Saturday 22 February - to Wissant

DELAYED POSTING - A QUICK NIP BACK TO 22 FEB:

Where was Bertie? He spent another night, to add to his many, at the Aire at Wissant (€11).

Weather: mainly overcast, some periods of rain, then dry but foggy towards the end. High of 10 degrees.

Having made such good progress north, I would have moved our Channel crossing forward to Saturday evening except, being the end of half term holidays in the UK, every single crossing was sold out. So, we stuck with the plan, got on the road just a few minutes after 8 heading to our usual stop at Wissant. 

 

A stop for LPG at Rouen morphed into a quick run into Lidl and a stop for LPG, and it was only as we were completed the detour necessary to get back northbound on the dual carriageway that we realised that buying diesel would have been a good call too. We'd been trying to avoid needing to divert into Boulogne, but that's exactly what we found ourselves doing, and a bigger diversion than intended when the first fuel station was found to be closed. 

 

It was still only 1330 when we arrived in Wissant, at the almost empty Aire, and I would have been straight out the door for a run, but I needed some lunch. I was then struck by a severe case of procrastination, and it was over an hour later when I finally stepped out into the murk. 

 

Not a day for views

 

The clay of the coast path was awfully slippery. Not the most fun I've ever had on this bit of coast!

 

Clearing a bit (I passed the chap ahead of me in this snap, then on the next set of wooden steps, inset into the clay, a foot shot out from under me. Somehow I managed to land on my feet. I passed another chap a little further on, and again a foot slid out from under me. I gently hit the ground, smothering myself in clay mud. I must have looked a bit of a sight as I passed lots of promenading families on the prom further on). 

 

I had been unsure as to whether I would go along the beach, or simply turn around and retrace my steps after 8km. I opted to continue onwards, and it was a good call, as the beach was firm. It was also relatively heaving with people out walking (probably a similar circuit to the one I was doing). I can't think that there would be many places in the UK where there would be so many people on a cliff path and a beach in such cool, dank weather. The prom was also busy, although the next beach was less so - probably because there's no onward route (I did a 1km out-and-back on it, just to make up my total distance to 16km).

 

The only other point of note for the day was our slight concern that motorhomes leaving the Aire were having trouble getting the barrier to open. As we needed to leave early in the morning, and wouldn't have time to be delayed, fingers were crossed that we wouldn't have the same problem. 

 

There were only a handful of motorhomes at Wissant. On such a busy weekend for the Chunnel (and likely the ferries too), before they imposed charges, the place would have been much busier. We concluded that if it hadn't been for the fact that I already knew a good running route at Wissant, we likely would have opted to go to the Aire at Calais ourselves - a couple of euro more expensive, but with electricity and nearer to the Eurotunnel terminal.