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07:17 Dodgy tum. Decided I probably ought to skip breakfast too. I don’t feel queasy, but I did have a hot sweaty night under the quilt and I was kept awake by some loud rattles.
08:20 Washed, dressed, socks washed, mat given a wipe1. Drank a litre of water. I’ll probably fast for the day2 even though my energy is quite low. My mood is good though.
08:47 Out on deck for a bit. Decide to get a cuppa. €4.60 for a croissant and cuppa. There’s a peculiar pong in the restaurant lounge so the croissant may have to wait until dry land.
09:12 More snaps on Twitter. My God that croissant is good!
09:54 €3.49 for a batch-rotate photo editor app3. French coast in sight to starboard. I’m rotating images like billy-oh. Ought to go and pack my bag. Croissant sitting very well. Misty and overcast ahead.
10:14 Move to vacate my cabin.
10:36 Effectively docked. Putting the hostel address in my GPS.
11:07 Landed! Through security and customs. Onto the street and GPS on!
11:12 It’s dry and mild and the sun is peeping out from behind the high overcast. I only remembered Aisling’s letter to me a moment before disembarking. What a wonderful message4.
11:42:44 
11:44:41 
11:45:06 
11:45:27
12:04 Checked in at the youth hostel. €46.60 for two nights!
12:40:30
12:45 Jambon et fromage €2.90 in a pâtisserie. No salad, no tea or coffee, no seats. There’s a stone bench outside. Everything is quiet and closed.
12:45:33 
12:48:08 
12:50:55 
12:56:46
13:03 That filled a hole! I’m navigating crow-flies to another café to get something more substantial and to find the centre de ville.
13:03:50: I reckoned spotting this place was a good omen. I didn’t eat there, though! 
13:09:41
13:38 Having the lunchtime special in the cheapest local food place I could find that’s open. Filet de dorade et risotto cremeaux and a cup of tea. And a second cup of tea. €18.10 + €2 tip. (The fish dish was only €12.50 and it was outstandingly delicious.)
13:55:01
15:00 I can hear the subsonic rumble of the ferry’s motor and from where I sit in the restaurant “Le Mistral”, overlooking the marina, I can see the ferry at its mooring beyond. I’ve spent the last hour and a half eating and reading “Being a beast”. Charles Foster’s writing is completely sublime. My eyes are defocusing and I’m contemplating whether to find a patisserie or to visit the submarine. I’ll have another look in the guidebook for Sunday entertainment options in Cherbourg.
15:10 Getting the bill. I’ll see if I can find a pâtisserie with seating and while away another hour or two.
15:37 Scoffed the Curly-wurly that Aisling gave me. The battery in the Garmin has died. I’ll try to find the convenience stores I passed on the way into town, or Lidl if it’s walkable.
15:58 Found the park containing the Museum Emmanuel Liais - a 19th century geological, zoological and ethnographic museum. A real treat and a hidden gem. €2.00 entry fee.
17:13:38 
17:14:21 
17:20:11 
17:20:22 
17:21:36
17:42 €4.00 for four AA batteries: les pilles.
17:49:32 
17:53:06 
17:57:01 
17:58:19 
17:58:52 
17:59:49
18:23 Another visit to the same patisserie - €4.45 for a Quiche Lorraine and two exquisite-looking cakes, chosen for me by the girl behind the counter. The public loos in the park don’t have wash hand basins so no touching dessert until I get back to the youth hostel.
18:29:10: The trilobites are extinct. 
18:30:52 
18:36:57
19:01:22 
19:15:13
19:32 Setting out for Lidl5.
20:04 Lidl in sight, but lights out. Pity.
20:42 Sitting down to dhal, rice, chapati. €15.00 with tip.
21:28:45
22:50 Getting ready for bed. Looking forward to a good sleep.
For some reason the inflatable mat is very prone to absorbing muck into its outer layer.↩
Note how much food I actually get through during the day. It’s no wonder my tum still hasn’t quite settled.↩
…from the Play Store on my phone.↩
Aisling gave me an envelope just before I got on the ferry. It contained a beautiful message wishing me success on my adventure and granting me freedom to step out unfettered. There were also two colour-saturated prints of photos we’d taken of ourselves at the pyramidal summit of Errigal mountain in Donegal, which we’d climbed twice in as many days a year or two previously. The last item in the envelope was a Curly-Wurly toffee and chocolate bar. The letter and photos stayed in my bag all the way to Istanbul. Today the bag is in the cupboard, sun-bleached and grubby, but otherwise in perfect nick, waiting for the next adventure and with the letter and photos securely shoved down the inner sleeve at the back.↩
I got directions from the gent at the reception desk in the youth hostel.↩
