France 2013, Day Twenty Two, The journey home

Day twenty two, Sat 25th May

Up early, showered and on the road in plenty of time to catch the ferry home. The SatNav stopped working as soon as we set off but I was pretty sure I knew the way but not certain.  We had driven the roads around the area quite a lot over the last ten years and we did get there with no problem.

We had no sandwiches for the trip home, as we had stayed in the hotel and had nowhere to prepare them. So as soon as we got on the ferry we went straight to the self-service restaurant for a full English breakfast, to set us up for the day.  We had tea several times on the trip and discovered that a pot of tea cost the same as a cup of tea.

Much later, we even decided to have lunch on board rather than stop for motorway food on the long drive home.

Back in Portsmouth I took dozens of ship photos, many also photographed on the way out and or last year.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the trip on the way out, HMS Ark Royal had gone to be scrapped in Turkey.   However I have since learned that HMS Illustrious, once she is decommissioned, will be preserved for the nation.

All that was left of the holiday now, was the long drive home on a Bank Holiday weekend, great.

See you again in September.

Day Twenty One or Back to the Start

France 2013, Day Twenty One, Bayeux

Day twenty one, Fri 24th May

Up early, finished packing and checked out ready to drive back north to Bayeux. The route was basically a reverse of the trip down.  We stopped at an Aire for our picnic on route, many French people were doing the same although they usually had wine or beer with theirs.  Not sure about that on the motorway, perhaps the drivers didn't partake.

When we arrived the hotel reception was not manned so we set off into town but as we were leaving the car park we found an automated check-in machine.   So we used that to get our room key and unpacked what we needed for the night.

It rained as we walked in to town, it had done the same on our last visit, but we were prepared.  There was a little restaurant we had always meant to use, Le Moulin De La Galette but never got around to.  As we passed it we had a look at the menu and went to leave intending to come back later.  The guy from the restaurant came out to ask us to come in and we had to explain we would be back later.  He didn't believe us.   I asked if they took cards, meaning debit cards but he didn't understand and took us inside and gave us a business card for the restaurant.   While in there I did see the Visa sign above the till though.

As we walked away in the rain, we both stopped and agreed that it would make sense to eat now while it was raining and hope that the weather cleared up later.

After a very nice meal and a glass of wine, the rain had stopped and we continued with our walk. Inevitably, eventually we ended up in a bar we had used on several visits to Bayeux in the past, Brasserie de l'Europe, only this was the first time I was not driving.   We only intended to have a couple of beers before retiring to the hotel for an early night. But as usual things didn't go to plan.

There was a band setting up there equipment and they were due on early, so we stopped to see if they were any good.  They were good and we got taking to some English people that sheared out table.   At first they spoke to us in French before they realised we were not.   They seemed to be good company and there was even free food (small snacks) being taken round the tables but we had to be up early to catch the ferry, so we had to go.

Yet again things didn't go to plan, when we arrived back a the hotel we weren't tired, so we got some beer from the car and watched a film on the laptop before bed.

Day Twenty or Day Twenty Two

France 2013, Day Twenty, Charente Maritime

Day twenty, Thur 23rd May

Sunbathing by the van again today.  That was after we had done the majority of the packing, ready to move back north in the morning.

We made one final trip to the campsite bar and had a drink outside in the sun.

Day Nineteen or Day Twenty One

France 2013, Day Nineteen, Charente Maritime

Day nineteen, Wed 22nd May

After a trip to Lidl to get some beers to take home, we had a nice day spent on the campsite, sunbathing, reading, eating and drinking the odd beer.  It was nice to have a rest.

We had a walk around the pool complex but didn't go in the water, in the three weeks we had not used the pool at either site, it just wasn't warm enough.

Day Eighteen or Day Twenty

France 2013, Day Eighteen, Charente Maritime

Day eighteen, Tue 21st May

Last year when we were here, Dot wanted to visit the Zoo but I didn't want to go to some small provincial Zoo.  When we got home I discovered that La Palmera Zoo is the biggest Zoo in France (I am sceptical about this fact) and we had been within walking distance.

So this time we both wanted to visit but every day we had planned to go in the last week, the weather had been unsuitable. Today looked fine, so we after an early lunch, we set off for La Palmyre, just a short drive away.  We could have had discounted tickets from reception but didn't bother, just in case the weather changed before we got there and it was only a couple of Euro saving anyway.

At first we wandered about aimlessly looking at whatever animals we passed and had got about half way round when they announced the Sea Lion show which we headed over to see.  By then we had already seen several of the big animals that everyone goes to see.

The Sea Lion show was funny as usual and the many school parties there really enjoyed it.  From there we moved on the to Parrot show but got board with that one and moved on, although the school kids liked it.

From there we followed the route around the zoo that we should have been following, this way we didn't miss anything.  Some of the animals looked quite happy with there surroundings but many looked very unhappy.   The big cats, Giraffes, Poler bears, Elephants, Hyenas and the large primates all looked particularly unhappy even slightly mad.   I did not like how little room these animals had.

The rain had held off for most of the day and it was fairly bright as we left the zoo, so we went into La Palmyre for a walk around the shops and a beer.   Got ripped in a supermarket, where some Twix bars were twice what we thought they were.  Then we had the beer outside in the sun but the bar we were in, closed before we could get another.  We even went over to the site bar again that night but it was still empty.

Day Seventeen or Day Nineteen