St Omer, Calais, Dover then home

On Tuesday, after a straightforward autoroute drive of just under 5 hours, we parked up on the aire in St Omer.

We’d noticed that the weather forecast for Thursday, when we were due to sail back to the UK, is for storms. Therefore, we rang DFDS and changed the ferry to early evening on Wednesday.

Our plan was to visit the centre of St Omer in the evening and then to visit the marshes the following morning before going to Calais, less than an hour’s drive away.

The town centre was made up of a completely different architecture than we’ve been used to seeing further south in France and in Italy… Lots of ornate brick buildings making up the terraces, fewer churches and a big town square. We had a wander and a beer, then a meal in a quirky restaurant.

On Wednesday morning we visited the Marais Audomarois, a UNESCO site, just a 20 minute walk away from the aire. We wandered around the visitor centre learning about living and farming on the marais (marsh). A submarine is used to provide an ‘under the marsh’ adventure for children.

After this, we had a ride on a traditional wooden boat through the marais. We were the only passengers and, therefore, had the guide to ourselves. We’d picked up waterproofs in case we needed them but the sun came out and we could have done with sunglasses instead!

The tour was a very peaceful way to spend an hour, as well as being very informative. The guide told us about the birds and animals that live in the marsh, and how their habitat is being protected, with non-native species of plants and animals being managed or removed.

The marais is as big as a town such as Lille, and there are about 170 kilometres of waterways through it. The guide showed us areas where people live, areas where vegetables are farmed, and areas where the marais is protected for nature. Some of the houses on the marsh are only accessible by bridges or boats, and the last postal service in France using a boat is here.

After the boat ride, back at Molly, we packed up and drove to Calais for the ferry. We were very early for our 18.05 sailing and pleased when, at check in, we were told that we could get the 16.35 ferry instead. Then, once we’d passed through immigration and reached the departure lane, we were amazed to be waved straight on to the 14.20 sailing, which was due to depart very soon!

The boat was very quiet and we enjoyed the Premium Lounge food, drink and comfy seats. It’s definitely worth the money ☺️.

The journey from Calais to Rhuddlan wasn’t too bad. There were holdups at the Dartford Crossing and on the M1, but we at least kept moving. We had just one stop at the services on the M6 toll road, for a drink, snack and to top up Molly’s Adblue.

Arriving home wasn’t without its dramas… Firstly, the Toyota wouldn’t start so we couldn’t move it off the drive to park Molly, although thankfully the old Skoda was fine so John moved that and left Molly in the road outside the house. Then, when we came into the house the alarm bleeped… something to do with low battery 🤷‍♀️. Thankfully, it didn’t go off! Thirdly, the Toyota’s car tax had run out and I had to quickly pay a red bill 😱. At last, we made a cup of tea and took it to bed to try and get warm. It’s freezing! 🤣