Thursday 24 May 2007

Successful Day in France

Well, waking up at 4.45am really does not suit me. It was a brilliant day, sunshine all day and very warm. Anyway, we took the wheelchairs, everyone had a current passport and we drove down to the shuttle without mishap. I had never been on the shuttle, which is not much bigger than the coach. I have to say it looked rather like a set of giant metal coffins on rails from the outside, and the coach fitted horribly snugly inside, apparently with 2" either side to spare when driving in, so glad I was not driving. Fortunately there were loo facilities.

We came out and drove to Cap Blanc Nez straight away to find the restaurant which was at the top of a hill. Although a little warm because of the sun, and the panoramic nature of the restaurant with glass around and above, the restaurant was a great success. The views were breathtaking - both lovely sea views and views down to a couple of little hamlets with green fields surrounding. The staff were very helpful and people appreciated the pleasant ambiance with nicely laid tables and linen napkins.

There was a choice of seafood, soup or mussels for starters, salmon, skate or steak for the main course, and ice cream, chocolate mousse, apple pie or creme brulee for pudding, with wine or beer or soft drinks, and water on the tables.I started with a plate of whelks, winkles, small brown shrimps and large pink prawns and a very nice home-made mayonnaise with french bread, followed by salmon and vegetables. All very nice and well presented and washed down with white wine and water.Some of the more adventurous started with mussels. Romy declared that the creme brulee was the best she had ever tasted.

We then went off to Cite Europe for the statutory supermarket sweep and then back to the ferry, stopping at the duty free on the way.

Everyone enjoyed the day which was our first experiment taking a group abroad. A lot of people said that having lunch in such a nice restaurant had made the trip memorable, which I think vindicates our choice of having a slow and relaxing lunch first, rather than rushing around spending all day shopping. One or two said they would have been happy just to go to France for lunch. I would have more confidence taking people on a holiday abroad now as everyone coped so well with the day.

I was completely exhausted at the end of the day and had a very early night.

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