La Coupole

The long drive home today. We left Luxembourg mid-morning and rather than head straight to Calais, Annie did a bit of research to locate us a stop on route.

La Coupole is a World War 2 bunker complex originally constructed by German forces in 1943 and 44 as a V-2 rocket launch site. Due to allied bombing, it never saw active service for such a purpose. It was partially destroyed and lay unused until 1997. Now within the complex there is a comprehensive museum telling the story of the German occupation of France. The blip shows the concrete dome that remains in place over the bunker. Whilst inside the bunker, Annie found a frog sitting inside a film room. Concerned for its welfare and always the Dr Doolittle, she picked it up and made should it got outside safely. All in all a great bonus visit.

We took a non-motorway route back to Calais setting sat nav to "shortest route" as well. This sent us down some really interesting roads and 10 minutes out of Calais it still felt like we were in the middle of the countryside (see the extra).

We had an obligatory stop for "supplies" in Calais including Annie's favourite ice cream (not available in the UK). We made good use of our electric coolbox. Through the tunnel and into the UK drizzle, nice to be home but it's been a fantastic week.