Week 8 – Sep 8th to 13th – Camels in the mist
Days 48 & 49 – Monday/Tuesday – we had a very quiet day on Monday, just enjoying the peace and solitude of Oursel-Maison. Well – I did! Paul was working – the usual hectic Monday for him. But on Tuesday it was lunchtime move day.
As we were driving out of the pretty little village, I spotted a motorhome dealer (Idylcar) and quickly nipped in for some loo liquid. Very handy! Nice people too. I also bought some pasta bowls, which pretty much match our existing set of plates. I have never shopped more quickly in my life!
We arrived in the little town of Formerie and located the air. We had a slight issue with the barrier. It refused to rise so we had to make a quick call to the Camping Car team, who are amazing, and opened it remotely for us, once I had identified myself. We are big fans of their app, as you can book very easily and it takes the guesswork out of where you are going to stay.
It’s another nice spot, handily located near the town and very quiet. Rain was expected and, no sooner had we hooked up and levelled, the skies opened and it it poured and blew all day. Behind us is an outdoor gym (I’ll be all over that!) and a Boulodrome, where we will just miss a big competition. That would have been fun. But each time we passed, there were people playing there. Good to see. We have travelled all around Europe with our boules and not dusted them off! It was way too hot to start with and then I guess we just forgot.
Day 50 – Wednesday – as the weather was back to normal, we popped out on our bikes on Wednesday evening. It’s a pleasant little town with a small supermarket, boulangerie/patisserie, boucherie/traiteur, pizzeria and Taco place. There is a restaurant – but they were not serving on Wednesday evening – or perhaps they weren’t serving us? It was not clear and as Paul (not a linguist) did the talking while I minded the bikes, it could have been anything!
As we were running out options, we went for the Taco route. We bought one each – mine with ground beef (the Gratinee Cheddar) and Paul’s with chicken (the Raclette). We could have been well fed on one! They were massive and very tasty. And, it seems that French tacos are a “thing” – according to this Guardian article. There is apparently a branch in Brent Cross too. Who knew?
We nipped back to the van to eat our tacos and then got on our bikes again as it was a lovely summery evening. We had noticed that there was very little traffic on the road outside the Aire and thought it might be an opportunity to let the boys have a good run off lead. It would also give us an opportunity to work off some of our taco calories. We had a lovely time and found that the road eventually culminated in the gates to a stud farm – the reason for the few vehicles. Perfect. We let the boys off and they ran beside us all the way back to the van. Happy boys!
Day 51 – Thursday – It was time to move on. And we were going to be kind a winging it. We had seen a site that looked nice, on the outskirts of Neufchatel-en-Bray. It could not be booked in advance and we left Formerie hoping that there would be a space for us. We did have a Plan B up our sleeves – just in case.
It was a lovely, if short, drive through beautiful, rural France. As we approached the site, we saw a large motorhome, clearly coming from where we were heading! Hopefully that meant a space for us!
We had read warnings about how tight the access to the site was. Reader, I can tell you, it was indeed tight – and on a bend. Paul; did a magnificent job, but you could see the scrapes where others less skilled had not been so fortunate. And once on site, access to the pitches is also tight. When they say max 8m, they really mean it! But good old Sumps soon had us settled.
We think the large motorhome we had seen leaving the area as we arrived had not, as we had suspected, vacated a space but rather had decided he was too big to fit. He’d have been right!
After work, we had a drink to celebrate the weekend and then Paul went to get the bikes out of the garage. Bad news. He had a puncture! We knew we had a puncture repair kit somewhere on board. But could we find it?
The upshot? No cycling to see the sights of Neufchâtel and no nice bistro for dinner. Instead? A flipping Mac Donald’s. I’m not a big fan. The odd Sausage MacMuffin maybe, but I never really enjoy the food and always feel slightly dirty after eating it! But it was that or nothing as our back-ups had been depleted by our week in the sticks.
Luckily, we had a shopping stop planned for the next day, and I was pretty sure we’d be able to pick up a kit in this cycling loving country!
Day 52 – Friday – We set off to our destination, via a large E Leclerc, where yes, they did have a puncture repair kit. Phew. We were heading for Montville, a small town in the Seine-Maritime department. Our drive took us through (we avoid toll roads as much as possible) more of the beautiful countryside and reminded us once again how BIG France is!
Montville is famous for a tornado which hit it in 1845, killing 75 people! It was a F5/T10 (I.e very strong) tornado and some buildings were completely flattened. Must have been terrifying.
The Aire in Montville is just off the main drag, next to the swimming pool. And today, to our dismay, also next to a touring Circus. In Europe, circuses still use wild animals (sadly).
Circuses in the UK have banned the use of wild animals since 2020. I was surprised and perhaps a little shocked that it was as late as that. There can be no argument – circuses are not good for animals. It must be awful. Those next door to us were housed on a car park, over which some straw had been scattered. The lions were caged and so was the poor hyena, which was pacing up and down the small space it was allowed. I was not impressed.
The animals looked in good condition, to be fair, but there seemed to be an air of depression and resignation. Perhaps I was anthropomorphising, because it was also how I felt. I shall definitely be writing to Monsieur le President.
There was a boule (petanque) competition that afternoon too, and I watched for a while, in awe of some of the bombers’ prowess. The skill of knocking your opponents ball out of the way whilst leaving yours in its place takes years of practice and dedication.
We had a lovely spot by the stream, with nice views of the lake. A little too close the circus for my liking, perhaps, but we had chosen well otherwise.
Paul used the time to repair his puncture – a skill which he feared he’d forgotten. He recalled my Dad repairing the punctures on his boat bike. Blackthorns are an occupational hazard on the towpath, usually just after the hedgerow has been cut. Paul reckoned that the inner tube on Dad’s bike was all repair patches and very little of the original rubber remaining. Curiously Paul’s puncture was caused by a blackthorn too. They are the very devil. Probably picked up on our rural ride in Formerie.
We had a ride round the lovely lake and then popped into town for dinner that evening. A slightly over-priced meal, we thought. Although we were made to feel very welcome by the flamboyant owner. At the end of the meal, he thanked us for coming to France, choosing his restaurant, taking the trouble to speak French and pressed a free drink of Calvados on us. He brought the glasses first and urged us to be careful with them as they were precious antiques. He returned with a new bottle of Calvados and poured it with great ceremony. Luckily, he went away after we had raised our glasses and toasted him. Poor Paul had to drink both to avoid offending Monsieur le Patron – I loathe Calvados – and now so does Paul!
We weaved our way back to the van (well Paul did!) and settled into bed. We made a coffee, before Paul took the boys out for their late night pee. We drifted off to sleep with the very loud sound of a lion roaring. I could not believe how loud the roar was.
Day 53 – Saturday – we awoke to the town wreathed in mist, and we could just see he humps of the camel through it. A very unusual sight!
We had the Cathedral town of Evreux in our sights for Saturday, which was very warm and sunny. We stopped at the very nearby Carrefour for some fresh supplies before arriving on site.
The site was small – only 6 vans and the spaces were pretty tight – max 8m, so we were fine, and Paul is now adept at winkling Vera into tight situations!
We had a beepy before going out, early evening, to see the sights of Evreux. I particularly wanted to see the Cathedral, which I had glimpsed on the way into town. Parts of it date back to the 11th century. The spire, reconstructed after WW2 and called “Clocher d’Argent”, rises to a height of 78m. Some of its stained glass windows were also lost, but restored in 1953. It is stunning.
We rode on through town, arriving in Place du Général de Gaulle, where we spotted the impressive Tour de l’Horloge (clock tower), where the bell has rung for over 500 years.
We weren’t eating out that night and went back to the van, hungry after our sight-seeing tour. The site, being urban, was a little noisier than we have experienced lately, with much toing and froing of loud sirens, but they were much quieter at night. Though I’d be glad of my ear-plugs, I suspected.
Little did I know how I’d wish I hadn’t forgotten my expensive Loop Dream earplugs and had to buy knock offs, which are pretty good but don’t fit quite so well. At 5 am I was awoken by – well, it’s difficult to explain – hubbub might be a good word? But a hubbub at Volume 11. It was a large crowd of – I assume – youth – male & female. It felt a little intimidating, to be honest, and I realised that I did not know how to call French emergency services, should we require them. I do now.
The noise lessened a little as time went by and as some departed the gang, but they did not finally, fully disperse until 7 am. No harm done, but a chunk of sleep we’ll never get back. We spoke to some other Brits on site and they said that the same thing had happened the night before. I would not have stayed for a second night. A shame as it put a bit of a dampener on how we feel about Evreux. To be honest, we were glad to leave. Although that was easier said than done, as the barrier refused to lift and we once again had to ring for assistance – which is excellent by the way. They all speak very good English.
Day 54 – Sunday – and today we were going to see the sea. Not just any sea – the Mare Brittanicum! Our lovely English Channel, which we have not seen since July. We’d be staying at a point just east of Selsey on the English coast. Near Lion-sur-Mer on the French Coast – the location of Sword beach in WW2.
Sword Beach was the Westernmost beach of the Operation Overlord in 1944. We plan to visit tomorrow, but tonight we were hungry. We had booked a table at a lovely restaurant called Le Goéland. They provided a warm welcome to us and particularly to the boys, who behaved impeccably. The very friendly waitress was very taken with them. and made a fuss of them each time she came to the table. An English couple were shown to the table next to us and we had a really nice evening chatting to them, before returning to the van as the sun was setting. Great and reasonably-priced food, too.
There was a great cycle path most of the way to and from town and – as it was deserted on the way home – we were able to let the boys have a jolly good run alongside us. And it was a spectacular sunset . A fitting end to another week on the road.
Next week – Week 9! – will see us heading up the coast towards Le Havre and beyond. Our last full week in Europe!
By the way – I wrote directly to President Macron this morning, sending him evidence about the harm travelling circus life does to wild animals, from the RSPCA. It will probably have no effect, but my conscience is a little clearer.
| Period | Miles | Cumulative |
| Week 8 | 228 | 2613 |