Day 3 : Cherbourg to a car park …

 Day 3: 

We were woken early by an alarm from the piped music on the ferry we then sauntered down to the deck to greet our vehicles once more. All was going well until there was a a knock on the window from Wendy ‘we’re not going anywhere’ 

Buddy would not start so needed a push from a few helpful 90 drivers which meant we got bump-started without too much delay. That’s got to be a record - broken down before we even disembarked! 

It turned out the battery had lost connection for some reason - maybe the ship had been a little more rocking than we realised during the night! 

After a VERY long queue to get through customs our first stop was for breakfast - a bit late but Martyn gained himself a nice cardboard cake box which could easily be used  as a handbag if he chose to in the future. Some of us never actually saw the cakes inside - they seemed to disappear quite quickly! 

The next trip was 8 people in a super Supermarket… most of us had an opinion on what we were buying but thankfully Duncan had made a decision that we were to have risotto for dinner which helped reign jn our excitement around buying too much! 

Thankfully the supermarket also had a Fuel station so we could get on the road quite quickly - after being distracted by a mad German from Düsseldorf who wanted to tell us all about his friend in Taunton who has an S1 that drives like a tractor…

So we set off … then saw a diversion and went around a few roundabouts again and again - this was pretty frustrating but we eventually shed the orange signs and went through some lovely villages and countryside 

Then there was a shout on the radio ‘go to the beach when you can’. 

So a sharp turn off to the right and…. We ended up on the most amazing beach!! 

Very few people - one was nice man with a dog who said ‘I’ll take the pictures, you hold the dog’….

6 feet in the water … that is 3 pairs of feet (girlies) and only up to the height of the trouser bottoms as it’s still pretty cold generally even though the sun shone for the whole time we were at the beach

The making use of the Hymer to have a drink while Steve spent nearly an hour ringing the destination site and repeatedly trying to get the answerphone alternative phone number they were telling him to ring … he never did get hold of anyone - little did we know… why? 

Time to leave saw Steve get stuck on the smallest sand dune in the world……!   This was after there had been a really good suggestion that we turned around on the beach from Robin - which we did not listen to - thankfully! 

We then played a game of don’t follow the leader - so three vehicles went through the villages and 2 went the straight route - oddly enough arriving in the destination town at the same time! 

Now the next news was sad….. we couldn’t find the Cidre farm we were planning to visit so we asked a local gentleman where it was and he made the gestures of ‘man mort’ - not open any more…. No wonder Steve has not managed to talk to him… 

That stopped us in our tracks. 

So Robin then started to google and find the plan B camping site - it turned out to be in a lovely vibrant town Les Poeles Villediue but the parking was full of camper vans… so we went to Option C and camped in a car park for 10 euros each a night that thankfully was next to a nice campsite with ‘facilities’ available (well - we made them available).  Oh yes - it was also clearly just a local council gravel pit but the sun shone and the risotto was excellent… 

The only downside was Steve’s oil filler keeps ‘popping’ off and Lucy decided to juggle both a bottle of white wine (which had been destined for the risotto) and also a glass of slow gin. 

Let’s hope the weather gets warmer as that’s the only pair of jeans that were in the brought and that are now a bit sticky! 

Martyn has done well following the diversions and down some roads for max 3.5t. Vehicles  (hymer is 4.2t) but he did manage to have a go at ploughing a farmer’s field with his rear end when turning around (a few less than 27point turn today) 

It is 20:30 and the sun is still shining. 

Martyn is starting the washing up and we are starting to think if a bit of a plan for the next few days

Still not worked out how to get the photos to match the commentary so maybe more Sloe Gin required - oh yes - forgot to say yesterday only Jenks and Sunder were selected not to be searched - so the Gin and beer got through safely. 

Over and out. Going to chill now till the sun goes down..