L'automne en France
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Friday 27 October
Day 1
We were soon driving onto the train and before we knew it we were off, 35 minutes later we were driving in France.
Its Raining, because of the time and the weather we decided to find the new aire de camping-car in Calais, something we would not have done before due to the issues with migrants but that appears to be much better now.
The aire at Le Grande Gravelot was great and secure, flat parking with barrier controls, there were excellent MoHo services with 4 grey, black waste and water bays just outside the aire, a very good set up.
We had a late tea, read then had an early night, it's become very wind and absolutely hammering it down so much so the windscreen looks like a waterfall.
Saturday 28 Octobre
Day Two
We woke about 7.30 French time, we both had a poor night with all wind and rain, we had no food onboard so had weetabix for breakfast, we took Izzy for her morning walk and as we were packing up the sun came out, we had planned to go shopping first thing but as the weather had improved so much decided to go into Calais or rather to Bleriot Place to have a wander.
We are so glad we did, the area we used to park up in, 30 odd years ago has all been bulldozed and a lovely promenade area has been created, we parked up and noticed a huge mechanical dragon, some 20 0r so feet high moving up and down the promenade, very impressed.
We continued our walk, still sunny but very windy. the seafront had some great attractions for kids including a superb skate park.
Time was pressing so we made our way down to Boulogne-sur-Mer, the roads from Calais to Boulogne were covered in mud from the storm last nigh with small villages and hamlets clearing away all the mud and sludge, such a shame. before long we arrived at E'Leclerc hypermarket, two hours later and €74 worse off were had our shopping. Now it was now about 4:30pm so we are not going to get far, we decided to move onto the aire in Boulogne.
The aire wasn't as busy as in the summer but there were quite a lot of vans already parked up.
I took Izzy out for a short walk as she was tired from this morning walk as we were getting back to the van it started to rain again, all through tea it hammered it down, we had steak-hashe with a melange of potatoes, green beans and mushrooms, followed by cheese.
Its still lashing it down and blowing a hoolie so its an early night.
Sunday 29 Octobre
Day 3
Woke 8:30 after another poor night the gale force winds and torrential rain kept waking us.
It stopped raining enough to take Izzy out, we returned to the van for a proper French breakfast, croissants, pain au chocolate, pain au raisin, bread and jam with a couple of mugs of coffee.
By the time we had emptied the tanks at the services the wind had blown away all rain clouds and again we had a glimpse of the sun.
Today we are going down the coast to visit Creil-sur-Mer but again the weather thwarted our plans, more torrential down pours, we changed plans and popped into Le Crotoy for lunch and a gain the sun came out, this time the skies were clear, we would have lunch and go and explore.
What a lovely place never been here before its really laid back with nice restaurants, bars and shops, its still very windy but least the suns still out.
We decided to stay here tonight, we relaxed as the sun shone though the van windows, reading and writing the diary.
As the sun went down the wind dropped so we may have a better day tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath
Tea tonight is Merguiz sausage with cous-cous followed by cheese.
After tiding we played Othello, all started well but in the end, as usual, I got thrashed.
Before bed we checked the weather for tomorrow its going to be dry with sunny intervals.
Monday 30 Octobre
Day 4
We woke to rain! so much for the weather forecast, we showered and had breakfast, time to rewrite our plans, we would continue towards Criel-sur-mer and hopefully the rain would cease enough to get out for a walk.
It didn't.
Change of plans again, we needed some supplies and our gas would need topping up, we know they sell gas at the Auchan in Eu, so off in that direction, getting there the Auchan had no gas, great, we popped into the store for a couple of things for teas to see us through for the next couple of nights.
It was almost 2 o'clock when we emerged from the hyper-market and needed lunch, Adele noticed a McDonalds over the road, we have never used them in France so this would be fun. Now considering I work for them I should have been better informed but McD in France is so much different than at home, eventually were ordered on the menu boards got our table number and waited, it took ages but our food arrived, none of these cardboard boxes, No, burgers were wrapped nicely, fries were in non-disposable boxes, drinks in proper glasses even the nuggets came in a Tupperware type container, with BBQ sauce and frite sauce in sachets.
The food tasted really nice, heaven forbid it being served like this at home we would have all the containers nicked in a week.
From Eu we drove a few miles down the coast to visit Varengeville-sur-mer and the L'eglise Sainte Valery, situated on the cliff 262 ft above above the sea and where Montet painted some of his paintings.
as we got out the van it started raining again, we were not going to let it stop us.
The church was very well kept and quite impressive, if a little plain but what did shine out was the stained glass window above the alter by Georges Braque a 20th century artist, who is buried there.
Now to find somewhere to stay, checking the P4N app there were a couple of local park ups but as the rain has been so bad these last few days were a little unsure about using them, we found an aire at St Aubin-sur-mer that holds 40 units a little over 35 minutes away so off we went, when we arrived the 40 plus places had been reduced to maybe 6, there were already five MoHos parked up, could we squeeze in? well yes, not really a parking space but would have to do, Adele got tea ready and I took Izzy for a walk across the sea front which is only a few yards away from the park up.
Back for tea, corn fed chicken with sun dried tomatoes and cous-cous and a glass or two of rose wine, followed with cheese and port.
We are both tired tonight so its time for bed.
Im not going to check the weather forecast tonight it will only change by tomorrow morning.
Tuesday 31 Octobre
Day 5
We woke after another night of rain, ablutions done and rain ceasing I took Izzy out for her walk, the park up here at St. Aubin-sur-mer is only a few yards from the sea so had a walk across the sea front and returned to the van for breakfast, croissants, pain au chocolate, pain au raisin and coffee.
We had a planning meeting, to get the best out of the remains days, we would take the coast road out towards St. Valery-en-Caux checking out the bays on the way then fill up with gas, by chance we found an aire right on the Harbourside with a service point to empty the black and grey tanks and refill the fresh water, its a smashing aire and one to note for the next time we are in the area.
We then made pace down to Jumiége to visit the abbey there, it was just after 1pm so had lunch on the car park which can also be used for overnight.
After lunch we walked the short distance into the village and the Abbey, the oldest Benedictine Abbey in Normandy.
It cost us €7 each to get in but was well worth the money, we had a good couple of hours or so exploring this lovely site.
Back at the van it was decision time, do we stay put here or move on to La Bouille, south of Rouen, in the end we decided to do the 45 minute drive to La Bouille, this will mean less driving tomorrow, what we didn't take into account was that we would be driving around Rouen at rush hour, in the end it wasn't too bad.
We parked up on the small quayside carpark over looking the River Seine, its gone 5.30pm, starting to go dark and yes, its starting to rain.
We had a cuppa tea and relaxed watching the river ferry making its numerous crossings every 10 minutes or so, which, is Free.
Its dark now although the car park is well lit, we are told that the ferry finishes at 9.30 so we should get a decent nights sleep.
Wednesday 1 Novembre
Day 6
We woke after a surprisingly good nights sleep, the ferry went quiet about 9.30pm, then nothing.
This morning we were woken by our daily alarm, RAIN, not too heavy this morning, we washed and got ready, Izzy was desperate to go out so I donned by coat and took her a short walk along the river seine, by the time she had finished her ritual sniffing we were both soaked.
Breakfast was ready, coffee on the go.
As we sat and planned our day the rain became a little lighter so decided to wrap up and take a quick look around La Bouille, we didn't really get the best of this lovely little riverside village, we must return one day.
On the way back to the van we called into the local boulangerie bought our baguette de traditional and a kouign amann, a sweet Breton cake, croissant like pastry, layered with butter and caramelised sugar.
Back at the van we set our sat-nav, now called "posh-Nag" as we have changed the voice profile, to visit Pont-de-l'Arche However, our "posh-Nag" took us on the river bac (ferry) which was free across the Seine then through the beautiful Forêt Domaniale de Roumare with its stunning autumn colours, posh-nag must know we don't like going through Rouen which is exactly what she did, again.
Pont-de-l'Arche is a lovely Normandy town with typical 'Norman' style houses, a smashing town square, narrow streets and a stunning Church.
By the time we had finished looking around it was lunchtime, most of the local resturants were full, even on a Wednesday, so returned to vera for rilletts, cornichons, bread and to follow that gorgeous Kouign amann.
On to Loviers but this proved less than successful as we drove around we struggled to find the old town, due mostly by road works and deviations, so decided to move onto tonights stop over at Évreux, there is a Camping-Car park aire there so thought we would try out the new Étapes card, the app showed two parking spaces but when we got there it was full.
Looking around at other possibilities we decided to return to Pont-de-l'Arche aire, so back the 30km we had just come.
We parked up looking over the river Eure, the weather forecasts have predicted gale force winds for tonight but hopefully we are in a safe park up.
We sat and read and wrote the diary before getting tea, tonight were are having gallettes with smoked sausage, onions and a creamy sauce followed by the last of the cheese.
Thursday 2 November
Day 7
Oh What A Night!
Storm Ciara hit the south coast of England and north coast of France with a vengeance, there are reports of servere damage in both countries, here in Port-de-l'Arche we had a very broken night with strong winds and for a time driving rain, small tree branches were down and leaves blew everywhere, but in the scheme of things we got off lightly, the decision to park with in the shelter of the towns walls was a good one.
We did have a minor problem however, we have no bread or croissants, so with euros in hand I braved the wind to walk into town to find a boulongerie, I did not have to walk far, a couple of hundred meters from the aire I found a rather nice shop, the only issue was getting in, the one door was marked sorté, exit, the other wouldn't open, the young lady gestured to walk closer, this I did and almost hit the glass, the doors opened and the distinctive smell of a French bakery hit my senses, the young lady went onto tell see about the faulty doors or that's what I thought she said as I did really have a clue.
Now what to have, there were dozens of different types of bread so ordered our croissants whilst I made my mind up. €5.45 later I was walking back to the van arms laden with tasty treats, two croissants, pain au raisin, pain au chocolate and a baguette tradition.
Whilst we ate breakfast the local council workers came to clean up the damaged caused by last nights storm, it was quite amusing watching them sweep leaves as more came down but after an hour or so the aire was tidy and they left.
Our plans for today have changed due to the weather, we would take a walk around Port-de-l'Arche which was beautiful, the town with its half timbered houses and shops at the centre a gothic church, we returned to the van, we would use today for a shop then move sightly north to a campsite at Les Andelys, the roads and supermarket were very quiet, no-one around which considering the conditions is not surprising, we believe there was a Do Not Travel warning in France but didn't know that at the time.
On route we stopped a the town of Vernon for lunch with its medieval water mill and tower, after a look around the town which must have the oldest tourist office in France it was onward to Les Andelys.
We arrived at the campsite just after 4pm, we booked in at reception our broken French and there excellent English worked well.
We topped up with water, emptied our now almost full toilet before settling down to tea.
We had veal with green beans and sautéed potatoes, its nice to have electric for a change.
We read for a while before going to bed, the rain had started again.
Friday 3 Novembre
Day 8
Woke 7.30 to the sound of, well, nothing.
We opened the blinds to see blue skies and the sun just starting to appear behind the hills, we both had showers, really nice hot water at the amenities block, Adele got breakfast ready, I took Izzy out for her walk and take some video for a YouTube site review.
After breakfast we topped up with water and drained the tanks at the MoHo service point.
We have a very buy day today, first up its off to explore Les Andeleys old fort on top of the hills, we eventually found it after going down a road that said no motorhomes.
We took a lovely walk around the old castle, Izzy stayed in the van as it was another mountain goat track to the top, but the views were spectacular.
next up was the loverly Normandy village of Lyon-la-Forêt, half timbered houses and a timber market hall in the middle of the village.
The villages boulongerie had some smashing patisserie's on display far too tempting just to look and walk past so went in, we couldn't make our minds so came out with two each and a crusty baguette.
Back on the road to one of Frances most beautiful villages, in summer the houses are draped in roses and covered in flower boxes, this time of year its not at its best but was lovely all the same, we wandered the quaint streets with the smell of log fires in the air.
Returning to the van it was well past lunch time, we needed a quick bite, paté with cornishons on that really crusty bread.
It was well after 2'oclock when we left and still had a couple of hours drive to get uptown Montrieal-sur-Mer so after a quick re-routing we decided on taking the autoroute, it was a payed motorway but would cut half an hour of the journey time, we must be there before 5pm as we have an appointment at the vets to get Izzy ready to go back home.
The drive was uneventful and even had sunshine but by the time we got to Montriel the rain had returned.
We planned to stop on the aire but when we got there it was full and the overflow carport already had 6 MoHos so we were number 7.
We made our appointment with time to spare, the vets remembered us from our visit at easter, Izzy was checked out, given her worming tablet, the paperwork was completed and we were relieved of €50.
We went to walk around the town but the rain had stared again so returned back to the van.
Steak hashé for tea, a nice bottle of red then after a short read we went to bed with our now usual sound effect of rain bouncing off the roof of the van.
Saturday 4 Novembre
Day 9
It had rained all night, or certainly felt like it and this morning we had the added effect of wind, we had breakfast then moved on to Boulogne-sur-Mer to do our shopping, nearly four hours later and €298 lighter we were finished, all we had to do now was to find somewhere to put it all.
We had lots of food for our Beaujolais Neoveau night, wine to last over the winter and a few goodies for Christmas.
All packed we jumped on the free motorway up to Calais, we are planning on using the aire where we started our trip as its so convenient for Le Shuttle, the drive up was fine apart from the wind and rain but we have now got used to that.
We arrived at the aire late afternoon, we took Izzy for a walk then returned to the van for our last supper in France, We had bought a ready made paella washed down with a rather nice bottle of rosé.
Sunday 5 Novembre
Day 10
Our Last day in France has come, we tidied up the van, had breakfast then took Izzy out for her walk, a brit van stopped me and told us to check our van thougherly as they had been woken at 4am by an immigrant trying to hide under their bike rake.
We checked our van no-one to be seen, so off to eurotunnel, Izzy had her paperwork checked, all ok.
We booked in, had a 40 minute wait for the train, we boarded with no issued, there were lots more going back than were on the train when we came over.
35 minutes later we were back in Blighty, we drove a couple of hours before stopping on the motorway for a bite to eat.
By 4pm Vera was parked on the drive and we were sat with a cup of tea, tired after the drive.
Although the weather has been atrocious, rain, more rain, storm force winds, flooding, we have had a brilliant time and look forward to our next trip EN FRANCE.
Àbeintôt
Find out how we got on, click the photo below and check out our L'automne en France play list.
benivanadventures - travels in our campervan
Trip Details:
Miles: 931
Ave MPG: 32.2
Fuel Cost: £202.30 / £1.55 ltr (€1.79)
Car Parking: £0.00
Autoroute Charges €5.50 / £4.78
Nights: 9
Camp Fees: €63.60 / £55.79
Camp Ave per night: £6.20
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