Last night was not a good night for sleeping! I ended up on the sofa bed upstairs (it was an upside-down house), as I just couldn't sleep with Keith in the small double bed we were squeezed into. I felt like we were on top of each other! I managed to disturb Sophie when I climbed the stairs to the living room, and it took me ages to get to sleep!
Keith and Sophie were up at 6am and had showered and dressed before they woke me at 6.30am. Groan! It was still pitch black outside and as soon as I woke up I got into the shower and then dressed. Keith and Sophie had done a brilliant job of packing up everything and by 7am we were ready to go.
Getting out of Amboise in the dark was not pleasant, and I relied on Keith's map reading skills to get me to the autoroute via Tours. As we drove, the sun came up and it looked like it was going to be another lovely day.
We stopped at the first aire we came to with a café, and ate pains au chocolat with coffee. None of us liked the aire at all. While Sophie and I were in the toilets, one of the male staff came in to clean, something that I didn't like one bit!
We set Trish for Le Mans first, and then Le Havre, otherwise she would have taken us via Paris or Rouen. At one point she wanted us to come off the autoroute but we ignored her and she soon settled down! Like yesterday, the countryside was stunning with the colour of the trees, the rolling hills, the occasional mist-covered valleys, and the birds of prey back on the fences lining the motorway.
Soon, we were nearing Le Havre, and we came to a toll that was opposite a steep bridge. It looked very scary but I kept my eyes on the road and we were soon up and over! After Le Havre, we stopped at an aire and Sophie and I shared a sandwich sitting in the sun outside.
From the town of Abbeville, the autoroute was parallel to the coast, and as we neared Calais we could see the Channel and Dover beyond. It was a beautifully clear day and it was lovely to see the white cliffs shining in the sunshine! We were very early for our 5.20pm ferry and we were able to get onto the 3.05pm one instead, which was a bonus! We had a quick look around the large Duty-Free shop and then boarded The Pride of Canterbury.
We had a somewhat different voyage back home as we hadn't booked the Club Lounge. We ate sandwiches in the café and then sat in the bar for the rest of the crossing. There was a big group of men on board all dressed in green who I think had been on a French fishing trip and some of the smells were not good! We missed the peace and quiet of the Club Lounge but it was £24 each and we felt we'd already spent enough on the holiday! The adding-up will be done tomorrow!
Before long, we were in Dover and waiting to get off. As we were driving out, the police pulled over a French bus and everyone had to get out, while the coach was driven into a covered area. It looked like somebody had been naughty!
The M20 was closed so we were all funnelled onto the A2 and then the M2. The amount of traffic was a shock to my system as the last few days had been spent on very quiet roads! The M25 was horrendous, with nose-to-tail traffic, and I didn't enjoy it at all. We took the M11 and the A14 as this seemed to be the quickest route and I was very glad when we were home! It had been a long day!
Monty was pleased to see us, and the house looked great if a little cold! We dumped our suitcases upstairs to deal with tomorrow, and Sophie phoned our local Chinese who delivered at about 8pm.
It was bliss to go to bed and be back with my lovely quilt!
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