Up at 05:30 with plenty of time to get ready for the 7 o’clock pick up from the Bell Inn. John pick us up at 6:45 and we were at the bus stop in good time for the coach which was 10 minutes early. The driver explained that the coach we were on was the coach that was going all the way to France but that some of the people that we would pick up would be dropped off at the Hub in Thurrock. That would save unloading and loading the luggage.
We stopped first in Tring, then Berkhamsted followed by Hemel Hempstead. In Berkhamsted I noticed a an estate agents called Proffitt and Holt interestingly the name Proffitt was spelt with 2 F’s and 2T’s I guess if they had been accountants the correct spelling would have saved money on signage.
At 08:40 we arrived at Hemel Hempstead and some passengers were delivered in a mini bus. Then we were on the the M1 and M25 to Thurrock where we stopped for about an hour while other coaches got to the hub. We took the opportunity when we got back on the bus, at Thurrock we managed to bag a set of four seats around a table as they were not reserved for anyone. Lucky for us the drver said help yourself and do it quick before someone else had the same idea.
The traffic on the M2 was flowing well, we wondered whether we would be going on the M20 as operation stack was still in force despite the French strikes finishing the day before. We arrived at the Dover docks without any problems but the stack operation was clearly visible as all the lorries were queued up all the way out of Dover. For us there is a separate queue for the coaches and cars so after stopping to drop off some passengers we were straight into the queue and onto the tarmac waiting for a boat.
It looked like we might not get the next boat as we were directed to an empty car park however the driver went and had a word with the person taking the tickets and negotiated us on to the next very full crossing. We only had to wait for 20 minutes before Driving up the ramp to the boat. It makes you realise how big these boots are when you find out that you are on deck five. We had to climb 5 flights of stairs before we go to the lounge area.
The passage was rather routine with loads of school children running around the decks it was a bit tedious. Helen found the smoking zone at the back of the boat and was happy there until I persuaded her back inside and out of the strong wind. John found a quiet cafe on an upper deck where we were able to watch our approach to the Calais Port in peace. Getting back to the coach was quite difficult because the stairs were full with everyone rushing to get back to their vehicles, however because we’re on the top floor we were able to get in the lift with the lorry drivers who clearly knew what they were up to.
I chatted to the tour guide who told me that the journey to Caen would take about 4 hours however we would stop about an hour and a half before we arrive for a break. That would mean that we would be at our destination at about 07:00 to 07:30 which was just in time for dinner.
There were no hold ups on the French motorway we stopped about an hour and a half away from Caen for a break and leg stretching opportunity. We looked around the shop Helen had a fag and we got back on the Coach and headed on to Caen.
The final leg of the journey seemed to take an age eventually we turned in to the port area of Caen which is where the Ibis hotel situated. The hotel had air conditioning which was a bonus we quickly hotels we quickly checked in our room then met up in reception to go for something to eat. We found a pizza restaurant very close to the hotel John and I had pasta and Helen had a pizza. Everyone enjoyed the food except Helen thought the pizza was a bit bland. By the time we had finished our meal we were happy enough to just returned to the hotel and go to bed because we had an early start. We needed to be in the Coach by 8 o’clock in the morning which in English time is 7 o’clock so it meant another 6 o’clock start.