Thursday 30th September 2021

We were up early this morning as the ferry company booking confirmation said that last check in for the 9.00 departure to Dieppe was 7.30. However when we arrived at the check in at about 7.00 all was quiet!

We were eventually checked in and loaded onto the ferry which left a quarter of an hour early! Here are the white cliffs of Newhaven seen as we were departing.

During the voyage we talked to a very interesting woman from Sussex who was driving down to her second home in southern Spain with her collie dog.

When we arrived in Dieppe the French Authorities stamped our passports - nothing seen since the time before the  UK was a member of the European Union! This stamp marks the start of a period of 180 days in which we are allowed to be in the Schengen Treaty Area for a maximum of 90 days as tourists. This is a very far cry from when as members of the European Union British Citizens were free to live and work indefinitely in any EU member country. Brexit was a very bad idea indeed.

Before leaving Dieppe we did a supermarket shop before heading off south on minor roads. Along the way a small white van heading in the opposite direction hit our left side mirror with his or her left side mirror causing considerable damage to our and presumably his or her mirror. Neither of us stopped to argue the toss and to be honest it would be very difficult to ascribe the blame to either party. Luckily our mirror is still useable but will probably need replacing eventually.

We stopped for the day at the Aire de Camping Cars in the village of Cleres south of Dieppe. It is free to stay here and there are facilities to empty sewage and waste water but if you want fresh water or electricity you need to buy a 5 euro token from the local shop.

There is a sports centre and playing fields near to the aire.

Today we travelled 32 miles (52 kilometres) - excluding the distance we came on the ferry from Newhaven. We are at: N49.6019 E1.1160

Cleres     Street View