London and Hamburg (My Travels)
... I’m in no hurry at all. The new car is keeping to my expectations, and thus I’ve a very good time driving to the Italian border, and all along the Swiss highways towards Basel and the German border, which I reach after lunch.
Then, something gets wrong: a young police-woman speaking French - why? wasn’t I supposed to be at the German border? - decides that I probably am some sort of bad guy, and both my car and my luggage go through a full search by a French police team. Which costs me about a full hour delay.
In the end, the police too must live with the fact that I’m not hiding anything questionable, and I can continue my trip. But I’ve wasted one hour, I’ve lost some of my good mood... and seemingly some of my luck too: a couple of hours later the weather turns to a storm, and a traffic jam close to Strasbourg puts an end to my hope of crossing the English Channel tonight.
I keep going ahead till nightfall, then I’ve some dinner, and some sleep, waiting for dawn.
May 27th
I wasn’t that far from Calais when I decided to have some sleep yesterday night. Thus, when the first light wakes me and I resume my trip, I need a little more than one hour to reach the English Channel and I can embark on the first ferry to Dover without any further delay.
Once in England, it becomes a matter of faith, i.e. my trust ...
