With only two days to reach Caen, we still decided to do the coastal route to the French border, missed on the way down due to bad weather.
Setting out from Bilbao for San Sebastián (which we sadly don’t have time to visit this time) on Wednesday morning, we finally managed to find the coast road across the Jaizkibel ridge winding along the GI-3440. What a great route with fantastic views over the ocean. Before crossing the border we dropped down to the last lighthouse on the Spanish coast, Faro de Higer and after a short stop continued to Irun.
We almost missed the border crossing, as usual within the Schengen area there were just a couple of Officers standing in the road watching the traffic. We’d decided to avoid the tolls but as we approached Bayonne on the D-810 it became really busy and, given how far we’d got to go, we bit the bullet and used the A-63 wondering where to stop for the night as it was getting late. There were always the motorway aires, but we decided to try the Reserve Ornithologigue du Teich on the southern shore of Arachon Bay. Sure enough, overnight parking was allowed in their carpark.
After a short recce of the bird reserve and local area on Thursday morning, this will certainly go on the ‘visit again for longer’ list! However, it’s still a long way to Caen so after breakfast at a local cafe we returned to the A-63. After the Bordeaux ringroad crossing the Gironde and Dordogne rivers at Cubzac-les-Ponts, we continued to Angouleme where we picked up the N-10, stopping for lunch and a final ‘big shop’ at Ruffec. Reaching Poitiers mid-afternoon the traffic was really busy so once again we decided to pay the premium on the expensive A-10 to give us a less stressful drive. We stopped just before dark at the Aire Sarthe-Touraine, leaving us about three more hours in the morning to reach Caen in time for the ferry. We enjoyed a freshly prepared steak hache with chips in the service station followed by the lovely desserts we’d bought at the boulangerie earlier in the morning.
It had been a chilly night and a sunny, frosty morning as we set out at 0915 on Friday 28 February, along the deserted but very expensive toll roads A10, A28 and A88. The clear roads cross the flat farmland of Normandy with the occasional village and pointed tower of a church. We arrived in good time, checking in with an hour to spare at 1215. Sitting in the huge parking area we were approached by a French Border Guard with a dog, asking to bring him into the van. It seems this is at the behest of the UK Government, they don’t use dogs at any other borders. One of the last to board, gave us the advantage of being first off in Portsmouth. The afternoon crossing was four hours, arriving in Portsmouth at 1930 where we were greeted by a remarkably friendly Border Force official who waved us through with a smile.
Staying overnight in Southampton with Kate, Simone and the children we spent an enjoyable Saturday out in the park before driving on to our final rendezvous: the briefing meeting at Shepperton Lock for the Association of Dunkirk Little Shops 85th Annual Return. We had an enjoyable meal at the nearby Thames Court Country Pub, spending the night in the carpark ready for the very informative and interesting meeting on Sunday 2 March before finally driving home.
