Calais – The Last Leg

This was our final morning in Europe.

We were up at 7:30am, and away by 9am. The drive to the Port of Calais took about 50 minutes.

On arrival, we had to queue for, and pass by, three different booths. The first was manned by a P&O operative, who confirmed our ferry booking, issued us with a ticket for the windscreen and told us to head for Lane 903. This was followed by French Border control, where we had to show our passports. Finally, the third booth we had to stop at was UK Border Control where, once again, we had to show our passports. Interestingly, at no point were we asked to scan our our fingerprints; it all went very smoothly, and without incident.

Getting to Lane 903 proved to be a small challenge; the signage around the port was very confusing, and it would be very easy to take a wrong turn, as I nearly did a couple of times, and as did the bloke who pulled up behind us in a large motorhome, who asked me if we were queueing for Irish Ferries. I had to break the news to him that he was in the wrong queue, and that he should check his windscreen ticket, which would tell him which Lane he should be looking for.

As  we waited, we made a cup of tea and I removed the headlight deflectors, ready for driving on the left on our arrival in Dover.

Our ferry was due to sail at 12noon, but they started letting on vehicles from about 11:15. It was cold and windy, so we found seats inside for the duration of the crossing, which takes bout 90 minutes. Once back in Dover, the clocks go back an hour, making it look like it had only taken us half an hour. At 12:30pm local time, we disembarked from the ferry ‘Pioneer’, and – remembering to drive on the left – headed for home.

Our first European campervan adventure was over.

Which is sad – but we enjoyed it so much we will almost certainly be planning another in the not too distant future. In some ways, the adventure has only just begun…