Post it from Camping Vitamin, Dieppe, Haute-Normandie, France 10th June 2013.
As it was Sunday we made very good time on the roads and once we reached Chartres we decided to press on and made a last minute decision to go back to Camping Sainte Claire at Neufchatel en Bray. Not checking the sat nav route properly caused us some problems as although it took us past Pont d L’Arch the route actually was taking us across the Seine further down in Rouen where the bridge was closed and I did not realise until it was too late. I have always found the French road signs to be lacking when needed and this was no exception, there were no deviation signs at all on the roads once we had tried to cross the damaged bridge and we made our own way out of Rouen by heading through the town and towards Dieppe. The plus side was I got to see the masts of some very large square rigged sailing vessels in the Rouen Armarda 2013, but unfortunately no ships to be seen by the driver at all!
The downside was we arrived at Sainte Claire at 1700 just as the owner was putting the site full sign out. We could have stayed on the newly opened Aire de camping car next door but we decided it was not what we wanted and set off for Dieppe instead. A good choice as well. The campsite was very clean and tidy with lots of unoccupied static caravans. It was very quiet and peaceful but once again the pot washing water was too cold to be of use really and not what I expected on a 4 star site. I know I keep harping on about the costs in France compared to Spain but once again I was able to make direct comparisons when I paid 5 euros for 60 minutes of internet time whilst I paid 5 euros for 360 minutes at Vilanova Park.
We decided to spend 2 nights here and visit the town centre and well worth it were too. We had a lovely lunch on the seafront, which reminded us a little of Whitby, and browsed the many shops on the medieval high street. The walk down the hill to the seafront from the campsite took a steady 40 minutes, we did not time ourselves on the way back and went shopping instead at the big supermarkets.
Having found our plans changed at last minute we decided that we would go sightseeing for our last drive towards Calais and choose a place to stay when we get there.
Regards, Roy