13 August 2022
Maggi and I were all packed up and ready to go early and said our goodbyes just after 8 am. We headed along the coast motorway towards Marseille and instead of heading northwards towards Lyon we proceeded further west in order that we could travel through the Massif Centrale to Clermont-Ferrand. Geoff Fuller had suggested that this route provided better scenery and less cost. Unfortunately he didn’t mention the traffic issues that we might encounter.
We stopped at one point in order to charge up at a service station and it took 20 minutes to enter. When we arrived at the superchargers we found a queue. Fortunately a member of staff supervised the queue. Waiting for our 80% charge took another 20 minutes. The next problem came when we tried to exit, again another extensive wait.
We continued on our journey and arrived at our destination which sat about 10 km from the motorway in an isolated spot. We checked in to a very unattractive hotel.
The rooms of the Artemis Hotel belonged to an age of austerity. A basic but large bed sat on one wall and all the rest of the room lacked any decoration except the two bedside lamps. Someone had stuck feathers to the lamps which made them a rather strange fixture of our accommodation.
Fortunately the hotel had a very good restaurant and we had a nice meal served with great aplomb by the head waiter who spoke very good English. We particularly enjoyed a local wine.
14 August 2022
We drove to Chartres from the Artemis Hotel (40 miles short of Clermont-Ferrand) without incident and arrived about 3 pm. I had booked the Jehan de Beauce via Booking.com. The hotel is situated in the centre of Chartres, just across the road from the station and no more than 300 metres from the cathedral.
A much smarter hotel than the Artemis, but less expense and the room was much smaller however better decorated.
We took a short walk to the cathedral and luckily enough found it open for visitors. The pictures and the link tell the best story about this magnificent building.
Chartres Cathedral
After a little bit of research on the internet I choose a restaurant situated close to both our hotel and the Cathedral called L’Amphitryon where we enjoyed a very nice meal and bottle of wine.
15 August 2022
From Chartres we made our way northward to Calais. We stopped at an Intermarché in Abbeville for supplies. This will be the last time I visit Intermarché. The food quality of both Leclerc and Carrefour stands head and shoulders above this downmarket superstore. Everything we bought was below the standard we have come to expect from French supermarkets.
The rest of the journey ran without incident. We stopped for a small picnic made from breakfast scavenging and a local drink.
The club class lounge at the Shuttle heaved with people grabbing as much as they could from the free sandwiches, drinks, crisps etc. It looked awful.
