In Which Erik discovers that he has made several grave errors.

As I tried to make myself comfortable in the 2x3 foot sheltered doorway in a suburb of Dunkirque, cold, wet, and tired from the 6+ mile walk through the rain, I found it a superb time to reflect on the mistakes that had brought me here. As follows:
1. Taking the train to Dunkirk, rather than Calais, as the rail station is 12km (almost 10mi) from the Ferry station
2. Thinking that I could walk said 12km no problem, at least, nothing I couldn't handle
3. Walking the wrong way for several extra kilometers to begin with
4. Listening to Krista's advice and not specifically waterproofing my trenchcoat
and
5. Not planning sufficiently enough to have checked Dunkirk from Google Earth and noticing that it is a very spread out place
6. Not bringing a water bottle
Perhaps this is not an altogether representative ordering, but at any given time during my walk, one of these would occupy first place for blunder of the day.

I make a mental inventory of my situation, from head to toe:
Flat cap: wet on top, but holding
Trenchcoat: entirely soaked through and has changed colour from a light tan to a greyish yellow Shirt: as wet as it can be without having more substance
Trousers: only slightly damp, being protected by the trenchcoat and by being made of thick cloth Shoes: as wet on top as they are on bottom; the breathing holes in the suede serving mainly to let water in more efficiently.

Hardly ideal.

I am beginning to have grave concerns for the books located in my backpack and in my book bag. A brief survey reveals that the book bag is indeed mostly waterproof, and only a few of its contents dampened, but the backpack has no such measure of water resistance, and since my trenchcoat which was covering it was completely soaked, the extra water in that region set about dampening my backpack. I check the books, fearing the worst...dry. The cloth napkins I wrapped them in absorbed the ambient moisture, and the books are drier than anything else at the same level. I reposition them in plastic bags, and pack them back in. I set the alarm, locked my bags, and attempted to find a comfy position where I could rest from 2:00 am to 5:30. Several tries producing nothing comfortable, I settled for one of the less cramped positions and attempted to sleep...