SEASIDE & FERRY

Sunday 23^rd

It was still very windy, cold and drizzly when we got up, so Plan A became Plan B.  We had intended driving about 60 miles to an Aire at Le Treport which said it was on a hilltop alongside the funicular railway down in to the town, but thought that probably was not a good spot to spend the night in such weather.  It was only lunchtime when we got there so we pulled in to a supermarket car park to eat our cheese and crackers and then pressed on another 34 miles to a campsite, Camping Ferme Les Aulnes, at a small place called Fresne in the middle of nowhere in the Picardy countryside, which we found in the Camping Cheques book.  At least we would have electricity and showers there. It was quite a nice site, with lots of mobile homes and a few touring pitches, but boasted a swimming pool and a restaurant as well as speaking excellent English.  We think we may try the restaurant tomorrow.

Monday 24^th

At last the sun is shining again, even though the wind is still strong and it is not terribly warm.  After a croissant breakfast we set off for a walk to see what we could find.  There did not seem to be any footpaths across fields or through woods, so we ended up walking along the road for an hour to nowhere and back again. We did manage to sit outside when we got back and eat our lunch but then it clouded over and we had to go in.  Brian even washed some of the muck off the van so I expect it will rain again now. We have booked a meal for 7.00pm so now we just need to shower and tidy ourselves up.  Apparently there is even a live piano player in the bar/restaurant, should be interesting.

Tuesday 25^th

Last night’s meal was OK, but quite expensive, 39 euros for 2 mains + 2 desserts.  We had been given a token for a free drink on arrival, but it was only for a ‘small’ glass of wine.

Today has been a beautiful warm sunny day, no doubt the weather will get better now that we are soon going home.  We tidied up the van a bit, had a little walk around the static caravan side of the park and then chatted to a couple from Reigate who had been doing a similar trip to us.  They had worked out a very good system of making a fly net screen to go over their sliding door, so we were looking at how to do it for ours.  Flies have been one of the biggest nuisances when we have the door open.  We have just eaten the last item from our freeze box, so it will be either salad or eggs + bacon tomorrow.  We are heading for an Aire at Boulogne for the last couple of nights so that we can visit the Nausicaa Aquarium and do some wine shopping at a hypermarket before crossing the water on Friday.

Wednesday 26^th

Another fine sunny morning for our packing up, our neighbours even went for a dip in the pool before they left! We only had 36 miles to go to Boulogne so did not leave until about 11.00am and went first to a Carrefour supermarket that was on the way, to get some more wine to take home as well as a few essentials for the last couple of days. We found the Aire at Boulogne fairly easily as Nausicaa was well signed all through the town and even the lunch time traffic was not as bad as we had expected. The situation on the hill top overlooking the harbour is actually quite nice, although very sloping, every spot we tried to park on needed ramps in two directions to get us anywhere near level. During the afternoon more vans arrived, mainly Belgian or French and it was quite amusing watching their antics trying to get a level spot with a view. We went for a wander along the cliffs and watched someone trying to get his hang-glider off the ground without much success Then it was just chill-out until wine-oclock.

Thursday 27^th

Our last whole day in France! Oh, how sad, as we have enjoyed the journey immensely.  We walked down in to the town about 10.00am to join the queue to get in to Nausicaa. It is billed as the largest aquarium in Europe and was opened by Jacques Cousteau about 20 years ago. It certainly was interesting and very well set out, although we found the first part to be rather dark and a bit oppressive.  Unfortunately, as well, it appeared to be every French school’s trip day and we were surrounded by noisy little people.  Eventually they moved on and it was much more pleasant.  We spent almost 3 hours there wandering around looking at the sharks, turtles, rays, and tropical fish in the most spectacular surroundings.

It was after 3.00pm when we came out, so decided to treat ourselves to one last meal and headed off to the restaurant opposite. Cider, salmon and ice creams were on the menu so we were both happy bunnies. Then of course we just had to go and sit on the beach in the sun for a while before wending our weary way back up the hill to the van, a cuppa and a sit down.

Friday 28^th

We were ready to leave by 10.00am to drive 42 miles back to Dunkerque and the ferry, so thought we would take a chance on an earlier one than the 2.00pm one we had booked. We got to the port by 11.15 and drove straight to the check-in and were directed to the 12.00 sailing, no problem.  By the time we got back to Dover (1.00pm local time) it was raining, what a surprise!  We stopped off at Tesco just outside of Dover and stocked up on fresh fruit and veg for the weekend, arriving home by 3.30pm.

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We have driven a total of 1101 miles; stayed at 2 France Passion sites; 5 Aires; 2 Municipal campsites; 3 Camping Cheque sites, spending 350 euros on site fees for 30 nights. Entrance fees to chateaux and attractions came to 133 euros and we spent about 270 euros on fuel.