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European Adventure 2017
It has been a bit of a mission to get a SIM card and get back on line. Also very tricky when you don't speak the language, but we got there eventually. Unfortunately there is no WIFI around so I can only use my phone. Anyway, we headed off to the ferry on Sunday morning and got there in time to be offered an earlier sailing which was nice. For boarding we were directed to lane 190 and I could see that there were at least another 50 lanes after ours to board the various shipping lines there. What a massive port area. The ferry was big too as there were several decks of vehicles and plenty of room and facilities for the hundreds of people on board. We drove with some trepidation as we had not driven on the right side of the road before, (Geoff had had some experience ce in the USA some 30 years ago) but it is a little different with the small lanes and roundabouts with traffic owing from the 'wrong' side. The French also have some rather strange road rules which the a bit of getting used to. Anyway day 1 went quite well with only 1/3 of the team taking the wrong turn and taking a while to catch up. We have noticed that the French are very welcoming to Motorhomes. There are signs everywhere for camping spots and places they call Aires which are on the side of the roads catering especially for Motorhomes, providing water, rubbish disposal, and water & waste dumping facilities often for free but sometimes for a small fee. You an stay overnight in most of them Nd that is what we did last night in a small place on the Atlantic Coast called Cayeux sur mer. Our impressions of France e are that the badges are stepped back from the edges of the roads making it much easier to see. There are definitely narrow roads but this is mostly in the villages. The houses don't seem as old (so far anyway)and most of the roofs are orange. It was a cooler day yesterday with a breeze off the sea which reminded me of home. We whizzed along the motorways at a great rate of knots with Mandy and me at the wheels of our vehicles, passing every truck we could see! The tolls are a killer....cost us about $25 to go a a couple of hundred km. We spent the afternoon on a couple of the Normandy beaches and visiting the memorial at Juno beach which was very moving. At the end of the day we ran out of time to find a camping spot as everyone had got there first and the official camping grounds close at 6 or 7 pm. We were tired and hungry when we saw a carpark on a corner along the beachfront with a couple of motorhome spots marked. A lovely Frenchman came running out and told us we were welcome to park there at no charge for the night. Up bright and early today and off to Omaha beach. Bit of a cold and miserable day but hopefully it may improve.
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