Day 1 - The long and winding road

We've had Beti over 18 months, so it's high time she made her international debut with us. So, we've travelled to Normandy and will spend two weeks travelling around this beautiful region. The plan is to use a combination  of Aires (small camping areas in villages and towns off the main motorways) and campsites. On the plus side, Aires are often free, or very cheap, to stay. On the down side there are usually no toilets. Electricity hook up varies. 

Our trip began in the early hours of Saturday 29 April, as we headed to Folkestone to catch the train to France. From Calais it was another few hours on the road until we reached our first aire in a little village called Hérouvillette, on the outskirts of Caen. This aire has no electricity.

The aire was already quite busy, with 5 of the 8 spaces taken. So we parked up and popped into the village to find a shop. Said shop was closed for a few hours, but the bakery was open so we picked up some fresh bread and a couple of treats. 

We then decided to do some exploring on the bikes and ended up doing 10 miles! We discovered a cycle path alongside the River Orne, which goes all the way to Caen, so that's our plan in the next day or so. The path passes the Pegasus Bridge, which was captured by Allied troops in the early hours of the D-Day landings, and was a key target of the operation. 

Our tea was a chilli, which I made before we came over. I usually bring something for our first night on a campsite, as you never know what will be nearby. 

I was very tired by this point, and this was reinforced when I put an empty dish in the oven, and almost set fire to my oven glove by resting it on a gas ring which was lit! Thankfully it didn't  set he smoke detector off, but there were some small flames. Oops.

We were in bed by 9pm and felt very safe at the aire, so I slept really well. 

We decided that we'd rather have a few home comforts in our next stops (electricity and a toilet being the main two), so we've got a few campsites to try tomorrow.  

Some pics from  Day 1:

The Ranville war cemetery, where over 2,000 Allied soldiers are buried: 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 10 - Angers

Image
A late one tonight, folks, as we went to the campsite bar earlier, so everything got pushed back a bit.  The rain didn't materialise today, so we cycled into Angers. Lee had marked a few "points of interest" on his route, mostly churches (churches are to France what castles are to Wales) before we ended up at Château d'Angers.  Yes, another castle. In France "château" is used for anything grand, so it could be a genuinely old castle,  or a posh house from the 18th century. However, Château d'Angers is an actual old one, dating from the 12th century.  So, buckle up for some historical info.... Château d'Angers  The Château was the seat of the Plantaganet family; a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 to 1485, when Richard III died in battle.  Queen Elizabeth I was related to the Plantagenets. Her father, Henry VIII, was the son of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward ...
Read more

Day 12 - International relations

Image
Question : how many people does it take to get a stuck motorhome off a muddy pitch?  Answer : three Welsh, two Germans and a French man.  Yes, we got stuck in the mud today. We arrived at Chartres campsite but Lee didn't think our electricity lead would reach the unit, so he drove onto another pitch. Then changed his mind, but when he tried to reverse off the pitch Beti, and the mud, had other ideas.  There was a German couple pitching up next to us, so the husband,  Manfred, came to try to help me push the van. No joy, so Lee found some branches to put under the wheels to try to get some traction. Manfred looked very skeptical about this idea, but we gave it a go, with no luck.  Enter a French chap who had just arrived, who found some wire sheeting (probably for the very purpose of getting stuck vans off pitches), and at the same time another lady (who was washing her dishes) said she had some grip mats.  The next thing you know we had an international tea...
Read more

Day 13 - Chartres

Image
Back on the bikes this morning. A big loop around the outskirts of Chartres,  then a snack and a coffee on the way back. It's got the point where I need a daily coffee fix now!  This evening we went "out out" in Chartres; it's been our first night out this whole trip. Campsites in France are usually quite out of the way. If you're lucky some will have a bistro on site, but most of them aren't really within walking distance of anything.   After a quick beer at Chez Olive we had a little wander and came across a Mexican style restaurant. "Not French?" I hear you ask. Non. Mostly because Lee's not actually a fan of most French food (mussels, fish, veal, "stinky" cheese). He will eat steak frites but that's quite a touristy dish, so a lot of places don't offer it.  So, Mexican it was. The French aren't  keen on very spicy food, so this could have been disappointing, but it wasn't. Homemade nachos to s...
Read more