Where’s Colin? Much to his surprise, he’s at a Municipal Aire in Wissant. That’s not where he expected to be, but there was a late change of plan.
There was an early (by our recent standards) alarm this morning with the aim of getting on the road as soon after 8 as we could manage. After a few days of doing very little except driving, I fancied getting to our destination early today so that we could get out for a walk. A place just south of Bolougne-sur-Mer was our chosen destination, where €7 would get us a pitch at a commercial Aire with direct access onto the coastal paths.
The plan persisted until about an hour and a half before we reached our destination, by which time we couldn’t deny that the forecast had become reality. With the wind coming from the west at over 50mph, and with frequent wintery squalls blowing through, sitting on a west-facing coast wasn’t looking like the most sensible choice. Plus, my desire to go for a decent length of walk along that coast was waining by the minute.
The replan was formed whilst we sat in Lidl’s car park in Bolougne, waiting for a dry spell before we dashed into the store. I had thought that we would have to pay for our parking tonight, as all the Aire’s I’d noted previously had fees, so when I saw that the town of Wissant (between Bolougne and Calais) has provided a free Aire, which isn’t immediately on the seafront, it seemed an obvious choice to head here.
Our brief stroll down to the beach saw us wrapped up like Michellin Men, with full waterproofs on top of our insulating layers. That did keep us warm and dry, but it wasn’t enough to make us want to explore for any distance against that wind.
Tomorrow, the Chunnel awaits. Our crossing may be preceded by another quick shopping trip, as a quantity of the cheese we bought earlier this afternoon seems to have disappeared…
There was an early (by our recent standards) alarm this morning with the aim of getting on the road as soon after 8 as we could manage. After a few days of doing very little except driving, I fancied getting to our destination early today so that we could get out for a walk. A place just south of Bolougne-sur-Mer was our chosen destination, where €7 would get us a pitch at a commercial Aire with direct access onto the coastal paths.
The plan persisted until about an hour and a half before we reached our destination, by which time we couldn’t deny that the forecast had become reality. With the wind coming from the west at over 50mph, and with frequent wintery squalls blowing through, sitting on a west-facing coast wasn’t looking like the most sensible choice. Plus, my desire to go for a decent length of walk along that coast was waining by the minute.
The replan was formed whilst we sat in Lidl’s car park in Bolougne, waiting for a dry spell before we dashed into the store. I had thought that we would have to pay for our parking tonight, as all the Aire’s I’d noted previously had fees, so when I saw that the town of Wissant (between Bolougne and Calais) has provided a free Aire, which isn’t immediately on the seafront, it seemed an obvious choice to head here.
Our brief stroll down to the beach saw us wrapped up like Michellin Men, with full waterproofs on top of our insulating layers. That did keep us warm and dry, but it wasn’t enough to make us want to explore for any distance against that wind.
Tomorrow, the Chunnel awaits. Our crossing may be preceded by another quick shopping trip, as a quantity of the cheese we bought earlier this afternoon seems to have disappeared…
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