The alarm went off scarily early (4.45am) which woke us all up with a start, we are by nature fairly early risers but even so this was a shock to the system! An hour later we were packed, showered, dressed and downstairs waiting for our pre booked taxi. We waited, and we waited, and we waited a bit more until I called the taxi company who then informed me that they didn't have anyone available and wouldn't be sending anyone else. Deep breath! Luckily for us, the train station was next to the hotel and a lone taxi sat outside, lucky for us he wasn't booked and drove us smoothly for 10 minutes to get to the International Port.
The port was really pretty with a very inviting environment, colourful flowers, high ceilings and an airy welcoming building. We took a little time to gather our documents and take some obligatory 'we are off' photos before heading inside straight to the check in desk and onward to the departure area a few stesps away which opened at 6.30am. A handful of people were in the building with us so we didn't feel like cattle in a pen, just everyone calmly milling about. At 6.25am someone started to usher us through to have our bags searched and to go through the metal detectors (poor man had his work cut out for him with us and Mike's piercings!). This all took less than 10 minutes and before we knew it we were boarded onto a shuttle bus having put our bags in a trolley while we were driven directly onto the ship. It was at this point that the penny dropped that our bags were being stowed including Jack's bag which contained his pre teen pack up! Hats off to all those earth parents out there, we embrace nature, conversation and activity and equally have a place for electronics, this bag was a necessity for everyone! Mike was quick to the rescue and retrieved said bag before we set sail.
On board there were a few options for food and drink, immediately people headed towards those areas for a bacon sandwich but we were not feeling particularly hungry so went straight to the club class seats we had booked. These seats are slightly roomier and luxurious, we had complimentary drinks served throughout BUT as a three we couldn't all sit together and the view wasn't as good so next time I think the standard seats would do nicely for us. The journey was just 3 hours, at different times of the year it can go overnight and be there in over 10 hours so I was curious to see whether we would be bobbing along the ocean in a chaotic fashion but it was a super smooth crossing that was very pleasant indeed. As I spied Friench soil getting closer and closer I felt a rush of excitement! After months and months in the planning my stomach did a leap of joy acknowledge our French adventure was about to begin! When we docked, people with cars were asked to depart first while foot passengers remained seated. I would say about 99% of the shop suddenly became very quiet and we had the run of an empty ship which was lovely. Very shortly afterwards we were asked to start leaving the ship and were directed to passport control with a security guard who was at least 10 feet tall with his arms folded and a man who stamped our passports with a note of amusement looking at mine - no it was not a good passport photo day! We were then guided onto another shuttle bus and our journey ended finally in the terminal of Cherbourg to collect our luggage. Hello France!
The walk to Cherbourg itself was a little bit complicated as the outside space is very much geared towards cars rather than pedestrians. Still, with the help of google maps we were soon at a pretty harbour peppered with little boats and waters edge was framed with a host of cute French Cafes! Our goal (according to google) was to find Napolean and turn left! Mission accomplished!
A 10 minute walk from the harbour we found our apartment nestled in a sleepy French street owned by Jim and Mathilde. The building looked pleasant enough from the outside and the instructions we have been given to get the keys were spot on so we entered a sterotypical French hallway of dark wood and began to follow the next line of instructions. Our apartment was on the top floor up a narrow winding staircase, my feet measure a size 6 and I struggled a little but the boys, being a size 8 and 12 had to negotiate the steps with a little extra care. We arrived super early but our hosts told us that wouldn't be a problem and we were able to get into the apartment hours earlier than planned. 'WOW' was our first response. The space had been designed so well, the kitchen and living area had everything we needed plus a huge TV that was geared up for YouTube and Netflix. Jack adored his 'treehouse' in the mezzanine area and the tiki style made him feel a little like Robinson Crusoe! The main bedroom was fitted with a lovely comfortable bed and the bathroom was modern and came with luxury items such as thick toilet paper and quality shower gel products. The view from the bedroom was of higgeldy piggeldy rooves and when it rained there was a gentle and soft rain splash sounds on the tiles. Considering the houses are all built so close it was so quiet and were not disturbed in the slightest. We were very happy indeed!
Once we had taken some time to recover and rest we fired up the old google maps again to take us to a supermarket. Our plan in France was to mainly eat via supermarkets and have the odd treat out, the trip would last just over 4 weeks and so our budget needed to be monitored. Centre Commercial Les Eleis was about a 15 minute walk away through cute French streets.
Even though it was France there was a familiarity about Cherbourg, perhaps being so close to the UK and having the port there the locals were used to visitors and as such the infrastructure was very much geared up to supporting the tourism. As we walked through the streets we found ourselves in a bustling market place where they sold pretty much anything you could think of and it spread out across what felt like half the city! We didn't buy anything but were just happy to be a part of it, people watching and listening to musicians playing in the square. The biggest supermarket is the Carrefour and we bought enough for our entire Cherbourg leg (a few days) which came to 70 EUROS. We have found that the French supermarkets are generally more expensive than in the UK but that the fresh produce has a lot more flavour. We picked up some couscous, breads, tomatoes etc plus some fun items (mainly pistachio based as we are huge pistachio fans and the French have a lot of pistachio options!). Once we loaded up a few rucksacks with food and drink we navigated the return journey with a little more confidence and snuggled up wiht a French feast for our first night in Cherboury with a gigantic TV and a bit of Netflix and chill.
The next chapter will be exploring La Cite de la Mer
RESOURCES:
We paid £227 for 3 in Club Class Portsmouth - Cherbourg
The shopping centre we used - note - the Carrefour closes at midday on Sundays!
Our amazing Airbnb - we would absolutely return here if we went to Cherbourg again. The only potential negative we found was the narrow staircase - this wasn't an issue for us but someone with mobility problems may have found this too much.
We paid £268.48 for 3 nights in July 2023.
Comments