Day 1: London to Montlucon - 10th January 2009

Day 1

Following a bright and early start on day 1 of our journey to Bamako, I successfully managed to pick up Jonny in Battersea before bombing our way down to Dover. Less than expert timing meant we had to speed through passport control and make the ferry with approximately 30 seconds to spare.

During breakfast (a ridiculously overpriced but excellent full English) we established that not one of the four of us had a road map of Europe or had given the route through France any considerations. The map was bought and all options were then considered for the next 2 hours. It was agreed that the notorious Paris traffic problems should be well avoided as we cover as much ground as possible on day 1.

Sitting in traffic in Paris for an hour it became quite obvious that we weren't going to get as far as the plan had previously suggested. A good 7 hour slog through France and we settled in Montlucon, a small town set on the Cher river in Allier, which although so typically French on the approach drive, had a hight street straight out of any English county town. It provided us with the necessities for night 1: basic hotel, basic restaurant, multiple beers.

(Update since we got back: The so called "bombing our way to Dover" cost me an additional £60 and 3 points on the licence. In a £400 car... oh well, it's all in the name of Charity, right?)