Our second major trip in Matty and we decided to venture farther afield. Unfortunately Netty was unable to join us as she was working and Danielle didn’t fancy France. Suzy, Darroch and the kids were once again using the tent, Kate and Paul had just bought themselves a caravan and Bozzie took her two man tent.
The ferry was booked for 5.30 in the morning so we needed to set off around 11.30pm the night before so we could have a nice easy drive with plenty of toilet stops. We eventually set off about 1.00am as PJ was still working on some “essential” project up until the last minute, as usual. We had only got as far as the Blythe roundabout on the A1 when we had to stop for the first time because he was nodding off at the wheel! This is when Kate learned very quickly how to tow a caravan as she had to take over. She had only passed her test 6 months previously. All went well after this, including a stop at the infamous Thurrock Services, until about 20 miles from Dover. The walkie-talkie crackled into life……it was Kate telling us that there was a huge bleb on our inside back tyre. The whole convoy pulled over onto the hard shoulder to investigate. In the end after much discussion, cursing and swearing, we decided to try and get to Dover. That last 20 miles took us nearly an hour, I’ve never been so glad to see the docks! The decision was then made that as we had made the ferry terminal by the skin of our teeth, we would carry on to France before putting the spare wheel on.
……France and into the first big Aire we could find. Suzy, Kate and myself decided that whilst the men were changing the wheel on Matty we would do a fry-up in the caravan to stave off the hunger pangs and keep the kids quiet. At this point Paul and PJ came over with the news that it was going to be a little more difficult than they thought as the large jack had been left at home so they only had the small car jack and no jack handle!! Which turned out to be a blessing for Darroch who managed to catch a good couple of hours sleep whilst waiting for our repairs to be finished. Breakfast eaten we all tried to get an hours kip, except the kids who were now fed, wide awake and running riot around the Aire and off we went.
A nice easy run across into Normandy until we left the motorway. As usual we took a wrong turning and ended up going through several small French villages……full of VERY narrow roads and tight corners. After taking Matty into the small town down a road classed as unsuitable for HGVs, completing a three point turn to get round the mini roundabout and driving back up the unsuitable road we eventually pulled into the campsite and went to book in. We were greeted with an expression of sheer horror on the managers face, even his hair seemed to stand on end.
“ It is UN BUS!!!!!!!” He shrieked.
“I did send you an email” I told him “and you replied that you could fit us in” What’s more the campsite brochure actually had a picture on it showing an RV on the site!!! Once he had calmed down and found the original booking and enquiry he admitted defeat and found us a little enclave where we could all be together. His only request was that we kept our “bus” off the grass as the site had been waterlogged for the last week. There was indeed evidence that several motorhomes had had to be pulled off. It also looked like we were in for some more rain and the wind was getting up. Now there was a surprise!
We awoke to sunshine although it remained very breezy. A leisurely morning around the site and after lunch we decided to walk into the village and onto the beach. It was bracing to say the least but we spent a pleasant hour sitting on a stone wall watching the kids run riot. Rowan did not like the sand!! A gentle stroll back picking up a few supplies ended our first day. We found the bar that evening.
Day two and time to go see the Bayeaux Tapestry……yes, the one of the “long horse” fame!! Whist sitting in the theatre and watching the history of the tapestry Cain tapped my arm and pointed out that the way the armour on the knights was embroidered made it look as though it was made of peas and beans. Go on…… have a good look at the tapestry……we did……and he’s right!
Then it was time for coffee and crepes. Or a sandwich. Or a toastie. A lot of moaning at this point since the cafe we had picked, well, it was the ONLY cafe, was really expensive, a right rip off! Had a bit of a wander around but not a lot else to do in Bayeaux with kids, and everyone in a bad mood so we went back to the campsite..
Day three started with another leisurely morning as the kids wanted to avail themselves of the pool since we had a warm day. After lunch we visited a zoo, with lions and tigers and bears…oh my…. Oh and lots of goats as well!! Including the one that took a shine to Rowans buggy, Rowan was not impressed!!. PJ fancied himself as a goat keeper for about five minutes.
Next day was hot, with no clouds in the sky so we spent full day around the pool. Well Suzy, Kate and I did with the kids. Bozzie woke up with a cold sore or few and felt rough so took to her bed. And Darroch hid himself away in the tent since he doesn’t like the heat.
Next day the kids decided that they would like to visit a “theme park” they had seen the signs for coming back from Bayeaux. It was worryingly called “Festyland”. So off we went with high hopes from the kids and not so high hopes from the adults, but it was their day and their choice.
The car park was virtually empty, good start!! Theres nothing like a semi deserted theme park to arouse excitement and anticipation. In we went and, as we’d expected, there was hardly anyone there. Mind you it was May and not during any school holiday times, English or French. The good thing was that there were no queues to get on anything and the kids could have several goes at a time. Although there was a cool breeze it was sunny and pleasant. And despite our initial trepidation we all soon began to enjoy ourselves. It was hardly a theme park but more like Alton Towers used to be when I was small. Old fashioned rides that you had to work by yourself. We all had a go on a tilted wheel which you lay on and spun round, very hard to stay on; Rowan had his first ride and great fun was had by all on the eight seater swing!! All in all a better day than anticipated.
The following day we set off on the long trip up to Cherbourg to the aquarium and the nuclear submarine. In the aquarium the kids and various adults spent a good half hour playing with the stingrays. Very affectionate creatures they were too. Lunchtime had Bozzie feeling very sorry for herself as the only sandwiches on offer were on crusty baguettes and with her face an explosion of cold sores she couldn’t open her mouth wide enough to eat them!! She consoled herself by buying a cuddly stingray which she called……Ray.
We all enjoyed going round the submarine. It’s amazing how they fit all the living quarters into such confined spaces. And it was impossible to imagine how people can live for months at a time in such close conditions and beneath hundreds of feet of water with no way out. The mere thought made me shudder.
All too soon it wastime to go home. Another eventful trip!! We managed to get the right route this time, stopping on the motorway. However getting through the peage proved traumatic as Paul thought that with the truck we needed to go into the lorry gate. But as there was no-one there to collect money and no other option for payment, we had to reverse out again. But, unbeknownst to us, Kate and PJ had pulled in behind us, with their caravan on the back. Well you can guess what happened next!! Kate told us afterwards that she saw what was happening and tried to warn us by shouting into the walkie-talkie. The only problem was, she wasn’t holding the walkie-talkie at the time, she was actually shouting into her video camera which she had left the running by mistake so had caught the crash on tape.Thankfully we didn’t damage their Landcruiser and after a little manoeuvring and a lot of embarrassment we eventually got through the toll and caught up with Suzy and Darroch, who had stopped to wait for us at a lay-by. Back in convoy we continued until we got to the Normandy Bridge at which point Darroch passed us all and took off at high speed. Suzy told us later that it was because he doesn’t like going over high bridges especially if they’re over water and he can see how high up he is!!
The journey remained uneventful until we were back in England. We were convoying up the M20, late at night and tired out, when Suzy radio-ed Kate as something kept hitting their windscreen. It turned out to be bits of rubber from their caravan tyre. The whole convoy pulled on to the hard shoulder. The tyre was completely shredded. Tyre changed we set off once more. We had only been going a few minutes when Kate radio-ed us saying we had got another bleb on a back tyre which was getting bigger. We pulled onto the hard shoulder, again, and checked. Yup, we had a bleb. And no spare wheel now as we’d already used it. Time for the RAC. Since this was going to be a long wait we told Suzy and Kate to carry on to Thurrock and we’d let them know what was going on. Cain went with Suzy so he wasn’t hanging about on the motorway. It took about half an hour for RAC call centre woman to realise that she couldn’t get a new tyre for us since we needed American ones, as Paul repeatedly told her, and to organise a low-loader rescue truck to recover us. We contacted the others and told them to get off home as we’d be stuck for hours. We decided to try and get a bit of kip while we waited. not easy at the side of the motorway. About 6 o’clock we got a phone call from the recovery driver asking exactly where we were as he’d been up and down the M25 twice now and hadn’t found us. We explained that we weren’t actually on the M25 but on the slip road from the M20 from Dover. It was 8 o’clock in the morning when the low-loader eventually arrived. Took ages to get Matty on the truck and then a long weary trip home. And our recovery driver talked non stop all the way. Were we tired!!