JC drove to Luxembourg mid August and, as I often do, I planned to join him for a week and then we'd drive back. This time, however, I decided to travel the slow way, eschewing a flight and opting for a ferry. I was also trying to avoid using a car. So the plan was bus to Honiton - train to Portsmouth - walk to ferry - overnight ferry to Caen - bus to Caen station - train to Paris - walk across Paris - train to Metz - train to Bettembourg - walk to JC's parents front door. Here's how it went...
My experience of travelling by train in the UK is one third planning and two thirds luck. The long and the short of it is that the trains were pretty topsy turvy and I got lucky by catching a delayed train (so set off on an earlier one than planned) meaning that the other delays/cancellations which happened on route didn't adversely affect my arrival time in Portsmouth.
So I had plenty of time to walk to the ferry terminal and spotted my first England Coast Path sign. I had time to enjoy a glass of wine in a maritime/naval historic pub I found.
I was very excited to be on a ferry again. I haven’t yet tired of stepping afloat and casting off. Portsmouth slipped past in a blaze of lights and I kept an eye out for the Mary Rose buoy where we’d scattered Mum’s ashes last month.
I had a reserved seat in a room of about 40 others. It wasn’t that full so we all stretched out on at least two seats each. The chairs, astonishingly, didn’t recline! It’s like flying short haul on a boat designed for overnight trips. I couldn’t get comfy so, like many others, slept on the floor. However, because I was a foot passenger, I didn’t have a sleeping bag or blanket which most others did. It was a chilly night.
We were resoundly woken at 0615 (0515 UK time) by a loud tannoy - which even I heard without my hearing aids - and Brittany Ferries flicking on the bright lights. Day was just breaking as we walked off the ferry in Caen.
I somehow missed the signs for the shuttle bus and walked towards the terminal entrance eventually encountering a locked gate. After a minute or two a security guard appeared and although my French is poor, I clearly got the impression I shouldn’t be there. He found someone to escort me into the terminal building and I was in. Hello France indeed.
At 0700 there are few options for coffee in Caen but, as expected, the ferry terminal was up and running so had my first coffee of the day there. I loitered to the bus stop and for €1.80 caught a bus to Caen SNCF station. As I had a flexible ticket I caught an earlier train than planned and am looking surprisingly unruffled considering my lack of sleep ;-)
The line criss-crossed the Seine as it neared Paris. I arrived into Gare St Lazare then meandered over to Gare de l’Est.
Paris was hot and my back was sore from sitting too much and rucksac carrying so, even though I was tempted to pop down to see the Louvre, it wasn’t worth the extra few km it would have cost me.
Lunch was salad at the station then onto train number 4 of the trip, Paris to Metz. Not such a fancy train compared to the SNCF one, but shortly after leaving we were moved into first class as the air con had failed in our carriage. Arrived into Metz easily and caught my final train to Bettembourg. A short stroll to JC's parent's house and ta dah - done!
The timings were (all times local)
Wed 28 Aug
1430: left home
1440-1500: bus to Honiton
1510-1820: train to Portsmouth changing at Salisbury
1820-1850: walk to Ferry terminal
1850-2100: stooge around (pub, coffee shop etc)
2100-0645: ferry to Caen
Thu 29 Aug
0645-0810: stooge around (morning coffee and crossword)
0810-0850: bus to Caen station
0905-1100: train to Paris Gare St Lazare
1100-1200: walk to Gare de l'Est
1200-1340: hang around Gare de l'Est (lunch and book)
1340-1505: train to Metz
1530-1610: train to Bettembourg
1610-1630: walk to house
25 hours door to door :-)
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