O4.15, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz –oh shut up…it’s time to get up love. You make the tea whilst I shave and then go and start getting the caravan ready for departure. Take off locks, engage rollers and connect up to car and at 05.05 we are ready to leave for Portsmouth, perhaps a little earlier than we thought we would make it.
We arrived at Portsmouth Car Ferry terminal just about 0615 and already there was a queue for the check in desks and including a large amount of second world military vehicles and people, mostly men, dressed in second world war uniforms, it felt quite strange really. It was pouring with rain as we inched towards the check in desk and the American vehicle in front of us packed up and we really could not go forward or back. Just what you need when you’re half a sleep. So Jennifer walked to the check in desk and did her bit and I thought that perhaps we might get by if we are really careful which we did with about an inch to spare each side of the van. So we made it to the next queue. It turned out why there was a large line of vehicles not moving as there was a big booking discrepancy for about 50 ex WW2 vehicles.
We got on board about 0800 for a 0815 departure and of course we left about 30 minutes late so not to bad really. Even though perhaps we boarded after the cars I had forgotten that this ferry puts all the cars in an upper area and that caravans and trucks etc are on the lowest deck which means we are one of the first to get off when we arrive.
We had tried to book reserved seating but it was a full ferry with the many army uniforms laying around and sleeping all over the place. We had therefore booked a cabin and hit the sack for about 3.5 hour’s before surfacing in time for a light sandwich lunch before arrival.
We departed Caen ferry terminal around 15.30 and took the quiet roads to the caravan site in Courmeilles and upon arrival we met a group of caravanners that we have met last year and so it was like being at a second home. We had a reserved site and it looked fine but we did not want to move around too much and so got set up and so by 18.00 the first cup of tea sitting outside in the warm sunny weather.
We had arranged dinner in the Chateau and there were about ten dinners only which is about as much you can seat there and also for Ingrid (the site owner) to cook for. A nice starter of avocado and prawns with salad, followed by Lamb with garlic and fresh veggies, cheese and then desert which Jen could manage partly, take those strawberries back for tomorrow’s breakfast. A very nice dinner and now back the van around 10.30 pm with a slight mist or rain in the air but we were both dead tired.
