New adventures beckon…

This morning we woke up in France! Oh yes, we did! At last! It may only have been at the Cité Europe, right outside the Tunnel on the French side, but it’s still France and it means we’re back on the road. The work is done for 6 months, we’ve managed to catch up with quite a few family and friends, and after some tearful goodbyes, we set off to Folkestone. We were that impatient to get on the road that we brought our train forward a bit more which is how we ended up at Cité Europe at 3am…

After a good sleep and a slow start, we set off with not much of a plan other than to head in the direction of Rouen. We’re enjoying the roads and the scenery, and it isn’t long before we spot the first Friterie. If you’ve not come across these before, these are usually food vans or small cabins along the road serving French fries and fried snacks. It doesn’t take long for us to agree to have a Friterie lunch.

Soon we see the familiar signs up ahead, of parked vans and trucks, and sure enough, there is a Friterie there and it’s open. It’s quite a ‘posh’ Friterie as it’s in a little wooden building with proper seating inside. It looks really nice, and it’s very busy which must be a good sign!

Friterie Motorest. Chez Catherine, Bernay-en-Pointhieu

Stuart has been looking forward to this moment for the last 6 months! Fries and a fried Merguez sausage from a friterie. As the lady takes our order, we sit back, relax and wait for our lunch. We try to chat a little bit with some of the other customers but our French language skills are still lacking quite a bit.

A point that would be proven further when our lunch arrives… It would seem that our pronunciation of Merguez sounds much like the French pronunciation of Nuggets, and that is what Stuart gets… Chicken nuggets and chips. We have to laugh! Luckily, we like nuggets too, and Stuart will have to wait for his Merguez a little while longer.

We drive on, and start researching aires in the area we’re heading for. We use various apps, but we have Camper Contact loaded on our satnav, and we use both Camper Contact and Search for sites on our phone. We find a nice looking Aire on the banks of the Seine and as we arrive, we’re not disappointed.

It’s a small aire in St Nicolas de Bliquetuit across the river from Caudebec-en-Caux (NKC site code 95). It has beautiful views across the river, and a nice walk for Luna along the river.

Happy Flip-flops

Caudebec-en-Caux

There are only really a few spaces as it’s quite small. It has water services for coins which you can buy locally, and you can empty grey and black waste. There are two other vans there; one converted coach, looking like it might be here for winter, and another motorhome.

There isn’t really anything else much around, but the views are great and the bridge to Caudebex-en-Caux is not far. You can cycle across it although it is quite high and steep.

After a walk, we settle in for the evening as we’re quite tired from our late night travels. We watch the barges go by on the river, and listen out to the familiar ‘on the road in France’ sounds such as church bells, cockerels and other farm animals. Luckily, we’re not disappointed as the church bells ring regularly and we have cows and goats nearby. I’m sure the cockerel won’t let us down in the morning!