Wednesday 18th May 2022 – Horsley, England

 

Due to the self-imposed problems of P&O Ferries, we had cancelled our outward journey and used Eurotunnel but we had kept our return booking. P&O have been using Twitter to tell its customers the times of their ferries just a few hours ahead and they still only have one ferry operating on the Calais to Dover route. Much to our surprise, our originally ferry at 12:35 today is shown as running and so we are hoping that we might get back to England at a reasonable time.
It was all going too smoothly! We arrived at the port to be told at check-in that our reservation had been cancelled by the Camping and Caravanning Club. They advised us to phone them and get a new booking reference.  I called the phone number for the European Reservations only to be told by a message that the number was no longer in use and that I should go to the website. Needless to say, the website had no phone number to ring and expected everything to be done by email – totally inappropriate when we needed the problem sorted very quickly. I phoned the main C&CC switchboard number to be given two options on the automated system – Membership or UK bookings, neither of which were appropriate. I selected UK bookings to be told by the machine that I was 14^th in the queue with an expected 15 minute wait. I phoned again and selected the membership option – 4^th in the queue with an expected 5 minute wait. When I got through I explained the issue and was told that they now dealt with the ferry booking in-house and she put me through to Anne-Marie on that team. It took a while but they dealt with the problem well and, after checking, said that they believed that the problem was with P&O as their system had no record of a cancellation of the return trip. Anne-Marie said that they would sort that out with P&O later and “the important thing is to get you on the 12:35 ferry” – well said. We soon had a new booking reference and were in the port, joining a queue at the totally unmanned UK passport control – the French passport control was very efficient.
Once passport control had finally opened, we got through quickly and joined the queue for boarding. The ferry was only just coming in so I had time to use the excellent free port wifi to post the blog up to yesterday.
We drove onto the ferry and found ourselves right at the front of the deck, next to a Ferrari on the starting grid. We were ready for a quick getaway but suspected that the Ferrari would beat us. The new P&O staff were very welcoming and helpful and we settled in the lounge with a great view over the sea to the White Cliffs of Dover as we sailed out of Calais harbour.
So, it is the end of another great sojourn. We have had a fantastic time and enjoyed excellent weather. Here’s to the next one!

Photos: The Ferrari had a head start of a couple of metres on us – I am sure that we would have beaten it if we had been level; Arriving at Dover.

Tuesday 17th May 2022 – Guines, France

 

We would like to return sometime to Coucy le Chateau Auffrique and visit the old town and castle. The latter is particularly interesting having been built in Middle Ages, restored in 19^th century and blown up by the retreating Germans in WWI.
There is a boulangerie just a couple of hundred metres away from the aire and I stocked up with croissants and bread before we set off again. The landscape became much flatter and arable crops dominated. We passed through many villages but somehow they weren’t as interesting as those further south. Part of the reason may be due to the destruction of two world wars and we saw many WWI monuments and cemeteries. As lunchtime approached, we saw a hill in the distance with a tall ruin on the top and we decided to investigate. Mont Saint Eloi had a large abbey but, given its strategic position with commanding views over a huge area, it was occupied as early as 4,000 BC. An abbey was established in 930 AD and was rebuilt a number of times before being demolished in the French Revolution. Only the towers of the large abbey church survived and these played an important part in WWI when they were used by the French as lookouts to spot movements of the German army. The Germans shelled the hill and towers leaving just the ruin that we see today.
We drove on, stopping only for our last shop for French goodies to take home. We were staying at Guines and Camping Bien Assise less than 30 minutes from Calais port. The campsite is in the grounds of a small chateau and is very well kept with large pitches. It also has a very good restaurant, which is also open to the general public. We had an excellent meal there before settling down to our last night in France.
It was definitely a shorts day today with temperatures exceeding 26°C and with the temperature promised to exceed 20°C for most of the night, it was going to be a sticky one.

Photos: The ruined towers of Mont Saint Eloi with the modern barn built largely of stone from the abbey; A monument to the French soldiers who died defending the hill in the First World War; A modern sculpture in front of the ruins – a cycle route passes over the hill although, personally, I would rather have stayed on the flat land below.

Monday 16th May 2022 – Coucy le Chateau Auffrique, France

 

Rain greeted us when we woke this morning but by 10:00 when Lamoureux opened, the rain had stopped and we were able to walk the few hundred metres to the building in the dry. We tasted two of their champagnes but much preferred the same one that we bought las time, their Brut Reserve made from Pinot Noir grapes. We bought six bottles and I managed to squeeze the case into the Cara’s garage.
It was a day for trousers rather than the shorts that I had been wearing for the last few days although the weather improved considerably as we headed north. In the past we have only touched a small part of the Champagne area and we were surprised that, long into the journey, we were still passing champagne producers. The vineyards were not continuous, being separated by woodland and other crops and we often thought that we had left the area before coming across more signs for champagne. Apparently, there are over 2,000 producers but we resisted the temptation to stop and do any more tasting.
We made a couple of stops on the way. As well as glimpsing a few chateaux, I had identified two ancient abbeys marked on our map that were just off our satnav route. The first, Abbaye du Reclus,  was not very interesting although at the weekend they had held a public event with food and events – we had missed it by one day. Just down the road was Domaine des Forges, a series of pretty fishing lakes and we stopped to take a look. This was almost certainly the fish lakes created by the abbey. As we walked around we saw lots of large fish swimming and the many fisherman had all caught a number. Fishing doesn’t appeal to me but if I did try it, this would be a good place with its lovely scenery.
Just a few kilometres further on, after passing an area of scattered oil wells with their nodding donkeys, we came to the Abbaye d’Orbais in the aptly named village of Orbais l’Abbaye. The abbey dominates the village and was well worth the short time that we spent there.
Jane had identified an aire for us to spend the night. It was worth a visit just for its name Coucy le Chateau Auffrique, but it was a good choice. We parked up in a pitch with a great view of the castle perched above the village.

Photos: The Lamoureux wine tasting room; The Domaine des Forges fishing lakes; Abbaye du Reclus; WWII memorial of the Battle of the Marne at Dormans viewed over a Champagne vineyard with many more visible on the hills beyond; View from our pitch at Coucy le Chateau Auffrique.