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Once aboard the ferry, we had some lunch and sat and relaxed for the remainder of the short journey, and at Calais we drove off the ferry, out of the port, and at last I felt we were really on our way!We eventually reached Paris - at a time when we didn't want to be there, with heavy traffic, and the main A1 route through diverted, but with no signs to where! We found ourselves going around in circles a couple of times, and then just took any old junction off to somewhere to try and get our bearings. Eventually we got back on track, taking the long way round, and found ourselves heading into Orleans on the motorway. There was a toll road ahead of us, and the Gendarme French police were making routine stops. We went towards a lane which looked like they were waving the traffic through - and got pulled over! We were having enough trouble learning Spanish en route, without having to try and understand any French! All I knew was what I learned at school over forty years ago, so I could probably say my name, ask how you are and what is the time? A female officer indicated us towards the weight bridge and of course we knew we were fine - after all we had the receipt from the ferry to prove it. She asked to see our vehicle documents, and seemed to be having great trouble working out the axle weight of the horsebox. She started to tell that the vehicle was too heavy, and was getting agitated when we kept pointing to the figures on the documents. She then wanted to see all the passports for the animals, our passports and any other documents we had, like the vehicle insurance green card. By this time we had been there for over half an hour and other vehicles were being waved through, until eventually a male officer took her to one side, and gestured at various bits of information on the documents. The female officer then came back, thrust all our papers at us, and waved us through. Without waiting to be told twice, we drove off, not looking back. It was only when we had been driving for some time further on and I was putting all the paperwork back into some order that I realised she hadn't given us back Billy the dogs pet passport! There was no way we were going back!Sleeping in the cab of the horsebox proved to be another challenge. It was cramped, freezing cold and uncomfortable, but luckily we didn't have to do it too often!We made slow progress down through France, mainly due to the fact that Auto route had decided to ignore all it's programming and seemed intent on taking us up every incline and mountain in France. As we approached Claremont Ferrand, I could tell Alan was getting tense, but assumed the long fraught journey was beginning to take its toll as he was doing all of the driving. The weather was getting colder the further south we travelled, but that was due to the fact that we were also travelling at a higher altitude. We stopped and rested for a short time, and then continued, wondering if we would ever get to Spain. http://www.247spares.co.uk/vauxhall || Vauxhall Spares