Ferry 'Cross the Channel

 FERRY 'CROSS THE CHANNEL

May 4

Ferries in Dover Harbour

After a quick breakfast the Dunkirk Jerks assembled in the motel lobby, suitcases and backpacks at the ready, and walked the roughly 1/4 mile to the rendezvous point for P&O Lines' "foot passengers" (their term for ferry passengers who are pedestrians rather than the majority, who were traveling with vehicles). To keep us from getting underfoot with the many vehicles loading on, P&O required us to arrive at least 90 minutes before departure so they could load us onto a shuttle bus, take us to security/passport control, and get us screened to ensure we weren't 21st Century Crusaders. Other than one of our crew's having left his cellphone in the shuttle station (which the kind bus "captain," who empathetically recognized the necessity of the cellphone for travelers in a foreign land, had us detour and retrieve ... 🙏 Bless you, kind sir! Undoubtedly not his first rodeo.), the check-in and screening process plodded along methodically but without incident. 

We rolled our luggage onto the enormous P&O ferry Liberte', found a place on something like the 8th level in a spacious area with comfortable seats near picture windows, and readied ourselves to depart. Although the morning fog was approaching rapidly we were able to take a few shots of the receding White Cliffs from a magnificent angle, as we set sail for Calais, France, about 1 1/2 hrs. away (plus we'd lose an hour with the time zone change). 

S. Foreland Lighthouse

Les Jerks heading for Dunkirk at last

Although we had heard many horror stories about the awful weather and sailing conditions in the English Channel, we couldn't have asked for a smoother trip. The ferry had all of the essentials -- food, restrooms, and even a currency change where we could exchange our £'s for €'s. 

The fog quickly enveloped us, and we couldn't see jack, but the captain apparently had fully functioning radar, and soon after we enjoyed another cup of coffee and a pastry, we were slowing down to dock in Calais. P&O foot passengers were shuttled into a terminal a few km's from the dock, then Jerry, the Uber specialist, found us a driver to haul us the ~30 miles to our hotel in Dunkirk. Like several of our Uber drivers in both England and France, this lad appeared to be of the Middle Eastern persuasion, and il ne parle pas Anglais any better than I spoke the French I had learned in high school classes 60+ years ago. Although our ride was mostly in silence, within 45 minutes we had arrived safely at the Radisson Blu Malo-les-Bains in Dunkirk. Voila!

Malo-les-Bains out our back door

Sidebar: It's worth reiterating that the compelling reason for this trip was our appreciation and wonder regarding what has appropriately been called the "Miracle of Dunkirk." 

We three Yanks [still takes us boys who grew up in Mississippi some effort to embrace that term, but when in England ....] were intrigued by WWII and in the British Expeditionary Force  (BEF), which entered WWII along with the French in late 1939 in response to Hitler's invasion and conquest of Poland. The first month of the war was an absolute walkover. So how did the highly efficient war machine of the Wehrmacht allow nearly 400,000 British and French troops whom they had surrounded with their backs to the sea escape to fight another day? Was it truly a miracle?

The war began in earnest in May 1940 when after overwhelming Poland the Nazis invaded the neutral Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), using that attack to "slip in through the back door" around the vaunted Maginot Line into France. The Germans' blitzkrieg warfare using innovative "lightning strike" strategy with tanks, air force, motorcycles, etc. enabled them to invade France with ~3M troops and within a month to back ~1.75M French soldiers and the nearly 400,000 troops of the BEF into a small pocket on the northern coast of France. It was a total rout within a month. [Think Miss. State or Vanderbilt vs. Alabama under Bryant and Saban in football, i.e., game over in the first quarter.] Thus Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk soon became necessary. 

We had arrived not just in Dunkirk, but at the very spot where the BEF troops had lined up, prayed, and waited on the beach (Malo-les-Bains and others) and the nearby East Mole to be evacuated. Perfect!! Were we dreaming?!?  

Despite some confusion with a young novice desk clerk over whether we had prepaid (yes, months ago, and I had the paperwork to prove it ... but again her English was about on a par with my French), we were able to store our bags, explore the beach, and have lunch. As Col. Charles E. Stanton, an officer and aide to Gen. John Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in WWI, said in a 1917 speech in Paris, "Lafayette, we are here!"

First off, this isn't Dunkirk 1940 ... at all.  They've built it back to take advantage of its location as a beach resort, while preserving the history that the French seem to gladly share with the English. Malo-les-Bains, the beachfront which our hotel faced, is a stunningly beautiful place. The beach itself is wide, and they've built a wide concrete promenade the French call a digue (dyke in English). There's no shortage of restaurants, pubs, wine bars, stores, etc. But the star of the show is the wide beach and sparkling water. While we were there, it was cool (49 lo and 63 hi) and constantly windy (7-16 mph), and there were sailboats, windsurfers, and sand yachts (char a/ voile in French) taking full advantage. 

Memorial to the armies of the Allies (France, England,
Belgium) who fought in the Battle of Dunkirk

Looking toward the East Mole

The promenade on the digue

     

Sand yacht

... and a water yacht

  

Upon leaving our luggage in the hotel while awaiting check-in time, we drifted eastward along the promenade and a few doors down found the Estaminet Aux Aieux, which had cold (not cool, as in England) draft beer (or biere pression in French) and lots of seafood, as well as Flemish options. (I learned on the trip that Flanders encompasses parts of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands bordering the North Sea, which is linked by the Strait of Dover to the English Channel.) Friendly staff and excellent food! Then after checking in and moving into our rooms, we walked about 1/4 mile to the Museum Dunkerque1940 Operation Dynamo. It was a comprehensive history lesson on the war, the siege of Dunkirk, and the evacuation with "by the numbers" signage, displays, etc. We found it not particularly "showy," but very educational.

1940 Operation Dynamo Dunkirk Museum

  

The bell of the Crested Eagle, 
sunk during Operation Dynamo

Photos and explanation of Little Ships

Soldiers aboard a Little Ship, 1940

     

Mines, an enemy of rescue ships

Our history lesson continued at dinner, when we had an Uber take us from the hotel to the Princess Elizabeth restaurant. The ship, built in 1926-7 and named in honor of then-Princess (and later Queen) Elizabeth, had been a Little Ship which survived 4 trips to Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo, rescuing 1,673 Allied troops and living to tell the tale https://www.dunkirk-tourism.com/touristic_sheet/princess-elizabeth-little-ship-dunkerque-en-2899302/?shem=rimspwouoe, . After the war the Princess returned to work in England, and was eventually purchased and moved back to Dunkirk, where it has become a restaurant ... one with an unusually storied history! Having checked in advance with Emmanuel, tomorrow's tour guide, to make sure the Princess is actually a quality restaurant, not a tourist trap. Thus reassured (and he was spot on!), we eagerly joined them for dinner. We relaxed, visited with the friendly staff, and had a nice bottle of wine and delicious French cuisine. C'est tres bon! 

The Princess Elizabeth: From Operation Dynamo
Little Ship to Dunkirk Restaurant

Diner por les Jerks

   

Mais oui, I recommend
la vin rouge et la canard
(Hot Roast Duck, a traditional dish
among our Pike brethren!)

Afterwards we had the most leisurely night of our trip; tomorrow we'd have a fairly late start (9:30) to our apex WWII experience, a 6 1/2 hr. guided tour with a local expert. As high as our hopes and expectations were, the tour turned out even better!  But that's a story for tomorrow. Bon nuit!

Sunset at Malo-les-Bains