4th June

Having spent the night just outside Dover we caught the ferry at 9.15 am with all 3 passports in order. Drum was NOT happy about being left in the belly of the ferry and sulked even more when we returned smelling of the full English breakfast we had eaten (reluctantly of course, what else is there to do on a ferry)?

Most put out when we arrived at Calais that there was no one in passport control to check out Drums handsome profile on his new pet passport…. Just drove straight through and out onto the open road……weeeheeee…..

We had programmed Ozzy (the Sat Nav) to guide us to Honfleur, 284km South west to a pretty village just outside Le Harve, recommended by Plastic Sam. Wanted to see if the double viaduct would frighten the s**t out of us (sorry Kim, it didn't, great views though).

We were spending our first night as 'Aires' virgins…… Aires are free camping spots for campervans and there are thousands of them all over France. The one in Honfleur was very popular with people catching the Le Harve ferry and there must have been well over a hundred motorhomes of various sizes. Quite a community spirit going on, at one point we saw close on 50 people all sat in a circle on their camp chairs chatting in a foreign language and drinking wine. Others had gathered on the harbour side in the Boule Court to show off their skills to their neighbours.Lots of Germans there, we half expected them to lay their towels out on the ground to stake their claim on a pitch!

We headed off into the village to find food and beer. Tonight was special so no expense spared…. The first night of our road trip. The village is quaint and beautiful with excellent food and beer (thanx Sam for telling us about it). Sat in a cobbled village square in the evening sun watching the world go by (Drum watch the French dogs go by….they don't speak his language, it's most confusing for a boxer). Weather 24c sunny and warm.

Drum's Dog Blog

They spent three whole days loading the big silver magic box with all sorts of pointless bits and pieces…. All they need put in is my bed, my lead and my food! It drove me nearly mad 'cause I knew we were going camping and I just wanted to get on with it.

It was all a bit scary when we drove into the mouth of the big metal fish thing, it shut it's mouth and then the b****es left me in it's belly and went off to eat!! When we drove out of the metal fish the air smelled different… I settled down for a few hours kip and then we stopped in a place where there was a huge pack of white magic boxes. The really strange thing is the dogs here don't make any sense, I can't understand a thing they say……spotted a crackin looking poodle in that village square though…and there was a pretty red head boxer 3 magic boxes up from us.She had a nice owner too, she came to fuss me every time she passed.