119. The French Connection

The day has finally come to leave the UK. 

Excitement with a few nerves mixed in made for a very surreal morning. 

The excitement part was for the new adventure, and the nerves were for two things. 

Firstly, I wasn't sure how the UK passport officers would react regarding my status as there was no real record of my stay in the UK. Having travelled to Ireland on two occasions, I left the UK and entered the EU but there were no checks at the ferry terminal on either side so there was no one to process or stamp my passport.

Secondly, driving on the other side of the road as I have never done it. Max has been learning French on the Duo Lingo app so she can put this into practice.

Our first destination is a sit near Bordeaux meaning we have an 867 km drive ahead of us which we split into 3 days of driving.

We drove to Folkstone and drove onto the train for the 35 minute trip to Calais, France. I was surprised to find out how quick it was. After clearing both the UK and French passport controls, we drove onto the train and waited in the car. Since its such a short trip, there are no cafes on board.


Coming off the other end, the roads were cleverly marked to get you driving on the other side of the road before you knew it. Since it was a multi-lane freeway, all I had to remember was that the slow lane is on the right as well as the exits of course. The freeways were in excellent condition and not surprisingly, had tolls. As expensive as they were, we were happy to pay them as we had a 300km trip to our first pitstop, Bernay and what I needed was to get used to driving on the right, which is the slow lane. 

The accommodation was pleasant enough which included a big room and breakfast
. 
Our accommodation on the 1st night


A 15-minute walk into town was well worth it as it is rich in Tudor period buildings. We walked into a restaurant and managed to say hi in French and indicate we wanted a table. The waiter was great and started speaking English which came as a relief to me.

Pics from Bernay


An old government building earmarked for renovation


We made it to France!


Real Estate prices are comparatively cheaper than in the UK and even Australia. 
We could afford to buy these rural properties with some change left over.


Some of the residences have kept relics of the previous incarnation of the building


After another day of driving, this was our accommodation on the second night. It was a beautiful building in a rural setting. The prices at this time of the year are so cheap.



The next day we travel the last leg to our sit where we will meet the owners and see them off for their 6-week holiday in Portugal.

Comments

  1. KayeJanuary 31, 2025 at 5:57 PM

    Comme c'est beau! You're going to have a ball, I'm sure xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2025 at 10:22 PM

    Well done you two. One more river crossed and another excellent adventure coming up. Félicitations pour ce nouveau chapitre formidable. xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary Lawrence February 1, 2025 at 11:34 PM

    Oh how exciting for you both. Can't wait to see more of your home and location.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2025 at 12:17 AM

    How exciting, love the pics, take care Joy xxoo

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM

    Fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2025 at 3:45 AM

    Fabulous French Food I'm sure you will enjoy! Love to you both from Ian and Som xoxo Let's talk tonight about 7pm my time

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jon GriffinFebruary 6, 2025 at 2:59 AM

    Looks great , enjoy

    ReplyDelete

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