55 MOVING PARTS...

Richie was over for tea at ours the other night, and we invariably got onto the subject of the Rally. He is desperate for the dates of the Black Forest Gateau as he is trying to juggle a golf trip next summer and needs to put money aside to potentially cover two big holidays in 2025.

It was really encouraging for me to hear how invested he was getting in the trip.  It felt like he had been at arm's length for understandable and personal reasons, but now he was in top gear, foot to the floor, all systems go.

As the night went on, we started discussing the practicalities of the trip and all the moving parts involved.  Everything is up in the air as we don't know when the event will start, so we can't look at booking ferry crossings/Chunnel places and hotels yet.  It is nine months away, but I'd rather be organised!

Richie drives a lot for work and said we should add at least a few hours onto the journey to deal with the inevitable delays on the British motorway network.  If he is right, it looks like Day 0 will start at 09:00 and finish after 19:00 - some day that.

A big concern for me is the villa. We need to find one with many 'must-haves', like secure parking for up to four cars, a check-in date that suits both the drivers and those who are flying, and enough beds for everyone.

That is before all the usual stuff, such as whether the villa has a pool, a great view, or is a lovely place to stay, etc.

Then there is the trip back; Richie had me in stitches when he suggested we get the ferry back from France to Plymouth. I questioned whether he had unlimited days off and a lottery win as the trip would go from Marseille down past the Balearic Islands, to the bottom of Spain, past Gibraltar, back up along the entire length of Portugal, then across the Bay of Biscay past the Chanel Islands and then into Plymouth.  After a few seconds, he said, "Fair enough.  Why don't we drive?"

The reasoning for getting a ferry was sound, though.  This will be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so we should stop from time to time and enjoy it.  In my head, the trip home is just about getting back to Liverpool as quickly and efficiently as possible.  However, as Richie pointed out, if we are in France or southern England, why not take a little time to enjoy it?

I mentioned my back-of-a-fag-packet plan of driving up to Dijon (6 hours away from the villa), staying and having a nice meal somewhere, then heading for Calais, getting back into Britain, and staying somewhere like Canterbury (7 hours away from Dijon) for the night.  If I'm being honest, the six and 7-hour journeys might be too long.  

It might be better to stop somewhere like Lyon (5 hours away from the villa), then at Saint Quentin - a stop on the Champagne Charlie route Bust Rallies organise - (5 hours away from Lyon).  Then, the following day, cross the channel and stop somewhere like Oxford (5 hours away from Saint Quentin).  That leaves us a 4-hour journey back to Liverpool.

This would mean taking an extra day of annual leave from work or leaving the villa a day earlier, something to consider once we all get together.