02.10 - Day 16 . . . Last Bit & Crossing

So after being woken at 5am by an HGV parking up near to Roxvanne, I certainly couldn’t get back to sleep. When both of us were finally awake and out of bed we decided to have breakfast at the services before hitting the road for the last leg to Calais.
On exiting Roxvanne we found out she had been joined by some big brothers overnight. No wonder we had been woken.
The weather was foul, fine mist like rain in the wind - so we got a wiggle on to get into the services.
We sat for a while and hoped the weather might lift a little whilst we had brekkie. No let up with the rain we returned to Roxvanne and started the final drive.
We decided to drive to Boulogne-Sur-Mer and then take the coast road through to Calais.
It was still raining as we hit Boulogne and so we grabbed a couple of photos at the port and decided not to stop any longer.
As we left Boulogne and hit the coast road the weather started to brighten, which allowed us to at least enjoy the coastline.
Immediately on seeing the coastline our minds and conversation turned to history and the battles that possible raged in these areas - and the loss of life as a result. We drove down passing sand dunes and land undoubtedly with stories to tell.
We finally stopped at Ambleteuse and decided to stretch our legs along the front and grab some photos.
Taking centre stage along the front is Fort d’Ambleteuse which has more recently undergone some additional building and restoration.
Work to build Fort Ambleteuse at the mouth of the Slack was completed in 1680. Vauban sited the fortification at a point at which access can only be made at low tide. Its defences consisted of a five-piece coastal artillery battery situated within a stone-lined bastion (or casemate) with seaward facing embrasures set in walls up to 3 m (9.8 ft) thick. An outer sea wall provided further protection for the inner scarp's gun terrace. To the landward side, Vauban built a small parade ground and living quarters for the fort's garrison. The landward walls had embrasures for muskets and small cannons.
The gun platform within the bastion was once was a large open space but this was cut in half by a concrete partition that was added by German forces during the Second World War. A pillbox was also added to the inner side of the fort to strengthen its landward defences.
During the German occupation of France, the fort was used to imprison foreign forced labourers.
In 1945, two sea mines exploded, destroying the outer defences. The wall has been restored in its original form with battlements.
Whilst here we also bumped into a couple with a young long haired german shepherd - which took up at least 15 minutes of our time discussing the pros and cons of the breed. Both of us left hankering for an identical pooch!
We continued north along the coast road and finally to Calais where we stopped for food.
Strangely the footy was on the TV within the restaurant and I managed to watch City destroy Utd - always good to see 😂.
After a very stressful attempt to find our way onto the shuttle at eurotunnel (we ended up at the freight terminal . . . again, had Roxvanne sniffer dog checked and finally escorted out by a pilot vehicle from the compound to public roads again) we joined the queue to enter and found out we had an hour plus delay for our crossing.
Whilst sitting in the departure area we heard from Lou and Vince who were due to travel also, a little later than us. We met up for one more French coffee and waited for our boarding to be notified.
Finally it was time to board and we joined another queue to get to the entry lane. Again we got side lined and asked to go for an additional vehicle search of Roxvanne - I’m not sure who she has upset.
Finally the all clear and we briefly joined the lane before boarding. A little less than an hour later we popped out at Ashford and headed to the hotel in Ramsgate, work for the next four days!
So - back in the UK, but not for too long and we will be back to France. 🇫🇷Read more