Home
Travel StoriesBest Feet Forwards
Queasy Crossing And Useless Till Roll
Ride Date 17 Sep 2025
By Bogger
Day 2 Wednesday
We were up in good time, sorted ourselves out and were on our way to the ferry terminal just two miles down the road at 7.00am. It was drizzling and it was very windy. Never mind we’ll be on the boat soon enough. We book in, get our boarding pass and attach, via sellotape, the larger of the two boarding passes to the inside of the bike screen.
We were waved forwards to the customs area. I’d travelled all of ten metres when a gust of wind whipped the boarding pass attached to my screen over the nearest fence and away. Bugger. Never mind I’ve still got my other boarding pass. I waited in line with all the other bikes. Mr Customs man walks over and promptly sent me back to the check in booths for another bike boarding pass. FFS. It took an absolute dogs age to get another pass. I was not best pleased, but bit my lip.
I re-joined the other bikers and we were given the green light to board. I noticed on the run up to the ferry how choppy the sea was in the harbour. Oh dear. As the guy is securing my bike down and trying his best to ratchet strap the living daylights out of the side stand, I casually ask if the sea state is rough. No, it’s fine, you’ll be ok. Never trust a seafarer, they lie.
Mine and Pete's first port of call on board was for breakfast. To be fair the price wasn’t too steep and it tasted ok. It’s a five hour crossing from Poole to Cherbourg and we set off at exactly the allotted time of 8.30am. We settle ourselves in the warm bar area on the comfy seats.
The ferry is pitching and rolling in heavy seas. After an hour of this rocking and rolling I’m feeling a bit queasy. Nothing too bad, but I thought a walk around the decks might help. There were only three other people on deck. As soon as I stepped outside I realised why.
It was blowing a gale, as I took a few steps forward I caught the full force of the wind and I fought to keep my footing. I backed up a bit and stood there for an hour slowly getting colder and colder, but thankfully feeling a bit better. I finally gave into the cold and ventured back inside. I tried to get some sleep. No chance.
So back outside it was. I found a lashed down picnic bench in the full force of the wind, settled myself down and promptly fell asleep. I awoke with the French coastline looming large. The sleep had done wonders and I felt really good. The call was soon made to get back to the car decks. My till roll sat nav proudly stood ready, waiting for action. Down the ramp and off we go.
The till roll sat nav was working brilliantly. I was winding it on when a certain way point was passed to keep it ‘up to date’. I was feeling rather smug. It worked faultlessly up until the turn off the N13 for the D2 some twenty miles into our journey. The D2 turn off was blocked due to road works. ‘Route Barre, Deviation’.
We sailed past the now blocked turning with me muttering very rude words indeed. Some seven miles down the road there was another turn off the dual carriageway, with the smallest ever ‘deviation’ sign hanging over the main exit sign. I noticed this at the last second and swung off the dual carriageway at a rate of knots, hoping that Pete had followed me. He had.
Obviously my till roll sat nav was now completely useless. The turn off had taken us deep into the Cotentin countryside. I turned the phone to Google maps and prayed for a signal. Yes, hooray. It led us down the twisting winding lanes, in glorious sunshine. Hopefully, in the direction of Fremondiere. I didn’t recognise any of the names of the villages we passed through.
The tiny roads were nearly deserted with just the odd car or tractor to be seen. I stopped a couple of times to zoom out on the map app to check that we were indeed heading in the right direction. We were. I’ve not used Google maps before and I am not familiar with any of the settings. It works just fine. But I did notice that it takes you the most direct/shortest route regardless of road size or speed.
The bonus is the scenery is lovely and we’re able to take it in, due to our relatively low speeds. After a couple of hours of meandering towards our destination I’m beginning to recognise some of the village names. We arrive in Fremondiere in the late afternoon. Luckily neither of us had blinked on arrival, if we had, I fear we may have missed it.
Andy must have heard us arrive and was soon opening the ancient rustic barn door for us. We wheeled the bikes in and unloaded them. We were soon inside the old French farmhouse and very charming it was too. Here we were introduced to Julia, Andy's partner and Tudor another FF afficionado.
We had a natter getting to know each other and I just knew we were in very easy company. Myself and Pete each had our own room for the night. Back down stairs we chatted about bikes and about owning property and living between the UK and France. Obviously by now a bottle of French wine had appeared and we were quaffing away like a Gallic local.
Andy and Julia suggested we visit the local bar for a drink. A bar, in Fremoniere? Surely not? Fremondiere only has about twenty houses, if that. Fear not, the bar is a mile down the road in the village of Le Mesnilbus. We jump into the car for the short hop To Bar P47. The bar/shop/restaurant is named after a USA fighter plane a Republic P47 Thunderbolt. During WWll such a plane had been shot down nearby, hence the name of the bar. Apparently the pilot survived and lived to a ripe old age.
After sampling a few French beers it was time to head back to the Farmhouse. Julia had prepared a fantastic meal for us all, which was absolutely delicious. I’d had the foresight to bring with me from home, a couple of bottles of red wine for just such an eventuality. No point in turning up empty handed. The phrase coals to Newcastle springs to mind.
With regard to tomorrow's journey, we were all heading South, but in slightly different directions. Tudor wanted to travel via a more Westerly route than myself and Pete. Andy and Julia on their respective bikes were going to take a less frantic route and take two days to get down to Verteillac. To be honest I envied them somewhat!
Julia mention the protests (In France, really?) that had been going on for the last couple of weeks. Road closures were due again tomorrow, but nobody was sure exactly where. Great. I explained my intended route, you know, the one I had spent hours preparing and writing out onto my till roll. I could instantly tell by the look on her face that this route was not a good idea.
We consulted the maps and I made a mental note of where we needed to head for. Hopefully, after negotiating around the main roads nearby, we would need to head for Le Mans across country bypassing the main arterial routes. It was now getting late, time for bed methinks. A soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep. Dreaming of Fighter planes, motorbikes, red wine, etc, etc...
Share your own tale - click here.
Feet Forward Prologue
Bogger is organising his next French escapade. It's the who, why, what, and where this time, oh and the how. The why never makes sense, nor should it.
Naughty Boys On Strange Bikes
It's a discouraging start to Bogger's Feet Forwards French expedition. Not to worry, soon the 2 old men are sneaking around like naughty school kids.
Queasy Crossing And Useless Till Roll
Rain, wayward boarding passes, useless navigation systems, and rough seas - it's just another day in the life of a Bogger. As ever there's food and booze in the life of a Bogger too.
Reader's Comments
nab301 said :-
Before even reaching France you lose your boarding pass, encounter turbulent seas and stomachs but still enjoy yourself!
A route barre deviation , I thought you would have taken that in your stride by riding around it as you did on an Eastern European trip , or maybe I'm confused and that wasn't you Bogger?
Still the French village and buildings look great and although the analogue sat nav appears to be obsolete already at least the bikes haven't needed repairs or welding yet...
Nigel
23/01/2026 12:44:55 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
...yet.
I've not read the rest of Bogger's missive yet but I'm sure there will be an expected dose of disaster.
23/01/2026 13:37:45 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I love the Cotentin peninsula. The overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg no longer operates but one of my favourite parts of every trip using it was nosing off the ferry into the early morning light then thundering down through the sleepy pastures with the mist just rising off the fields and the cows raising their heads and no doubt wondering what all the racket was. Magical stuff. A brief stop in Coutances in the cathedral square for breakfast meant I was all set up for the tour.
Of course being a softy I used to book a cabin which meant I got a decent night's sleep. I'd leave work on Friday afternoon, take the scenic route down through the Cotswolds via Roman roads to Portsmouth then enjoy fish and chips on the seafront of Southsea before boarding the ship. I don't remember ever having had boarding cards as such.
Navigation: IGN 1: 1M map in the tank bag window. Choose an approximate direction then just use N and D roads along the way.
23/01/2026 13:53:33 UTC
Bogger said :-
Nab, the turn off was well and truly blocked. It also crept up on me fairly quickly.
You don't have a lot of time to think about the 'ifs and buts' doing 70mph.
Yes it was us who moved the barriers in Germany, but we had time to weigh up the situation.
Ian I'll talk about cabins later on.
Bogger
23/01/2026 14:10:10 UTC
nab301 said :-
No problem Bogger , I know how it is , I'm only winding you up , looking forward to the next instalment!
Nigel
23/01/2026 14:35:04 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
I was over in France the last week of September and the first week of October.
There were many roads closed, especially the country roads. Most of the closures were road resurfacing.
I did ignore one closure and found men working across the complete width of the road. As I started to turn around I was waved through to continue my journey, only to find that the road disappeared a few yards further on. This was the closest I wanted to get to off roading on a K1600!
I look forward to the rest of the trip.
24/01/2026 08:43:56 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Mais qui voilà, our little lost queasy Bogger. Ay up me canard.
I have empathy for your road closure dilemma, they do like a road closure.
As for a list GPS, sounds like a bit of a faff. Tourner en rond.
You know they make electrical boxes of magic that will deliver you to your destination? On the subject of googleit maps I think you can apply road preferences, but it's a while since I used it much. It's usually very accurate if you bother to figure it out, much better than some car based systems.
Never been to that part of Francais, I don't think, but we've definitely traversed Le Mans.
I actually think its very civil to turn up with a bottle, that's not Ketchup Ed!
Pffffffftttttt.
Upt.
24/01/2026 17:12:17 UTC
Bogger said :-
Two bottles, I'll have you know.
As for bike sat navs, Haaar much? I can't afford one of them.
Bogger
24/01/2026 21:19:08 UTC
Name
Comment
Add a RELEVANT link (not required)
Upload an image (not required) -
Uploading...
Home
Travel StoriesBest Feet Forwards