Weekend in France

Catriona and I went to France for the weekend, Liz declined as she was still recuperating, so we left her in Louise’s care. We took off from the house at about two thirty and, after long delays on the M25 made it to the harbour in Dover at just after five thirty. Our car was searched by customs at Dover, this was the first time this had happened to me on leaving the UK, nothing was found in the car or under it and we were able to go, we drove straight on to the ferry. Catriona could not contain her excitement, it was her first trip to France. The trip took about an hour and forty minutes and we had to find our way out of Dunkirk and off down the N16 to Boulogne. We found the B & B hotel there to stay at. When we arrived at the hotel it was after 9pm and the gate was closed, someone else went and pressed a button and the gate opened so we drove in to the booking in machine to check up on accommodation, they had a room with two single beds, but for 57 euros, we thought that was a bit dear so decided to try elsewhere. We tried to leave but found the automatic gates closed and a sign saying that in order to get out we had to put our room number! We now had a problem, no room, this meant that we had to get a room, damn, these French are cunning little devils and their hard sell technique was very good! We went back to the machine, and when I checked, found a room for only 46 euros, they had dropped their price even though they had us captive, fools! We booked the room and stayed the night, it was after ten so we just read a book and went to sleep.

The next morning we made good our escape and went to Montreuil-sur-mer. It was market day so we had to park near the church as the main square was full. We wandered around the market and bought some lovely cherries and a few apricots, we also bought a cooked chicken from a stall holder, there were live chickens, ducks and goslings, but we thought the cooked one a better option. We bought a sliced bloomer and some fizzy water and went and enjoyed a bit of a buffet lunch in the car at Etaples near Le Touquet. The lunch was very good and we did not even have to add the salt we had bought to the chicken as it was quite well spiced, the French don’t care if we ‘ave a ‘eart attack while eating their food, bless them. We drove off to Merlimont to walk on the beach a little, it was a lovely day, and the folks were out with their chiens and enfants all over. The lifeguards on the beach had quad bikes to get around as they had a large area to cover. There was a lovely al fresco restaurant there, but we had already had our magnificent meal of rotisserie chicken.

We went and had a couple of ice cream deserts at Macdonalds in Cucq, I don’t know how the French pronounce that, but they must have quite a sense of humour, it is also the place to go for a loo break, as the toilets are of an international standard and not the hole in the ground type. We went back to Montreuil-sur-mer and found a hotel to book in to. The reception person took us to a room with a double bed, gasp, we declined, so he found one with two singles, better. We went out and had a couple of pizza type dishes at an open air restaurant on the market square, washed down with a couple of Leffe beers. We retired to our beds a little worn out only to be woken at four in the morning by four young French men dancing on a temporary stage and making a hell of a noise, they were trying to wake up the whole town, this was not enough, however, so they resorted to turning on a throbbing drumbeat CD in their car and playing it full ball while they drove around the square, I don’t know about anybody else in the town, but it certainly woke us up!