In 1979 we spent several days in Boulogne – I think we left the car at my aunt’s in London and took the train down to Dover.
I do remember a few bits about this holiday
- Eating in the same restaurant most evenings, and I think I had ravioli and chips almost every day. One day I did try a mussel, bit into it and ended up with a mouthful of grit – much to the amusement of the French couple at the next table. It was quite a few years before I had them again.
- Playing mini golf several times.
- Watching the ferries coming and going – for some reason I can remember that three of the Sealink ferries were called Hengist, Horsa and Vortigern – 5th Century Anglo-Saxon invaders apparently.
- Watching the waves crashing over the harbour wall during a big storm – the same one that claimed 15 lives on the Fastnet Race.
Unfortunately the weather was bad a couple of days later when we were due to travel back – the hovercrafts were cancelled and we had to get the ferry instead. This was the first time I’d been on a ferry, it was blowing something like a Force 8 gale and it was a deeply unpleasant experience, I felt so ill, people were being sick all over the place. It was at this point that my dad introduced me to the three stages of seasickness – you think you’re going to die, you know you’re going to die, and then you’re afraid you’re not going to die.
The last 4 photos appear to be from a 1981 day trip of which I have no recollection at all – I’ve added them here as creating a separate page for 4 photos seems like overkill! For some reason 1981 looks to be about the least photographed year I’ve come across in my dad’s archive.
