A 5.30am early start this morning to pack the car and we were met with the first heavy rain for what has seemed like a year as we packed a months worth of clothes, activities, games, bikes and a lot of other stuff that could easily be sourced if required! 

Every part of the car is full and slightly regretting the decision to pack two bikes in the boot of the car but who doesn’t enjoy solving the knapsack problem daily.

A smooth trip down to the eurotunnel and we were efficiently in Calais within 3.5 hours to make our first stop at the fantastic Calais Vin (5 minute drive from the tunnel) and a catch up with the very knowledgeable Jerome for his recommendations for the trip ahead. The bakery attached is also fantastic and the kids dived in there to get their holiday pain au chocolate count off the mark at the earliest opportunity!

The trip onto Belgium was to the soundtrack of Eurovision from their playlist as we travelled through the fields of northern France, the rear of the car now covered in kids entertainment items after the excitement of having a dedicated fun bag being too much and unpacked before we left England, much discarded as not being fun enough!

We arrived to beautiful sunshine in Belgium ready to make the most of our short stay.

Distance: 203 miles