So as its been quite some time I thought I would do another diary. This one starts on a Thursday, I have been told to leave around 10am (its all laid back this part!) so I roll into the yard about 9, have a couple of brews while waiting for the rain to ease off, come half 10 im leaving the yard heading south. The weather isn’t getting any better but there are no traffic reports about operation stack. As im heading down the a12 I get the dreaded phone call “head for the channel tunnel, the ferries are screwed”, great! Personally I hate the tunnel, and, as I was planning on eating I have to revise my plans slightly (if you have eaten the food on the tunnel you will understand why!) I have a smooth run down to the m25, and even through the roadworks and across the qe2 bridge im not held up. Onto the m20 we go, the signs are showing the a20 is shut at the end of the m20, im hoping there wont be a queue back to hold me up, fortunately it’s a quiet run and straight into the tunnel terminal. Just as im pulling in the office phone to check how in doing as they have heard the bridge is being shut due to the wind. I book on, get pulled in to get x rayed and join my queue in lane and sit drinking tea having a read and watching the rain come down, hopefully im leaving all this foul weather behind!
a rainy start from the yard!
getting pulled into the x ray machine
my view, great!
getting on the train
I get off the tunnel, and head in the direction of reims, if anything the weather is worse the French side, the wind is really kicking up. Eventually as I head further inland the wind subsides but the rain keeps me company as I head south, I decide on a bit of summery music to try and imagine the rain away, it sort of works, and before I know it im round reims, and I park in a services just the other side for the night (im in no mad rush!) I crack into my book, and go to bed with no alarm set for the morning
great!
I wake up after 11 hours off, quick spruce up and a brew and hit the road again. Its still a bit blustery, but that soon calms down, at least the rain has pretty much gone. Its an uneventful drive down to troyes, and then the route I use is the n19 road which cuts across langres vesoul to belfort and the motorway once again. I enjoy this road, it’s a nice drive and makes a pleasant change to motorway plodding (when I get the time/chance ill use national roads) I have a break on the 19 a brew and a sort out of the cab. I press on, no hold ups again which is nice, across to mulhouse and turn right towards basle. I get to the st louis border and wander across to the tax machine to get my swiss tax, which you need an ID card for the truck, you kilometres (you pay once you exit based on how many kms you have done) and, as im empty I go straight through the border barrier. Im heading for a small town called aesch, just outside basle. I get to audio rent in aesch about half 3, I go and see the warehouseman, who is pleased to see me. I was scheduled to load Saturday morning, all the stuff is ready, and if my colleague (who came a different route) is not far away he will load the pair of us today. I get on the bay and take the full load leaving the small part load for Rachel when she gets here, (she is only a couple of hours away) I have a chat with marcus, one of their drivers who I have not seen in about a year, it looks like he may be heading to Moscow soon, and was after some advice as he had never been. Rachel gets here and gets loaded and parked up and we head to a restaurant round the corner which does a cracking pizza. With no rush in front of us, no alarms are set again, its decided to head to macon for a break as we cannot get into our destination at lyon until sunday. we head back to the border, were in and out and on our way. we get to macon, and later in the day are joined by a few more of our drivers for a few glasses of wine
on my 45 minute break on the national
its a picturesque drive down
and some improvements being made
on the bay to load
and its all in!! (thankfully it changes a bit after lyon!)
this is the swiss truck i d card and tax form you get at the border (exciting stuff eh!)
leaving switzerland, for now
couple of the brits in macon
and what the hell is this wandering across the truck park!!!
sunday appears far too early for my liking, and with not much to do i get a wash and some lunch, have a bit of a spruce up of the cab, read my book drink tea and anything else to kill the time. eventually we decide to get going (we have sunday permits) to get tea in lyon.
monday in lyon is a complete washout, so its spent drinking tea and more reading time. tuesday is show day, and once thats done its load out and head for zurich, so i agree to meet up with rachel at the last services before the border to clear customs. once through i get cracking, then i realise i have had a 30 and 15 minute split break, so i will have to stop for another 30 minutes, great! after battling the rush hour traffic i get to the hallenstadion in zurich, have a snooze while i await my turn to tip, once done and parked its grab a bite to eat and to bed. this evening we are being triple driven, so my mate dan is double driving me down to barcelona, at which point we get out and my brother is taking the truck over for a few days to take it to madrid and then onto lisbon where i will catch it back up, so i go into a hotel in the motorway servies. the whole next day is spent getting to lisbon. we get a taxi to the airport, then our flight is delayed for some time, eventually we get going, when we get to lisbon me and another driver get pulled my immigration for an hour (maybe i look dodgy!), so when we get out its just in time for rush hour in the taxi! hey ho, we get to the hotel, and that takes me to now!!
air force one in lisbon airport
thats more like it!!
1600 euros buys this port, think ill have 2… 
i hope you have enjoyed my waffling!!
love reading your diaries , this one is being read with a post Rock City hangover 