Last time our route brought us through Germany, Netherlands and Belgium to France where we took the ferry from Calais to Dover. Once in England we drove till Fishguard to take a second ferry to Ireland where we somehow managed the last 200km from Rosslare to Cork before we fell into bed.

Quite an exhausting trip, and even if we came close to a few of our favourite spots, we didn’t really have time to stop there. Something we really wanted to change this time.

Another thing we changed was the route. Instead of driving through England friends suggested to take the ferry directly to France. Strangely enough, the ferry from Rosslair to Roscoff is pretty much the same price then the one over the channel. Keep in mind that one not only safes the price for the second ferry but also 400km through England. All of which adds up on making this the cheaper way.

On the downside the ferry needs almost 18 hours, extending the total journey by almost half a day. Of course, since you don’t drive and are able to sleep over night, at least in theory, this should make it more comfortable.

So we left Cork on Friday at lunch time and arrived in Rosslair at the ferry well in time.

A bit of heavy weather made the ride a bit bumpy.

Nothing new for us. And a night’s sleep later we arrived in Roscoff. Our route through France brought us directly through Le Mans and Paris at dinner time. So we decided to hit the Boulevard Peripherique and meet with friends for dinner.

We went to a Peruvian restaurant where we discovered Inca Kola.

Night has fallen when we where back on our way and we soon hit Germany where we managed to make up some time.

Despite that we where still in Germany when dawn arrived.

A few hours later we were finally at the Austrian border, from where it was only one more hour till home. We finally got there around 9 am, where two big toys where united once again.

Needless to say that I fell straight into bed after we arrived.

It was very nice to see friends and family and felt good to hit the old town again.

But as always, our schedule was way too tight. I really wanted to visit the ars electronica center as we had missed the festival this year.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find the time for it.

On Thursday afternoon we where getting the car ready for the trip back to Cork. This time we where driving much lighter, a few boxes of beer, a few bottles of wine, some dark bread and full size bed in the back.

After a last dinner with friends we left in the middle of the night from Thursday to Friday. Planning to spend Friday till Saturday noon in Paris. We did, however arrive a bit late. For once because we overslept as we didn’t set an alarm clock. I mean who would oversleep parked next to a German autobahn anyway?

Then we had to stopp for a hour to clean some honey that fell over.

And once in Paris, we had problems finding a park and ride for cars higher then 1.90m. But we finally managed and had a wonderful night out with fellow WGBs.

Saturday we spent some more time for sight seeing.

As always, there are more high resolution pictures on my Flickr stream.

I really enjoyed Paris, even if they calll all Metro stations “Sortir”. A pity that we had to leave at lunch time in order to catch our ferry in Roscoff.

Once there, we where pretty much the only car not filled up to the roof with French wine. Just in case you wonder, this is what a double cabin on suite looks like.

Unfortunately they air condition was broken, so I wasn’t all that fresh and rested when we arrived in Ireland. But after 1600km per route, the last 200 seemed like a stone’s throw.