Jun 30 - we made it to Herentals ! 282 kph !

Amazing.  Our train got to Paris just after 2pm.  I'd had the GPS running to check our speed and we were running at an amazing 282 kph !  That's my personal ground speed record for sure !

Because we were late getting tickets for that train we were allocated drop-down seats, i.e. four fold-downs at the exit.  We had our own little car between trains.  They were so-so comfortable for the first while and then not so comfortable, however, we had plenty of room to stand.  We were also the first ones off the train.

Taking the Chunnel wasn't much of an event.  I could see where we were on the GPS and then we went into the tunnel for a while and then came out.  No excitement at all.  Check that off my list.

By the time we were actually rolling out of Paris it was 4pm.  Although the route that we were taking varied from 2-3 lanes in our direction, there were often 4 cars + motorbikes; it was a zoo.  Forget the lane markings.  Forget any courtesy.  At one point Sandy rolled down her window and pleaded with the fellow beside us to let us in.

That probably didn't take as much time as it seemed and we were on the A1, Autoroute to towards Calais / Lille.  Eventually we had to get a toll ticket and when we checked out much later, we paid about 13 Euros by credit card.

We arrived in Herentals just before 8:30 and checked into the hotel.  Jim and Sheryl were a little bit behind us and arrived shortly afterwards.  Jim had a Toyota Yaris rental, fully hybrid, and it was acting up.  It wouldn't start normally, he had to do some funny things occasionally to get it rolling.

That car and my Renault Clio were the last cars at Europcar in Paris.  Neither one is big enough for the 3 of them to continue traveling so we have to deal with that today.  My bike is now assembled and my gear organized.  Sheryl and Jim are finding another room in town because we only had one night booked as a group.  The Hotel de Zalm, our hotel, has a companion here on the mid-town square.  There's a room available and I presume that they were in the process of checking in.

The nearest Europcar station is in Antwerp, so we're likely to head there and do something with the car.    There's a huge party planned here in town with big screen TV setup at one end of the square because Belgium is playing USA tonight in the World Cup.  For that event I will wear something Canadian, not my Randonneurs USA shirt !!

It was easy driving from Paris to here once out of the city, but a long way, certainly longer than if we'd been able to arrange something from Lille or Calais (or Brussels !!) but that was not to be.  Oh well.  The good thing is that we got here.

Jan, the ride organizer, came to the hotel and sat with us for a while at dinner last night, going over the route sheet and arrangements with me.  I don't remember any of it.  I'll scout out the departure area, in nearby Morkhoven, later today.  Looking at the map, it's about 10km away.  There's parking right there so that's where I'll be headed tomorrow morning.

Onward ?  I sure hope so !