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I NE'ER KNOWN A NIGHT LIKE IT AN' I'M NOT LOOKIN' FORWARD TO THE JOURNEY 'OME NEITHER
Cherbourg, France
After a peaceful, restful night the alarm goes off at goat o'clock, goose o'clock and finally donkey o'clock. Fully awake we are in no particular rush as we have a short distance left and a whole day to get there. We tidy away things we no longer need, sort out passports and pack an overnight bag for the ferry. It's cool but sunny as we set off near midday into Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte and park near the castle. Ali gets out for a look but Nick decides it's too cold to bother with the buggy for a short stop. The castle dates back to the 10thC and was at various times in the hands of William the Conqueror, the de Harcourt clan and Edward III. Having survived centuries of sieges and skirmishes between the French and English, it was partially destroyed by American bombs in 1944, but rebuilt immediately.
We move on to the main town of Bricquebec, home of another, even older, Norman Castle, and also the scene for many stories in George East's series of humorous books taking a wry look at life as an Englishman settling in France. It's a charming little town with a weekly market and many inviting eateries and bars.
Our slow drive through these parts is enough to convince us that it would be worth visiting properly sometime. We head out towards the west coast but wind and road-works deter us from going right to the edge so we make the final few miles to the ferry port of Cherbourg and park in the waiting area with a few other vans.
Our ship and a Stena ferry are both in port and a stream of vehicles heads out suggesting that both arrived recently. Rain and wind increase through the early evening and text messages from home tell us of forecasts for stormy weather, gales and rough seas, making us wonder if the crossing might be cancelled. As we had no lunch we decide to eat now as our later sailing may not have food available, or if it does, and the forecast is right, any dinner might be a short term investment!
The rain stops and some of the waiting vans head for the Stena check-in, suggesting they will be sailing. Ali goes to the terminal to collect our ticket which, surprisingly, is handed over with no request for any ID. At 19:30 we move down to the check in lanes and watch Stena load and sail wih a mixture of relief and apprehension. We're pretty good on ships in rough weather but all of our comforters back home are predicting a tempest.
20:50 a woman in an orange tabard enters a single kiosk causing chaos and near road rage among the three lines of vehicles that have been waiting patiently for ages and now all want to check in in the order they arrived. At 21:00 she opens up, by which time the order of merging has been established and we file through. Douane has a quick look inside the van [why are all French customs officers called Dwayne?] then we proceed to another waiting area before driving up the linkspan, over the bow of MV Barfleur and down a ramp to the shelter of the garage.
Once again Brittany Ferries serve us brilliantly; a crew member is on hand with ship's wheelchair and takes us directly to our cabin. He helps rearrange the bed with a higher mattress and tells us he will come 20 minutes before arrival at Poole to take us to the car deck so we won't be hurried.
The ship runs on UK time, so having checked in at 21:05 and loaded at 21:20 French time, we are able to be in the bar watching a pint of anti-seasickness Guinness settling in the glass at 20:35. As the bi-lingual welcome, shopping and safety messages are broadcast, and we watch the lights of Cherbourg fade through the windows, there is no suggestion we are moving let alone sailing into a storm.
We finish our drinks and just before we go to bed Ali looks up our movements on her ship tracker App. We are dithering around in patterns off the French coast at 2 knots.
We sleep well enough but wake occasionally through the night to the thrum and now obvious movement. Ali looks out of the window, there is a big swell and rough waves but Barfleur rides well and it's all quite comfortable.
Approx 05:00 there is a hellishly loud bang and as we both start awake there are literally tons of water cascading off our windows, followed by a bright yellow image moving past. First thoughts are have we hit something, but soon realise the yellow was the bright moonlight being diffused through the spray after the wave which must have come right over our bow. There are a few worrying seconds as all goes still and quiet but then the clouds start to cork-screw in the windows again indicating we are still safely underway.
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