13 - 16 July 2010 South Molton School France

Tuesday 13th July 2010

I am up and just about to leave the house when I receive a text from Ray – “Good luck with this lot, already had a spewer!”
He was departing the school at 06:45 and the time now is 07:05! Not a good start.
I go and get Brian’s coach and drive to Fleet allowing myself plenty of time.
While I’m waiting there I am joined by Ray King from Truemans who has a bit of time to spare between jobs.
Ray turns up and the kids get off for a 30 minute break. We soon have the luggage swapped from one coach to the other and await their return. The group are all the same age as Hollie, 14.
I introduce myself to their leader Mark and then hear tales from Ray about how many times the young girl has been sick!
The thing that worries me is if she has a bug it will spread through the coach quickly. This is something I am familiar with and it is not nice.
Our itinerary dictates that we stop at Bookers in Folkestone to pick up supplies for the group to make packed lunches while we are away.
On the way to Folkestone we have a short break at Maidstone services so I can call Bookers with an arrival time, the kids can have a toilet break and the teachers can throw away the young lady’s sick bags!
While at Maidstone there is a Shearings coach and the driver, Dave Burgess, is someone I used to work with over twenty years ago on Greenline and who lives in Aldershot. It was nice to see him if only for five minutes. He is on his way to Annecy from where Brian returned yesterday.
At Bookers we load up with boxes of crisps, cases of water, a box of apples, kit-kats, lollipops, two ice filled containers which I presume contain cheese and meat as well as a box of plastic plates and cups.
We arrive in Dover at 13:00 which is slightly ahead of schedule and I am hopeful of catching an earlier ferry than our 14:30 booked one.
It is quiet at the docks as I pull up at the ticket booth, get out of the coach and approach the lady in the booth – “Is it possi......” I don’t manage to finish my sentence before the lady replies
“Yeah I know, all you coach drivers are a pain in the arse!”
I think she was joking but she didn’t smile as she said it and I wasn’t going to ask her!
We are now booked on the 13:45 and I’m given my ticket without another word said! Efficient if a little unorthodox!
The crossing normally takes ninety minutes or more but today it only takes seventy five minutes. There can’t be anybody spending any money today!
From Calais we drive to Boulogne allowing the children a couple of hours to let off some steam on the beach.
We are having dinner tonight at a Flunch restaurant in Boulogne and I go off to check it out.
I know there is a Flunch by the Auchan hypermarket and and I want to make sure it is the correct place. It is.
I drive back to the quayside and wait on the group.
One of the teachers returns to tell me that two of the girls have had their bags stolen by some local rogues. One of the girls is the young lady who has been ill al day and she has now lost her money, phone and music player. I really fell for her and it makes you want to cry. You wouldn’t want her picking your lottery numbers would you!
One of the teachers is a French speaker and she reports the incident to the police so that an insurance claim can be made.
The restaurant is very accommodating and the children all have plates piled high with chips, a salad starter that not many eat and a cream cake that cannot be found room for!
We are away from here by 20:30.
I still have a long drive as we are staying in Rouen which is about two hours away.
The roads are quiet and we are on the outskirts of Rouen by 22:15 with an arrival time of 22:33. That is what it says on the sat nav anyway!
I am following the sat nav as I think it will be easy to find the hotel, even though I have been to Rouen a few times it is eight years since my last visit and I am not sure how much I will recognise and remember.
I am directed to an underpass I am too high to pass under! So we recalculate, and recalculate and recalculate!
I feel a bit embarrassed as I should have used the map but it is too late for that.
In the end we arrive about fifteen minutes late and the group have taken this short delay in good spirits.
The funny thing is that when we reached the hotel I recognised the next door Ibis as the hotel I had used the last time I was here!
At the hotel we are met by Ange, our guide for the rest of the tour. Once the children are off he unloads some of the food which will be used tomorrow.

Wednesday 14th July 2010

It is Bastille Day today and therefore a public holiday which will mean nearly everywhere shut and very little traffic on the road.
The good news is that the young girl is better today but the bad news is one of the boys has been violently sick during the night and it is also coming out of the other end. And I can’t spell dioreah!!
A doctor has been called and he is due in about thirty minutes. Nicola, the French teacher will stay behind to help with any translations.
The breakfast is a buffet and Ange has laid out the food from Bookers so that the children can make up their own packed lunch. What a good idea.
We are going to Rouen this morning followed by visits to Honfleur and Deauville.
Ange is guiding me into the centre of Rouen when we are on the other side of the underpass I can’t pass under!
We recalculate and are soon in the very quiet centre of Rouen. I have to drop them off and go away and park which is not a problem as I remember where I am now. It all looks so much more familiar in the daylight.
Ange calls me to say they are ready and could I come and collect them.
I return to the pick up area and Mark explains that the doctor has been and given the young lad a prescription. The only problem is that it is a public holiday and there is only one pharmacy open and it is not close to the hotel.
We decide to leave the group to eat their packed lunch as I go back to the hotel with one of the teachers (I really must find out their names) who relieves Nicola and we then set off in search of this pharmacy armed with an address, telephone number and directions.
We eventually find it and it is miles away. As we are driving the heavens open and it pours it down.
Ange is soon on the phone asking how long we will be as they are all wet!
Once we have the medication we decide to pick the group up before returning to the hotel as they are all wet!
Ange phones again, and again, and again! I try to explain that we are on our way and will be with him as soon as we can. We end up going back a different way and pass one junction a couple of times but we make it in the end.
Ange has called another couple of times and I just press stop, I am on my way! We seem to hit every single red light there is which makes the journey seem longer.
We pick up the damp group and go back to the hotel to administer the medicine and give the kids a chance to change.
We are running about two hours behind schedule now.
We depart the hotel and drive to Honfleur where we park by the sea, a short walk from the centre.
This is a beautiful town all focused on it’s lovely harbour. It also very busy today. I have a walk around and am amazed at how built up the town has become. It is a long time since I was last here and the change is dramatic. Honfleur would make a great destination for a short break, I must see what I can do.
Because of all the running about I haven’t yet had any lunch and am hungry. I will waste away at this rate!! I end up having a sandwich late afternoon which should keep the hunger at bay until dinner!
From here we are going to Deauville, a town I haven’t been to before.
We drive through the gorgeous and lively Trouville into Deauville where the kids will be able to play on the beach.
I am sat on the coach when the wind suddenly gets up and I can hear thunder out to sea.
Within minutes it starts to rain and then comes down so fast and aggressively that you cannot sees more than a couple of feet. It is like a wet fog and the kids will be getting wet again!
A little Chinese lady and her son knock on my window looking for some shelter so I let them in. It really is torrential and as quickly as it appeared it has disappeared. My new found chums toddle off and I await the soaking saucepan lids!
Tonight we are once again eating out at a Flunch restaurant in Rouen.
I take the group back to the hotel to change and then back into town for dinner. We are away from the hotel by 20:30 and soon in Rouen.
There is a big firework display this evening and the road we want to use is closed so I have to drop them close by the restaurant and then go away and park.
While they are eating I fill up with fuel and sweep the very dirty coach out.
I pick them all up at 21:55 and am back at the hotel by 22:20 and am hungry again!
The hotel restaurant is closed but I can have something to eat in the bar, which I do.
I am the only person in there as I enjoy a beer and wait for my sandwich (there wasn’t a lot of choice!).
As I’m sat there the barman comes rushing back to the bar from reception to save my burning sandwich from its grilling!
I am presented with a burnt chicken sandwich with no apology and the offer of some bread to go with it! He is lucky I like burnt toast!
I do fell a bit of a Billy no mates sat here on my own.

Thursday 15th July

We are away from the hotel at 09:00 and driving towards my favourite city of Paris.
We drive to, and around, the peripherique and onto the A4 and our destination Disneyland.
I adore Paris and it is always a shame to drive around rather than through this wonderful city but the order of the day is to have as long as possible at Disneyland. The kids are a little excited!
We arrive by eleven and it seems to take an age for Ange to collect the tickets due to some dispute at one of the windows.
Soon they are let loose and you can feel their excitement. I remember bringing my children here and the best part of the day was seeing their faces as they entered this land of make believe (or land of make a fortune!).
I now have nine hours to kill!
I wash the coach which I have to do by hand. There are over 500 coach bays and only a couple of taps none of which you can connect a hose as they are push button taps that turn off in a minute. I cannot believe there are not any stand pipes we could use to wash down with. Mind you, I suppose when you have so many hours to use it doesn’t matter that much. Rubbish, of course it matters!!!
The weather is very warm if a little windy.
I decide to go for a walk and have some lunch and a look around Disneyland.
It is as busy and vibrant as ever but is not the same when you do not have your children with you, it is somewhere to be shared and I don’t spend too long in there.
We are supposed to leave at 20:00 but do not get away until 20:45. Not a problem as we do not have too far to travel.
Our hotel tonight is located on the outskirts of Paris close to La Bourget airport. We find the hotel and unload kids and cases and I just manage to squeeze the bus in between a Polish coach and a French lamppost! The pole (Polish pole!) has no chance if he wants to get out before me.
The hotel is part of the Kyriad chain and not one of their best ones. There is no bar and the hotel is extremely hot , and it smells a bit!
Having had such a hard day I am in need of a drink! There is a bar around the corner where I have a couple of beers before bed.

Friday 16th July

We say goodbye to Ange, a very nice man who I liked a lot, and head off back to Calais.
I asked the lady at reception which is the best way to the motorway and she tells me to turn right and I will go straight onto it.
I turn right and there is no motorway! So I turn around, go back to the hotel, and take the road that was straight on and the motorway junction is there! About half a mile from the hotel. I would like to blame the appalling signposts that indeed direct you right but that would only be making excuses!
We have a short toilet stop on the motorway where everybody gets off and they are all back within ten minutes. I go to start the coach and nothing happens! I try again and again nothing happens!
Everybody is remarkably laid back about it as we wait for about half an hour and I try it again and it starts! Phew!!
We arrive at Cite Europe at 13:00 and I tell Mark that we really need to be away by 14:50 so we catch our ferry at 16:10.
Most of the group are back on time but the last few do not reach us until 15:05.
We drive the short distance to the ferry terminal and join a queue of approximately thirty coaches. My heart sinks as I know that we will not be going on the 16:10 and I can only hope there is room on the next one.
We eventually clear passport control and reach the ticket booth where I am told there is no chance of catching the 16:10 and we will be put on stand -by for the 17:40.
We are asked to wait by the ticket booth for ten minutes.
This is so frustrating as we would have been ok if we had left Cite Europe at 14:50. I am away again in the morning and could really do without this delay. Ray is taking the group back to Devon and he could do without this delay also.
As frustrated as I feel I also feel a little responsible due to the delay at the services but we really shouldn’t be missing the boat! In 22 years of coming abroad this is only the second time I can remember missing a ferry.
The galling part is that the 16:10 didn’t sail until after half past four!
Our new ferry at 17:40 departs at 18:10.! To top it all the toilet is not working (full) and the hot drinks water isn’t working either (air block)!! Both easily remedied but could have done with them during wait.
At last we are back in England and on our way home.
I am now meeting Ray at Wisley and he will take the coach on to Devon and I will go home.
We meet at 20;45 and soon go off in different directions. I call into the yard to drop off some stuff for tomorrow’s tour and then arrive home at 21:45. I have to be up in the morning at 04:30.
It has been a good four days and I have enjoyed the company of the teachers and children and Ange and also enjoyed the places we have visited (except the Kyriad hote).
I doubt that anyone from South Molton Community College will read this but if you do I would like to say what an credit to your school all of the children were (and the teachers!!) and it would be a pleasure to take you away again.
Thanks to all of you.