On the road at last, it does seem to take ages to get out of the port. Driving through customs was the worst, everything was so tightly packed into the boot of the car it was like a jigsaw puzzle, and I quivered at the thought of being stopped and asked to take everything out! Not that we had anything to declare, well not anything they would be interested in anyway, but that it would take us the rest of the holiday to get it all back in again! Fortunately we were not stopped, and off we went. "Daddy, you're driving on the wrong side of the road!" no. 2 son said, "no, no, that's how it is in England, that's why they have their steering wheel on the other side of the car". I have to admit, after 10 years it was a bit daunting driving on the left, bit of a bummer when you want to over-take, but there was no chance of that today, the rain poured down and the fog got thicker the more in land we went. By lunchtime it had eased off and we were able to see the rolling English countryside, in fact we had lots of time to look at it as we were stuck for about 2 hours in traffic. The only time you get stuck in traffic in the Vendee is when there's a tractor on the road, so the kids were unfamiliar with this and couldn't understand why we weren't moving. They started to get bored very quickly, which usually leads to them poking one another, and very soon turns into world war 3. I swear if I ever hear the words "are we there yet?" one more time I'll crack!We got all sorts of inquisitive questions from them as we (finally) got moving again. "Why do the houses look so different, they're all stuck together?", and, "why are phone boxes red?", and even, " why are there so many CCTV cameras on the streets?". Houses in France are mainly detached, mainly villas, and somewhat Mediterranean looking. You don't see many phone boxes in France, either you go to the Post Office, or you have a mobile. CCTV in the street is something I have never seen in France, although I'm sure big cities must have some. I was quite shocked to see them on almost every street corner in England, even in small villages!
Another strange thing they found was that everyone spoke English! Yes, that may sound odd, but when you've lived in France for so long and are used to hearing people speak in French, that's something you do notice. I had to get the "Yellow Card" out a few times, though, when remarks were made about passers by and I had to keep reminding them that in England everyone can understand what they're saying!
After a hectic week, (I say hectic as we had loads of family to visit), we were back at the port, jigsaw puzzle and all, in the rain again, sat in traffic again and once again hoping the customs officer would not want to dismantle the boot. "So, what did you like about England the best?" Unanimously - 1. Family (understandably)
2. The fun fair we visited ( a bit confused)
3. Sweets (very confused)
What about the scenery, the people, the culture, the history?? "Too much traffic, strange houses, rain & fog, freezing cold and too many people understand us".
"So what's the vote then? France or England?"........"FRANCE!!!!"
