Crossing the Channel

Our adventure has begun. After months of preparation, we arrived in France at 7.30 this morning.

We caught the overnight ferry, so went to sleep just as we left Portsmouth and woke up shortly before we arrived at Ouistreham.

Neither of us slept particularly well but we have managed to catch up during the day, in between paying our rent, buying insurance for the flat and opening a bank account. These first few tasks in France all went smoothly.

We were very sensible with our travel arrangements, getting a taxi from our home to the ferry terminal. Given that we had two heavy suitcases and a guitar, we didn’t want to be hopping on and off of trains or buses.

We asked the ferry company (Brittany Ferries) for disabled assistance as Becky walks with a stick. Although we had to wait around a little, we had our own mini-bus and could move at our own pace. The staff were really friendly and couldn’t have been more helpful.

After breakfast at the Ouistreham ferry terminal, we were picked up by our new landlord and driven into Caen and our new home.

At the end of our first day I am struck by how at home I feel. France isn’t unfamiliar and neither is Caen – I’ve been here three times before today. I suppose it does feel a little bit like being on holiday, but I am well aware that I’m here for a year and that our tasks over the next week or so are not the sort of things you do on holiday.

The weather is the same – sun and showers – and we can pick up a number of UK radio stations, including BBC Southern Counties Radio with news about Brighton and Crowborough.

There will, of course, be thousands of little differences between life in the UK and life in Caen. Rubbish collections are one thing we need to find out about and understand. Then there is the very important issue of health care, which is becoming a somewhat epic saga...