25th September (Day 16)
A dash to the coast
With only three days left now until our ferry back to blighty we thought we would head for the coast and put our feet up for a couple of days. We are going to stay near Cayeux-sur-Mer below Bolgne and get the bikes out, a bit of bird spotting, basically chilling before the inevitable horrors of driving on the M25.
Before we set off we look at the route and decide to have a look at les Andelys on the Seine as it looks like it has some fantastic views from a chateau on high. At the back of my mind though is the gaping Gazole hole that needs sorting out. The drive down into the valley is spectacular and we arrive in les Andelys looking for a garage – I pull into one but it really just a tyre outlet but they direct me to a motor spares place in town. This is a very busy place being on a main route to Rouen. Having negotiated heavy traffic we found ACE motor spares and I enquired about a ‘Bouchon Essence’ for Hilma – some strange looks but we get there in the end pointing to a picture of a temporary cap in the book he presented to me. “Aprés-midi monsieur” as they did not have one in stock. I declined, I did not want to wait for a couple of hours (probably more) as we wanted to crack on.

Next stop was an agricultural supply shop in a town nearby (I had decided it would be better to try and sort this out before doing any more touristic stuff). A very helpful mademoiselle said they didn’t have any but came out and had a look at the size of Hilma’s orifice (most rude I thought) and went returned to the shop with me in tow. A couple of shelf visits later and we came to – the corks! Well, not parfait, but I bought a pack of two and intend to ‘whittle’ one into shape later with a spare in case I make a cock up of the first. All exciting stuff this motor-homing malarkey you know, what with pumps breaking down, lost gazole covers and smaller mishaps like breaking glasses it all adds up to an adventure itself, let alone the touristy bits.
We drive through Normandy content that we have corks to block up Hilma ( will swap the water cover to the gazole cover and use the cork on the water – ingenious I thought and when we get back to blighty order another – unless we see a camping-car outlet en route).
I didn’t realise just how rolling the countryside could be in Normandy with some spectacular views. Eventually we arrive at la Mollière d’Aval opposite a campsite and settle down into the Aire exclusively for motorhomes for €7 a night and €3 for a water jeton. For that we get to use the campsite toilets and showers with a view of the dunes.