Montreuil sur Mer

It was an early start at 6.30am but with sunny skies when we set off for the tunnel at 7.30am. After a quick bit of perfume shopping and a hot choc in the terminal, we took the train and drove off in Calais at 10.25am French time, bound for Montreuil sur Mer (which incidentally is nowhere near the sea!). It's a pretty, historic walled town, perched on a hill in the Pas de Calais region, about 50 minutes drive from Calais.

When we parked up, we went round the Saturday market and bought some cheese, tomatoes, rillettes and duck pate for our tea then had a wander round some of the shopping streets. Then it was an early lunch and as it was about 15C (even on 1 November) we opted to sit out and watched the world go by. The old soak blipped (unmistakably French) was waiting for his wife. He kept nipping over to his push bike to take a swig from his mini whisky bottle and then sat back down for a snooze. When his wife arrived he got her a cup of coffee from a flask on his bike so he wouldn't have to buy one in the cafe. They didn't seem to mind!

After lunch we walked around all the ramparts, which was lovely and the views were beautiful, especially in the soft November light, though it was a dull, grey day overall. We had a sit down to chinwag while taking in the views. Then we wound our way back through a myriad of tiny, cobbled streets with beautiful walled gardens and lots of wrought iron around the window boxes. There were a lot of rather 'shabby chic' places and one house that had completely fallen down onto itself, so the town was interesting and not totally touristy twee either, which I liked.

Then we drove back a country route following our noses through some lovely villages and got our French shopping (i.e. Christmas wine, olive oil, cheese etc.) in the big Leclerc in Boulogne, which made a pleasant change from the Calais Carrefour. I got a few children's Christmas pressies too. Then it was back to the tunnel and a bit more perfume shopping (naughty - for some people it's shoes and handbags, for me it's perfume!)

We got back to Canterbury at 7.30pm, had a delicious picnic tea of our French wares on our laps and are both exhausted. I reckon I might be in bed by 9pm!

It's lie in time tomorrow too and we might go to the Turner Weekend at the Museum in Margate...