A gentle, wet trundle home…

Week 3. Paris to East Cowes – 703 miles

Saturday the 28th of September 2024

Paris to Senonches – 75 miles

We get our last knock on the door this morning from Karen. Today she is going south, we are going west then north towards home. We all have an enjoyable breakfast together and say our goodbyes. It has been fabulous, with the three of us together, and most enjoyable. We have seen a lot, done a lot, eaten a lot and drank a lot, but it has all been worth it and it’s what we are here on earth to do. Enjoy as much as you can when you can. We will miss her.

Today, as part of our trip back, we are going to France Miniature. It is said to be a 1:30 model of France laid out on a piece of land in the rough shape of France. There is a special online price, so Hayley has booked us two tickets.

After a 40-minute drive, we arrive. It’s a nice day. There is a bit of cloud floating about, but it’s bright and sunny, a welcome break from the rain that has blighted our stay in Paris. It’s not very busy, so we get the pick of the parking and make our way in.

France Miniature is worth the visit. It’s very well laid out, all the exhibits are numbered and the path leads around in the right direction. There is a QR code to scan that gives you some history about the item you are looking at. It’s all very good. As we approach the Paris part we get a spot of rain. There is something about Paris that’s wet! It doesn’t last for long though.

After spending a couple of hours here we decide to move on and find a place for the night. We like it here, it’s ok. It could do with a little TLC however, some of the exhibits are a little tatty, but we like it all the same.

It’s a short 1 hour drive to a town called Senonches where we are staying at a small aire for motorhomes for 9 euros that includes water and electricity.

The drive is pleasant and uneventful and the town of Senonches is very pretty, from what we have seen driving through. The parking is just on the outside of the town. We swipe our card for 9 euros, the barrier goes up and we are in a nice cosy pitch for the night.

Dinner is on board tonight, something we haven’t done for a few days now. Hayley does a fridge clear out and we have duck with a potato dish that she puts together, which is ace, and some broccoli. After more fridge cleaning, some bits of cheese need to be eaten, so with a glass of red, we finish them off.

Time for bed…

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Sunday the 29th of September 2024

Senonches to Honfleur – 106 miles

With a ferry on Friday, we now have to start the drive west and then north. We think that we will head for Honfleur which is a very picturesque fishing town across the river from Le Harve. This is where the Seine ends its journey into the sea.

It’s a bit of a challenging drive today. After a toss of a coin and a ‘fight’, it’s Del’s turn to drive. It’s always a battle over who is going to drive as we both enjoy it, but yesterday Del was tired so Hayley drove which makes it Del’s turn today.

There is no direct route to Honfleur from where we are so the drive takes us along miles of fields along very narrow roads. For miles, we are the only vehicle on the road. It hasn’t been helped that the road that we are on has been closed due to a town market.

There are diversion signs but suddenly they stop and Google Maps takes us across country, great. It also doesn’t help that Del misses a right turn because he was wittering on. Oh well.

It’s 2:30 pm and we have arrived at the parking spot in Honfleur. What we have noticed is that the temperature since last night has dropped to single figures. It has turned very autumnal. We get parked and settled in while the cold wind blows down the river Seine. We get whatever warm coats that we have and set off for a walk. There is one of those tourist trains here so we jump on and for eight euros we are taken to the top of Honfleur. Here there is a small charming chapel. Honfleur wasn’t bombed during the war, and it is said that it is because of this chapel that it was saved from the ravages of war.

There is a good view of Le Harve across the river from here.

After 15 minutes at the chapel, we get abroad the train and it takes us back down the hill into Honfleur.

Time for a walk. We head back into the charming back streets of Honfleur. It’s very nice here, very old but very well looked after with its cobbled streets and leaning over, slate-fronted buildings. There is an all-wooden church here in the main part of the town, so, of course, we have to go in and have a look.

The port is the “main square” of the town which is surrounded by lovely bars and restaurants.

We are starting to feel the chill so head back to Jess for a warm-up and a cup of tea. Tonight we will eat in the town.

After our walk and train trip around town we get back to Jess for a hot tea and to chill out. We like it here. The town is full of charm, shops, restaurants and bars they are all very nice, a very easy-going town.

We set off for the short 5 minute walk to the restaurant where we are fortunate to get a table. It’s a very busy and popular place, number 9, of hundreds, in the Trip Advisor guide. It doesn’t fail. We have starters of oysters and mackerel. A main of pork and Dorade ending with an Ile flottante.

It’s all helped along with a very nice white wine. An excellent dinner, our first without our travel companion who is now in the south of France heading for St. Tropez tomorrow. We remember St Tropez well from our boating days.

It’s a windy, chilly night when we leave the restaurant and we are glad to get back into Jess with the low lights, heating and some soft music.

All in all an excellent day. Tomorrow we have no idea where we are going, we like that.

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Monday the 30th of September 2024

Honfleur to Saint Pierre en Port (via Duclair) – 88 miles

It was a breezy night last night as the wind rushed down the Seine, we also had some rain showers in the night. The weather has taken a turn. It’s much colder than a week ago, with strong winds and rain.

We have a very simple quick breakfast this morning. We pay our 14 euros for the aire and off we go. We are trying to get to a small free aire right on the banks of the river Seine where we think the wind will be less, the problem is that there is only space for 5 vans so we are getting a bit of a move on this morning.

The weather is grim and we get pushed about by the strong wind going over the Pont Du Normandie, nasty. The drive to the aire in Duclair takes about an hour and it’s a bit of a climb uphill for Jess but we arrive and are a little disappointed, to say the least. It is a bit of a trek to the town, the weather is foul and it’s right next to a cemetery. After some discussion, we decide to move on and head for the coast after doing some shopping and a diesel fill-up.

After an hour or more driving in bad rain we arrive at Saint-Pierre-en-Port and to a campsite with a sea view. And what a view, the sea is huge, 3m waves out there apparently. It looks very rough. We have to wait ten minutes for the office to open. Hayley is seen by a very friendly lady who gives us a pitch.

The pitch we have been given is like a mud bath, just terrible and it takes us a lot of back and forth, left, right, yes and nos. There is mud everywhere and the trees above are hitting the side of the van.

We finally decide to go on a corner pitch which, like all of the pitches is just a mud bath, but it has a nice big corner piece of just grass… wet grass but no mud, so we manoeuvre ourselves there and finally get settled in. It’s miserable outside but Hayley gets a tea on, Del cleans the mud out of the van and we get settled down. It’s now quite cosy.

Time for a Belgian beer to cheer us up some more. We will not be going out today.

Hayley has done a fab dinner for us.

Beef bourguignon, her own dauphinoise potatoes with a glass of red. The weather is horrendous outside, the worst we have had in the van we think… lashing heavy rain and the wind is so strong we are actually rocking in our pitch.

No matter, after a glass (or two) of red Hayley gets her baby guitar out and plays a few tunes to end the day.

Yes, the weather has been terrible and we wasted an hour of time and fuel for what has been a bit of a none day, but tonight has been lovely… That’s what we like about Vantours…

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Tuesday the 1st of October 2024

Saint Pierre en Port to Veulettes Sur Mer – 10 miles

Last night goes in our top 3 worst nights for storms. It was horrendous. For most of the night it rained, and the wind battered the van resulting in violent snatches of movement which went on all night.

We managed to get short periods of sleep throughout the night and by the morning the rain has stopped and although there is still some wind, we have blue skies. Quite a pleasant morning. Our pitch is still a mud bath when we set off. We do a quick service and set off for the town of Veulettes Sur Mer, which is only 10 miles away but because the roads are small and twisty it takes a good 40 minutes to get there. The drive is very nice, it’s sunny and warm and we are getting closer to Dieppe.

We have just missed the campsite office by only 5 minutes, so we have to wait a couple of hours until they open again. To kill time we head for the town. It’s a very charming seaside town with not much here. There are a few hotels and restaurants all of which, except one, are closed. The sea is rough after the storm of the past few days, but it’s a lovely day and nice to be out walking in the fresh sea air.

We get back just before 2 and can check-in. The campsite is a municipal campsite, run by the local council. It’s beautiful, very well-manicured and tended to, but most importantly it has hard standing for Jess, no more mud! Being the end of the season there are not many vans or caravans so we get the choice of pitches. We get settled in and Del starts to clear out the ‘garage’. Everything is out, gets cleaned, old stuff binned and then all neatly put back for the next trip.

Dinner on board tonight, a simple affair with a glass of rose wine a gift in fact from our friend Karen back in May.

We are surprised that it’s lasted that long…!

We end the night by playing one of our puzzle games by the Danish publisher 50 Clues. This one is called ‘The Pendulum of the Dead’, the first in a trilogy. We got 59%, not so great but good fun all the same.

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Wednesday the 2nd of October 2024

Veulettes Sur Mer to Dieppe – 31 miles

The strong wind and rain returned during the night and woke us both up. We are getting fed up with it now… It’s a cloudy wet morning, the rain has stopped though. We are in the process of getting up when we hear a loud car horn going off. This is the traditional French campsite sound in the morning of a bread van selling morning pastries and bread.

Del, half-dressed, dashes out and gets two pastries and the world’s longest baguette… Not really, the record for the longest baguette is 140.5m and was broken in May of 2024 in Suresnes! (Never heard of it)

We are moving on today to Dieppe where we will stay for two nights. There is quite a good stop there at the harbour. Our plan is to do a dinner tonight and maybe a lunch tomorrow.

A good, but carb filled, breakfast this morning. After a quick service, we set off for Dieppe. Hayley wants to buy some boxes of wine to take home and stock up with some French goodies. We stop at a huge Auchan supermarket but sadly she is not able to get what she wants which is boxes of 6 bottles, she could get the wine but not in boxes and to get them home safely, we need them in boxes, so no joy there.

We give up and make our way to Dieppe. Getting into the town is a little complicated, with narrow roads and roadworks being done. After a bit of ducking and diving, we finally arrive at the parking place next to the harbour. We get settled in and do a bit of Jess cleaning and sit in the warm sunshine… At last… We set off for a walk around the town of Dieppe which we find to be quite charming. The main part of the town is built around the harbour which has lots of restaurants and bars and is set back from the equally nice seafront. There’s a pebble beach which is popular, with lots of hotels along the front. We spend a good hour or two walking around and taking it all in. We like it here. It’s nice.

Before dinner we find a place with a panoramic view of the harbour while we sit and sip a ‘cocktail of the day‘.

Hayley has found us a Michelin rated restaurant, in fact, it’s a Bib Gourmand (a good value for money place). We have a very nice dinner with some scallops, which are the local speciality, and a small bottle of Chablis. Very nice, not outstanding, but we did enjoy it.

Back at Jess, it’s very quiet and peaceful. Early night.

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Thursday the 3rd of October 2024

Dieppe Day 2

Our last day in Dieppe so we plan to have a walk into the town and see the bits that we’ve not seen yet. Before that though, we are looking for a typical French lunch. We plan to eat early today as we are hoping to get an early night as we are up at 4:30 am to catch the 6.30 ferry back to Newhaven. Del does a little bit of homework for work he has when he gets back. We lock up Jess and set off, the tide in the port is high so the walkover bridge is open to let boats get in and out. We wait. We wait some more. We do a little bit more waiting before we get fed up waiting and start to walk up the harbour to another bridge.

After a 20 minute walk, we wait. We keep waiting. The bridge starts to move ready for us to cross but there is a change of mind somewhere because it moves in the opposite direction meaning that no one can cross. We have to wait, wait and wait. For both bridges. We wait 50 minutes, so by the time we get to the harbour most of the restaurants have stopped serving the ‘Menu de jour‘.

We walk up and down the harbour looking at the remaining restaurants that are open and doing food until we settle on a Vietnamese restaurant and have some summer rolls and a Bao Burger each.

Both are absolutely delicious. A fabulous replacement for the French lunch. We’ve had enough of them now anyway!

After our splendid lunch, we set off and explore the rest of Dieppe. Again unplanned, we end up in a clothes shop and spend a couple of hundred euros on clothes, that Del now has to drag around the town in a pink bag!

Dieppe is very nice. A working town, big on fishing. The high street is full of lovely shops, butchers, florists, fruit shops and cake shops.

There is a 900-year-old church that we go in to have a look around. It could do with some work as the masonry is starting to fall away. In fact, there is a net stretching the whole of the roof to catch falling debris.

It’s a shame. Hopefully, they will get some restoration done to it before it’s too late.

Enough walking, time to get back to Jess. We can’t help but walk into a patisserie and buy two cakes to take back to Jess to have with a brew. It’s a lovely warm sunny day.

Back at Jess, the tea is on, cakes eaten and we sit outside for a while and enjoy the sunshine before the late afternoon turns chilly.

We have had two days in Dieppe and we have liked it. Another place that you would never think of going to, but is actually full of surprises. We will be back.

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Friday the 4th of October 2024

Dieppe to East Cowes – 292 miles

There is nothing worse than hearing an alarm going off at 4:30 in the morning… Horrible, but unfortunately we have to be away from here at 5 am, drive around the corner and be ready to board our 06:30 ferry bound for Newhaven.

It’s dark and chilly. We drop the grey water from the tank. The drive from the parking place to the port is probably 10 minutes. We are in the queue, which is moving slowly but finally, we are on board and making our way to our cabin. We like these cabins. You get a nice comfy room with everything in it, a comfy bed, toilet and shower. We have an outside room so we get a sea view, but it’s still dark…

Like robots, and for no reason at all, we head to the restaurant and have a full breakfast. Why did we do that? It’s expensive and not the best. Once done we go back to our cabin and get a couple of hours sleep.

Soon we are woken up to the announcement that we are approaching Newhaven. It went so quickly. We get up and have a walk on deck. It’s a beautiful morning. A flat calm sea, blue skies and sunshine. A nice way to come back home, Lovely.

Jess needs a wash, she still looks like a rally van, covered in lumps of mud.

The ferry was brilliant if a little slow at getting on and off. We are probably about 30 minutes late and we have another ferry to catch for home. Hayley has found a car wash and after Del nearly kills us at a roundabout, we are giving Jess a good well deserved ‘bath‘.

The traffic toward Portsmouth is terrible. Stop start, stop start. We are going to be late. Del calls the ferry company and the motorhome club to let them know and gets us on a later ferry. Unfortunately, it will be much later. Instead of 13:20, it will be the 15:20. Dull. A long wait.

With Hayley at the wheel, we make good progress and arrive at 12:50. By luck there is space on an earlier ferry which we are put on. Great news. Back at the flat, we unload Jess. We can’t believe how much stuff we always take off her on these trips, so much stuff. She is cleaned up and taken to her storage spot, wrapped up m safe and sound until our next trip in December.

We are looking to do southern Spain, Portugal and back up to northern Spain.

Back at the flat, we put all this stuff away that has spilt out of Jess, rev up the washing machine and start to get through the washing.

We can’t be bothered with a full-on dinner tonight so it’s good old British fish and chips to end our 3 week journey and our day.

Again many thanks to all of you who follow us, we always like to hear from you. Until the next time, we would like to wish you all good health.

Some stats from this trip

Fuel: 283 euros

LPG: 18 euros