Nido's parked up on the aire in Forges-Les-Eaux. We've stayed here a few times; it has large tarmac pitches with electric, a nice view over the fields and is on a natural route travelling from and to Calais. It's very warm out this evening with a large harvest moon. We'll stay here until tomorrow afternoon as Cathy has her first online Welsh language lesson of the new academic year, then we have to drive fifteen minutes to Buchy for Salty's appointment with the Vetty Man; I've had a text saying he'll be seen by Docteur Vet William Addey. It's almost like he's seeing a hair stylist, rather than taking his worming tablet and having a rabies booster!
Yesterday was a bit of a transit day to get us this far north. The drive was about 2.5 hours and included a stop at a Super U Hypermarket. We had a list of food and stuff we want to take home, as well as a few presents for those who have looked after our garden and kept an eye on the house. Luckily Cathy is very good at packing, as we bought A LOT of things - in fact €267 worth of things! They're all safely stowed under the bench seat and I've kept the receipt in case 'the Revenue' want to see proof of purchase when we book in for the Shuttle. There's only a couple of bottles of wine and a few beers though (all of those are presents) and the rest is food, coffee etc. Once that mammoth task was done, we carried on to the Camping Car Park aire at Lyons-la-Forêt. The CCP app said the place was full, but I've known this to be inaccurate before and sure enough there were about four spaces. We managed to bag the pitch right at the end with the sliding door opening out on to a fence and hedge, which provided privacy for us but, more importantly, meant nobody would be walking by to freak Salty out. He's fine with people but definitely not fine with other dogs - long story based around a sad and cruel first year until he was rescued and re-homed with us - poor dog (on both counts!).
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| oooh - new chairs! |
It was hot and sunny, so we sat outside for a quick lunch before taking a walk through the beech forest to walk around the village. Recognised as one of the 'beautiful villages of France, Lyons-la-Forêt is a hidden gem situated in the heart of Normandy’s largest forest, the Forêt domaniale de Lyons-La-Forêt, which covers an enormous 11,000 acres. There's an array of magnificent half-timbered, pink brick or tinted cob (clay and straw) houses. The village boasts tearooms, little restaurants, the odd hotel, antiques shops and the beautiful 18th-century timber-framed covered market. A long street leads you beside the Lieure river to the picturesque Church of Saint-Denis, which dates from the 12th to the 16th century. This little village, with some 800 inhabitants, became a favourite place for the cultured individual to come and find peace and for artists to find inspiration. The composer Maurice Ravel even penned some of his most beautiful pieces of music here and we walked past the house where he lived, complete with ornate, green-glazed chimney pots.
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| Ravel's house is the big one in the background with the pointy roof |
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| Ravel's house (courtesy of the Lyons Andelle Tourist Information website) |
Back at the van we sat outside with an ice lolly and cold drink, next to the clear chalk stream flowing alongside the site. Cathy made a delicious Thai chicken soup and, back on EHU, we did some more YouTube catch up before I caught up on Môn SAR training group emails.
This morning we drove a short distance to the aire in the small village of Saint Saire. It's on a square patch of grass next to the Avenue Verte cycle path, which used to be a railway line. The adjacent railway station is now a restaurant and café, but wasn't open today. The original plan was to stay here tonight and tomorrow for Cathy's Welsh lesson and I'd go for a bike ride to a town up the cycle path in search for a coffee. However, the small village had a busy cut-through road next to the aire and the grass area felt a bit exposed. Added to that, the internet signal was too weak for a 2.5 hour Teams video call, so we decided not to stay.
However, an interesting looking 6km circular walk started from the railway station, so we had a cup of tea and headed off south along the cycle path. It was a warm and sunny day with a steady breeze and we enjoyed the stroll, listening to the birds and watching the leaves fall as autumn marched on. A combination of cycle path, lanes and sunken paths, we wandered past fields of maize and cattle, old farms and charming cottages.
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| Once abundant hedgerow destroyed by the flailing machine |
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| ....all in the name of 'tidiness' |
The drive to Forges-Les-Eaux was only ten minutes and after I'd paid at the campsite on the opposite side of the road, we sat outside in the warm sunshine with a cup of tea and a shared lemon tart. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, snoozing and eating dinner. All is quiet now and it's an early night, ready for a busy day tomorrow.