OUISTREHAM

June 2018

Ouistreham is a seaside resort and ferry port a few miles north of the big city of Caen.

It is very popular and convenient for a one night stop before or after the crossing the English Channel from Portsmouth and is sometimes used for a longer stay as it is also close to Bayeux where the famous Tapestry is displayed and to the beaches where the Allied forces landed during World War II.

Northern Normandy Coast

The site was easy to find but as I turned off the D515 onto the short approach road I noticed a large crowd of African Immigrants on a stretch of green land between the two.         In the following days too they were invariably there just sitting around, talking to one another, smoking and so on.        But it was also noticeable there was usually a Police car nearby and perhaps for this reason I never experienced or saw any signs of trouble.

Having already visited Bayeux and the WW II landing beaches in years gone by I didn't feel a compulsion to do so again and had a rather dull time for ten days before my ferry was due.        I would have preferred to stay longer at Tuffe in the absence of flooding but even so should perhaps have gone to another site in the interior rather than spending so much time at Ouistreham.

Mostly I prepared food in the caravan but on my last night I treated myself to dinner at La Glycine Restaurant in Benouville just a few miles down the road towards Caen.

This was expensive but very, very good.     All the dishes were perfectly cooked, had intensive flavours and were elegantly presented.    Here is the menu -

Mise-en-Bouche - small concoction of raw salmon and apple 

Entree - Foie Gras de Canard and Pomme Confites with toast 

Plat - Turbot with exquisite vegetables and prawn sauce

Dessert - Strawberry Capuccino - liquified and strained strawberries with Creme Fraiche and Mint

Wines - Touraine and Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc

So, I was feeling very satisfied and relaxed as I returned to the site and picked up the  van at 21:30 to catch the late night ferry.

That feeling didn't last long as explained in this email I sent to family after returning home :

A CALENDAR BLIND SPOT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

When I reached the ferry terminal an hour before the boat sailed last night the girl at the check-in booth said - "You were booked to travel yesterday! "

'Never mind she said, 'We're not full so you'll be able to go anyway".    Then after looking up details on her computer she also said "But we don't have any cabins left so the best we can do is revise your booking to a reclining seat and later send you a refund for the difference".

I had no alternative but to accept, and immediately 'phoned Alan to explain and re-arrange our meeting place for transfer of the van's contents to a service station on the M4 thus fore-going the benefit of a good night's sleep at a site near Marlborough I'd already paid for and a less rushed transfer on Saturday morning.

So, I had a very uncomfortable night with little sleep but the next interesting thing to happen was when I went through UK Customs and Immigration at Portsmouth.      "Did you look inside your van before coming off the ferry"? asked the officer at Passport Control, to which I replied "No".       Whereupon he said, 'We'd better have a look then", which we did and found everything in order.         He then said "They smuggle themselves inside lorries to get aboard the ferry and then get out and break-in to caravans and the like when every-one has left the car decks - we've had one every day this week."       This exchange related to the illegal immigrants from Africa who base themselves in Ouistreham, some of whom I had seen every day at the entrance to the campsite. 

The transfer of contents to Alan's trailer took place as planned the previous evening and I delivered the van to the Caravan Dealer near Swindon for its first annual service.

I also managed to get home without dozing off at the wheel and having an accident and am now relaxing with a "nice cup of tea".        

Thus ended my summer land-cruise in France this year and I'm now enjoying the greater ease and comforts of living in a larger space for a short time before setting off to share another summer holiday with Alan and his family in Cornwall.