Hotel de La Matelote Boulogne-sur-Mer

... way to Boulogne. After parking the car and getting settled in at the hotel, we went for a bit of exploring.

Boulogne (which is pronounced 'ba - loin'...at least to us English speaking folk) is an old town which has been settled for around 2000 years. Like many towns around Europe, there is an old walled part of the town, with subsequent urban sprawl around the outside. Inside the walled off part of the town, we found a 'car park' (it's official ...

... and the view beyond the walls. There were parks, sports facilities and monuments all along the outside of the wall and a gorgeous walking path for joggers and dog walkers on the inside of the wall. We eventually came to the Castle fortress which had since been modified into a museum which was unfortunately closed on Tuesdays. One interesting thing in the city center was an art project. It was about how nature will ...

... but after being unable to find a place to sleep in Boulogne or the internet we made our way once again back to Calais. This time we grabbed some food at a little seafood restaurant and then when we were out of ideas we went back to the campsite for another night. We were dirty but at least we had a place to sleep!
Calais gave us food and a place to stay so what else could we ask for!

... Dan and Charles. It's a beautiful little town and one I was keen to show Kim. It is has high walls that runs 3km around it (perfect for our run morning run the next day!) and is situated atop a hill, so very picturesque.

PS. Le Coq Hardi is the local brand of beer

... br>The parade through Calais followed, with all the vehicles making as much noise as possible. The navigators were all frantically trying to work out where to go.
Unfortunately, we followed a group along the motorway, missing the correct exit. That was a mistake which we decided not to repeat again - we needed to have confidence in our own skills.

We ...

... they served FLAPS lol what the hell......yet again another laughing fit after the joke made about meat and beavers, it hurt to laugh), anyway the waitress thought he was about to throw up in the menu.

Our friend that came on the rally with us, Irish Tash, was left with the bill of 73Euro. When she went to pay, she was told by the manager that she had to pay another 5 euro due to our behaviour causing 2 ...

We got to the campsite at about 9:30.

Then the party games began. We played putting up tents in the dark, cooking for 8 in the dark (which turned out delicious cheers logistics team), unpacking kit, blowing up airbeds - with no alcohol consummed.

Then suddenly there were some squeals ...

We set off to France today for a new period in our life in Europe.
Work still chugs on, but with only 12 shifts in 42, we have plenty of time to ourselves.
We decided those "spare" 30 days should be spent in Europe.

I'll skip over the months of research and prep work and bring us up to today where we are now on the 4pm ferry instead of the 2pm ...

We soon climbed out of the tunnel and raced towards the train's first stop at Lille. The land was flat, bathed in sunshine and looking decidedly and strangely 'foreign' !!!

We were served with a late lunch during this section of the ride. Well cooked and well served! Also with a nice glass of champagne!!!

So, after a final fish and chip supper (courtesy of the mobile fish and chip van at Folkestone Caravan Club site) it was off to Dover and the ferry to France. Next stop our usual Champion supermarket to stock up on baguettes and Bruges for the saturday morning market chicken stall!