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Thursday 19th May

Woke up in Montpellier after the best sleep yet on the trip. After discovering that 'all you can eat breakfast' was all you can eat as long as it's bread, we decided to get a move on and stop somewhere for the traditional motorway service station 'jambon et fromage' baguette (we're getting good at this french lark, especially Mark!). Our first stop a little over an hour away was the Millau. There was a little bit of a mixed reaction to it. We kind of expected to come down a hill towards it and see it in the distance for a while, but although it's signposted, it takes you by surprise when you round a corner and it's there in front of you. We are definately glad to have done it to have ticked it off the list, but don't think we'd bother again. It's an impressive structure and great piece of (British) engineering, but once you've seen it, you've seen it!


Slalom motorway, epic lols


Clio 200 on the motorway


Rallye crossing the MIllau Viaduct


Millau Viaduct

Next we set off towards Clermont Ferrand, stopped for breakfast at midday, filled up the cars and washed the windscreens with their complementary squeegees All went well for the next two hours as we tore up through France at a rate of knots, not stopping for anything, only until we left the motorway to go cross country and the Rallye decided to try and die. James did his Fast & Furious impression with the laptop in the engine bay...wifi everywhere in France...Matt saw the opportunity and promptly uploaded a photo of the poorly Rallye. In fact all that had happened was something with the (third ) alternator belt causing it to scream at low revs, so we carried on regardless in search of some WD40 and took the D roads towards Dijon.

A very tired Ed

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They turned out to be a mixed bag, the first few being stuck behind various lorries and tractors, continually overtaking trying to get a move on on our longest day of driving. After a while we pulled in to a truck stop in the town of Lapalisse and to relieve a very tired Ed, Matt left James and took the wheel of the Megane to experience some boost. We hooned onwards, keen to get to our destination, and in James' case, keen to get out of the wounded 106. Now we reached the good back roads, a windy road following a canal, with hardly anyone on it, through some small french villages that may have had speed limits, but we didn't have time for 50kph...

Our last stop of the day at St Gilles on the D974 saw Matt climb a telegraph pole and spy on a woman in a house, some random baguettes floating down the canal and a chap in a white 106 GTi show off when he saw the Rallye by going flat out up the road. We then passed a Dacia dealership. Matt got very excited. A little while later up the road, in a small traffic light grand prix between a Rallye and a Clio 200, someone may have got flashed by a speed camera doing roughly 110kph in a 50kph zone. Oops!

As we reached our destination, in search of a little more luxury, we ditched our Accor hotels loyalty and ended up in a Premier Classe over the road, a more modern version of Mr Bed, with the same toilet and shower in one combo. Interesting...

We finally got moved in after an epic hunt for the room access card which turned up stuck to Matt's iPhone (another reason not to like them!) and as we saw a Dominos delivery moped outside the hotel, dinner was decided. We took a quick (literally) trip into Dijon centre in the Megane, ordered very cheap pizzas (15 euros, buy one get one free, for mediums) and took them back to the hotel... at 200kph. I let you work that one out.

So after a scoff, a Bitburger, some internet surfing in the hotel and some Sex Crimes 2 and 3 on the hotel TV, it's bedtime here in Dijon