39 Twinners set off from Bradworthy on Friday morning (Spring Bank Holiday weekend). We were unable to go via our usual route, Poole to Cherbourg, so we had to catch a later ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre. As we were not going to arrive in Audrieu until 11.30pm it was decided to stay an extra night and come back on Monday. The ferry crossing was calm and very enjoyable and, following a few wrong turns on the coach journey from Le Havre, we eventually arrived in Audrieu around midnight.
Saturday was spent with our host families. In the morning we were taken to Arromanches and then back home for lunch. I must say I do enjoy the French Hospitality, their mealtimes are so relaxed. We had a plentiful supply of delicious wine and food and eventually finished lunch 3 hours later.
After lunch they took us to Caen (I think). It was difficult to remember what we did after that lunch especially as it was very hot and quite difficult to stay awake!
In the evening we all met up together for a bar-b-que and yet more to drink, and a very enjoyable evening was had by all. This was rounded off by a game of "Killer" skittles which resulted in no clear winner.
On Sunday we all went on a coach trip to the magic island of Tatihou. It was about 1 mile from the mainland and was reached by a sort of amphibious boat because at low tide you had to drive across.
Monday was a working day for the French, so the farewell speeches etc. were done on Sunday evening after we returned from our coach trip. Shaun made his usual excellent job of thanking our hosts in French for a very enjoyable weekend.
We left Audrieu at around 9.30am for what was supposed to be a leisurely trip to Le Havre to catch the ferry at 3.45pm. Following a long stop at the Hypermarket to stock up on wines etc., a few more wrong turns, a stop for lunch in a village where most places were shut, we eventually arrived at the ferry with a few minutes to spare.
The ferry crossing back was very enjoyable, and included some excellent entertainment.
We arrived back in Bradworthy at around 1am Tuesday morning. Thank to Shaun's hard work we all had a very enjoyable weekend.