Events

Caravan of the Force: On The Road Report Days 2 and 3

July 24, 2013, 1:00 PM, BST

Day 2: Saturday 20th July

Following the hectic and exhausting schedule of the first day, Saturday felt a little easier going, either that or my body had resigned itself to the tasks ahead. A hearty breakfast at The Holiday Inn at Bexley Heath was certainly a start in the right direction. With no official engagements booked for the day, the Caravan left the outskirts of London to head to the next waypoint, Rochester in Kent.

As co-pilot of Slave 2, which incidentally is the more superior of the two Hyundai Santa Fe vehicles, with nicer set wheels and a sun roof, we made our way down towards the south-east coastline to the beautiful historic town that shares many ties to Charles Dickens.

After checking in at the Holiday Inn, we made our way into the town centre to be met with the spectacle of Rochester Cathedral and Rochester Castle which, as luck would have it, had an outdoor proms event with live music performances, fireworks and a Spitfire flyby. Dinner at an Italian was the perfect end to day 2.

Day 3: Sunday 21st July

Day 3 was all about timekeeping. An early rise, breakfast and check out in order to hit the road to Dover, next stop France. Taking the helm of Slave 2, did I mention the more superior of the 2; we arrived at Dover to board The Spirit Of Burgundy, the P&O ferry bound for Calais, France. Although the journey started two days ago, the prospect of leaving the United Kingdom to unfamiliar destinations made everyone feel the real journey was about to begin.

The crossing took only around 90 minutes, surrounded by fog across the English Channel. Every few minutes the fog horn would bellow out into the thick sea fog warning any other approaching ships The Caravan Of the Force was coming.

The sunny weather was back to greet us at Calais, Slave 1 and the slightly more superior Slave 2 disembarked and we headed north across the French countryside to Lille.

After checking in, we headed into the town to meet up with members of the French 501st. Although the meeting was with delegates of The Empire, Lille itself appears to be harbouring fugitives as structures on one of the roundabouts looked suspiciously like Rebel Alliance Shield Generators. We were met by David at the Van Damme army barracks and were introduced to the rest of the troop, which included Vader, Imperial Officers (Did you know Admiral Ozzel has been reassigned to the French 501st?) and Biker Scout Troopers. Lord Vader remained cool under the blistering gaze of the sun whilst Jeremy and the rest the French 501st posed for photographs. Plans were discussed about the pending show and what we could look forward during and after the event. It is always exciting when a common interest can bridge language barriers, although Boba Fett himself was not shy of flexing linguistic talents.