2006, Day Six, Les Andelys

Day six 6th July

We left Houlgate nice and early but by a different road to the one we had come in on, this one was a lot wider, It was the one AutoRoute had suggested on the way in, so it is useful most of the time.  We were heading to a site close to Giverny so that we could visit Monet's garden before heading back north.  We had picked out a four star site from the ACSI Camping Guide Europe, Camping Château Gaillard at Bernières-sur-Seine on the Seine.  On the way back to the A13 there are people by the side of the road and lots of police (don't see many police in France usually) so Dot says the Tour must be coming this way.  Now usually, when in France when the Tour is on, we check to see where they will be and in fact we had checked most days but had forgotten today.  Dot did suggest stopping to see them go bye but as we weren't completely sure it was the tour, or what time they may be passing, we just carried on.

So it was back on the A13 all the way to the A154 for a short distance to the N155 and an Intermarché for some supplies then on to the D135 to Bernières-sur-Seine via the C82.  Well that was the plan, A13 to A154, 110k no problem, then 1.5K before the N155 with only 17K still to go, we are waved off our route to make way for the Tour de France.  We are not allowed to stop and check for an alternative route (which there wasn't as the Tour coming exactly the opposite way we wanted to go) just waved on in to the town of Louviers.  There we did stop eventually after being waved on several times, and plotted a route to get us back on track.  This took us down a very narrow street but luckily it wasn't very busy (the Tour was passing through the town just behind us and everyone besides us must have been watching).  Another bit of luck was passing a large supermarket, as we were not going to get to the one we were originally heading for.

Stocked up and back on route after our detour, the D134 is still intermittently lined with with Tour supporters some having BBQs, most drinking, all waving, the road is painted with massagers for riders and the villages all have bunting out.

Bernières-sur-Seine is tiny, Camping Château Gaillard is on the outskirts and doesn't look like a four star site, we pull up outside and walk in.  The people on reception are friendly and allow us have a walk round the site but we do not like the look of it (in my opinion it looks like a travellers encampment), anyway we get back in the van and head for Les Andelys about 5K further down the D134.

LES ANDELYS Camping Les Trois Rois 27700 Les Andelys Web Site

The municipal site at Les Andelys is just over the bridge, sharp right as we entered the town, it is beside the river with views of the medieval fort Château Gaillard.

We get a pitch facing the river, on the site there is a small bar/cafe with a half built/demolished swimming pool, not sure which.  The Brits on the next pitch tell us how we just missed the Tour passing the site and going over the bridge and also that it has been raining with massive thunderstorms for three days, until about an hour before we arrived, so we have had some luck today.

After watching the huge barges going up and down the Seine, we set off in to town to have a look round, there is a municipal pool on the other side of the bridge.  We find the way up to the Château just by the tourist info and also   the way to the new town but by the time we get to the shops, its late and everywhere is shut, we got an ice-cream and walk back to the site along the river.

That evening several Austin Healeys and a couple of other sports cars come on to the site and setup small tents, they would have to be small there's not much room in their boots.