My dentist managed to bring my final appointment forward by an hour on Thursday, immediately before our drive to Dover. After the examination and x ray Martin pronounced the implant perfect, smiles all round. So off we went, we hadn’t travelled 10 miles before we came upon roadworks and a queue of traffic. MrFF turned round to use the alternative route, discovered there was no alternative route and rejoined the queue further back with much huffing and puffing. On the motorway we were stuck behind a wide load that looked like a bungalow being relocated. It was accompanied by an escort vehicle that prevented overtaking so we all drove at reduced speed in convoy. Every 50 miles or so the escort allowed a few cars to overtake. I found it all very civilised but more impatient drivers tried pulling off on slip roads to rejoin further down the route and hopefully in front of the obstacle, generally this didn’t work.
Things were quite tense as MrFF had set his heart on getting the 4 pm ferry. You are allowed to take one earlier or later than you have booked. We were booked on the 6 pm which with the hour difference would have been a late arrival at our B&B. We reached check in about 20 minutes before sailing, an extremely pleasant young man said we could take the earlier ferry or one a few minutes later to Dunkerque rather than Calais, fantastic. The crossing was smooth and quiet, after dashing to the toilet as we hadn’t stopped at all, we settled down with our picnic food and a plate of chips from the cafe, that was our lunch and dinner.
We had booked a very lovely B&B less than half an hour from Calais, it had great reviews about the charming hosts and their adorable cats, quirky decor, a beautiful garden and great breakfast, such a treat. We emailed from the ferry to let them know our arrival time and received a response telling us where to park, a door code for access and the name of our room, which all seemed a bit impersonal. We easily found the place, had an argument about where exactly we should park, either was correct. The property was in a narrow village street with cars parked opposite the entrance, it wasn’t easy and somehow MrFF reversed into the wall at the entrance putting a small dint in his beloved car, which apparently was my fault. Enough said.
We got into the property and found our room which was very nice with a terrace onto a little garden area with table and chairs.
We took a look round the place, it was lovely but completely deserted, we found a great kitchen area with instructions about breakfast, help yourself, put your crockery etc in the dishwasher, clean your table. Back in our room I wondered where our convivial hosts were not to mention the cats, I said to MrFF maybe they live next door and the guests are in this modern part. I did wonder if the other guests were in there having a jolly time while we sat on our bed. I did some research, on the website none of the 4 rooms looked like ours, I showed MrFF the lovely garden which he said definitely wasn’t here. He also confirmed the email with code etc was from a woman, where I expected to stay was run by two men. When we’d booked this accommodation MrFF had shown me a photo of the modern building and said would you like to stay here, it’s very convenient etc and I agreed. I said give me the name of the property and I’ll take a look, but I’d looked at a different place in a completely different location. We were in a modern house that accommodated 15 people, the reviews were varied, and we had no idea if we were alone or there were other guests.
Before we went to bed MrFF went to check the car and see if it was possible to close the gate to the parking area, it wasn’t. He said he thought there might be other people in the building as he’d heard sound of movement. We settled in to find the lights in the corridor which had a motion sensor kept coming on, in fact they were on and off all night illuminating our room as the door wasn’t a great fit, a bit like sleeping in a lighthouse.
Next morning we went off to the kitchen for breakfast where we met a very nice Belgian man who was staying with his wife and like us had wondered if they were alone. He hadn’t received the key code and had to conect the owners, he was as surprised as us at the do it yourself experience. We worked out where everything was, how to use the coffee machine, made toast and had an adequate breakfast sadly without fresh bakery products, I tidied the kitchen, vacuumed up our crumbs, and we left.
It’s not an experience I would repeat, the property was beautiful, well equipped and comfortable, rather like an upmarket youth hostel without the comeraderie. It worked fine for us but if the property had been fully occupied by strangers it wouldn’t.
Next day our drive to the champagne region was easy, we enjoyed lunch at a boulangerie we often use, stopped at a supermarket for French treats to take to Italy and were into our apartment by 5, time for a swim and sauna. I am hoping for no more surprises when we restart our travels tomorrow.
