I got worked up into an excited frenzy as we couldn't wait to see what it looked like in the carriage and how we would drive onto it! All was revealed, and of course the obligatory photo was taken of the car in front boarding the train! We drove onto the train and followed the cars until told to stop (felt like getting on a ferry). We got out to investigate the carriage, the windows to see the views and to our amazement there was a toilet too (albeit it very smelly!)

The journey went very quickly but we took a family selfie to commemorate the occasion! One of many on this holiday. I still was personally very impressed with the return journey and the thought of how both the English and French created the infrastructure to make the Eurotunnel/La Shuttle which enabled us to drive across Europe to find some summer sun – fantastic!