Along the coast

You could tell we were making our way back into France because there was miles and miles of countryside everywhere you looked with fields of corn, sunflowers or hay bales to which our daughter would exclaim “Hay bales!” And we would have to reply in kind or be told off for not repeating- so it became a repetitive game we played along the roads but it kept our daughter entertained along the way. We were headed towards Estaples, just south of where we left the coast but we stopped at a campsite on route as we were clearly not going to make it all the way that day. The campsite owner was very friendly and helped us find a way to pay as we didn’t have any cash and there were no cash machines within the vicinity. However, the facilities were very poor and I decided against using them upon inspection. There was a small park and donkeys in the field next to us but that was about it really- luckily for us we were only staying for one night before moving on.

We arrived at Camping Pinede in Estaples and stayed for 2nights so we could catch up on some chores. Yes they still need to be done when you’re motorhoming! There was a decent play area and trampoline which our daughter was happy about- this became her priority in any campsite we stayed in.

An English family arrived on our second day there and our little girl quickly made friends with their 6 year old daughter. Well, that was it then, she had disappeared for the day going over to play in their spot before heading to the park with them whilst we got some other things done before joining them with our son so he could have some play time too. The couple were very lovely and easy to get on with so it was an easy decision to make when they offered to bring our daughter back with them when we decided to make our way back to the motorhome to try and settle our little boy. They even bought her an ice lolly and she looked very comfortable and at home as she sat there outside the restaurant with them as though she was apart of their family. It was lovely. The little girl had also given our daughter some of her toys to keep because she had duplicates! A very touching deed indeed!

The next day they left early in the morning much to our daughters horror but we had become Facebook friends so you never know, one day we could possibly meet up again. We also left that day and drove along the coast towards Dieppe to stop in a campsite called camping vitamin. There was a Decathlon over the road so we went there first and bought a few things and then went to the campsite which happened to be fully booked! However, we wasn’t disheartened as it looked packed so we carried on and found another campsite in a quieter location which happened to be beautiful. Camping la source had a little river running around it which we played pooh sticks upon it’s bridge at the entrance. The facilities were good and it would have been a nicer place to camp had it not been raining. I was also put off by the bar staff who made me feel uncomfortable when we went over to try and socialise because they couldn’t understand me when I was trying to order drinks- I was trying my best to communicate and instead of getting help and it working both ways because he couldn’t speak English either, all I got was him speaking to his friends at the bar in his mother tongue and them all laughing which made me feel really uncomfortable because I had no idea what they were saying and it felt like they were laughing at me- now I may be jumping to conclusions but it’s not nice to be put in that position in the first place- having worked in customer service most of my working life I knew that this was not professional and it really put me off, so after we pretty much downed our drinks we left and retired back to our motorhome which was only a stones throw away where we could here the Elvis Presley impersonator till late at night with smoke blowing through our open windows from the barbecue. You may call us party poopers but it wasn’t a great atmosphere for a campsite when you have young children to put to bed so we left the following day and stopped in a campsite called Domaine Catiniére which was very expensive but again had great facilities, with a baby bath, swimming pool with slides, a large playing field and bouncy castles! Well we used all of them as the weather was absolutely hot and we thought we might as well make the most of our money. It was a fun filled day and tomorrow we carry on along the coast to see what else we can find.