Sunday and Monday 24th & 25th May 2026 – two more very hot days spent travelling through chunks of the day to get to the coast….

As this current heatwave continues, so does our journey north and then westwards. We are trying to get reasonably early starts to avoid driving in the worst of the afternoon sun and still we are benefitting slightly from the sun being behind us instead of full on the windscreen.

By early Sunday afternoon we have made it as far north and West to O-de-Selle, a small sleepy hollow village a little south of Amiens and well on our way to the Normandy coast. Here we found a lovely shaded pitch backing onto a stream, giving us the chance to sit out and cool down whilst watching the ducks lazily making their way up and down stream….

Later, we did venture down into the village and for a wander along the river, though not another sole stirred on this warm Sunday evening….

Away early in the morning we were soon arriving at the coast, however we quickly realised that it is also a Bank Holiday in France and being such a fine day, everybody was heading to the coast as well! Our planned stops at firstly St Jouin-Bruneval and then Etretat were so not going to happen, both resorts being absolutely overflowing with parked cars and certainly the beach at St Jouin-Bruneval was jam packed with no opportunity to even hop out to take a photo.

Time to find somewhere quiet and preferably shady to stop and come up with a Plan B. Fortunately I hadn’t booked anywhere for an overnight stop and the chances of getting onto the ones that I had earmarked near the sea are slim to nonexistent so a real Plan B was to head further north and inland to Luneray, where I was able to book a space on an Aire for the night.

Arriving much later and much hotter than we planned, we waited until early evening before venturing out for a brief cooling walk along the handy, leafy cycle path and called it a night.

Tomorrow is a another day….

Sunday’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 192
  • Miles walked – 3
  • O/N – £12.50

Monday’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 179
  • Miles walked – 3
  • O/N – £13.70

Friday and Saturday 22nd & 23rd May 2026 – travelling from Switzerland up to northern France….

After making the difficult decision to leave Switzerland, over the weekend we made inroads on our journey back up towards the coast of Northern France. As forecast the weather has been beautifully hot and sunny, so we have tried to do all the driving in the mornings, arriving on site around midday. Fortunately by driving north the sun has been behind us making it bearable to drive in and keep relatively cool.

On friday we arrived at our Aire next to Lac de Kruth-Wildenstein in the heart of the National Park Unfortunately all the shady pitches had already gone but there was a little bit of breeze which boosted by the fan I have in the van, provided a little relief inside. At about 4 we took a wander down to the lake and strolled in and out of leafy cover for an hour or so before admitting defeat and returning to the van….

After a quiet night, though the aire had filled up during the evening, and after a short stroll to the lake we were on the road just after 9, again heading northwards. It was an easy mostly dual carriageway drive, not the most interesting but I was grateful for the simplicity and speed as we watched the external temperature rising to 28 degrees by the time we arrived at an aire on the outskirts of the small village Charny-sur-Meuse (I’m sure we have been somewhere else along the Meuse).

This time we found a spot underneath a tall tree but even so it was a struggle to keep in anyway cool and even though we waited until about 4 to head out we really struggled without any breeze and very little shade whilst walking to last more than half and hour – just enough time to see the river and wander into the village and see we weren’t missing anything before heading back to the sanctuary of our shady tree….

It looks to be another hot one tomorrow so I intend to use the Toll roads tomorrow and an early start to get a good few miles westwards and that will leave us with a relatively short hop on Monday to reach the coast and then breathe….

Friday’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 138
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Fuel – £91.35
  • O/N – £12.87

Saturday’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 155
  • Miles walked – 3
  • O/N – £13.35

Saturday 18th April 2026 – Sospel….

After yesterdays rather long one we have opted for a relatively quiet one today, doing a few household chores and then taking a leisurely stroll around the outskirts of Sospel…

Enjoying the peace and quiet of this beautiful green scenery and imagining what it must be like to be this cut off when the snow comes – I wonder if the roads in and out of the village which lead through some pretty scenic but equally terrifying switchbacks and significant inclines and declines are cleared regularly as I didn’t notice any snow gates?

The village itself has a lovely local atmosphere with the cafes along the road all offering tables and chairs by the riverside and never appearing to be short on trade and little groups of older folks just passing the time of day, watching the world go by in each others company or playing an animated game of boules.

In fact the only noise making creatures are the frogs or toads maybe? – usually well hidden in the greenery alongside the river but wow do they make a racket and have plenty to say – we managed to capture one, a little fuzzy as with a high zoom….

They are beasts!

Whilst spending time here in the mountainous areas both in Sospel and previously in Montauroux the nightime has been filled with the sound of Scops Owls which make a single but repetitive hoot seemingly all night long and on arriving in Sospel on Wednesday we heard our first cuckoo of the year – wonderful sound of nature and a welcome sound.

A lovely peaceful and reflective day approximately half way through our European roadtrip.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 4
  • O/N – £14.25

Friday 17th April 2026 – Nice didn’t evade us after all….

Whilst wandering around the village yesterday, we popped into the Tourist Office to enquire about catching the train down into Nice and so today that is exactly what we did….

It was an hour’s journey meandering down through the mountains, passing and stopping at many valley villages on the way and arriving in a considerably hotter and sunnier Nice….

We wandered along the seafront (another fantastic french promenade) and around the headland to the beautiful old port, suitably complete with a number of gin palaces but a large number of brightly coloured smaller wooden boats as well, giving a fine mix of new and old….

Returning to the main town past the WWI Memorial carved into the rock face….

We wandered back along the sea front….

Catching views of the (surprisingly to me at least) shingly beaches as far as the eye could see – Castel Plage, Plage le Paillon, Ruhl Plage and Plage du Negresco….

Sitting for a while, watching this speed boat giving it’s parasailers an aerial view of the city…

Before making our way back to the station, passing Hotel Negresco and the 14th July 2016 Memorial Garden on our way back through the city….

A good day out and I’m glad we made the effort to visit Nice, would I go back? Probably not.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 10
  • Beaches – 4
  • Train – £17.08
  • O/N – £14.25

Thursday 16th April 2026 – a relaxed day wandering around Sospel….

After the chaos of yesterday, we are just happy to potter around the village of Sospel, enjoy this glorious sunshine and just be….

Many of the streets the buildings are only a meter or so apart so it is definitely one of those places where it is pretty essential to get on with your neighbours but seems a nice social town with plenty of folks enjoying the sunshine and outside tables and chairs of the bars and cafes by the river….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 4
  • O/N – £14.25