Travelling to Montville

On Wednesday night (28^th Nov) we had a real taste of the storm with the van rocking in the wind through the night.  We were warm inside but didn’t sleep very well; big day tomorrow.  We set off at 08h00 on Thursday morning to restock our supplies as we would be travelling quite long distances for next while, the plan is to hightail it through France to get to the North Eastern coast of Spain as soon as possible.  Driving in the UK has done a lot to manage our expectations though, as we move quite slowly so we will probably take around a week to do it.

We were lucky enough to get moved onto an earlier train when we arrived at the Channel terminal and it wasn’t long before we were boarding.  The entire operation is very slick although it is quite daunting driving the buxom Bokkie down the inside of a train.  

About to board

Driving a wide motorhome down a narrow train

A quick 35 minute trip under the English Channel and we emerged into (brief) sunshine in Calais.  We are avoiding Paris and driving down the East of France.  Today we planned to go as far as Rouen.  The wind was directly from the front for most of the way and the very aerodynamic (not!) Hymer really felt it, especially on the hills.  The countryside is beautiful, the roads much quieter and trucks seemed much slower.  The only issue was with the wind direction we would get a real tug each time we overtook a truck, it must have looked quite comical from behind.

We are still getting used the apps and maps we are using to get around, and decided to head for a free municipal Aire in the village of Montville, just north of Rouen.  Once off the highway things got quite interesting with the narrow village roads and we ended up blocking access through a narrow bridge for a while, angry Frenchmen behind us and grumpy ones from the front refusing to give us a gap.  We had to mount a pavement to get past another van and then drove through the centre of town to get to the Aire, quite a scary experience.  The Aire has another two GB vans and a handful of French.  It is in a lovely site alongside the indoor swimming pool and some sports fields with kids playing footie and men playing petanque. Very French!

Lake and river alongside the Aire

Montville

Office of the Marie in Montville 

Bokkie in her night spot.  No, it's not our satellite dish, it's the fancy van behind us

It’s quite intimidating being so far out of our comfort zone, we were getting used to the routine on UK campsites so it is quite strange to be completely self-sufficient staying in such public spaces.  It may take some getting used to, hopefully easier once we are somewhere warmer.  Most of the local campsites in France are closed so this is the only way to tour; it’ll be fine once we settle into a routine. 

Onward and upwards!