After a 7 hour channel crossing and a marathon 12 hour drive north, we are home. Time to do some washing, sort through the mountain of post, and figure out what “normal” life is again. (Aside: you know you are British when your first meal at home is fake takeaway Indian!)
We learned a lot this trip – and not just about D-Day. We learned that spending two days traveling so we can drive our car on the wrong side of the road was not a plan we’ll repeat anytime soon. It was something that we wanted to try – an itch to be scratched if you will – but the extra concentration required to get it right meant Frank didn’t get to relax as much as I did.
We also learned that we need some level of planning for us to really enjoy ourselves. Being flexible is one thing but being completely unscripted makes us tetchy.
We were able to continue to feel that we were travelers more that tourists: we may have done some touristy things but navigating multiple grocery stores and cooking for ourselves meant that we got to feel more like locals. (Fun fact: you can’t find jarred Alfredo sauce in Normandy or Brittany. )
Most importantly we reminded ourselves of how much we love to explore this crazy world. Frank discovered that high school French wasn’t enough to help much without reviewing. I learned that I like Spanish as a second language much more than French – but using it (accidentally) in France is not a a successful communication strategy.
And we learned how nice it is to have people to call friends in different corners of the globe. If you are on our friend list, be warned that a visit to you may be part of a plan someday!!!
Data for the trip:
- Total days away: 16
- Days in transit (no activities other than travel): 4
- Miles driven: 2417 (more than half in the UK)
- Number of songs placed from the Looooong Drive playlist: 353 out of 376
- Number of days with the top up: 4
- Sunscreen consumed: 2 nearly full bottles
- Score out of 10: 11
The Cannon Family's travel blog 