Le Mont-St-Michel on the way. What can I say about Le Mont. Well it was very
busy and they wanted the princely sum of 8 euro to park in the car park on
the causeway, hmm not a chance! We really wanted to have a look around so we
drove back into the town on the mainland, found a spot to park and then
cycled back out. Le Mont was bustling, loads of coach parties, mainly
Japanese. We fought our way up the cobbled streets, past all the nice
tourist shops and restaurants, up to the abbey. We didn't go inside as that
was another 8 euro each, and it was packed. Instead we had a wander around
outside and made our way back down. The place was just too busy for us to
appreciate it. Never mind. After loading up the bikes we continued on to the
town of Villers-Bocage, our stop for the night. A strange town that was
flattened in the war and rebuilt, not the greatest of architecture, but
smart and clean. The camper stop area was fairly new too, next to tennis
courts, a couple of picnic tables, and two boules areas. It was also nicely
situated just next to the sewage treatment plant for the town, not nice when
the breeze blew the wrong way! Despite the whiff we retrieved our newly
purchased boules set, bought in Italy, and threw them around for a while.
They are quite heavy but we had good fun, probably not quite up to the
standard of the locals though!
As we didn't fill up with water at Villers-Bocage, wasn't free and you
needed an electronic card of some sort, we decided that we would stop off on
Tuesday at the resort town of Deauville up the coast towards Le Havre, which
according to our book had free water. We arrived and drove around in circles
a couple of times, then found the service point which was not in use as they
were building next to it and using the camper service as their 'works area'.
Change of plan required. We moved on and stopped off at Honfleur for a
wander around. It is a very pretty coastal town at the mouth of the Seine.
There was a large camper parking area, but you had to pay for parking, so we
found some nice free street parking not too far from the town centre and
wandered back in. The town is quite touristy, but despite the many
restaurants and some tourist shops it is very pleasant. The next village was
Riviere-Saint-Sauveur and the camper stop we were aiming for, free parking
but 5 euro for water! A nice village and the camper stop was full come the
evening.
Still with no water we checked in our book and found a cheaper service point
at Le Havre. To get there you have to cross the Seine. There are two toll
bridges near the mouth otherwise you have to travel a way inland for a free
crossing. We dug deep and coughed up the 5 euro for the main crossing, a
large bridge but not as big as the Dartford crossing and not as good value
either. Thankfully the directions for the service point in Le Havre were
good and we found it with not too much hassle. Sue purchased a token form
the tourist office across the street, 2 euro, and we filled up and emptied
out. Well we did eventually after having difficulty getting the service
point to accept our token. Some idiots, probably the local teenagers, had
shoved some things in the token slots, but I poked around and managed to
remove them, and the service point sprung to life.
We had originally aimed to stay at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux last night, but
there was no room at the camper parking, it was jammed packed. So instead we
continued on to our contingency stop at Veules-les-Roses, and were very
pleased that we did. The camper stop was next to a campsite on the edge of
the town and nicely done. The town was delightful. The seafront was okay and
had a huge sandy beach, but the rest of the town was great, a mix of all
styles of houses from medieval cottages to mid last century French town
houses. It had a great feel to it. Oh, and a great cake shop!
Today we made our way to our final stop in France Le Portel, just south of
Boulogne. You sometimes wonder if there are some Italians on the local road
sign committees in France. As we were approaching Boulogne Le Portel was
signposted as a left turn at a roundabout. The road headed away from
Boulogne back down the coast towards Le Touquet and there were no more signs
for Le Portel. After a few miles we turned around, and headed back to the
original roundabout deciding to instead continue towards Boulogne. A quarter
mile along the road, another sign for Le Portel, straight ahead, the
complete opposite direction! It is not the first time the French signposts
have left us confused, but thankfully they are infinitely better than those
in Italy.
Tomorrow we will be back in the UK again, so beware, lock your doors, we
might just turn up on your doorstep!
Ciao
M&S
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