Zut alors! We're going international!
Here's the deal
Set off from Hyde Park Corner at midnight on the 15th with sandwiches on board. We will try to storm the impregnable fortress that is Gatwick Airport, but the more likely bet is Pease Pottage Motorway Service Station, which, unusually for a motorway service station is on a B road.
Arrive Newhaven about 8, hang around in one of East Sussex' most scenic towns for a couple of hours, and catch the 11.00 ferry to Dieppe
Arrive Dieppe 16.00 and check in to Formule 1 hotel which is about three kilometres from the centre of Dieppe in an area best known for its warehouse shopping. The smarter ones amongst us would be advised to use the Hotel d'Anglais which is on the seafront.
Have a glass or two of vin rouge, watch the sun go down over the beach, go to sleep, and on Saturday morning mooch around the market which is really quite something.
Here's the tricky bit. The ferries are not running to their normal timetable, and if you're coming back on Saturday the choices are 5.00 or 21.00. The later ferry gets in to Newhaven at midnight which means that it's a Saturday Night Ride from the Coast - or to Three Bridges or Gatwick for an early train. Those of us who are catching the Eurostar back to France that same morning had better get a move on....
I know that Els has booked ferry and hotel, and I believe Andrij and Stuart are coming to Dieppe as well. Some of you might simply want to make the trip to Newhaven which is a very decent ride - we turn left at Wivelsfield and go through some blissful countryside, and then through Lewes and down the west side of the river Ouse
Here's the deal
Set off from Hyde Park Corner at midnight on the 15th with sandwiches on board. We will try to storm the impregnable fortress that is Gatwick Airport, but the more likely bet is Pease Pottage Motorway Service Station, which, unusually for a motorway service station is on a B road.
Arrive Newhaven about 8, hang around in one of East Sussex' most scenic towns for a couple of hours, and catch the 11.00 ferry to Dieppe
Arrive Dieppe 16.00 and check in to Formule 1 hotel which is about three kilometres from the centre of Dieppe in an area best known for its warehouse shopping. The smarter ones amongst us would be advised to use the Hotel d'Anglais which is on the seafront.
Have a glass or two of vin rouge, watch the sun go down over the beach, go to sleep, and on Saturday morning mooch around the market which is really quite something.
Here's the tricky bit. The ferries are not running to their normal timetable, and if you're coming back on Saturday the choices are 5.00 or 21.00. The later ferry gets in to Newhaven at midnight which means that it's a Saturday Night Ride from the Coast - or to Three Bridges or Gatwick for an early train. Those of us who are catching the Eurostar back to France that same morning had better get a move on....
I know that Els has booked ferry and hotel, and I believe Andrij and Stuart are coming to Dieppe as well. Some of you might simply want to make the trip to Newhaven which is a very decent ride - we turn left at Wivelsfield and go through some blissful countryside, and then through Lewes and down the west side of the river Ouse