A few weeks back I had a little adventure crossing the channel by myself and exploring the area of Saint Omer, less than an hour from Calais. Thankfully there was no swimming involved and instead the marvellous Le Shuttle transported me and my car to France in just 35 minutes.
I was traveling with a Flexi-Plus ticket, which means you can arrive and board at your convenience, it also has a 5-day open return so again you can come home when you want. A fabulous perk is you get access to the Flexi-Plus lounge (on both sides of the channel) - think VIP airport lounge where you can breakfast/dine or fill up a take away bag to enjoy during the journey. The range was really good, including coffee, juices, kids lunch box items, sandwiches, salads, and pastries. The whole experience is so pleasant and felt incredibly stress free.
This was my first time using Le Shuttle and even getting on to the train was super easy, then you sit and let the Le Shuttle transport you to the other side.
We had a day of activities planned with all of us making our way to each destination and much to my relief driving in France was very easy, the roads were quiet that I immediately thought this is something I could do with the family.
First stop was La Maison du Marais for a boat ride through the marshes of Saint Omer in a traditional boat called ‘Bacove’. It was very peaceful and scenic.
I enjoyed the drive between destinations marvelling at the roadside veg stalls, pilled high with pumpkins and other tempting veg and since I had my own car I could buy what I wanted.
Afternoon tea followed at Le Passage Merveilleux, beautiful cakes and tea.
Our next stop was Abbaye de Clairmarais where we were introduced to their beer distillery. They produce four strengths Blond, Double, Triple and Quadruple. I’m not a huge beer drinker but I liked the Blond and Double and love the production side of how the beer was created.
After a wander around the historic estate we headed to our home for the night, Chateau de Cocove – what a beautiful place to stay, I had a delightfully pink room which I very much enjoyed for my night away and we met for dinner in the arched window dining room. My menu included Carpaccio Scallops with celery and apples, Beef Filet and seasonal mushrooms and Chicory cake, which is apparently traditional for the area, everything was a pleasure to eat.
Our press itinerary ended in the morning and we were free to explore before heading back or some were taking advantage of the open return and had days of exploring planned. I had a few hours before I needed to head home so I went to Calais. I had been speaking to Del from Le Shuttle who told me how much investment and regeneration had gone in to creating a better image of Calais and to also highlight it’s already wonderful features. I didn’t even know Calais had an incredible beach – the sand is like fine powder. Nor did I know they had a dragon! Weather wise, it wasn’t the best but I can imagine the beach being a great place to spend a sunnier day. And I can imagine my children being fascinated by the dragon - another reason to pop back. I thought Calais was lovely and if you are there try Au Cote D’Argent for lunch, highly recommended by my host.
Of course I couldn’t leave France without a visit to Carrefour and buying too much cheese (!) and although we now get duty free we are limited to 12 bottles of wine but I only have a small car and it was mostly filled with cheese by the time I thought about wine, but might be useful info if you had planned on stocking up.
Finding the entrance to Le Shuttle on the Calais side proved a little more tricky my iPhone Sat Nav desperately wanted me to go to a shopping centre near to the entrance but obviously not the entrance… I switched to Google Maps and that got me there straight away and once inside everything is so well sign posted, I visited the Flexi-Plus lounge, picked up a coffee and snacks and enjoyed my 35 min journey back to the UK.
Ridiculously I felt very proud of myself for driving to France (with Le Shuttles help!) and getting to and from several different locations and even having a solo explore. It was all so easy, fun and how incredible to be in France in just 35 minutes with the freedom to drive where you want in your own vehicle. All new experiences for me and something I can’t wait to do again but next time with some company.
Thank you so much to Le Shuttle, Saint Omer Tourisme and Najeti Chateau de Cocove for this wonderful experience.
