Down the coast of France

During the night the wind and rain tried their best to disturb us but after a 370 mile drive and a well earned glass of cider we both slept solidly through the night awakening to find just a few clouds and a light breeze. The storm that had followed up across the water had definitely gone!

Having made the bed, Peter brewed his coffee while I cooked the cheese on toast for breakfast. Dishes were washed, everything was packed away and with a final drive along the promenade we were on our way.

Travelling in a van in France is incredibly civilised. For those wishing the company of other travelling camper-vans there are large designated camping areas with electrical hook ups, black water disposal and fresh drinking water all for 6 Euros a night.

For those wishing the quiet and tranquillity of private travelling there are wonderful picnic areas some with hard standing parking, quiet corners in small villages and coastal parking.

Having studied the map we decided to head down the coast to a place called Criel-sur-mer. My French is incredibly limited but, from my time living on Moorea where I had the choice of learning French or Tahitian to do my shopping,  remembered that Mer meant sea.

Google search revealed the town had coastal parking and that was all we needed!!

I will not bore you with a detailed description of every town and village we passed through except to say the drive was surreal. 

We passed through tiny villages, stopped at a supermarket where Peter was amazed to find bottles of wine for less than a pound sterling,

stocked up on fresh baguettes for lunch from an amazing bakery and filled Lady Sage to the top with fuel for under £50!

By the time we arrived in Criel-sur-mer we had stopped at at least a dozen places. 

Although the landscape was flat as a pancake for miles and miles the coastal route had taken us past National Reserves, along estuaries lined with mud flats, over bridges lined with flowers and beside beaches that stretched for miles.

At Criel-sur-mer we found chalk cliffs to rival Dover plus beautiful sun!

Lady Sage was parked right on the sea front with amazing views over the clear blue sea.

Food was prepared, wine was consumed, backgammon was played and the area was explored. 

Having walked along the sea front and into town we eventually returned to Lady Sage sitting happily in the sun only to walk past a sign that once we managed to translate it informed us we had chosen one of the few places where camper-vans were prohibited!!!

Ooops!

I reasoned that Lady Sage was technically a mini bus but not wishing to upset the locals on our first day we relocated to 100m up the road sliding Lady Sage neatly between two state of the art campers.

(if you look carefully she is the 7^th van from the left!)

We spent the next few hours analysing the various designs of the campers surrounding us constructing a design in our heads of the perfect travelling vehicle. 

(By the end of the trip we had become experts and had a new plan!! but that's for a future Blog)

Having discovered that cheap French wine is rather nice Peter managed to consume two bottles of wine as we watched the sea uncover the vast pebble filled beach. As the last of the wine was poured into his glass Peter issued himself a challenge. 

How many different bottles of wine could he find for under 1 Euro 50 cents! 

(it turned out to be a lot!)

Once again we had an amazing nights sleep, (the wine possibly helped!) and we awoke refreshed and ready for a marathon drive across the top of France as we headed to a place called Grandville near St Marlo.

As most of the days driving was going to be on motorways and there isn't much you can do wrong when everyone is going in the same direction I volunteered to drive, giving Peter total control over the days music choices!!

We passed around Deippe then touched the edge of Le Havre before spotting the amazing Hornfleur Bridge in the distance.

As we got closer the road ahead of us rose at what seemed an impossible angle.

Lady Sage did me proud climbing the hill at a steady 40km/hour. With a speed limit of 50km/hr on all of France's minor roads Lady Sage is built for French driving as her top speed is only 80km/hour on a good day!

From the top, with the sun shining down from a clear blue sky, the views are amazing!

At Caen we took the ring road and headed down the E401.

As I drove I noticed that all along the route there were signs for picnic and rest areas just off the motorway. 

Peter explained they were places where lorries could spend the night. The odd few had services but most were just pull ins where you could stay.

Out of curiosity I pulled into one that boasted an 'outstanding view point' only to find the most amazing little camp site ever!

Lined with trees and decorative lighting and complete with running water and toilets it was a wonderful little sanctuary after the monotony of the motorway.

Getting out to stretch our legs with a walk over to the view point I asked Peter if we could spent the night here only to have him look at me in disbelief!

“Its a Lorry Park!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, but its so cool!” I countered.

“You're kidding me.” he replied and then looked at my face. 

“You're not kidding me are you!”

I smiled that little smile that is meant to melt his heart but more likely just makes me look pathetic and he gave in.

I took a final photo from the view point and returned to Lady Sage to set up home for the night.

I had a wonderful time looking at all the lorries that arrived for their breaks and once Peter got over his 'Been here, done this too many times for interest' mood he began to tell me the differences between the lorries.

Once again the conversation turned towards our future but by the end of another two bottles of wine (we had restocked once more this time with 8 bottles all under 1 euro 20 cents!) we were still no closer deciding what we should do.