What we learnt during the move

Today I woke up for the first time in my new flat. As a resident, that is; I mean I woke up there a couple of times before but that was just as a visitor. Now I actually live here!

We have had a very stressful few days since Claire came back to the UK on Wednesday not least of which that her flight was delayed for an hour and a half and so we didn't get back from Gatwick until 1:30. Then we had a day packing. Well I say a day, it was actually more like 36 hours. We started at 8:30 on Thursday and finally went for a lie down at 6:30 Friday morning, grabbed an hour or so, then got up again to dismantle the bed and dining table in time for the removal men to arrive and start loading us at 8:30. I think I was hallucinating at times during the day...

Anyway, here's what we learnt during the move:

• Your car is always exactly half as big as you thought it was


• but there's always room to shove "just one more thing" in there somewhere


• you always have a whole load of stuff that you just don't need anymore
  [and if you pack yourself rather than getting a removal company to do it, you tend to find it more easily...]


• it is possible to survive on very little sleep as long as you catch up soon!


• friends and neighbours are the best resource you have for when you've just put all your cooking equipment into storage or your hairdryer's at the bottom of a carful of stuff
  [Big kudos to the Gilberts for grub and the Lomaxes for personal care equipment!]


• if you arrive early at Dover, P & O will try and put you on an earlier ferry


• Costa coffee never have enough staff to cope with demand


• mobile phone signal cuts out about a mile off the White Cliffs


• Costa coffee never have enough staff to cope with demand (again)


• French toll roads, whilst far from cheap, are worth every penny


• it is entirely possible to drive through France in a right-hand-drive car using only your wing mirrors


• the biggest difference between French cuisine and English cuisine is to be found at motorway service stations


• a croque monsieur and chips is a great energy source


• you only need three roads to get from Calais to Basel


• it is entirely possible to get from England to Switzerland without anyone ever looking at your passports


• TomTom sometimes knows better than your co-pilot


• no matter how large you think your apartment is, you will always have brought exactly twice as much stuff as will fit in it


• women are much better than men at putting stuff away in a smaller-than-you-thought apartment!

Right, I'm off to get a residents' travel pass and some lunch. Cheers!