St. Malo 2004 - Getting there

This was a marathon journey from London, via Portsmouth, involving two tubes, a train, a ferry ride and finally a walk to the hotel. It took about 17 hours. 

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Here we are on the ferry at Portsmouth looking out at the harbour. This is one of the ships moored nearby. It's getting late as can be seen from the sunset behind.
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Another view from the ferry.
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The ferry "Val de Loire".
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We waited quite a while before setting sail, something to do with the tides.
funnel.jpg While it was still light we had a look around the ferry. Here's the funnel.
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And a lifeboat and some life-rafts.
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Finally we went inside and watched the entertainment. This is a band called "Frequency" with a guest drummer, one of the passengers called "Lawrence". There was also a piano bar where we were treated to the themes from various movies.
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After 4-5 hours trying to sleep in the reclining chairs we arrived in France. It was a bit misty.
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arriving_4.jpg St. Malo is a popular boating destination.
arriving_5.jpg This is the St. Malo "Intra Muros", the town inside the walls. When we finally landed we had to walk about a mile to our hotel, in light rain, dragging our luggage. Fortunately this was the only time it really rained apart from a brief downpour later in the week.