We are at the port by 7:45am and it takes us 30mins to get through French passport control and that was only a small queue. We’re glad it’s not the start of the school holidays!Lots more waiting follows as the Irish Ferries ship is half an hour late arriving and departing.

On board it’s not very busy. Enjoy a cuppa and then hey presto we’re in Calais.

The new post Brexit rules say you can’t take fresh food into France but we’ve never been stopped and today again there are zero custom checks coming off the ferry. However we’ve followed the rules and stop at an Intermarche on the way to the campsite to fill the fridge.

We are staying in French Flanders at a site in Renescure. It has a forest nearby so hopefully some decent cycling trails.

It’s less than an hour driving to Camping Le Bloemstraete. Julie is very friendly checking us in and the pitch is good. We enjoy a very late tasty salad lunch sitting outside in the sunshine. On our way out we meet Nicholas, Julie’s other half who gives us a map and great info on where to go tomorrow on our bikes as well as a leaflet, in Dutch about Renescure. Luckily my Google translate app can cope.

We cross a railway line which has trains running to Calais and Arras that stop occasionally in Renescure.

Renescure is a small but interesting village with some lovely very nice houses with lots of window boxes and planters and some impressive buildings. The road signs are in French and Dutch. We have a wander around and then enjoy a beer in the Auberge which appears to be dedicated to all things lottery !

Back at the campsite it’s a little cooler so we eat spring rolls inside for dinner, we don’t need much as our lunch was so late, and then watch a DVD. A happy start to our wandering.

Monday 17:07:23