On August 13th 2019 our ferry from Dublin to Cherbourg was leaving at 4pm. This was our first time on the WB Yeats, the new Irish Ferries boat. It is much bigger than the Oscar Wilde and more spacious. However, it does not have the Steakhouse where we would normally have dinner. That left the main dining room, The Lady Gregory or Boylan's Brasserie. I like to be served my food whereas Jim is happy to slum. We had a look at Boylan's and there was a nice selection which looked nice but it was early and was not yet picked over. We seated ourselves in the bar at big wide windows which are a feature of this new boat. Jim had his customary pint of Guinness - the signal that the adventure has started. Then I sent him to investigate the menu and the situation in the Dining Room. The full dinner was 59.99 per person, 2 courses were 49.99. We decided to go there for the purposes of research and booked for 5.30 pm as lunch had been practically non-existent. We were genuinely surprised and pleased by the quality of the food. There was complimentary bread and lobster bisque as well as a vegetarian option which I can't remember but which I thought was acceptable. Then we had our starters - for me scallops with various garnishes and for Jim quail. I had duck breast for main course and Jim had rack of lamb. Both were delicious. We had a look at the dessert but decided we had had sufficient. Sometime later our waiter returned to tell us that, as we were on the early bird, we were entitled to free dessert. We succumbed - in the interests of research of course! Jim had the cheese plate which was acceptable and I had apple 3 ways - an apple creme brulee was delicious, a nice apple ice cream and an apple crumble that was a bit heavy and too big. I think they could afford to reduce the size of the dessert without anyone suffering. We then had petits four - basically chocolate truffles, 2 each. We could have had coffee but we just finished our wine. I know the meal was on the expensive side but it was really good and a great start to our holiday. The cabins don't seem to be much bigger than the Oscar Wilde but are well equipped. Ours was a 4 berth with the other 2 tucked into the ceiling. One was set as a settee for day and only required pulling down to be a bed. There was a tv and lots of nooks for putting clothes and luggage. We had breakfast next morning in cafe Lafayette.
On Wednesday, 14th August, we arrived in Cherbourg shortly after 11am and were on our way to our overnight accommodation by 11.45. It was a 7 hour drive. We stopped off at a shopping centre to buy a sandwich for lunch and I went to a pharmacy in the hopes of getting something for my cough and cold. We had put the postcode of Au Pre du Moulin, Clamanges into the sat nav but it brought us to the wrong village. We had a further 17km to drive. It was a Chambres d'Hotes in the country outside the commune of Clamanges. We met Valerie, our hostess, and she showed us our room, the dining room and an outside sitting area. There were to be 4 of us for dinner, which I had booked as Table d'Hote was only 30 Euro each. We sat outside for the aperitif and were joined by an elderly couple who often stayed here on their trips through France to Italy. Our aperitif was a very nice sherry with little gateaux d'aperitif. Then we went inside for dinner. Started was tarte flamme with courgette and cabbage coleslaw - tarte flamme, or flammkuchen in German, is a particular favourite of mine. It was delicious. Then we had chunks of turkey in a tomato and olive sauce with cauliflower in a goats' cheese sauce. Cauliflower cheese is always delicious but it is sublime when the cheese is goats's cheese. This was followed by the cheese course - chaource, comte and goat cheese log. The we had an apple and red fruit crumble. She served a St. Chinian red which was very nice. The whole occasion took 3 hours. The bedroom was very comfortable but I couldn't sleep because of coughing. (In hindsight I now wonder if I had an early dose of Covid - but my sense of taste or smell were not affected)
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