Across the water

I love Eurostar and the magic of getting on a train in London and a few hours later you’re in France. However, when going on holiday, there is really nothing like actually going across the water on the channel ferry from Dover to Calais. Maybe this dates from when we used to have family holidays and the children were always excited to get onto the boat, with all the space and freedom and being able to go out on deck and watch the sea. It always seemed as though this was where our holiday started.

When the children were young we had very little money and staying in a gite or cottage in France in the summer was a holiday we could just afford. We weren’t alone in this. Many of our friends did the same thing. The gites were listed in a book called appropriately enough Gites de France. We all shared the excitement when the book came out each year around Christmas time. We then looked through the houses, places, prices and made a short list. Pre-internet days the only way to book was by telephone and there was great relief when we had secured the house we wanted. Happy family holidays, year after year.

For the past few years however, released at last after a lifetime of being tied to school holidays, we have found great joy in setting off for France in September. No queues, no noise, an empty boat. Perhaps not quite the level of anticipation as when accompanied by children and surrounded by other holidaymakers. But I think we’ll settle for the peace and quiet instead!