All went well, and we were soon saying goodbye to Ireland, watching Howth head slip by as we headed for the Irish Sea and on to France. I saw a sailing boat being tossed around by the reasonably big waves, but thankfully the ferry stayed calm and smooth throughout the overnight voyage, all of us slept well and awoke to spy the approaching coast of France.
Off we went to our car in great excitement, and in no time at all we had driven off the ferry and onto French soil. We had arrived! Constantly chanting "drive on the right, drive on the right" we made our way quickly out of Cherbourg towards our house in Le Roc Saint André. Temperatures were soaring into the 40s, we had arrived in the middle of a heatwave - "canicule" - our first new French word. We stopped by a pretty town called Fougères and marched the girls around in the oppressive heat until we were all nearly reduced to puddles. Just before a minor revolution, we found a lovely restaurant and had cooling drinks and a bite to eat. Back to the car, and on to the house, still driving on the right. We pulled in, and rang the bell outside the main house. The wonderfully friendly Madam Bernadette came out and welcomed us - she spoke no English, but Karen's French was up to the job, thankfully, and she translated for us all as we were shown around. A quick trip to the shops, "drive on the right", and we were settling down with cold beer, coke and crisps outside our home for the next six weeks.
