Monday 27th February 2017

So, I have a hire car that has wipers that only work on the fastest setting. Not sure if that is really legal, especially crossing two other countries, but I accepted it in order to get a car as soon as possible. I mean, probably will have wall to wall sunshine all week, right?

Wrong. It was to rain all Monday, and then probably all week , which meant that driving on the wrong side of the road, trying to get the blades to stop so not to obscure my vision, as well as dealing with traffic, spray caused by truck and so on, would be interesting. But, at least it would just be for an hour, I mean, how bad could it get?

Pretty bad.

I mean, I could go through all the details of packing, driving to the tunnel, checking in, the journey under the sea and the drive up, but I know I have described all before, and in great detail, and as wonderful and modern sounding it is to drive a car on to a train, then have the train go into a tunnel under the sea to emerge half an hour later in a different county, and be able to make and receive phone calls or surf the net whilst under the sea is truly a modern miracle, but this is now my regular commute, and for such trips I think no more about it that a trip to tesco.

Jools leaves at seven, I pack, load the car and on the road by half past. Instead of mixing it with the rush hour traffic, I take Reach Road along the cliffs, past the castle and down through the town, up Military Hill and past Western Heights before down the other side and joining the A20 to Folkestone. A ferry was just disgorging its passengers, so the road was busy, and the heavy rain made the drive interesting., but I arrived at the tunnel 20 minutes later, check in and once through immigration, I see that a train is about to leave, so skip calling into the lounge and go straight to the train, so I will be in the office some half an hour early.

I read some of a book on the way over, so time passes quickly. In France the rain is falling hard too. This will be interesting.

The motorway twists and turns through the Calais suburbs, and there is a speed limit, of sorts. I take my time until we are past the interesection to the main road to Paris, a lot of traffic turns off there. Heading north, the rad is fairly clear, but with many trucks, kicking up huge clouds of spray. In theory, the speed limit in wet conditions is 110 kmh, but most ignore this, heck even ignore the top limit of 130. It feels borderline dangerous.

Once north of Dunkirk, traffic really is light, and I can make good time, though overtaking is stressful and at times feels dangerous, but I keep a safe distance from the car I can just see in front, and I make it to the intersection where I turn off safely. From there it is just ten minutes into the town, then along to the office, where I am relieved to arrive in one piece and in time for lunch. Which is nice.

So, I say hello to all the guys, log on and check mails and deal with issues. But as work has been impossible offshore for nearly two weeks, means that we can finish for the day at half four, I can drive to the hotel, check in and seeing that the rain had stopped, go for a walk and take some shots.

As soon as I see the door from the hotel onto the prom, I see the light is interesting. Light is key for a photographer, and sometimes it is just screaming to be snapped. Offshore there is a storm, and yet on land there is light shining through thin cloud, making the contrast with the rain clouds making them appear nearly black. I snap.

There is a walkway under some arches I have snapped before, walk dowqn there to take some more shots, then to the modern art museum beyond, but that is closed. Turning round, I see the Kursaal and promenade in bright sunshine, and the clouds behind almost jet black. It is an incredible scen, but one whichlasts a few seconds, but long enough to compose a shot or two. Then is gone.

The rain begins to fall, so I walk back to the hotel to meet Manu, and from the hotel we walk to meet Jesper before walking on to a bar that boasts 300 beers. Not 2000, but enough for a few nights. We have a beer, sitting in what is really a pub, nice place, friendly. Opposite, there is a Thai restaurant, we try to get in there for dinner, but it is full. This week is Mardi Gras/Carnival, and the town is heaving again, with most restaurants reopening or having extended hours. We go back to the bar, they do food, so we order starters and mains. And more beer. And settle down.

The food is good, cheese croqetes for me followed by scampi pasta. All very good. One more beer, sir? I believe so.

We walk back to the hotel, it is gently raining once more, making the cobblestones glisten with the reflected streetlights. Perfect.