Popping under France

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In the belief that it is the duty of a thoughtful periodical to identify new social trends as they appear, and offer some comment on them, I would like to draw attention to a new custom in southern England, that of 'popping over' to France for the day. This is now perfectly practical from anywhere southeast of a line through Nottingham, Derby, Birmingham and Bristol. Thanks to the motorway network, these towns and all places southeast of them, are now within cruising distance of the Channel ports and tunnel. In the weeks leading up to Christmas thousands of British drivers will be doing day trips to France.

How easy it is! Twenty-five years ago, inspired by some optimistic publicity by the ferry companies, I had the idea of going, from London, to Boulogne for lunch. I set off at 7 a.m., and counted myself lucky to get back at 1 a.m. It was not an experience to repeat. Now there are more ships, faster ships and - above all - le Shuttle, the train that takes your car through the Channel Tunnel. I do it, not frequently, but regularly. It is exactly two hundred miles from my front door in Somerset to the tunnel, and 180 of those miles are on motorway. Allowing an extra half-hour for the congestion west of London, the journey on the M4, M25, M26 and …