We decided to head for Caen soon after breakfast on Sunday and stop for lunch on the way. This morning the homemade jams were even worse as one of them had mould growing on it and we didn't dare ask for more coffee in case we received another glare!
We brought the car around to the annexe and loaded up. Struggling with the temperamental roof box in front of our fellow guests was not something we relished! However, it behaved and we were soon on our way through the wine village of Bourgeil and onto the deserted motorway. We saw nothing on the road for the first half hour and it was tremendously boring. However, once we turned towards Le Mans and Paris we had companions. We stopped again at the small service station and enjoyed a cup of coffee from the same surly waitress!
The weather changed as we neared the coast and became quite overcast. We agreed that rather than wait at Ouistreham for a couple of hours we would drive to Arromanches (scene of an earlier and very disastrous holiday) and have lunch there. It soon became a race against time as we had to negotiate the busy ferry port of Caen and find the right road to the coast. We did this successfully but the miles seemed to get longer the nearer to Arromanches we got!
As always, the best laid plans go wrong! As we approached the seaside town we noticed cars parked all along the road and these were the overflow from the town itself. There was not a space to be had and it seemed as if the whole of Normandy had descended on the place! How ironic was that, given that we'd hardly seen any other cars on the roads all day! We drove into the town, saw the hotel we'd stayed at previously, and promptly drove back out again!
(Back in 1988 Mum, Dad and I visited Arromanches for a short break at Easter, which was our first mistake. Our second mistake was to go only months after my father had had a bad car accident in which he'd badly mangled both legs so he was in a wheelchair. Our third, and worst, mistake was to book only two nights at the hotel in the town thinking we would find accommodation elsewhere for the next few nights, something we'd always found easy on our extensive travels in France. When we arrived at the hotel in Arromanches we found we were on a higher floor than we thought so my poor Dad had to try and climb them, not a good idea given his injuries.
After our stay in Arromanches we had incredible difficulty finding more accommodation as every hotel and guesthouse in the whole of Normandy was booked up. We eventually, late at night, found a hotel in Caen that had spare rooms but we cut our break short and returned home the next morning...not the most successful of trips but something we can thankfully laugh about now!).
Muttering under our breath about our bad luck in this region of France we continued towards Ouistreham and stopped at another town with a large marina as we were all bursting for the toilette!
We had a quick drink in a restaurant full of people eating Sunday lunch and then bought some rolls in a nearby bakery.
The drive to Ouistreham was easy and we arrived in plenty of time to be told that we weren't booked on the 4.30pm ferry! the lady who had booked us in in Portsmouth had made a mistake when she changed our tickets because of the roof-box. However, we were soon waved through and drove onto the "Normandie" finding ourselves parked on the open deck.
Our cabin was more modern than the previous one and we dumped our bags and headed up to the lounge. We intended to book a table in the restaurant and so Dad waited for it to open while Mum and I took Sophie to a small play room for children, It had two cars in it and that was all!
Having booked a table for 7pm we settled in the cafe with a coffee and had a look around the duty free shop. Sophie decided to have a mad hour and became uncontrollable so we returned to the cabin for a wash and brush up before dinner.
After a very relaxing drink in the bar we took our seats in the restaurant by the window. Our waiter carried on with the tradition of being surly and took our orders for a buffet starter and chicken main course. Unfortunately we were disappointed with our meal as the main course was tasteless and unimaginative. The dessert choice was marginally better but the cheese board was hopeless. However, it was lovely to be waited on and our view across the sea was wonderful.
All too soon we saw the Isle of Wight and we returned to the cabin to gather our bags and see the sights of Portsmouth as we sailed into the port. A very helpful man pointed out the interesting things about the town and we descended to the car deck and the long journey home.
We got lost on the way but we didn't care! We had had a lovely break and more importantly, the boot of the car was full of wine!
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