06:30. Early start to leave for ferry. Vacated our rooms at Cheval Blanc.
Took hygienic paper toilet seat cover as souvenir before leaving. Should come
in useful i.e. for impromptu gerning competitions if little else.
The roads were full of English cars all heading in the same direction and
converging on Roscoff. We were ushered down one of many embarkation lanes and
miraculously found ourselves at the front of the queue. Soon on the ferry, we
wasted no time in earmarking the best seats for the journey. Caroline
insisted we find the ship's swimming pool. This we did, but unfortunately it
was closed besides it was not much bigger than a paddling pool. Instead I
generously offered to buy a pack of cards and we settled down for the last
game of rummy of the holiday in the ship's disco bar. Unfortunatley there was
no disco and the was bar closed.
Post holiday fatigue syndrome was upon us and the crossing was uneventful
except for one moment of minor excitement when by a strange coincidence we
spotted the girl who had ripped us off in the bar the night before. As Andrew
and I were coming back from the restaurant with tins of beer, she caught
sight of us and quickly went in a different direction. She was clearly
wrestling with her conscience.
Played some more cards in the disco-less disco bar and read Irish newspapers,
as they were the only English language ones available on the ferry for some
reason. Eventually, the bar opened and another Irish offering was consumed -
Guinness. Lamentably, the barman had no idea how to pour it and did not seem
very interested when I informed him how. Then like a recurring nightmare,
Andrew and I noticed the girl from the café bar again, this time with a crowd
of cronies at the end of the bar. They were no doubt spending the money they
had extracted from unwitting tourists and advising the barman on how to serve
Guinness incorrectly to the English.
Sailed into Plymouth Sound shortly after one o'clock. Heart-warming to see
the Eddystone Lighthouse and we could understand how thousands of sailors
down the years have felt on glimpsing this beacon on the horizon after
enduring months at sea in foreign parts. A Royal Navy helicopter flew by at
very low altitude as though it was escorting us in and several on the
observation deck took photographs.