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Unsurprisingly, there was no rush at all to be up
and about in the morning. Tony was catching the same ferry as James and I
so he didn't need to dash off for the coast as he'd done the last two years.
We headed up to the bar as usual for our coffee and bought some cakes for
Monsieur and Madame at the hotel. It was quite amusing actually, as after
we had presented our gifts and when we were about to leave, Monsieur went and
fetched them from the kitchen to give back to us, as he had thought we were just
wanting him to keep them cool in his fridge until we left!
We made a second trip up to the bar for coffee
with Julie and Andy before loading our gear into the cars. We said our
farewells to Monsieur and Madame for another year, and they were clearly taking
it 'as read' that we would be back again in 2013. It was then off to make
our way back to the coast and Le Havre on what was, quite typically for the
post-Le Mans Monday, a beautifully sunny day....
We pressed on direct to Le Havre, both James and
Tony needing to get petrol and we had a bit of a struggle finding our way off
the main drag to a petrol station right down on the quay. It was now
getting on for 2.30 and having gassed up, the next stop was not for food but to
find a hypermarket as James in particular had a small shopping list to fulfil
before heading for the ferry!
It was at this point that we lucked into what was
virtually a hidden supermarket approached from an underground car park! It
was very quiet and very cool - perfect. The shopping done it was time to
head for the ferry terminal which we reached at about 3.45. Our ferry was
due to leave at 5 pm and there was already quite a queue of cars waiting - as
well as a London bus!
We got onto the ferry relatively quickly and stood
on the deck in the sunshine watching the strange parking technique of the ferry
workers and then, as the ferry left a little late at about 5.30, we enjoyed the
inevitable 'car alarm symphony'....
After the initial rush had subsided, we managed to
bag a table in the restaurant where I had a perfectly reasonable non-Indian
curry. It was then just a case of waiting out the time to our arrival in
Portsmouth. We docked pretty much on time, and to our surprise (after
saying 'See you at Silverstone' to Tony) we were amazed to be among the first
group of cars off the ferry.
James had kindly agreed to deliver me to Rownhams
services on the M27 and we said our final farewells for another year.
James headed off and I had a coffee while I waited for my son - another James -
to arrive to pick me up. I was home by 11.45, having made the final
journey of the 2012 Le Mans trip.
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