Day 1
Having not met the other guy I was travelling to France with until I turned up at the yard on Monday morning it was a pleasant surprise to meet Chris. He’s been in haulage for around 20 years with a lot of euro experience as well. Gear in to the truck a Renault Magnum 480 with a 45ft trailer on the back and off we set at 13.00 heading for Portsmouth for the ferry. Chris said he would drive to Hilton services then it would be my go down to Portsmouth.
While Chris was driving I asked if the boss had said anything about my experience, the response was no he had not. When I explained that this was my first paid C+E work his mouth dropped a little, but as I had passed my C+E and done the assessment drive he said we’ll see how we get on then.
Hilton services and time to swap over, the moment of truth had arrived. Don’t know what all the fuss was about really. Seat adjusted and off we went down the M6 and then onto the M5 due to delays on the junction we were going to take. While travelling along I glanced over to see what Chris was doing and he had fallen a sleep, so I guess my driving was not too bad after all. On to the M42 then M40 and down to Oxford and onto the A34 and down to the M3 and M27 into Portsmouth ferry terminal. Parked up so we could get our tickets and passport checked ready for the 23.30 ferry to Caen. Job done for the day. Chris said that he would get us on to the ferry as it can get a little tight, no worries on my part. Once onboard it was time for food and sleep in our cabin.
Day 2
The alarm sounded to let us know that there was an hour to go before we docked at Caen. So dressed and breakfast ready for the off. All very civilised indeed so down to the truck ready to embark on the next leg of the trip. Chris took us down through Alenco, Le Mans, Tours and on to Poitiers and our final destination of a small village. Some of those toll booths are a tad tight I must say but oh it was sunny. Arrival time of approx 14.00 hours local time, and my it was warm as we waited for the client to arrive. Now the real work started unloading the trailer. Five hours later and we called it a night as we had done well in temps hitting 38 degs, a little brutal I must say. But the client kept us both well fed and very well watered indeed.
The evening meal they made us was great eaten outside with and ice cold beer to wash it down. They gave us directions to the village bar in the village square. Happy days as we pulled up outside the bar as we were welcomed by many British voices saying you can’t park that their mate. Time to have a couple of ice cold ones to finish the day off.
Day 3
Woken up at silly o’clock by a dammed cockerel doing its thing, this was followed by the church bell ringing for ages. Guess it was time to get up and get some breakfast ready for another hard day. Back to the house and carry on unloading the trailer again in temps hitting 38 degs. Yet again the clients were spot on with the food and water for us. Finally we had an empty trailer and it was time to head north for our next job.
Chris started us off and said he would get us on to the motorway so that I could drive for a change. Finally I got to drive in France on the motorways heading up country towards Tours, Le Mans and Alenco whereby Chris took over the driving so we could get to our next destination. We got to this little village in the hills and had to reverse down the street to the house to load. One and a half hours later and we were off to the next and final client. Bloody sat nav could not find could not find this village outside of Putanges. After a number of phone calls to the client we finally pulled up outside his house at 23.30 hours. Time for bed.
Day 4
Packing the clients stuff took us till 11.00 am then it was time to load the trailer. Finished this by 19.00 hours in mid 20’s heat, guess beats going to the gym. All packed and locked up and back on the road to Caen for the night. Chris was again driving through these little lanes/ roads and we arrived at his favourite eating place in France. It was Mac D’s at Ouistreham close to the ferry port. The spot was busy so we had a 15 min wait to get our food. We did spot the Gendarmerie checking out our truck though. Back in the truck and in to the ferry port for the night.
We’re just settling down to our burgers when we get a visit from 6 heavily armed Gendarmerie who want to see our paperwork and look in the back of the truck and all over it. It then started to rain so they left us to it until it had stopped, then they were back on mass. They were all over the trailer like a rash. We guessed they were looking for illegals but they did not find any so they left us in peace. They did pop back but just to look at us but did nothing. Been a long day so time for bed in the trailer.
Day 5
Do you ever get those occasions when you’re asleep but not asleep and get a feeling your not alone. Well that was me at 02.00 hours. I lay still and listened to some odd noises and the trailer seemed to rock a little by its self. Time for a sharp exit. Locked the trailer door and walked round the trailer listening to see if I could here anything. Oh yes I did here something, so I woke Chris up and explained what had happened. I’m sure he thought I was taking the pee. But he got out and we went to look inside the trailer. Chris climbed up on to the furniture we had loaded and shouted for somebody to come out. He asked me to go and get the security/ Gendarmerie. I’m not built for jogging but I tried and found the security who contacted the Gendarmerie. When back at the truck Chris was stood there with two young lads who had been in the back of the trailer. The Gendarmerie took them away and that was that. Time to sleep NOT.
We boarded the ferry and off we set to Portsmouth and the road home. Chris drove up to Stafford services where I took over to get us back to the yard. No issues at all and I even got the rig through the two sets of gates in to the yard with any dramas. Now it was time to reverse the thing to get it parked up. This was a four stage process as I had to drive in to the yard then reverse round to the garage, pull forward to the left so that I could reverse back to where I was to park up. Chris said that I would need to pull forward and reverse back as I was not far enough over (2ft that was all), well I did that and switched off the motor. My first paid C+E/ euro trip was over with.
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