Calais
We were up early. From our bedroom window we could see the ferries coming in. My son, Tim, and his four friends were leaving Dover on the 06.45 ferry. We anticipated this would arrive around 08.30 French time. Watching a P and O ferry slowing coming into port, we presumed they were on this ferry.
The Tour de Calaisfornia, which they were participating in, is not a race, as I had thought, but an ‘event’. It is a 100 km ride through quiet French countryside. There is quite a bit of climbing with an elevation gain of 3,635 feet. The riders are given the route, there are food and drink stands and signage along the way and they return to the starting point, an anticipated 4.5/5 hours later.
The online info. regarding the event starting point wasn’t very specific. Our hotel was located on Digue Gaston Berthe and the event was due to start from the car park on Digue Gaston Berthe. Digue Gaston Berthe is the whole seafront area and Google maps advised there were four car parks.
To cut a long story short, we located the wrong car parks. Tim’s team had been given a 10 o’clock start time. By the time we located the start, at 10.05, we had missed them!
Deciding we would return around 14.00, to make sure we didn’t miss them this time, we went to find a supermarket to buy some things to take back to the UK with us. Mainly beer and wine, as due to restrictions because of foot and mouth disease, it is not permitted to take cheese, dairy products or meats back to the UK at the moment.
Next we decided we would find a restaurant in the centre of Calais and have a long lunch. This we did and due to a communication problem I had 2 deserts, both delicious, but totally over the top.
Returning to the car park where the event began, the place was heaving. It was a very hot, sunny day and everyone had made their way to the beach. We double parked under a tree for some shade and I had a text from Tim saying they were stopping for lunch and a break from the heat.
While we were waiting an enormous dragon came along the promenade. Hissing water and belching fire. It was an amazing sight to behold. Carrying a host of paying guests too.
The afternoon progressed, slowly, and we began to wonder when Tim and friends would return. At this stage people had begun to park on footpaths and anywhere they could. The car park had a height restriction barrier. However, we had managed to manoeuvre around this. Now cars were parked preventing us from exiting.
At around 5.30 Tim and friends returned. They said it had been a very tough ride. Not the distance, as they regularly ride this far, but the weather. The sun was unrelenting and most of the time they were riding without any shade. It was exhausting.
Licques
We said our farewells, and headed for Licques. I had been able to make a reservation at a campsite here. Hoping to stay a second night at the hotel in Calais, it hadn’t been possible as it was fully booked. The campsite had no wifi, which never goes down well with Dennis. The friendly owner said he had recently taken over the site and wifi was going to be in place from July. There was evidence of upgrading going on around the place.
Sunday Morning
What a different day. It was very overcast when we woke and soon rain started. This then turned to rain with thunder and lightening. This resulted in us packing up a wet tent.
La Coupole
Today we planned some sightseeing, visiting the Coupole. This is a massive underground site covered by a huge concrete dome where the Germans tried to hide V2 rockets and to launch them across the Channel to inflict maximum damage on U.K. cities. The intention had been to launch them from underground. The site was heavily bombed by the allies so this was deterred, but launching also took place of the V1 “Doodlebugs” from large metal ramps outside.
V1 Doodlebug launch ramp.
A piloted Doodlebug?
V2 rocket.
The tunnels into the dome are now a museum and there is also a planetarium on site showing various films relating to WW2. After visiting the museum, we watched a programme on the stars and various constellations, but it was sadly all in French. Next we watched a film on the D Day landings. This was predominantly in French but with some English so was easy to follow.
Longuenesse Cemetery
En route to St Omer we stopped at the Longuenesse Cemetery. Thousands of graves, from both the first and second world wars. Many nationalities. Czech, Polish, South African, Australian, New Zealanders, Canadians, Chinese, British and French all fighting against the Germans. I find it tragic to see so many of the deaths were 19/20/21 year olds. Just boys.
St Omer
After lunch in the car park, we headed into St Omer. There seemed to be a large number of closed and decaying churches. Also the ruins of an abbey and a huge cathedral. From the exterior the cathedral seemed very decaying and run down. Inside was a revelation, though. The most enormous construction, very ornate, full of oil paintings with the most beautiful stained glass windows.
Abbey ruins.
Chateau Tilques
Our final night was to be at Chateau Tilques. A bit more spacious than Poki. However, it isn’t the most luxurious of locations, only being rated as 3 star. French Chateaux are very popular and have become much more expensive. Many costing several hundred euros a night.
Being Sunday evening the restaurant was closed. We had been advised we could have a shared charcuterie plate at the bar, or a recommendation for a restaurant in St Omer. We picked the charcuterie plate as we didn’t feel like going out again. Unfortunately, service at the bar was a problem. There was one young lady trying to serve the charcuterie and run the bar. She didn’t speak English and most guests were English. It took us 20 minutes to get served. In the end she couldn’t cope and was seen running away! The receptionist had to come and take over serving at the bar. She then had to close this while she went and prepared the charcuterie plates. A case of a severe staffing issue. Not what you expect in a hotel of this calibre.
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