France

Le Crotoy

We were sorry to leave San Remo but it was time to head home.  We drove west towards France along the Cote d’Azure, passing Menton, Monte Carlo and Antibes before turning north towards Lyon. That evening we found a good campsite just outside Lyon in a wooded park area. We sat in the evening sunshine enjoying a drink before dinner.

Camping Indigo, Lyon
Bread and croissants were ordered from Reception for breakfast and then we were on the road again. The tolls on the autoroute seemed expensive but the miles flew by and fuel consumption was much better than if we were driving on smaller windy roads. Our route was to take us through Dijon, Troyes and then on to Reims – unfortunately our satnav had other ideas and we found ourselves hurtling towards Paris. Quelle horror! We have more than once been reduced to gibbering wrecks by the Paris Periphique. As soon as a good alternative presented itself we left the Paris-bound autoroute and drove sedately along the D671 from Dijon to Troyes. It turned out to be a beautiful drive through champagne country (no, we didn’t). We rejoined the motorway at Troyes to continue our journey at a more sprightly pace. We passed through St. Quentin and Amiens and on to the coast.

We were heading towards Le Crotoy, a small fishing town on the Channel coast just up from Dieppe. This friendly little town, in common with so many French towns, had a municipal campsite for camper vans – no tents or caravans. There were about 60 vans on the site that evening, each paying an overnight parking fee of €5. It was a short walk along the quay to the town centre where there were fresh fish stalls and a variety of shops and restaurants. We ate oysters, followed by sole and skate with chips and salad, washed down with a bottle of the palest rose wine. We spotted several of our fellow campers enjoying a meal in the restaurant and guessed that the people of Le Crotoy were well rewarded for their generosity in allowing camper vans to stop in their town overnight.

Campsite at Le Crotoy
Campsite at Le Crotoy
Le Crotoy
Le Crotoy
Campsite, Le CrotoyDSC02012