We were anxious about everything when we left home on Monday morning, from the usual will the motorhome start, to remembering the passports and required gear for travelling to France including hi vis jackets, all the way to Covid passports, health cards, proof of being solvent for the visit and the worry of not knowing where we were going to be staying.
A word of reassuarance to anyone reading - it was all fine. Our ferry sailed at 8.15 which meant being there an hour earlier at least to check in and we had the drive from home to the port too which necessitated an early get up with the children. Everything was straightforward and the staff were universally cheery and helpful meaning we were soon on board and in the cabin, which cost us more but gave us additional comfort and rest. It was blowy on deck and the skies were pretty grey but we were off.
Cherbourg was reached on time and we were off and out very quickly. I'd anticipated a couple of hours waiting to pass through customs and so on but we took about 20 minutes and were off and running in the van heading out of Cherbourg. I'd driven in France once before during a few days camping near St Mere Eglise in 2015 but this was different with the length of the visit and the size of the motorhome. However, things were fine setting aside from a couple of missed turnings and uncertainty about which exit off the roundabout to take. As we left Cherbourg we were still thinking about where to stay, Valognes, Saint Lo, St Mere Eglise and other places too but we had made good time which allowed us to drive on a bit to Carentan, a place name I knew from Band of Brothers/Saving Private Ryan.
We had a couple of apps, park4night and camping car. We paid membership of camping car and were soon hooked up next to a full campsite in a space reserved for vans. It really was simple and it was true what I'd read, finding a place to stay was very different to the UK. We had a good look round Carentan and were pleased to find a place for food which did galettes which were great. The children were soon full and happy. We then took a bit of time setting up for the night and this was something we got better at over the course of the two weeks e.g. getting beds out, cooking, cleaning,
We hadn't got very far but we were in France and hadn't come up against too many troubles and the travellers were all in good spirits. Not a bad first day.
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