Where's Bertie? He's in an otherwise empty car park in the seaside town of Pourville-sur-Mer (exact location: 49.91705, 1.02940).
Weather: The sky clouded over before the sun was high enough to hit us this morning and it has been mainly cloudy ever since, although with some sunny intervals this afternoon. Cold, with an even colder easterly wind.
I was determined to run this morning, but not at my usual early hour. To allow a little heat to seep into the day, I left it until 10 before I set off. I don't think it made much of a difference: it was only 2 degrees at noon, and there's not a noticeable warmth between zero and two degrees, particularly with an easterly wind making things feel much colder.
It was an undulating route I took (unavoidable in that area, particularly when covering 8.5 miles in a single loop), and it went slightly awry when, even though I was looking at the map, I took a wrong turn at a roundabout. Because I'd made a mental note of my next turn, I didn't notice the error until I got to the sign for the next village, whereupon I recognised that it wasn't where I was supposed to be. Back to the roundabout I went, where I located the right road - one so tiny that I'd completely missed its presence on my first pass.
Having had the heating come on a couple of times through the night, and having turned it up higher first thing this morning, there was a whole tank full of hot water waiting for me when I got back to Bertie, so it would have been silly not to use it with a shower. Gosh, did I feel the cold afterwards, though?
Lunchtime was by then upon us, but we thought that could wait 45 minutes whilst we drove to Dieppe. We were about half way there when I started waivering as to our destination. The two Aires in Dieppe are €12, which would be fine if we were guaranteed electricity, but we knew that there are only a few electric points and that they are designated as being for two hours per van per day only (judging by the reviews, the reality is that whoever gets one, keeps it). By contrast, there are five car parks suitable for motorhomes in Pourville-sur-Mer, just a little way along the coast to the west, and they all have fairly good reviews.
It was in amongst this indecision that we ran into a fuel protest (the price of diesel has increased by 23% in the last 12 months, and when the government announced another increase in fuel duty to take effect in January, a series of blockades and protests was organised). After sitting with the engine off for a while, whilst horns tooted around us, we decided that, as we were in a place where we could turn around, and as there was an obvious alternative route we could take, that is what we would do. Some little roads duly brought us a slightly longer way around to the seaside, where we soon had Bertie settled into a parking slot.
Swaddling ourselves up in winter layers after lunch, a walk was had along the promenade.
Can you see the four people in the sea?
The same view as rendered by Monet in 1882.
It was walking along the sea road on the way back that we made a fortuitous find:
Dodgy photo taken later out of Bertie's window when we relocated ourselves to the other end of the promenade.
The one problem with coming here rather than going to the Aire in Dieppe was that we were down to our last couple of litres of drinking water. We've not come across a single public tap in the street on this trip to date (something that's pretty common in many places in France (and Spain)), but one finally appeared just when needed it most.
Our wanderings had also told us that one of the other car parks, at the other end of the sea front, was better than where we were initially parked, for being less slopey and further away from the road. So, that's where we are now sitting, as the light drains out of the day and the temperature starts to plummet again. Hopefully the proximity of the sea will keep it a little warmer here than it was higher up in the middle of the countryside last night.
Mick went for another little wander after we had relocated and came back with these. He's a star, isn't he?
Weather: The sky clouded over before the sun was high enough to hit us this morning and it has been mainly cloudy ever since, although with some sunny intervals this afternoon. Cold, with an even colder easterly wind.
I was determined to run this morning, but not at my usual early hour. To allow a little heat to seep into the day, I left it until 10 before I set off. I don't think it made much of a difference: it was only 2 degrees at noon, and there's not a noticeable warmth between zero and two degrees, particularly with an easterly wind making things feel much colder.
It was an undulating route I took (unavoidable in that area, particularly when covering 8.5 miles in a single loop), and it went slightly awry when, even though I was looking at the map, I took a wrong turn at a roundabout. Because I'd made a mental note of my next turn, I didn't notice the error until I got to the sign for the next village, whereupon I recognised that it wasn't where I was supposed to be. Back to the roundabout I went, where I located the right road - one so tiny that I'd completely missed its presence on my first pass.
Having had the heating come on a couple of times through the night, and having turned it up higher first thing this morning, there was a whole tank full of hot water waiting for me when I got back to Bertie, so it would have been silly not to use it with a shower. Gosh, did I feel the cold afterwards, though?
Lunchtime was by then upon us, but we thought that could wait 45 minutes whilst we drove to Dieppe. We were about half way there when I started waivering as to our destination. The two Aires in Dieppe are €12, which would be fine if we were guaranteed electricity, but we knew that there are only a few electric points and that they are designated as being for two hours per van per day only (judging by the reviews, the reality is that whoever gets one, keeps it). By contrast, there are five car parks suitable for motorhomes in Pourville-sur-Mer, just a little way along the coast to the west, and they all have fairly good reviews.
It was in amongst this indecision that we ran into a fuel protest (the price of diesel has increased by 23% in the last 12 months, and when the government announced another increase in fuel duty to take effect in January, a series of blockades and protests was organised). After sitting with the engine off for a while, whilst horns tooted around us, we decided that, as we were in a place where we could turn around, and as there was an obvious alternative route we could take, that is what we would do. Some little roads duly brought us a slightly longer way around to the seaside, where we soon had Bertie settled into a parking slot.
Swaddling ourselves up in winter layers after lunch, a walk was had along the promenade.
Can you see the four people in the sea?
The same view as rendered by Monet in 1882.
It was walking along the sea road on the way back that we made a fortuitous find:
Dodgy photo taken later out of Bertie's window when we relocated ourselves to the other end of the promenade.
The one problem with coming here rather than going to the Aire in Dieppe was that we were down to our last couple of litres of drinking water. We've not come across a single public tap in the street on this trip to date (something that's pretty common in many places in France (and Spain)), but one finally appeared just when needed it most.
Our wanderings had also told us that one of the other car parks, at the other end of the sea front, was better than where we were initially parked, for being less slopey and further away from the road. So, that's where we are now sitting, as the light drains out of the day and the temperature starts to plummet again. Hopefully the proximity of the sea will keep it a little warmer here than it was higher up in the middle of the countryside last night.
Mick went for another little wander after we had relocated and came back with these. He's a star, isn't he?
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