Calais

27 April 2014

We are taking a break in Calais, moored in the Bassin Carnot.
We made so much progress in the last 24 hours that we have some time to spare. Boulogne-sur-Mer did have no place available, so we choose Calais. We hoped for a ‘Petit Café’ and some pernod; la douce France.
But, la douce France showed us a completely different face. We are moored in a dock in a desolate harbour area. Hundreds of refugees from Somalia, Afghanistan and many other countries have created a kind of village of makeshift plastic tents, on the other side of big fences, near many parked trucks, probably hoping for a place in a container or trailer to get to the promised land: England. The ferry terminal though is garded like Fort Knox. They have no alternative, no other possessions than their clothing. Many young men, but also women and children.
Calais itself is rather gloomy. Cheap houses in bad shape many with their shutters closed, tattoo shops, beauty parlours and many pubs. The people have this aura of poverty in their faces and clothing. Seeing all this after a year and a half of sailing around the world evokes a lot of thoughts.