Blog 1.10: Days One and Two Proper

22nd/23rd September 2022

After a snarl-up in Seaford due to an unanticipated road closure meaning we were one of the last in the queue for the TransManche Ferries 'Côte d'Albâtre', the crossing was at least very smooth.

Dieppe came and went in nobbut a blink, and soon we were set South for Rouen.

Or that's what I thought.

Mandi had other ideas though, and had plotted a route which branched off west and crossed the River Seine downstream of the city, on a very impressive suspension bridge, the Pont Brotonne, and we meandered through back roads in search of one of three Aires de Camping Car she'd highlighted as possibles for an overnight.

As it happens, though, we used none of them, instead finding ourselves at a four-van 'France Passion' Aire just a stone's throw from the river (yes, you could see it, and the Abbaye just across it, and the very large ships traversing it, from the van).

What a river it is here, deep and wide, with a strong current which had, over millenia, eroded the hills at the side of the Aire into sheer cliffs. It was almost disconcerting, then, that on rising from our first night's slumbers, the current was going in the opposite direction, and the level was so much higher. Little had we realised that it was still strongly tidal this far inland, and Rouen must make a very viable inland port judging by the cargo traffic to-ing and fro-ing.

It was a really lovely Day One weather-wise, too; sunny and warm, but cooling enough in the evening to make us want to flash up the gas heating for a while. Fortunately it works well, and the van was soon pleasantly warm.

One bugbear though: for some reason the van's wifi decided to throw in the towel, leaving us with just very patchy phone signals, which is why this missive has taken so long to upload. Grrr.

Even more Grrr-making is trying to get a response from the wifi manufacturer to try to work out what’s going on. Very, very annoying. Ah well, I’ll just have to try to piggyback someone’s wifi, which I’ve probably already done if you can see this.

Back to the first morning, and we indulged in breakfast bowls of cereal on the south bank of the

Seine, in sight of the Abbaye Jumièges before visiting Madame l’owner in her little shop to make purchases of apple juice and apples as a small thank you for allowing us to stay on her land. It’s how France Passion works, in similar fashion to Brit Stops, but with more emphasis on farmers, vineyards etc., and other producers rather than (mostly) pubs. We have books (memberships) for both schemes, and I know which I prefer. The French version, hands down.

Which is why, on our drift southwards on day two, we stopped for a quick wrap and coffee for lunch in a layby a few miles north of Le Mans, and got the FP book out again. One site in particular jumped out, a little south of Arnage (a name my Son-in-Law Lee will be very familiar with in his day job) which advertised itself as a sort of permaculture smallholding.

Wow. What a spot.

The owner is lovely, and was very welcoming, particularly when Mandi showed an interest in some of the many items she sells 😉. I have to say that the two small bunches of grapes she plucked from vines by the door were some of the nicest I’ve tasted, as was the Comté cheese we took a hunk of. Not to mention the pears, also home produced, which with the other items formed our after-dinner sweetener. Delicious.

And so to a bit of light reading and a reasonably early, and very peaceful, I hope, night, ready for a fairly early start tomorrow. Poitiers? Limoges? We’ll see how it pans out. No rush.

Current mileage from home - 384, and there’s still over 200 miles in the tank according to the Fiat’s computer, since filling with £101 of diesel at Morrison’s in Hinckley a mile after we set off. I don’t think that sounds too bad, especially as it was telling us we had a range-to-empty of 488 miles when we topped up. 100 ‘free’ miles. No, I’m aware it doesn’t work like that, but it’s a nice thought.