We’re having some good night’s sleep despite sharing the bed with a 25kg Labrador who thinks the bed is her own and is like a sack of potatoes. Will not budge even when you physically relocate her! Out for the count!
We got up slowly and did a few Campervan ablutions – the novelty of emptying grey water and sorting out the loo, all new to us after our recent upgrade! We are quite a team when packing away, having our own little duties to carry out. Skipping breakfast we headed out onto the road again, this time towards the city of Rouen.
We were soon out on open countryside and it seemed to be the Potato Central – lots of little smallholdings selling off their spuds on the roadside. With no need to stock up with tubers, we carried on, travelling through more wooded countryside and smaller fields – it was still crops with the odd pasture with cows chewing the cud. We’ve seen quite a few birds of prey too which is always amazing. The further we travelled west, we saw more Tudor/half timbered style cottages in the villages we went through which was interesting. The satnav had taken us on a seemingly magical mystery tour, determined to visit every industrial looking town with low business parks and car showrooms on the outskirts! The countryside was more rolling now and we dropped in and out of wooded valleys – it was certainly varied.
Hubby had done some research last night and discovered a little village and restaurant to head towards for Sunday Lunch, so we aimed for Gerberoy. We came off the main road and followed a little country lane – initially we stopped at a gorgeous little hamlet of half timbered houses, before we realised we had to drive a little further. Every single house in Gerberoy was also half timbered and was a totally chocolate box village. It was stunning. We found a large and generous car park on the edge of the village and began to investigate the little community, wandering down its little lanes. We were quite hungry by now and found our restaurant that we had emailed last night. We had sent quite a quirky little message to them and they replied, saying how much they were looking forward to meeting The Pup. They greeted us like old friends and had prepared a table in the little garden opposite the restaurant, surrounded by flowers. We were the only ones in the garden, but it was lovely. They were excellent hosts and looked after us well. The sky was thinking about raining and there was dampness in the air. Luckily it held off while we ate and then a little drizzle appeared as we paid our bill. We wandered up to the church and back down into the village before finding a tree lined avenue on the edge of the village and waddled back to the Van. What a beautiful little place.
Very happy, we joined the main road again and headed towards Rouen and our campsite for the night, some 15km north west of the city. We discovered last night that Rouen has a Low Emission Scheme which you need a sticker to enter or face a fine if you take a vehicle within the zone, which we didn’t have. Though there was a bus not far from the campsite, French buses don’t allow dogs of more than 10kg onboard. If we had a chihuahua we would be okay as long as we stuffed it in a handbag or other suitable receptacle. We spent the evening with ChatGPT, trying to figure a way in – driving to the nearest rail station brought its own set of questions: was there ample parking for a campervan, was there height restrictions? Park and Ride? We tried everything. The Pup would need to be muzzled on the train and all this for about 4 hours in Rouen. We heard it was a beautiful city with stunning architecture, but was it worth all the hassle?
Camping Les Nenuphars, Roumare, nr Rouen.
To avoid the Low Emissions (or ZFE) we took a convoluted route to our campsite – we had to override the Satnav as she would have happily skimmed northern Rouen and got us a fine. We found our campsite not far from the lovely looking town of Montville, and checked in. Again we had a little pitch enclosed on three sides by hedges and tucked under trees. There were three other Brit campers here which was nice to see – we got chatting to our next door neighbours. We had a nibbly tea washed down with some wine and watched the sun go down. We’re still making minor adjustments to our living quarters and making little improvements, making our campervan lives easier. Tomorrow we will make a decision on Rouen, but ultimately we heading to the town of Bayeux. Yes and we know the Tapestry is currently in London 🙈.
apathtosomewhere 