24 February 2014

Claire's Birthday Trip

We were up early so we could call in at the post office to collect some packages for Claire that we missed on Saturday.

With the cruise dialled in at 70mph we ran down to Dover for the ferry. Some 90 minutes after setting out of Dover the P&O ferry was docking in Calais.

It took a long time to disembark and that was maybe when it started to go wrong. Although I had set the TomTom for the square in Saint-Omer a look at the map on my phone showed a quicker route that meant staying on the A26 a little longer. A misjudgement saw us go to the wrong junction!

We were miles away when our reservation at the restaurant was imminent. Claire emailed them to say we were not going to make it as we didn't have the phone number.

The TomTom showed that we were 30 minutes away from the destination. We pulled off into a Routier, usually good food a decent prices. 


This one was terrible. The smoking ban seemed to have not reached their ears so we had a coffee and left.
It was gone 1.45pm when we finally parked in Place Foch. Parking seems to be free during lunch and then they give you a free 20 mins. A free period to nip in and do stuff without paying through the nose. Add €2 to the machine and that gives plenty of time for lunch.

We chose La Terrasse on the square itself. Both if us opted for the menu of the day.

Claire had the prosciutto for a starter and cod for mains, and although I had the cod as well, I had the anchovy bruschetta for starters. We both had the excellent chocolate mousse for dessert.

By the time we had finished, the chef had left on his Moto Guzzi, and most of the staff had gone home. Just us left!

To walk it off a bit and had a walk around town and a look in the shops before heading off back to Calais.
At the hypermarket on the edge of town, diesel is much cheaper than at home, €1.309 a litre, compared to £1.369 a litre. The exchange rate is about €1.18 to £1. I squeezed in €80!

We had a relaxed drive up the old N43 to Calais, stopping in the Blériot cafe in the Auchun in Coquelles.  There's a pet shop there and we were both a little surprised to see they had puppies! In England that is definitely a no-no.

There were also loads of other pets in there including lizards etched.



Then it was back to the port.  We went straight through passport control and the ticket office and straight onto the boat.

The crossing was very smooth and as the boat was pretty empty we were off quite quickly and home pretty promptly.

Sadly there are few photos as my Canon went there with me but never left its case!!! 

1 comment:

Trobairitz said...

A whirlwind trip. Happy Belated Birthday Claire.