Once I’d convinced myself the tunnel would not collapse… I loved using it… so quick… and we would doze gently during the crossing.
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The problem with the tunnel is driving there. God the route is boring. It is mind boggling boring.
From where we are, I prefer to go via Paris just make the journey more interesting.
Its half an hour longer but worth every minute.
St Malo night boat is my preferred route back to the UK.
We all have our favourite routes, I reckon.
Life is rarely boring for me… 
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Since our journey is over 900 miles and mostly done at night I couldn’t give a monkeys if the route is boring or not, quickness via the tunnel is my priority, avoiding Paris is another.
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Doing the M25 once is bad enough, without wanting to do the French equivalent. I’ve been back via Paris twice now, once heading to Caen and once to Calais and we carefully avoid it.
Also after driving for a couple of hours on the A26, Kent countryside is a lovely break. I don’t mind it so much on the way out because we’re in France and the landscape is just getting better and better as we’re heading where we want to go. But on the way back, that last 2 hours before the terminal is just so tedious.
we’d drive down through UK to Tunnel…
take an evening crossing to France, stay in local hotel overnight and around 7am the next day… zoom down through France and avoid most traffic… hurrah.
One trip, out of the tunnel and over to the hotel… we arrived exhausted and went for a doze… next thing we know… it’s just before 7 in the morning and we’ve 10 minutes to get ourselves up and out…
The hotel manager prattled on, but I didn’t really catch much of it… too hyped up for the drive ahead of us…
Some miles down the road, we realised we’d made a mistake… well, I had but OH hadn’t queried it…
We’re old fashioned folk and I’d misread my old fashioned timepiece… it was actually heading for 11pm…
Huh… no wonder the HManager had prattled, we’d not even stayed the night !! 
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It works both ways.
I find the French countryside utterly tedious after spending more than half my life here.
I find the UK a joy to drive through. It’s stunningly beautiful. OH, kids agree.
I wish peeps would appreciate the UK more…you have a very lovely country. France is outstanding in places….but grim in most places.
Why not move to the UK as you don’t seem to like it much here in France.
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I love France.
My French sister in law and her family spends most of her holidays abroad. Last weekend she was in Tunisia.
I will ask her the same question for you.
I consider myself very lucky to live in a beautiful part of the UK, especially considering the grubby part of London we came from. But we love France too - there are many parts that are enormously attractive and interesting, and we’ve found many of the people kind and welcoming too, so that we think ourselves lucky indeed to have a place in both.
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But is she originally from metropolitan France? If you just happen to be born and then live somewhere,your attitude probably isn’t quite the same as if you actively choose to live somewhere, leaving your original place of abode.
Well yes…of course ???
You know all my kids friends at school go on holiday abroad. UK, Ibiza, New York…you get the picture.
We tend to holiday in France. But it has reached the point where we will have to take them… abroad. Otherwise they will call the social services.
We are thinking Reykjavik.
When you live in a country, no matter how exciting it is to those living outside the country, it becomes the norm for those living there
Some will say that going for a holiday in St Tropez or the Dordogne is exciting. I get that. For me it would be like sticking pins in my eyes.
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At least that will make France look really cheap to live
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That, couched somewhat differently, is what I said.
Only if you have deep pockets. Lovely country, but eye watering prices.
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Yes, my daughter and her husband went for a visit a few years back and took as much dried food as they could with them as they rented an appt with a kitchen part so able to heat water/microwave etc. She found the slip on spikes for her shoes invaluable as they went in March when it was snowy.
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For those who get through the Dover queues…
Iceland, the clue is in the name!
Not always snowy, it does disappear from most places during other months. Watch “Eurovision”, not a lot of snow about especially when they visited the elf houses. The Blue Lagoon came as a shock, they had to shower before going in, had to wear bathrobes and the silica played havoc with their hair.
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