Booked it, Packed it, Got the Ferry to France?!

Last week the husband came back from Dubai, on a big plane as the Big One would say, and we took a little break from it all.  You may have seen from Instagram that my feed became very, very, green as we headed for a few nights in the Peak District.  Packed a car up and took ourselves off for a few nights together in the countryside, and in doing so catapulting myself straight back to childhood holidays as we crammed the car full and set off without worrying about the weight restrictions that plague us whenever we fly.

The back of our car stuffed full of everything (except the raincoats that I left on the dining room floor at my mums) we could possibly need including a weeks shopping, brought my childhood holidays in France rushing back.  Holidays that gave me a love of French food and a habit of long, leisurely meals enjoyed al fresco.  Crusty french loaves scattering crumbs across the table.  Carafes of white wine, chilled, dripping condensation on to pristine white tablecloths.  Steak done the right way – bleu!  Holidays where we filled the car full on the way there, and fuller on the way back, feet propped on boxes filled with wine bottles from the local vineyard, items from the local markets stuffed between the seats and once even bringing back stinky camembert.

car packed
The car packed in France ready for our road trip back

Holidays that were my normal, that didn’t involve a plane, or an airport.  Sometimes a big fancy train but more often than not a big boat.  The ferry to France.  On choppy seas.  Spiriting us away from the rain of England and depositing us in the rain in France.  Which was better rain.  Less rain-y rain.  Holiday rain so it was all OK.

It’s funny what seeing one overfilled boot of a car can do to you.  Muttering to the Husband that it was a good job we weren’t flying off anywhere because what we do with ALL THAT STUFF?!  A short drive and unload to our holiday home 30 minutes later, with further mutterings from the husband on whether we actual needed ALL THAT STUFF, an afternoon of exploring we got the kids to bed, popped the Prosecco, lit the log fire and settled down to play scrabble and chat.

scrabble
My winning scrabble board

And as always happens when we settle down to chat the talk turned to holidays. With everything that has been going on we have found ourselves with no holidays in the pipeline for the first time in what feels like forever. Talk turned to childhood holidays and France in particular. Our boys have been to Thailand, the Caribbean cruising no less, Singapore, Oman, Portugal.  Between them they have been on approximately 50 flights, and despite being on a cruise ship have never been on a ferry.  Following our conversation, the reminiscing, and the lure of crusty french bread, right now at the top of our bucket list right now has to be a France based holiday.

The question is would we drive or would we fly?  And if we drove would we get the ferry to France?!  Being the son of a pilot the husband is very much a plane geek, something he is passing onto our boys.  I thought his choice would always be plane.  I mean, a plane gets you there in what seems like a shorter amount of time (when you discount the airport wait!) but as he rightly points out there are all the extra waiting times you need to add in.  The wait at the airport.  The wait to hire a car.  The need to hire (often scummy) car seats.  No if we actually bite the bullet and go to France we are going old school.  We would be taking the ferry to France, going the way of my childhood, and rather than my rambling on as to why this infographic from Brittany Ferries sums it up rather well.


Ferry to France vs Plane

Image source: Brittany Ferries – Ferry VS Plane to France

Not only that, but the best part of holidays for us is the exploration, the finding of new places, the really, really, seeing a country from their perspective.  Winding through local lanes before finding those smaller villages off the beaten track to eat bread and cheese, admire the architecture and maybe, just maybe discover random local festivals.  You’d never get that flying overhead.

So yes, even though I’m married to the biggest plane geek going, sometimes it’s a better option to skip the plane and head on the ferry.  Now my next challenge is to get that holiday in France booked…..so I can indeed say we’ve booked it, packed it and got the ferry to France.

CP

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11 Comments

  1. June 30, 2016 / 7:57 am

    This is starting to remind me about my favourite France things too!!!

    Oh the steak and the bread… And the pain au chocolat!!!!

  2. June 30, 2016 / 10:08 am

    We did just that, did a road trip all the way from Cornwall to France. And we loved it! I must say I do love road-trips and yes, our old car was packed to the brim. I really enjoyed exploring the French countryside and we even managed a day trip over to Belgium. Fun days!

  3. June 30, 2016 / 12:06 pm

    I would love to be able to go on a road/ ferry trip. Neither of us drive though so it makes things like this really hard.

  4. June 30, 2016 / 7:35 pm

    We have taken a ferry twice overseas but never to France. I imagine it would be a great adventure. Interesting infographic!

  5. June 30, 2016 / 9:31 pm

    Aaah your children are so well travelled! For me it was always the Isle of Wight for childhood holidays (!) but I remember so clearly the car being loaded to the brim with STUFF, the insane queue to get on the ferry, and driving off the other side expecting everything to look a bit different (of course it didn’t, it was the bloody Isle of Wight). Not down with the bleu steak though, sorry

  6. Kerry Norris
    July 1, 2016 / 4:20 pm

    You’ve made me want to take a road trip to France. May have to be next year now x

  7. July 1, 2016 / 5:23 pm

    I love going on Ferry to France, and have a wonderful road trip.5 it’s much more comfortable than planes, this is great post and

  8. July 2, 2016 / 9:48 pm

    Your childhood holidays sound so lovely. But so does the break in the Peak District to be honest. You can’t beat scrabble and prosecco! I want to go to France! I haven’t been in so long. We’d definitely take the ferry, it’s so much nicer than flying. x

  9. July 4, 2016 / 3:56 pm

    Sounds like a fantastic break! Have fun

  10. July 4, 2016 / 7:05 pm

    We haven’t done a ferry yet but reading this has definitely tempted me! x

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