28/06/2008 - Moving towards Paris

We set off from La Crotoy fairly early, around 10am. We seemed to be the first ones up, out of around 14 other Motor Homes. We’re not used to being the first ones awake, ever. There were a few people with little dogs which must sleep in their vehicles taking them for a morning walk along the beach, it was all very peaceful and we couldn’t believe how quiet the roads were from around 9am-10am. Hardly anyone to be seen. We had a coffee in the sun, and moved on.
We headed down the D940 towards Abbeville then moved east on the D925 then south on the D938 until we reached Albert. That sounded quite easy just writing that, but I can assure you it wasn’t. We’re still getting partially lost every so often, but we’ll get better with time. Mike’s great Granddad is buried in one of the British War Cemeteries in a place called Dermancourt just south of Albert. We parked up on the side of the road and paid our respects. It was very humbling, and we met two other English people and it was nice talking to them about their experiences thus far on their trip. Mike’s Great Granddad was called W. H. Hunt who fought in the London Regiment, and died in 1916, we think during the battle of the Somme, and he was stationed in Dermancourt itself. The Cemetery was very pleasantly kept and is clearly being looked after by the War Graves Commission. (Picture: Parked by the side of the road in Dernancourt)

We knew that by the end of the day we wanted to be near Paris, as we plan on going there tomorrow. We won’t be driving in the centre of Paris though, that would be suicide. We had a few Aires in mind in a place called Coupvray which is next door to Disney Land, and we drove down there (again on the ‘D’ and ‘N’ roads) passing through the busy city of Amiens in the process.

We didn’t find the Aires, well we found one but it was 17 Euros per day and it was directly in the centre of Disney Land, so we passed on that one. We headed back to a smaller town we saw called Esbly and thankfully we are now currently parked directly next to Esbly train station, and we haven’t been asked to move on yet! Touch wood it remains that way, as Eric is staying here tomorrow whilst we get the train into the capital. Not another Motor Home in sight in Esbly, but it’s another peaceful, pleasant town, filled with Bars, Brassieres and Hair Salons. (Picture: Parked up by the side of the Railway Station in Esbly)

We had to fill up Eric today, and diesel cost 1.42 euros/per litre which works out at about £1.16 - so a little cheaper than in the UK currently.

My shoulders ache now, must get some sleep. Early start tomorrow - the Eiffel Tower awaits!

(Mike by his Great Grandfathers grave)

(Dernancourt British War Memorial)