Y Safle

Some years ago an American colleague used a piece of software called “Autoroute Europe” to plan a trip from London to Aberystwyth to come and visit us. The route the software offered was.. um… unusual.

I reproduce it in full below, but the point to watch out for is that it involves 3 ferries, and the language of the place names keeps changing! The trip takes me 4 and a half hours of driving plust stops. The software solution gave a route of 52 hours 44 minutes (and about a hundred miles too many).

Tracing the toute on a map has it crossing to France! Driving inland across France before eventually taking a ferry to Ireland, where one can finally take a ferry to Wales!

Time                                    Road       For   Dir Towards 

0915 DEPART Potters Bar                 M25     31 miles E  Brentwood
0945 At M25 J31 turn off onto           A282     2 miles SW (Dartford)
0947 At Dartford turn off onto          Ferry    0 miles E  *Check timetable*
0157 At Boulogne Sur Mer                N1       3 miles S  (Abbeville)
0200 Go onto                            D940    13 miles S  (Etaples)
0226 At Etaples turn left onto          D39      7 miles E
0239 Turn right onto                    D917     8 miles W
0256 Turn left onto                     D940    12 miles SE
0320 Bear right onto                    No name  3 miles S
0326 Turn left onto                     D940     5 miles E (Noyelles)
0337 At Noyelles stay on the            D940     8 miles SE (Abbeville)
0353 At Abbeville turn right onto       N28     15 miles SW Rouen
0409 At Le Translay turn off onto       D1015   15 miles E  (Aumale)
0439 At Aumale turn left onto           N29      1 mile  E  Amiens
0440 Turn off onto                      D915    11 miles SE (Grandvilliers)
0502 At Grandvilliers turn right onto   N901     6 miles S  (Beauvais)
0508 At Marseille En Beauvais turn onto D930     6 miles W  (Songeons)
0520 At Songeons go onto                D916    12 miles S  (Gournay En Bray)
0544 Bear left onto                     D316    26 miles SW (Vernon)
0636 At Gaillon stay on the             D316     5 miles SW (Evreux)
0646 At Autheuil turn right onto        D836     6 miles W (Louviers)
0659 Bear right onto                    No name  3 miles N  (Louviers)
0706 At Louviers turn right onto        D836    10 miles W  (Elbeuf)
0726 At Elbeuf bear left onto           D313     7 miles W  (Bourgtheroulde)
0739 At Bourgtheroulde stay on the      D313     6 miles NW (Bourg Archard)
0751 At Bourg Archard stay on the       D313    11 miles NW
0813 Turn right onto                    D490     2 miles N
0817 Go onto                            D131     7 miles N
0831 Turn left onto                     N15      5 miles W  (Bolbec)
0836 At Alvimare turn off onto          D926    17 miles NW (Fecamp)
0910 At Fecamp turn left onto           D940    26 miles W  (Le Havre)
1003 At Le Havre turn right onto        Ferry    0 miles NW *Check timetable*
0851 At Rosslare Harbour stay on the    Ferry    0 miles E  *Check timetable*
1241 At Fishguard turn off onto         A487     1 mile  SW (Border)
1242 At Border stay on the              A487     1 mile  E  (Aberystwyth)
1244 At Fishguard stay on the           A487    16 miles E  (Aberystwyth)
1307 At Cardigan stay on the            A487    21 miles E  (Aberystwyth)
1337 At Aberaeron stay on the           A487    16 miles N  (Aberystwyth)
1400 ARRIVE Aberystwyth 

Total time: 52 hours 44 minutes; total distance: 346 miles.

Now we know why Americans have such a peculiar perception of Europe.

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