France - Day 5 - The Journey Home

---

I awoke this morning after a little lay in and had a look outside the tent to see another misty morning and started to think how I was going to make my way back to the ferry. I did think about just heading up to Calais and crossing via the channel ferry then riding home from Folkestone which would have meant more miles on the bike and extra fuel cost and the cost of the crossing that was already paid for on the ferry. But if it was going to rain all day, the Calais crossing would have got me home sooner. I went and had a shower then as I returned to pack the tent up, I started to think the day was looking better. I set about packing everything up and fastening it all on the bike as the weather improved. Finally when I was ready to set off I decided not to put the waterproofs on and chance getting wet, as it turned out it was the right decision as the day turned out quite fine and warm.

I left Arromanches heading through the countryside towards Ranville, occasionally I’d deliberately ignore the sat nav’s instructions and head in a different direction only to let it correct my route a few junctions on. Finally I came to Trouville ser mer where I stopped for lunch. After lunch I headed towards the ferry terminal around the coast road calling at Honfleur for half an hour before crossing the Pont de Normandie suspension bridge and arriving at the ferry terminal in good time.

After about half an hour at the terminal the marshals started to load the ferry putting the bikes on first. The French marshal on the ferry put me a bad place because my bike was leaning on another bike and neither I nor the other bikers could not make him understand what was wrong at first, but then he backed all the bikes up behind me and put me in a better position. With the bike strapped down I went up on deck and watched the rest of the cars, trucks and caravans coming onboard the ferry. The last vehicle to be loaded was a low loader carrying another big boat, the top deck car ramp had to be lifted to get this thing on. Soon we set sail for England and I settled down to get some sleep in the bar as we crossed the channel.

We arrived back in England at 9:35-pm that evening and wrapped up warm for the 230 mile ride back home stopping once only for fuel, a quick bite to eat and to put a neck wrap on and a extra lining in the jacket. Finally I arrived home at 01:15-am, quite a long day but the end to a great trip to France.

---

Photos

Honfleur Harbour
Honfleur harbour is probably one of the most prettiest I’ve ever seen, you can sit around it and enjoy the view whilst relaxing in a café.

Loading the Ferry
I liked watching the big truck and the cars with their caravans coming onboard the ferry, I makes me wonder how they manage to get them all onboard.