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Just back from a mini cruise in the car,travelled down to calais for our wine and beers,saw a lot of so called refugees,certainly not in any deperate need from what we saw,they all got designer clothes and mobile phones ect,talking to local buisnesses and they said all the aid they get sent is thrown away if its not designer gear,they dont need the food and throw it on the fire if its not to their liking,and they have been fighting amongst themselves setting fire to each others tents.
Anyway after calais up to de panne then onto a place called YPRES ,this place is amazing,lots of cafes bars and shops,and a giant museum with all the worlod war1 stuff ect,an excellent place to spend a few hours before heading back up to zebrugge,much more interesting than ostende or brugge,the weather was great so we spent the day walking round the town outskirts along the moat wall and through the mneine gateway and other monuments.
Back on board the boat was quiet again,food in the resturant has improved a lot.
Someone grassed us up for smoking an e cig in the quiet room ha ha,security was fine about it but wouldn't tell us who the grass was lol.
Back in hull we were reasonably quick off the boat,up to passport control,for once my passport scanned ok and waved on our way by a pleasant ukbf and no questions asked,drove round past the sheds and straight on through.
Definetly going back and next time will go into the FLANDERS FIELD MUSEUM,great place to spend a few hours if the weather is not good,i noticed P&O are doing a mini cruise trip to YPRES,not sure if the coach calls at adinkirke or not and didn't notice any tabacs in YPRES so worth checking.
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Nice one Warrior.
We also had a trip over to Calais and up to Adinkerke. On the way out we are asked to pull into the Shed and then asked to lift the bonnet. After a quick look we were allowed to continue.
Noticed on the A16/E400 that they seem to have reduced the speed limit in parts although made little difference to our journey time (Calais to Stop and Shop 42 minutes). On the way back we saw a few "asylum seekers" walking along the A16/E40 heading for Calais. Also saw a few on Avenue Roger Salengro, mostly at the other end to where Auchan is.
We bought a few things in Auchan and then went to Calais Wine for some bargains. It's the £2 a bottle ones which I think are interesting http://www.calaiswine.co.uk/offers/2-wines.html
The approach to and exit from Calais is now like a "coral" with the 8 or is it 10 feet high mesh security fencing on either side of the road and French Police sitting in minibuses.
Sitting on the boat with the sun was really pleasant. It's a pleasant way to travel IMHO! The only proviso I have is that midships by the onboard shop and bureau de change the smell of sewage was overpowering, a sort of "eau de turd". Obviously issues with the vessel, so thankful we could sit on deck.
Will have to take a trip to Ypres sometime. Sound interesting.
JMK
Last edited by Johny_MK (09-10-2015 11:27 am)
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Nice one Warrior. When you say boat was quiet how many roughly ? Hoping when we go its full of Kids on visits.
Any idea if there was many UKBF in the downstairs arrival hall.
PS Happy Birthday.
Regards
Garry
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the security guy we spoke to said 450,seems a lot but we saw very few people about at all .
UKBF are always about somewere ha ha,just be prepared at all times,and always expect to get stopped and questioned .
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still a few bargain wines/beers about in calais,we dont bother with the supermarkets but go to the back street warehouses,less choice but some bargains to be had john smiths 24x440ml £5 a case short dated,echo falls £11 a case of 6. plus a few other ones a £1 a bottle loose. The warehouse we use means driving through the 'jungle' ha ha,just keep at a steady 70mph and they dont try to get in your car.
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Went to Ypres in 2000
Nice that Belgian Fire Brigade still honour the dead at sunset every day.
When I did my National Service 60 odd years ago I worked with chaps who'd been injured there in WW1