|
 
| |
Friday 9th
| As promised by Christy we were up early. The
phones rang in all the rooms at 6.45am. Breakfast was at 7.15am. The coaches arrived soon
after breakfast to take the group back to the boat at Cherbourg. We were scheduled to
leave the hotel at 8.00am, but we met a snag in that the hotel safe that contained the
group passports, the kids pocket money for the day etc, etc , could not be opened. Christy
calm under pressure as ever delayed the departure of the coaches until 9.00am, while the
local safe cracker drilled for all he was worth. |
 |
9.00am came and the safe was still firmly shut, so the coaches departed, while Tom and
Mirette Slattery remained behind in their car to follow on with the documents and money.
In the pictures below you can Bob and Marianne looking bleary eyed at the camera before
departure, followed by the coaches departing with waving passangers.
  
   
| Eventually the safe was opened and Tom and
Mirette duly gave chase to the long since departed coaches. The journey to Cherbourg was
an uneventful one, save that some of the cars got held up in traffic and only made the
boat with 10 minutes to spare. The sea crossing was much calmer than on the way out, so
most people enjoyed the journey, despite the poor food and service on board. Some of the
late night revellers on the boat found the going just too much, after the weeks exertion
on the bikes. One of the senior lads, James Costelloe (photo) was so tired that he decided
to curl up and go to sleep under the steps that lead from the disco deck to the room
decks, while the rest of the passangers on the boat pounded up and down the stairs. |
 |
Saturday 10th
The group was met by two coaches in Rosslare and transported back to the school, via a
lunch stop in Gorey, for 3.00pm.
As can be seen from the photos below, all the parents were there to meet their
respective sons, delighted to see them back after their weeks absence. Some even brought
the dog.
      
And so there ends the tale of France ’99, save to thank Christy and his committee
of organisers for a great trip. I wonder where we will be going next year .......... ?
| |
|
