I've been neglecting the blog lately, and now time for a catch up. I an and I are on a trip to the south of France by car. Maybe I will add some notes on earlier trips this year, shortly.
We set off from a dreary, drizzly London, having arranged to take the car by ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, then driving across to our main destination in the Languedoc. The Cap Normandie, run by Brittany Ferries, turned out to be much better than epected, and feels more like a cruise than a ferry crossing. There were loading problems and we set out late, but as we pulled from port the sun broke out for a bit as we sat in an open deck watching the ship's wake unroll, rounding the Isle of Wight and off for open water. A relaxing way to travel.
The menu was surprisingly adventurous and well prepared. We had fairly low expectations based on shorter cross channel crossings, but they really seem to try here. Even the self service food is a cut above average. For dinner I had rack of pork slow-baked in hay, which I have vaguley heard of but never tried. It was a revelation. I am not normally a big fan of pork but this was meltingly delicious, served with a sage and onion sauce and wok fried vegetables. Must get the recipe.
The rooms on board are somewhat spartan but have everything you need, packed into a minimal space. Soon after going to bed we hit the Bay of Biscay and things got pretty rough for a few hours. I was glad to be lyoing down because it felt like standing up would have been an effort. The ship was pitching violently forward and back, and at times rolling too. Sometimes it felt that the whole ship was being lifted and dropped into the next wave trough with a huge crash. Eventually I got off to sleep and things seem to have calmed down.
By morning it was a lot easier, though still pitching up and down so that as you walked forward or aft you were alternately weightless and double weight, like some NASA astronaut training programme.
We pulled into Bilbao's port about 24 hours later having avoided a full day's driving. All in all a good way to get down there.
We set off from a dreary, drizzly London, having arranged to take the car by ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, then driving across to our main destination in the Languedoc. The Cap Normandie, run by Brittany Ferries, turned out to be much better than epected, and feels more like a cruise than a ferry crossing. There were loading problems and we set out late, but as we pulled from port the sun broke out for a bit as we sat in an open deck watching the ship's wake unroll, rounding the Isle of Wight and off for open water. A relaxing way to travel.
The menu was surprisingly adventurous and well prepared. We had fairly low expectations based on shorter cross channel crossings, but they really seem to try here. Even the self service food is a cut above average. For dinner I had rack of pork slow-baked in hay, which I have vaguley heard of but never tried. It was a revelation. I am not normally a big fan of pork but this was meltingly delicious, served with a sage and onion sauce and wok fried vegetables. Must get the recipe.
The rooms on board are somewhat spartan but have everything you need, packed into a minimal space. Soon after going to bed we hit the Bay of Biscay and things got pretty rough for a few hours. I was glad to be lyoing down because it felt like standing up would have been an effort. The ship was pitching violently forward and back, and at times rolling too. Sometimes it felt that the whole ship was being lifted and dropped into the next wave trough with a huge crash. Eventually I got off to sleep and things seem to have calmed down.
By morning it was a lot easier, though still pitching up and down so that as you walked forward or aft you were alternately weightless and double weight, like some NASA astronaut training programme.
We pulled into Bilbao's port about 24 hours later having avoided a full day's driving. All in all a good way to get down there.
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