With this year’s annual sandcastle competition looming, our reign as Kings of the castle is coming to an end. Always reluctant to leave Fokestone, we thought it was about time we claimed our prize and take our free day trip to Calais.

The weather was unusually gloomy as we departed from Dover, and seemed brighter as we approached the French coast. We took a bus into the town centre to spend a few hours of Frenchness. Our plans to while away the time on the beach, drinking wine and eating cheese and bread, were scuppered by a fierce wind that howled along the coast, whipping up the sand. So we went to a couple of bars instead, and soon, it was time to go home. It should be pointed out, that we only drink lager when we are ‘going continental’.

On the ferry back, as we sipped more Kronenbourg,we watched gannets soaring and swooping over the sea. We failed to catch them on camera, but here are a couple of short videos of our day.