Breatgne Last Week 19/20th March

[Phil K]

Well during the week, Annie tells me that there’s a chance that she may be going to St. Malo with Oliver, and that I could go too. I said no, remembering the precarious state of my bank balance. However on Thursday, after one too many HSB in the Still and West, Annie persuaded me to take up Oliver’s offer of paying for my ticket, so back up to Surrey, a night in my own bed, pack some gear, and back down to Portsmouth!

Arrived at the Still and West (again) again to meet Annie at just after 4, to find Alex W parked outside! He’d just dropped Annie off and waited to say hello, when he had the bright idea of phoning BF to get a ticket for him! Anyway, that was booked, so he had to drive off to Warsash to get his Passport (which I nearly left in Surrey btw!)

A little waiting followed, and then Oliver turned up, and I said hello, and thank you for my ticket! Anyway, we had a little bit of conversation, saw our mode of transport arrive (looking splendid in her new paint) and then made our way to the terminal.

After getting a lift from Oliver in a VERY nice car to the terminal, we headed for a quick drink in the Ship and Castle, where we met Alex once again. We headed to the now refurbished terminal; well it has a new bar, and coffee shop and looks a lot better. The bar no longer is an L’shape and is a lot nicer!

Boarding occurred pretty quickly, after Oliver told me that we could get a pint of Grolsch drunk in the 15 minutes before boarding! We made it straight through the X-ray machine and scanner first, then onto the bus and up the gangway where one of the escalators was out of action, but Annie led us up the second, only to realise we had gone too far up, and were now a level above the gangway!

On boarding we proceeded straight to our 4 berth outside cabin – 6508, Oliver got changed out of his work gear and we headed to Les Abers for the buffet! An excellent meal was had; but that good feeling was lowered when we proceeded to pay for the meal the woman on the till told Oliver to shh!!! A brief word with the manager followed, and Oliver joined us again as we headed for Gwen-Ha-Du, and the start of the evenings festivities.

The thing I love the most about the St. Malo crossing is that there is never a rushed feeling. You can have a nice meal, and proceed to the bar for a few drinks before it closes, and also not waking up at an unsociable hour. The bar was not full, but it wasn’t empty. A large group of 13-15 year olds were dancing, as well as what we thought looked a lot like Toby! The cabaret made an appearance ‘Shades’ they were called and were OK, a lot better than the saxophone duo that were on last time I went!

They came off, the hours passed and the drinks flowed. 1664 was replaced for me and Oliver by JD and Coke, which soon became double JD and coke, while Annie stuck to her frozen thingys, and Alex with John Smiths. The kids started going to bed, so we invaded the dance floor, and I was very impressed that Alex and me did NOT manage to fall over the stage! However the 1 o’clock BF curfew was soon approaching, and the bar closed, not before we all managed a round first though!

After closure, we explore the outside decks, and Bretagne has a lot of them. We even managed to go sit on the bow for a bit, although it was quite windy! We must have managed to wander for over an hour, well I say wander, and Oliver fell on the stairs twice before we retreated to the cabin for some sleep – precluded by some drunken conversation.

Wake up occurred 90 minutes before arrival, someone wouldn’t admit to setting it for then, followed by Pain au Chocolats and Orange juiced were consumed in the cabin (after a visit to Salon de The). We found out that our arrival would be delayed due to traffic in the port. That traffic was Val De Loire (diverted from Roscoff) and Condor 10. That said, we were still alongside at 0745 (UK time).

We had enough time to walk past some NATO ships, and get a coffee in the Walled town before going back to check in. We could see that further departures to the Channel Islands with Condor and Emeraude were cancelled due to bad weather, and this weather would have an effect on me on the way back. Lets just say that weeble went green again! (However I do think the JD had something to do with it). Anyways, we boarded as quick as possible, although the gangway was now down so we went through the car deck. The bus stopped on the ramp and we walked aboard, but they had forgotten to stop a forklift in its manoeuvres and much shouting was down as it drove towards us!

Straight to Information, and a commodore was bought. Although they told us it was only a 2 berth, the sofa was a sofa bed so it could do 3. As usual – the cabin was top notch, and we all took the opportunity to get a good shower! As I was feeling a little wobbly, I took a ly down for a couple hours.

We took the chance to explore many areas the shops, a pint in the bar and a snack in the Salon de The. Everyone was impressed with their food, but I needed a little more so went to the self-service for a lovely grilled entrecote. I never tire of saying how good BF’s food is! The afternoon tea served in the cabin was a little sparse, with them forgetting Annie’s hot chocolate, and not having any cakes at all.

After some more relaxing in the bar, and Pringles the Portsmouth approach was all too soon, and it was time to disembark.

My Thanks to Annie and Oliver for inviting me, and Alex for joining us, and I hope I can do it again

[Yann Ferries]

Good Report, Phil

I retain three things of your report:

1.That the drink runs with floods on Bretagne.

2.That to love you much French food.

3.That you have very nice friends.