We were up very early to get the express Twisto bus to Ouistreham Gare Maritime where the Brittany ferry, Mont St Michel, was scheduled to leave at 0930. It was a beautifully smooth crossing with mostly sunny skies as we crossed the Channel in just over 5 hours. We both will miss Caen, a clean, friendly and historic city that can still could show it's appreciation for the Liberation of 73 years ago. The ferry was full of noisy French school children so I spent the majority of the trip across snoozing on the deck in the sun. Unfortunately it became rather dreary and dark as we neared Portsmouth, the old city evidently little changed since I was last there in the 70s, other than the newest warships tied up along side HM Naval Dockyard and the sail like Spinnaker Tower dominating the skyline. We took a taxi to our next B&B, Bush Street East, flat 11, Havencroft, a ten minute drive away, dropped off our stuff then headed to the nearest pub for a beer and supper. An uncomfortable night in a small room with an uncomfortable bed was our only real memory of the city which we would be returning to in a week. Hopefully we can visit some of the old historic dockyard and see the HMS Warrior, Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory and the Tudor ship the Mary Rose at that time. gws
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| Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth and Wightlink ferry to the Isle of Wight |
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| Bush Street East, flat 11, Havencroft, Portsmouth |
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| HMS Warrior |
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| enjoying my Black Swan microbeer |
