Goodbye England, hello France.

London

We’re new to driving a camper van and driving in London in one changes you. Normally cautious, after being stuck on a road reduced to only one passable lane for awhile with cars lining up behind us I found myself saying “Play chicken! Play chicken like you mean it!” Dermot did, and we made it. Phew! We stayed one night in London at an actual hotel room to meet with Mark, Sharon, Finn and Cian. The boys had grown a lot and were still full of energy.  

Folkestone

We booked at a campsite close to the crossing point and booked three days to prepare.  Once we’d prepared by checking French road signs, etc. we decided to take our first “tourist day” to explore the cliffs of Dover. It was beautiful as the pictures show. We had thought we’d try the Chunnel to cross into France but then learned you have to book a Chunnel passing a week or two ahead so we decided to go by ferry. We booked a passage at 12:05 but when we arrived early, they let us go on the one that departed at 11:10 instead! The day was foggy, rainy and gray so there are no pictures of the cliffs from the ship. The passage went very smoothly and we headed to the campsite we had booked nearby.

Pay-de-Calais

 The area is on the sea and looks idyllic in the travel brochure - white cliffs down to the ocean just like Dover, but we didn’t even try to find a look out onto the ocean.  Our arrival in the area was forestalled by a closed road which required us to take a long detour on rough gravel tractor roads between farming fields. Dermot was traumatized.  We arrived at our campsite in the very, very small town of Cap de Nez Blanc early. The day was very cold and dreary and we weren’t able to connect to the internet with our shiny new mi-fi to book our next campsite.  So we headed out to the only place open, ordered a drink and used their wi-fi.

The campsite was several notches below what we were used to in England.  Most surprising were the open air toilet/shower facilities. There was no female and male side. There were separate cubicles for each function (e.g., shower, toilet, and sink) but no toilet paper and no exterior walls so the cold wind was with you throughout.  Urinals were just open air attached to the back of shower stalls completely exposed. 

You were asked at check in if you wanted to take a shower and charged one euro for each shower. They give you a token for each shower.  We toyed with the idea of skipping showers but once we committed to the idea, the shower experience was not as bad as we had imagined. Dermot reported that there was a couple taking a shower together in the next stall.  I guess they're true water conservationists! Yeah, Dermot loves France now!

Rouen, France

We picked this city as our next stop to troubleshoot our internet problems. The campsite was better and that lifted our spirits. Monet had made the cathedral in Rouen famous by painting it in all kinds of atmospheric light with few details - some of the first examples of impressionism. We took a few minutes to appreciate the outside, but spent most our time trying to deal with our communication/internet issues.  

Mont Saint Michel

A very touristy but lovely area. This is only the second day dedicated entirely to enjoyment.

St. Michel with soccer ball.

Dinan, France

A beautiful medieval walled town. We walked through the town and were stunned by the half-timbered houses that are centuries old. Walking the walls around the town was beautiful and relaxing. Click the link below to see lots more pictures!


Click here for more photos.

Parking and Internet Access 

These have been our biggest challenges living in the camper van. We need the internet to find information, book campsites, download maps, etc.  So we bought new sims cards with UK numbers and a mi-fi device. I’ll spare you the details but its a recurring and on-going problem. Campsites being outside of populated areas means we’ve resorted to driving into town to get connected which requires us to find a big enough parking spot for us (difficult and scary on small roads), then pay for parking. We thought we’d do more sightseeing than dealing with logistics!