Safely Home

Current Location: Back home in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

On the Car Stereo:
Radio: France Bleu La Rochelle, France Bleu Maine, France Bleu Normandie, RFM, BBC Radio 2
Spotify: Greek music – English/German/Spanish Pop music – Scottish music

Angoulins to Cirencester

I didn’t book breakfast at my hotel in Angoulins but instead I drove to nearby Châtelaillon-Plage and found a cafe on the beach front to have some breakfast. A quick stroll across the beach before getting in the car.

A lot of driving ahead – All the way to Dieppe, then the overnight ferry, then home to Cirencester. It would be a long time before I get a proper bed again – though I would be able to grab a little bit of sleep on the ferry.

The drive was fairly easy if not long – I stopped for lunch at motorway services, filled up with petrol in Le Mans, then at 18:30 I arrived in Rouen, capital of the Normandie region. This weekend was the last weekend of L’Armada 2023 – the free tall ships festival in Rouen: the perfect opportunity to take some last minute photos of boats (and deciding which one I would commandeer to become a French pirate).

In a way it was a shame I couldn’t stay another night as today – 18th June – was actually the last day and the tall ships all set sail down the 120km of the Seine to Le Havre and out in to the ocean – part of ‘La Grande Parade’. As I write, according to this live map, many of the ships are now well on their way to the English Channel.

Above right: Goodbye French radio in the car!

Next stop was Dieppe, from where I would get the ferry – but not before grabbing an ice cream on the promenade by the beach. I got in to Dieppe ferry terminal at 22:45, ferry departed on time just after midnight. I slept on the crossing a little (not before a midnight dinner on the ferry) – breakfast at 5am French time (4am UK) – got in to Newhaven just before 5am – and finally made it home by 20:30.

Pre Covid long journeys like this were my main holidays – Greece – Norway – Germany! I’ve missed big international road trips and this holiday makes me want to do more of them once more.

I have had a bit of a rest today, back to work bright and early (actually….just early) tomorrow morning.

Good night,

FH.

Fred Hart

Stock Controller and Radio Presenter/Producer

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *