June 29 - This is a very late blog. I am looking at the almost white cliffs of Dover from Calais. Yes, the weather is that good. But I shall back up a bit. Quite a bit.
Our time in the Loire was interesting if a bit disappointing. Next stop was a place called Louviers, just south of Rouen. The town was ordinary, the site satisfactory and quiet, so J liked it. We saw much as we intended of the twisting Seine. We visited Chateau Gaillard, which was Richard Couer de Lion's castle. It was brilliant as the pictures show but a nice moment was meeting an American. Charming and helpful but most of all Alaskan! We were too astonished to ask about the Palin person. I made his day by telling him he had met an English Richard at Richard the First's castle - I am sure he will enjoy re-telling that minor coincidence.
The Seine is a fascinating river and surrounded by interesting places - not including a town called Elbeuf; wow is that nasty! But La Bouille is a delight, Jumieges a joy and its abbey ruins amazing.
But most of all we spent a day in Honfleur. Few tourist traps exceed their press but this one does, and especially on such a superb sunny day . It is a brilliant town. Splendid harbour and a camp site on the edge of the town centre and the crossing to Le Havre or Caen would be splendidly easy; Calais not hard.
But soon enough we were off north to a site at a town called Guines - pronounced as the first part of Guiness but with no esses. The site is on a small chateau and brilliantly well designed and managed for its purpose - which is as a transit camp for Calais. We chose it, as so many others, via the ACSI scheme through the camping club. So did everyone else. As a result it is an English home from home. about 90% are brits on ther way up or down. But it is a very good site and we shall use it again - much better than those we have used on the UK side of the ditch!
The area is pretty boring - rather like a cross between Kent and Norfolk actually. Some downs but a lot just flat. Some huge fields and some market gardening. But we got sorted and made a fine crossing - watching Kent get bigger and France smaller all the way - never done that before; always been some rain, mist or a sea fret to spoilt the view. Dover was as frenetic as Calais had been, the M20 the usual nightmare, the Dartford crossing gave us our first traffic jam in 14 weeks and added an hour to an easy journey! And this was the first tolled road that did NOT accept a card. So, since all our english money hade been nicked in Chartres, we had to stop at a service station just to get money to pay the toll! Happy to be back home but the UK has a bit to learn!
And the garden was a nighmare of dead and dying plants! Janet has bought some instant colour and planted up, hacked down the excess and the dead and it now looks OK.
So we start to plan our next trip ... ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA!
