The German cemetery we visited was a grey undignified affair not frequented by Germans, we were told. Tempting to rehearse a few stereotypes.
At the local restaurant, The Ramblers, I ordered eggs and something in toast. I ordered two actually on the same plate with a bit of salad and were there some fries?. I obviously made a hash of the pronunciation when I tried to read it off the menu so I asked the waiter what it was in Flemish. He wouldn’t tell me, can you imagine? How irritating. It turned out to be a croque-monsieur. Obvious in retrospect but that damned waiter wasn’t going to tell me.
Everything came with salad and fries. ‘I’ll have an ice-cream/beer/toilet?’ ‘You want salad and fries with that?’
After Amadeus we sought out the late night tram to the hotel. Easy really; all we had to do was locate a large group of Everly Brothers singing Let it be me. They couldn’t get the second verse going, so we joined in and the number continued several times on the tram. Bit like an echo but nobody seemed to mind and it sounded really good.
The passport people at Calais were working to rule when we arrived for our return ferry. Secure but late – which would you prefer. Followed by further delays caused by a driver parking a truck containing hazardous material in the wrong place. We know where our hazardous material is at all times. He sings into my left ear.
There were gremlins, but you wouldn’t have missed it.
