To and fro Calais! Part 4 (Finale) .

Firstly, Calais is similar to England maybe due to how closely they are located except for driving on the left hand side.

Secondly, I am sorry to let all my wheelchair friends know that except for the pavements, the road crossings and pharmacy everything else is not wheelchair accessible. That is why I spent all my time wondering about the pavements and streets and when it was getting dark and chilly took refuge under the shelter of the bus stop.

I don’t know why but all the shops and restaurants have a step. There goes my thrill for eating French cuisine! I have taken loads of pictures though of the shops, streets, pharmacy, parks and restaurants, will put them all up on my blog. After finishing my street tour of Calais town I came back to the bus stop. It was almost 5 and the bus to take me back to the port was suppose to be here in half an hour. It was getting cold so I thought of just waiting there. A lady standing next to me asked me where I was going, fortunately for me she spoke English. I told her I am waiting for the bus that is heading to the port. She asked me if I’d been to the town centre, where the big mall is. ‘No’, I said. Then she said ‘well this bus I am waiting for goes straight into town and is a free bus service and in December there is a huge Christmas Market here, lots of people come from UK for the market. So next time plan to come in December’. ‘Sure will’, I said. Soon her bus arrived, we exchanged good byes and she hoped on the bus. The bus then drove off.

While waiting there I met up with another young (and by young I mean really young, 21 and 25. Well for me thats real young) couple Sophie and Ashley. Sophie worked in a pub and Ashley was a chef. (Its interesting how they told me everything about themselves, we even exchanged phone numbers and they even started calling me ‘Nads!’ but I never heard from them again. Weird! Maybe they got intimidated by me as they always kept saying ‘Oh my God we can never even think of travelling alone’, well my love, sorry but suck it up! Welcome to my world.) They were also catching the 6:15 ferry to England. They had also come for a day and were going back. ‘Now we can say that we have also been to France’ they said proudly. That is something to tell people. Soon we arrived and all three together got off the bus then entered the port. We headed towards the ticketing office, showed our tickets and were then guided towards the check-in counters. After being handed our boarding passes we had to wait in the waiting room, where all three of us chatted away and had to wait till someone called us to be taken into the ferry. Soon our time came and an officer came to call me. ‘Can they also accompany me?’ I asked. ‘Ya, ya’ the French officer replied. Sophie and Ashley were glad to come as this was to save them a lot of walking and climbing up stairs. All three of us were taken in a wheelchair accessible van into the ferry, and then after getting off the vehicle we then took a lift to reach the upper dock of the ferry where all the other foot passengers were.

I was starving, as earlier I didn’t have a proper lunch as I wanted to have food in Calais. Unfortunately due to inaccessible restaurants in Calais was unable to get something good to eat. Imagine, I was very hungry, maybe I could eat a horse! Ashley and Sophie also decided to stick around with me, although they had food in Calais and were not hungry. I enjoyed the company anyways, we had a deal to accompany me at dinner and then together we’ll go out for a smoke, done! We then proceeded to the upper deck where the restaurants and food court were. The restaurants were expensive; hence I decided to have a nice hot curry with rice and chutney, yum! All three of us found a table to sit at, Ashley and Sophie had a Coke. Here I was stuffing myself with curry, it wasn’t the most delicious food but I was hungry. After I finally finished my dinner we went out for a smoke. Sophie was feeling sea sick, we asked the ‘Information’ what the best to do in such circumstances? We were told the best is to go and sit at the centre of the ship. So we went there and sat on a sofa, Sophie put her legs up and went to sleep. ‘Thank God we didn’t book a two-week cruise, otherwise my girl-friend would be sick for two week during our Caribbean Cruise vacation!’ Yes they had plans to go on a cruise soon but now they won’t, hahahahaha, am I not evil!!!

After one and a half hour we reached Dover, Ashley and Sophie were glad to be back in England. They had come to Dover by car, parked their car here at the port whereas I still had a long, long way to Maidstone, sigh. Soon we were out of the ferry and on dry land. An accessible vehicle took us to port. We made our way out side, Ashley and Sophie kept confirming if I’d be alright on my own from here?!!! This made me laugh; of course I’d be fine on my own. Anyway, after exchanging good byes (and never to hear from them again) I went to the bus stop. Soon the bus came and I was on my way back to Dover Priory Station. Went inside the station and waited for the train. Shortly I was on my way to Ashford, half asleep didn’t really bother what is happening around me. After 45 minutes I was awakened by a train announcement ‘the next station is Ashford International, please take all your belongings with you’. The station management had already organized a ramp for me to get off. I was then told to wait for the next train to Maidstone on the opposite platform. Oh, how I just wanted to go home straight to bed. In approximately 7 minutes time the train to Maidstone arrived. A ramp was again put for me to get into the train. I went in, made myself comfortable and took a dozed off again. In an hour’s time I was in Maidstone, well that was good, but now I had to get the bus back home. Finally, I reached home by 11 o’ clock at night. Whew! What a day, to and fro to Calais, certainly.

Thank you X.

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To and fro Calais! Part 3.

I went into the port, apparently it was the foot passenger ticketing office where they checked the passports and handed the boarding pass to the passenger. After checking my ticket and passport they asked me if I’d like to take the 12:15 am ferry, which was good for me. ‘At 11:30 another bus it gonna take you from here into the main port...be hear we’ll let you know when the bus is here.’ This was great, and in the mean time I wondered around the waiting area, took loads of pictures. Soon my name was called out; many passengers had gathered in the waiting area, all ready to be taken to the bus. The driver of the bus (a smaller one this time) pulled out the ramp and I wheeled myself inside the bus, other passengers followed.

After a very short journey the bus drove into the ferry, at this point I hadn't a clue if I was in a ferry. We all got out and were then sent up on to a lift, apparently this was the upper deck of the ferry. It was huge inside, lots of seats and shops it looked like a huge waiting room. I was confused and completely lost, had no idea was in the ferry already. Baffled I was wondering about, the place was huge with a coffee lounge, shops, a bar, many seating areas and so on. Until I reached the information desk, ‘excuse me’, I asked, ‘are we in the ferry yet?’ a kind man in a uniform answered ‘yes’ politely. He also offered to give me a tour of the ferry which I accepted delightfully. He showed my around the deck I was on already, it had many seating area which included a big quiet room which had lots of comfortable seats to relax and sleep on. There was also a children’s play area, it had a big screen with cartoons on it. There was also a gambling area for adult entertainment having slot machines and other games and stuff. I was also shown the shops, which includes perfume, confectionary, clothes, jewellery, alcohol, etc. After checking out the entire deck I was then taken to the upper deck were all the restaurants were. There was a food court, a restaurant and a club class restaurant; all these were really expensive although the food court was a bit cheaper. He also took me outside the ferry deck, this was the area for smoking. Unfortunately due to security and safety reasons only part of the outer deck was open for passengers. But at least there was an area designated to enjoy fresh air, something is better than nothing! After the ferry tour was completed, the staff member who was touring me around also introduced me to other members at food court and the restaurant and also informed them and me, that if help is needed please feel free to ask one of the staff members. Then he left as it was his turn to sit at the information desk, we greet thankyous and good byes. After the exciting tour around the ferry and specially the food court I was slightly peckish. Didn’t want to fill up myself as I wanted to eat something nice in Calais. So I ordered a bowl of fries and mushy peas with lots of vinegar and salt, the whole thing costed £2.20 and of course tap water is for free!

After my short and sweet meal I roamed around the shops and watch a bit of TV with the kids, Tom and Jerry was on. I then looked out the window, I could see the port of Calais, soon there was an announcement by the captain ‘we shall be arriving the port of Calais in 10 minutes, please remain seated, thank you’. Woohoo! I was so excited.

It was 3:00 pm French time. I had rubbed one of eye so hard that I managed to wipe the mascara off (do check this out in the pictures) ‘oh no, now no French man will wanna check me out!’ I thought, unfortunately I didn’t know this at that time. Anyways so here I am full of excitement and vigour. One of the staff members came and told me that I have to wait for everyone to leave the ferry first. After 20 minutes my turn came ad a kind lady directed and escorted me down by the lift on to a mobility vehicle which was parked inside the ferry. I have take load of picture and I can assure the entire process is very simple, smooth and all wheelchair accessible. As soon as the vehicle dropped me at the post I took a dozen pictures, of the streets, the roads, the shops, the cars, it was like a burst of fire works just kept clicking away. I am uploading all those pictures on my blog to share. Do stay in tune for my 4th and final part 'To and Fro Calais'. Thankyou.

All rights reserved. nadiahmed@excite.com +44 (0)789 6250265Please do join my facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=120688481285587