The journey home from home

My return journey took 17 hours, the longest ever from door to door.  I'd set off from a Suffolk coastal town at 7h15 and after about 30 minutes I really felt as if I could drive no further, I was that exhilaratingly exhausted after 4 weeks of FULL on FUN!  However, the torrential rain abated away from the coast leading to optimism for good weather, but that dwindled as driving conditions became treacherous with more watery stuff falling from the sky.  Apart from that, it was a good journey and I made sufficient progress to pop in to S's supermarket to get items for my English friend in France. She'd made the most amazing store cupboard cakes for me to take and everyone was hungrily pleased to eat them! This made me late for the ferry but I'd worked out that I would still be OK for time the other side of the channel.  However, I had not bargained for technical problems on the ferry and so everyone had to wait two hours before the next boarding.  I slept on the boat! The sun shone as the cars emerged from the hull of the vessel to drive onto terra franca.  How I love to see that wide open sky at Calais! The weather did not hold.  More rain came. When the sun shone yet again it gave a false promise for me to carry on despite the fact that I was tired.  I'd forgotten that at this time of the year it gets suddenly dark. I'd left it too late to find a hotel and anyway I'd also forgotten that I have to get off the autoroute to find one.  I NEED TO PLAN!  So I ploughed on, driving slower, daring not to stop as it would make me later than late. I was resigned for the 2 a.m. arrival when the autoroute 'bouchon' required us to leave and take the Nationale route!  I lost my way, experienced danger on the road. It was my own making. I dare not tell...except to say it is not always a good idea for the brain to be on automatic and make me think I am driving on an English highway!  Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to take avoidance action and so I live to tell a tale!  Sometimes I stop at Ashford, Kent with family but this time it was not possible.   It's not much fun doing that journey all alone and next time I really must get a hotel for the return journey.