Back to England

Au Revoir France

 

It has been a magical few days in France, helped along by the fact that the weather has been mostly fine, at least during the day so that we could properly enjoy the sights while walking around everywhere.

 

We have walked miles and miles in the past few days. It was a welcome break to be on the boat for some enforced rest. It will be quite a drive back to Susan’s place tonight but hopefully by the time we get on the road from Portsmouth we will have missed the worst of the peak hour traffic around London.

 

We booked a cabin for the trip back, even though it’s only a day trip. We actually crashed out in our bunks for a couple of hours before lunch, so it was well worth it to do so. This time our cabin had ocean views and twin bunks instead of the double decker bunks and inside cabin we had on the way over. We looked straight out over the foredeck which was rather lovely, and especially in daylight as we got to see the Channel Islands as we passed by them. We were also able to go right out onto the front deck though you couldn’t do the Titanic pose (arms outstretched right at the prow). There was a guard rail between us and the front rail for safety which rather dampened the romance of the moment.

 

two bunks and a view

very compact cabin

the view from our cabin

leaving Saint Malo harbour

Bye Bye France

negotiating the many rocks in the harbour

Barb braves the foredeck

John on the foredeck

Also we had no internet connection despite that being allegedly available on the ferry. It didn’t work on the way over either, despite trying the passwords on both our boarding passes. (Late extra: It does work but only in specific public spaces. We thought you should know). Oh well! A chance to read instead. There hasn’t been much time for that this trip. We’ve been flat out keeping up the blog, organising photos and falling exhausted into bed each night after the exertions of the day. Holidays are such hard work.

 

Whilst we were quietly sitting reading our books, we suddenly became aware that the ship was turning in a very tight circle. We wondered if there was a man overboard, but then the announcement was made over the ship’s PA system that a small boat was in trouble, and as we were the nearest vessel capable of rendering assistance we were being sent to its aid.

 

Of course all the passengers rushed up on deck to view the excitement. We could see a small black dot in the distance and as we got closer we could see it was a diving boat called the Wight Spirit. It seems a diver or divers must’ve been in trouble medically because the vessel itself appeared OK.

 

steering towards the vessel in distress

This was confirmed by staff and the ship’s crew came along and hustled all the passengers on the outside decks inside so they could accomplish the rescue mission. One rude and arrogant older English man was most indignant to be told to go inside and complained loudly “you must be joking”. There’s always one.

 

medical emergency on Wight Spirit

We thought we could hear a helicopter land on the back deck and we think a lifeboat was deployed but we couldn’t actually see anything. They did inform us what was happening over the PA but we were shielded from the view. It means that our ship will be more than an hour delayed getting into port. Hopefully a life/lives will be saved (John: Never mind the trivial stuff. Are we on telly?).