As promised here is a diary and pics of recent trip to Italy .
Sunday (Day 1) Gateshead to St Quentin
Set off about 1pm from Gateshead, wagon was already loaded and ready to go so after the daily checks me and the missus set off, she was riding shotgun as the job was for her company and thought we would test out our relationship by week in the cab together 
Made good progress down the road and after dismissing cambridge services i eventually pulled into birchanger on 4hr46min ooops.
Pushed on again and was amazed at the level off traffic going over the dartford at 7:15 on a sunday evening but according to the guy on the booth its the norm these days, I must point out iâm usually pulling the strings in the office rather than putting the kmâs in apart from the odd changeover and trailer tip/load so excuse my greenness on any of this.
Anyway down to dover and got booked on the 21:30 P&O , usual basic food in the driverâs lounge but as i missed out on sunday dinner i wasnât complaining, the missus apparently suffers from motion sickness so the rocking back and forth of the boat turned her a funny shade of green. Disembarked at midnight local time and pushed down on a practically deserted A26 for 2 hours. Called it a night at 2am in aire de lâomignon near St quentin and hit the bunk. (12 hrs / 729km)
Busy at the Dartford.
Boarding the Boat.
Monday (Day 2) St Quentin to Courmayeur
Having a coffee.
Beats the M1
Eventually decided after countless bursts of energy from Mr dentressangleâs fridge parked alongside that i would freshen up for the day ahead , bit of breakfast, cuppa and away at 11:30am. The first sign of traffic since dartford was heading past reims and must say thanks to the brit in the aire de something or other for putting me right and quelling my fears that i wasnt actually stuck on the metz road, the split for troyes just hadnât come up yet, so back on the road and down to the Dijon area for a bite to eat.
As we pulled back onto the autoroute i ended up behind a british wagon so thought ill stick with him for a while. After accosting the two drivers at the peage after nantua (I think) I explained last time I was up this way I was a teenager with my dad and certainly not since the fire so wanted some advice on the controle etc. Not only did they go through it all they let me tag along till the tunnel, so thanks again to the two guys from S&J Pierce, who says camaraderie is dead.
Whilst at the controle point the guy was alluding to an issue with the height of the vehicle and subsequently wrote something on my ticket, as my gcse french was a bit rusty i didnt quite understand but sure enough when at the peage to go through the tunnel the attendant said the vehicle was too high. I must add the trailer is 4m but unaware the unit was not a 1150mm fifth wheel so we were standing at 4.15m high and was ordered to wait for an â â â â â â and i presume pay for the privilege. After some dispute and dumping the air on the unit suspension they eventually allowed me through â â â â â â free, so panic over, when we entered Italy the 4h30 was up and handily found a large sos layby which had a few occupants so decided to join them for the night , pot noodle and some phoenix nights and it was time for bed.(10 hrs 741km)
Tuesday (Day 3)Courmayeur to Asolo
Night Stop Sos Layby at Courmayeur.
Up and away this morning by 8:30am continued the long descent from mont blanc to aosta and through the endless tunnels. The day got off to a miserable start with the rain which was to stay with us for the next two days. Pretty straight forward today , from aosta past novara , then the busy milan area and managed a service station near verona in a 4h30 shift. Had some lunch and the now accustomed cappucino from the surprisingly good vending machines then back on the road and for the first time all trip decided to gain assistance from the sat nav to assure smooth passage to asolo which is a reasonable distance from the motorway. Came off at vicenza and let the annoying american voice take over , many back roads and a no wagon zone later eventually arrived at the destination over an hour from the motorway. Still tipping down with rain but we had arrived 50hrs after leaving home , the rest of the day ended up with us getting the vip treatment from our Italian suppliers, we were assigned one of the flats above the factory and a fiesta size lancia to get around in, so off to a nearby pizzeria for some good food , a nice clean shower toilet etc , then to bed. (7h30 / 471km)
En route to Asolo
View from Flat at Factory.
Wednesday (Day 4) Asolo to Bourg en Bresse
Leaving Asolo , raining again.
Started at 7:30 this morning and after negotiating a rather tight corner in the factory got tipped then round the other side to load , less than an hour later we were back on the road home. Having heard the stories of overnight parking in Italy the plan was to push on into france for the night. This proved pretty uneventful apart from an old fella in a services who after seeing the british wagon came and introduced himself as a native from Barcelona and that he had a present for me, which i respectfully declined, he then went on to pester other drivers in the truck park. When approaching Monte Bianco and the controle point my mind was again on the height issue with the trailer, so stressed about that for the next hour only for the Italian to not even give me a second glance and same again at the peage so onward into france. Negotiated all the hair pin bends and was beginning to get a bit complacent until i remembered i had not yet seen the âwall of deathâ. Sure enough a while later there it was, my inexperience of this road and rh drive ended up with some of the locals having to back of on the bends as i encroached slightly into the other lane, ah well never mind.
Due to my old man being 40+ years an hgv fitter I pulled into the first layby at the bottom to check all was well, brake and tyre temperature, but as the load was light nothing wrong there.
After some ratatouille and cooked ham at the services, a dish you would struggle to get at ferrybridge im sure, i decided to do a 10 hour today which got us near enough Bourg en Bresse. Pulled into the services and was greeted by roland rat sitting having his evening meal in the parking bay i chose, he scampered off only for my headlights to catch sight of his siblings, safe to say the trip to the toilet was more of a dash then off to bed. (13 hrs / 708km)
On way to Monte Bianco
One of the many tunnels
Nearly there.
Heat Sensor
Not Cheap !
Tunnel Entrance.
One of many Hairpins.
And another.
Stilts.
Steel Mill i think.
Wall of Death.
And again.
Checking Tyres when down the Mountain.
Food Stop.
Thursday (Day 5) Bourg en Bresse to W.Thurrock
Started at 8am this morning , i must admit the uncleanliness of some drivers in even the hole in the floor toilets amazes me , i would hate to see their toilet at home , anyway back on the road and the rain has returned as well as the reappearance of british plated vehicles , not many trucks though , pretty straightforward drive again , stopped for lunch , fuel etc and after retracing the outbound steps arrived at calais about 430pm only to be greeted by chaos beyond the heartbeat monitor which turned out to be the queue for P&0 and only 2 wagons at seafrance , on all the trips i have been on it seems that they can get you to calais no problem but never smoothly on return , once at the window we are greeted by a sign for the 19:10 crossing , ah well back to the dvdâs. The boat was a freighter and the portions of food from memory smaller in size but welcoming all the same. I had in mind to push as far up from dover as possible but the problem now was my 15hr spread not actual driving time and the fact a headlight bulb had blown on the boat and my spares were in the sealed trailer , oh well on with the front spots instead (Stupid i know) and a mad dash where i just made Titan at W.Thurrock in 15hr10min. (15hr10 / 786km)
Ferrari Motorhome.
Onto Boat eventually.
View from Deck.
Part of Mclaren Motor home.
Back to Dover
Friday (Day 6) West Thurrock to Gateshead
Nine hours rest then back on the road managed to get up onto the M11 before any serious traffic , pushed on up and stopped at markham moor for a well earned fry up and 45 min break , back on the road and cracked on up the a1 and even through the tyne tunnel with no delay which on a friday afternoon was a big surprise , arrived at N Shields to tip at 13:40 , unloaded straight away and loaded trailer for one of my driverâs for monday mansfield and eastbourne , not quite as exotic but work all the same. Eventually got back to the yard at 16:00 , unloaded all the gear into the car and away home. (8h45m 478km)
Monday â Back in the office and wishing i wasânt ha ha. 
