FrenchDuck UK - Latest

Caen (14, Calvados, Normandy) is a major French port and a cross-channel ferry port - but, of course, the Ferry docks at Ouistreham which is on the coast, whilst the city of Caen is 10 miles inland - but is nevertheless a major port in its own right, by virtue of the Caen canal which links the city to the sea. Large ocean-going ships use the canal, which also has another claim to fame, i.e. Pegasus Bridge at Benouville - a bascule bridge which enables ships to pass, but is also the site of the first encounter between the Allies and the Germans on D-Day in 1944, and the beginning of the Normandy landings.

So, just to clarify - the Brittany Ferry route from Portsmouth to Caen actually terminates at Ouitreham, whilst Caen, which is 10 miles inland is a major shipping port. (see map)

So to celebrate its maritime heritage, the city of Caen holds its Fete du Port (Harbour Festival) on 13-14 September 2008 with visits onboard boats and ships, a maritime parade, boat trips, stands selling marine and other items, music and dancing, a collection of historic boats and a canoe-kayak water polo competition!

For more info see www.ville-caen.fr

LD Lines has announced that it will start a new roll-on roll-off cross-channel ferry service between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer (62 Pas de Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) from 1 July 2009 - offering 4 return crossings a day for cars, freight and foot passengers with a crossing time of 105 minutes. This complements the existing SpeedFerries service from Dover to Boulogne which takes just 50 minutes but has limited capacity.

Boulogne is in many ways a pleasanter entry point into France than Calais - and a good short stay destination. The ferry port is very close to the town centre and beaches, and the town has a good selection of restaurants and shops.

Book LDLines ferry to Dieppe or Le Havre
Book Speedferries Dover-Boulogne

WARNING TRIANGLES AND REFLECTIVE JACKETS REQUIRED

A few weeks ago we reported that the French road traffic laws were changing to make it compulsory for motorists to carry both a warning triangle and a reflective jacket in the vehicle at all times (and a set of bulbs). Now the AA reports:-

A law concerning the compulsory carrying of a reflective jacket (EN471) and a warning triangle (ECE R27) in France came into force on 1st July 2008. However, this regulation will not be enforceable with on-the-spot fines until 1st October 2008, when the fine will be between €90 and €135.
The French Road Safety Department has today confirmed that:
From 1st October 2008 all drivers in France, including drivers of vehicles registered outside of France, must have one warning triangle and one reflective jacket in their vehicle.

We have arranged with RAYMAC a special offer of a WARNING TRIANGLE + A HI-VISIBILITY VEST FOR JUST £9.99 PLUS VAT AND DELIVERY (usual price for the Warning Triangle alone is over £10) - CLICK HERE FOR THIS SPECIAL OFFER

La Beauficiere is a 3-bedroom B&B near Hembaye (50 Manche, Normandie) - see map.

The bed and breakfast offers spacious family bedrooms with a double bed, bunk beds and sofa bed. A cot is also available.
All bedrooms have en suite shower and toilet.
The accommodation offers a kitchen/dining room and lounge.
The B&B has plenty of free private parking and storage for bicycles.

The bedrooms are designed to incorporate the original features of the buildings whilst combining this with modern features such as the original oak beams which have being restored to provide a central feature in a number of the rooms. All bedrooms feature views over a cider apple orchard.

English owners Liz and Alan offer a warm welcome and plenty of advice on places to visit in the area. Ideally situated within an hour of Caen and 1h 20 minutes of Cherbourg, it makes an ideal stop within reach of the ferry ports. With all the attractions of Normandy (butter, cream, cheese, cider, calvados etc) there are the Normandy beaches, Mont St Michel all within reach.
SPECIAL OFFER - Three nights for the price of two for September, October and November 2008 PLUS discounts on ferry bookings!

cforms contact form by delicious:days

As from 11 July 2008, Speedferries, the fast boat service from Dover to Boulogne, will be accepting foot passengers on its crossings. Now this offers a decent prospect for a day trip without a car - the crossing is fast (45 minutes) amd provides you with an excellent view of the French coast and the two “Caps” of “Blanc Nez” and “Gris Nez”and the Boulogne terminal is only about 5 minutes walk from the town centre - and I think Boulogne is a much nicer resort than nearby Calais. Plenty of good shops (especially fish and cheese), a bit of culture in the delightful Old Town, a decent beach and plenty for the kids to do.

The service is based on a shuttle bus which will collect passengers directly outside the Western Docks and transport them onboard SpeedOne.

During the crossing passengers will be able to experience a range of retail and catering facilities before the shuttle bus drops them directly outside the port of Boulogne which is just a few minutes walk from both the town centre and forward transport links across France and beyond. The shuttle bus collects passengers outside Boulogne Port for the return sailing to Dover.
With a price of just £7.50 per person each way, regardless of duration of stay, book your foot passenger crossing today to avoid disappointment.

For more info see Speedferries

Brest (29 Finistere), Brittany’s major city and port hosts its International Maritime Festival from 11-17 July 2008.

With 25 nations represented, some 2000 mainly traditional boats, 15,000 sailors the event promises much over the 7 days - moored boats, parades of boats, racing, music and dance plus the launch of a newly-restored cutter ship.

Once again, Brest will be bringing together boats and crews from around the world and attracting all the fans. Nowhere else can you find such a variety of sailing boats, such a large number of small and large craft.

The crews that have been invited are the major contributors to the event, all true volunteers, who come along to enjoy meeting each other and sharing their great experience of the sea and the festival. The visitors are completely right. They like to find out about the sea, they love these magnificent or charming boats, which are so very different from those you see in today’s marinas, and in Brest, they can see them under sail moving around the harbour. They can find in Brest the authentic atmosphere of a real living port, as well as the emotion of a rare occasion. They can really feel like they are at the heart of maritime history…

For more info see www.brest2008.fr

Just like old times - but none the less frustrating for the traveller.

The French Rail network (SNCG & TGV) will be experiencing strike action from 8pm Monday 9 June 2008 for 24 hours, as railway workers are unhappy about the reorganisation of freight traffic on the rails. This will involve some disruption to services both inter-city and in Paris and the regions, but there should be services on most lines, albeit at reduced frequency. Eurostar services from London to Lille, Paris and Brussels should not be affected.

French hauliers are still demostrating against the increase in the cost of diesel and look set to continue to demonstrate by disrupting deliveries from oil terminals, border crossings and rolling blockades along some autoroutes etc. Bordeaux seems particulaly prone to such demos, and a nationwide series of protests is planned for Monday 16 June 2008.

The best advice would seem to be to keep your tank filled up and listen to the radio to try to avoid trouble spots.

As a matter of interest BBC Radio 4 has been running a series called “1968 Day by Day” and on this week’s edition was the report of similar problems in 1968 - 40 years ago - plus ca change! - see BBC.

For the moment (9 June 2008) there appear to be no problems with cross-channel ferries from Dover, other than roadworks on the A20 on the approach to the ferry port which are causing delays - see Port of Dover

Petrol and Diesel Prices in France (as at 09 June 2008, exchange rate = £1 = €1.24)

unleaded = €1.449 (116.8p) per litre

super-unleaded = €1.467 (118.3p) per litre

diesel = €1.387 (111.8p) per litre

For up-to-date traffic information in France (in English) see www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr

The French are up to their old tricks again - if they do not like what is happening to the cost of fuel, they blockade the ports and disrupt cross-channel traffic. This time it seems to be mainly the fishing and merchant fleets who are unhappy at the continuing increase in the price of fuel, especially diesel. However, French prices remain slightly lower than in the UK for fuel, allowing for the poor exchange rate.

Kent Police is issuing a strong message tonight to motorists and people intending on travelling through Dover, or planning to take holidays using Dover ferries, not to attempt to get to the port without checking that services are running.

The fisherman’s blockade of Calais is reported to be over and ferries are loading at the Port of Dover, but all travellers are strongly advised to ensure they check their bookings with their respective ferry operator before setting off on their journey.

Operation Stack is currently in place. Junctions 8 (Leeds Castle) and 9 (Ashford West) coastbound on the M20 are closed.

You can check the latest conditions at Kent Police or the Port of Dover

Operation Stack, which works to ease traffic backlog at Kent’s ports and borders, remains in place tonight and is expected to continue tomorrow.

UPDATE - FRIDAY 23 May 2008 - MESSAGE UPDATED at 22:00 hours on Friday, 23rd May, 2008

Current sea conditions in the Channel are slight to moderate, with a north-easterly breeze, Force 5, and the visibility is good

All sailings with P&O Ferries and SeaFrance to Calais and Norfolkline to Dunkerque are experiencing delays and have limited space on all departures.

SpeedFerries’ fastcraft services, from the Hoverport to Boulogne, will resume again tomorrow morning.

Port users are advised that all road improvements on the A20 through Dover are suspended over the Bank Holiday weekend and will resume on Tuesday.

Phase two of Operation Stack, the police operation to queue freight on a section of the M20 motorway to ease traffic backlog at Kent’s ports and borders, was lifted overnight.

Junctions 8-9 coastbound of the M20 are now open.

UPDATE - MONDAY 26 MAY from the Port of Dover:-

All sailings with P&O Ferries and SeaFrance to Calais, and with Norfolkline to Dunkerque are running to time with space available.

SpeedFerries’ fastcraft services, from the Hoverport to Boulogne are also on time with space on the 1420 & 1800hrs services, all other departures are fully booked.

For all the concerns about the falling exchange rate and rising fuel prices, the Telegraph(9 May 2008) still reckons that a holiday in France still offers good value for money:-

France looks a particularly good bet for a holiday this summer. With the euro soaring, your plat du jour will cost about 20 per cent more than last year, but it should still be significantly cheaper than in your local gastro-pub.

Accommodation, too, is cheaper: b&bs, gîtes and two- or three-star hotels charge 30-40 per cent less than many British counterparts. And fierce competition means that the cost of getting there is at historic lows. Here are some pointers to finding good value when crossing the Channel this summer.
By sea

Sixteen years ago it cost a minimum of £308 for a return ticket for a car plus passengers on the ferry from Dover to Calais. This August, P&O and Sea France have returns from about £50, and Eurotunnel from £98. Crossing the Channel with your own car has probably never been cheaper. But you will have to pick your travel times carefully to find these prices, avoiding peak times and school holiday weekends.

At today;s tourist exchange rate of £1= € 1.2176 euros, typical French hypermarket fuel prices are:-
Unleaded (sans plomb 95) € 1.3890 (£1.14 per litre)
Super unleaded (sans plomb 98 € 1.4290 (£1.17 per litre)
Diesel (gazole) € 1.2990 (£1.07 per litre)

You may have to pay more on autoroutes and branded petrol stations.

There are many ways of getting to Paris from London, but doing it by rowing boat is not the obvious one - but that’s what teams of rowers are doing starting on 2 May 2008 on the London 2 Paris Rowing Challenge. Leaving from Westminster Bridge in the centre of London at 11.00am and rowing down the Thames, then to Dover. From there they strike out diagonally towards Fecamp and Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine - in the process crossing the busiest stretch of water in the world - before heading into the calmer waters of the Seine to Rouen and on to Paris. But even on this stretch there are some big boats and less room to manoeuvre.

There are two teams of 10 rowers of all ages and both sexes, and they are going to tackle this fearsome ordeal which covers 420 miles and will probably take 6 days before arriving at the Pont d’Iena near the Eiffel Tower in central Paris sometime before 8th May 2008. One team is called Le FigaROW!

The most daunting part of the whole trip must be the lengthy English Channel crossing to Le Havre with the risks of heavy seas and merchant shipping. But Le Havre is only about half-way in terms of distance, a little deceptive as the Seine meanders in anything but a straight line after the Pont de Tancarville between Le Havre and Rouen. They will of course pass under 2 impressive bridges before reaching Paris - le Pont de Normandie which takes the A29 autoroute from the north to south banks of the Seine near its mouth; and the new vertical lift bridge - the Pont Gustave Flaubert in Rouen.

Clearly the Channel section will not offer much in the way of a spectator sport,but you may be able to catch sight of them on the Thames and Seine.

See London 2 Paris Rowing Challenge - but personally I think I’d go by Eurostar!

The Telegraph(28 Mar 08) has been running a series on eating locally in the UK, both to be environmentally friendly and to discover quality food beyond the supermarket shelves. It’s not too much to extend the focus another 22 miles across the English Channel to Calais( 59 Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) - train and ferry are both environmentally relatively benign, and into the bargain you benefit from the French obsession with quality produce.

There is a grand marché every Saturday morning in the Place Crève Coeur, where farmers bring freshly dug produce from their smallholdings. Look out for the lush, locally grown broad-leaved watercress and extra-long leeks.

Inside the covered market, buy ripe-flavoured, air-dried sausages - I loved the dark meat of the wild boar (sanglier), the pork with walnuts and the rich, buttery tarts filled with prunes and custard or savoury cheese, smoked pork belly and onion.

This is also the place to buy an athletically built poulet fermier (farmyard chicken), mussels, live langoustines and little fresh goat’s cheeses made 10km from Calais. If you want to avoid dull hotel breakfasts, note that the market cafés serve only coffee.

Instead, nip around the corner to the Café l’Impérial in Rue Lafayette for croissants and petit pains, but expect to share it with the café’s honoured canine guests.

But even in France, and especially in the larger towns, these traditions are being threatened by edge-of-town super/hypermarkets which inevitably threaten small producers and retailers. Calais has more than its fair share, especially with the Cité Europe Mall near the Channel Tunnel terminal. Tesco and Sainsburys are key players attracting many Brits who prefer the familiarity of known brands rather than the more risky adventure into foreign environments, French people who do not (or will not) speak English, and produce which is not uniform in shape or colour or nicely wrapped in plastic.

The escape route from the ferry terminal whisks you away onto the autoroute system via a chemical works and the usual untidy landscape of warehouses and freight yards, but it is worth exploring the town of Calais itself, which does retain the character of a fairly typical French town, with its impressive Town Hall (Hotel de Ville), markets and small shops.

And despite the disatrous exchange rate with the Euro there are still bargains to be had (especially on wine and spirits after the budget), ferry crossings are still cheap and the gallic atmosphere is free!

Fuel prices in France, now much the same as in the UK (except that Diesel remains cheaper) reflect the double impact of increasing oil costs and the poorer exchange rate:
Exchange rate £1.00 = € 1.2254 (as at 27 March 08)
Unleaded (sans plomb 95) € 1.345 = £1.10 per litre
Super unleaded (sans plomb 98) € 1.369 = £1.12 per litre
Diesel (gazole) € 1.2390 = £1.01 per litre.

Majestic Wine & Beer World in Calais - Pre Order over £400 of wine and beer from Majestic and get a FREE ferry crossing or £30 off!