Our last stop of the holiday is Wissant, a seaside resort half an hour away from Calais. We are stopping at a free aire which is basically a car park on the edge of town.

The journey is a bit of a  nightmare as we go the wrong way at the beginning and also have two aborted attempts to find a supermarket but the carparks are either too small or height limited and we are too tall. Our truck satnav is also misbehaving even more than usual. We give it up as a bad job and of course find a Intermaché just outside Wissant, five minutes from the Aire.

The aire is really busy but there are a few open spots late afternoon. We have a very late lunch and then walk into the village. We’ve been here before and couldn’t quite see the attraction of the place. It’s in the top 20 of France’s seaside resorts. The weather was wet and windy last year but not today.

We land at one end of the beach. It’s a beautiful spot. Huge wide and long golden sandy beach backing onto dunes at one end. Obviously a haven for windsurfers and kitesurfers as there are absolutely loads of them here today. We stop at a cafe and watch them getting ready, pumping up their kites. It looks like hard work keeping the kites under control as the wind  pulls them up in the air. Definitely an extreme sport.

We walk to the other end of the promenade and the contrast with our last visit is sharp. Sunshine, sea, sand and great views. We love it.

There are amazing groynes standing in lines protecting the dunes looking like soldiers standing to attention. There is also a huge boulder seawall at the back of the beach all along the promenade. Must get some serious storms here.

We enjoy a beer sitting in the sunshine on the seafront before wandering back into the village, popping into the church on the way, followed by a beer and then back to the van. Dinner and a bit of telly and bed. Vans are still arriving after 8pm but the aire is full so they’ll have to find somewhere to stop in the dark.

A lovely last day.

17:09:24

Up early and out in the dark at 7am to catch the 9am ferry. It’s delayed by 30 mins so time for a cuppa and pastry in the van.

1450 miles this time and van odometer clicked over 25000 miles yesterday.

A lovely trip with chunks of sunshine, amazing coastline, beaches, lakes and ponds, medieval ramparts and bags of history.

18:09:24