Monday 6 June.
It was pouring rain when I got up to make a cup of tea. We lay in bed hoping it would soon go off as Moira wanted to go out for bread. It didn't so we just had muesli and yoghurt. After that we looked out the window at the weather and at last there was bright patches coming over. In about 15 minutes it had stopped and Moira got a baguette from the boulangerie round the corner. We had our bread and butter before packing up and going.
I parked at the town hall and checked out the tourist info for WiFi. The office was open but there wasn't anyone in attendance, it was just a place to pick up leaflets and brochures. There was WiFi but still we couldn't get in, so we gave up and left.
The signpost near the village square pointed the road to Boulogne but not Calais our final destination in France. We took the Boulogne road hoping we would soon get signs for Calais. The route finding wasn't looking promising as we went from one busy village/suburb to the next with still no indication to Calais. At Outreau we saw a large L'Ectric supermarket and stopped there to fill with diesel and stock up with wine to take back with us. The fill of diesel now gives me plenty to go us to Cardiff and beyond, it is probably 12-13% cheaper here than the UK. The wine is also much cheaper and we bought about 20 litres.
Before getting back on the road we examined the map and decided we wanted to get on to the A16 motorway that had been signposted at a roundabout outside the supermarket. This would take us directly to Calais. We followed the signs from the roundabout and now Calais was appearing on the boards. It wasn't far to the motorway and I was soon speeding along to the ferry port. TomTom was now on track and from the motorway exit guided us to the aire on the front opposite the harbour where the channel ferries came in. Unfortunately the aire was being demolished by large diggers and in another part a pile driver seemed to be working, judging by the noise. They had made the car park available to camper-vans by removing the height barriers. Before finding a spot I went to the service area, emptied the waste water then began filling with fresh water. The water flow was dead slow and stop but we had plenty of time until another 'van pulled up behind and sat there impatiently. After a while I gave up, I reckoned I had enough for a shower and for cooking. I found a good spot at the front where we could watch the ferries coming and going. It was fairly level but needed a little lift at the front with the ramps.
While Moira prepared lunch I tried the cab radio to find out what I could pick up. I managed to get all the FM BBC stations and over lunch listened to Jeremy Vine. It was mostly about the EU Referendum and he had Cameron on his show. Both Moira and I agree that if we were weren't committed 'remain' voters Cameron (also remain) could easily make us change our minds. I tuned the TV in again and got all the channels we had last night. The reception was good but I wasn't sure if it would last into the evening.
Mid-afternoon we went out looking for a source of WiFi here. There was a some shops and bars around a block near the aire but none of the bars had a sign offering WiFi. There was a pharmacy where Moira managed to get more antihistamine pills for her cough and allergies. There was also a boulangerie that will be handy for bread in the morning. The road from there went straight to the centre of Calais with a tall archway in the middle of a square and a lovely round topped church. There were plenty of restaurants and bars about and Moira kept checking for WiFi on her iPad. We got a free source at the Cafe de Paris and went in; I ordered two beers and we had over half an hour on the internet. We both got the newspapers downloaded and I posted my blog for the last three days. I also did a post on Face Book. Moira managed to contact Suzy on FaceTime and we had a chat with Hollie, she is getting excited about going off on holiday in two days.
Once our internetting was done we headed back. The weather was very nice now, the sun was shining from a blue sky but unfortunately there was a cold wind coming off the sea. We had a cup of coffee then I decided to go for a walk out the long wall/jetty that made one side of the harbour. There were lots of people with the same idea strolling out to the lighthouse at the end. As usual.there were the fishermen taking up a lot of the room and we had to dodge round their rods that were halfway across the walkway. At the end there were nice views back to Calais and its glorious flat sandy beach. As we stood there a P&O Ferry made its way into the harbour. We made our way back to the aire and one fisherman had made a catch, it looked like an eel.
Tonight for dinner Moira fried pork chops. When they were just about ready I went to the take-away stall close-by and bought a bag of chips. That was our meal and for dessert I went out again to the iced cream van where I got two cones with caramel flavoured iced cream. On the TV we managed to watch 'Eggheads' then part of 'Springwatch Unsprung' before the picture broke up. I put on the True Entertainment channel and we were successful with 'Mash' for an hour. It was 9:00 pm when that finished so it was rime to make the bed where we read the paper for an hour before getting to sleep
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