Normandy to Champagne

Half-timbered houses in Nonacourt, France

The coastal towns of Brittany were wonderful and we’d had a great time there in our motorhome, Vanni. But a large storm was forming over the Atlantic, so we left the coast and drove through the southern part of Normandy, toward Paris.

We anticipated a 5.5-hour drive, but it was slowed by both the weather, and the number of interesting villages that we passed through. We stopped in Alençon, seeking their famous lace, then carried on to look at the traditional half-timbered houses in the villages of Nonacourt and Verneuil-sue-Avre.

But the drive seemed long. We decided not to press on to Paris, and found a camping ground for the night in the village of Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre.

Baguette on Rue de Longuile, Maisons-Laffitte, Paris

The next morning, we drove to Maisons-Laffitte, the town with the closest campsite to central Paris. But it was a challenge – there were major street closures because it was their market day.

We were diverted through one-way streets that were very narrow, until we got to one that was two-way, but still very narrow in our big motorhome.

Unfortunately, it had cars parked along the street making it even narrower! Leigh had to drive Vanni half on the footpath, avoiding pedestrians and rubbish bins, to enable oncoming traffic to get past, and us to move forward. It was very slow going but eventually we got through to our campsite.

Marg and barge on the banks of the Seine River, Paris

The Maisons-Laffitte campsite is on an island on the Seine River and surrounded by trees – we loved it. We had a wonderful view of the barges and other boating traffic going up and down the Seine between Paris and the coast.

Some of the barges were immense, consisting of two long barges plus the engine, with one carrying huge loads of coal and gravel, plus other things we could only guess at. 

The weather was not very kind to us that evening and we experienced quite a bit of wet, cold, windy weather which restricted our movements a bit. Despite the weather, the next day we caught the train into Paris.

Marg at Sacré-Cœur, Paris (spot the pink) 

We made our way around the interesting little streets of this beautiful and atmospheric city, before taking the funicular up to the famous Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Built on the highest hill in Paris, the views from there were great.

Most of Paris, including the River Seine, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so we spent the rest of the day seeing as many sites as possible.

Then the skies opened again and the rain set in with a vengeance! Luckily, we had our wet weather gear, so rugged up, and headed for shelter and afternoon tea at the stunning Art Deco masterpiece that is Galeries Lafayette, before heading back to camp.

Marg in Montmartre, Paris

We grabbed the train into Paris again the next morning, and had a great time wandering around Montmartre, and seeing more sights. 

We’ve both been to Paris as least twice each in previous years so, cold and wet, we headed back to camp early.

That night, we heard a knock on Vanni’s door. It seems the New Zealand flag that we put on Vanni’s dashboard, had been spotted by fellow Kiwis who were very excited to see us.

They were Claire and Derek who had been travelling around Europe for 4 months. We had an evening meal together and shared lots of laughs, and some good French wine.

13th century Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Amiens, France

The next morning, we drove north to Amiens, a lovely city in France’s Somme area. Its impressive 13th century cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also the tallest of the large Gothic cathedrals in France, and is incredibly ornate.

After visiting the cathedral, we wandered through Amiens, enjoying the main square, and the lovely canal area with its interesting brick row-houses.

We stayed in Amiens overnight, then drove to Albert the next morning to visit their museum on the Somme battles. Then we drove through many little country roads to the Euston Road WWI cemetery near the village of Colincamps.

Euston Rd WW1 Cemetery with Uncle Herbert’s gravestone

We were going there to find the grave of Marg’s Dad’s oldest brother, Rifleman Herbert William Lean, who was killed in May 1918 during the first world war.

We found the cemetery, among many other similar cemeteries in the area, then found Uncle Herbert’s gravestone among thousands of others from New Zealand.

It was a sobering sight to see so many gravestones of mainly young men - line after line of them, and we contemplated the dreadful waste of so many lives.

After a while, we took some photos, wrote in the visitor’s book and moved on across the Somme.

Marg at Colincamps Euston Rd WW1 Cemetery 

The route we drove is known as the “WW1 Front Line Route” and we saw even more memorials and graveyards. And they were for so many different countries – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, UK, France and more. 

We were quite blown away by the scale of it all, and the never-ending gravestones and crosses.

The cemeteries were all well looked after, with lovely rose bushes and plants around the graves. WW1 is certainly not forgotten in this part of the world.

Leaving Colincamps, we headed for Reims, a very attractive and vibrant university city, with an historic centre and three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Marg at Cathedral Notre Dame de Reims (UNESCO)

The first UNESCO site we visited was the 13th century Notre-Dame Cathedral. It is one of the great gothic cathedrals of northern France and has beautiful stained-glass windows, including one by Marc Chagall.

We also visited the Former Abbey of Saint-Remi Museum, and the Palace of Tau, the other two UNESCO Sites.

That night, we couldn’t find a camping ground, so camped in the large carpark of a sport stadium in Reims, which was surprisingly quiet in the night.

The next morning, we drove to Châlons-en-Champagne in France's Champagne region, where we planned some wine tasting.

Half-timbered shop and canal in Châlons-en-Champagne

Châlons town is nicknamed "little Venice" because of all the rivers and canals that flow through it. We visited the old town and saw several canals, old bridges, and lovely half-timbered houses and shops.

We also visited the church of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux which is on the Route of Santiago de Compostela (see “Spain’s north-west” blog), and so is a UNESCO Site.

We didn’t do any more sightseeing or champagne tasting after that because of the cold. Instead, we found a small and peaceful campsite in nearby L’Epine where we stopped for a relaxing break - a little enforced by the cold and then wet weather.

The cathedral Basilica Notre-Dame de L'Epine (UNESCO)

On the way to the campsite, we went to see the cathedral Basilica Notre-Dame de L’Epine. This cathedral is classified as a “major masterpiece of Flamboyant Gothic style”. Although we’d seen many cathedrals on this trip, we thought the L’Epine cathedral was quite stunning. The intricate detail of the stonework was amazing as were the stained-glass windows.

As it is also on the Route of Santiago de Compostela, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We are now on a short timeframe to get our campervan returned to Ceske Budejovice in Czechia, and then get to Prague to fly home, so we soon moved on.

Marg at Verdun Citadel

  

Heading east to the France/Germany border, we stopped briefly at Verdun. This place became renown during WW1 due to the amazing tunnels that were built underneath the township and that became a fortress. In here, the locals were able to withstand many German onslaughts over the years. 

We were amazed at the displays and film footage that showed the appalling conditions that the inhabitants would have lived and fought in at the time – yet they survived. It was very inspiring.

After Verdun, we drove on to Metz to view its lovely compact and pedestrian-friendly old town and amazing cathedral. 

St Etienne Cathedral-Marc Chagall window, Metz

The 13th century cathedral St Etienne in Metz is one of the most impressive, and is apparently one of the tallest in France, with more stained glass than any other cathedral in the world. Marc Chagall designed three windows for this cathedral, depicting scenes from the old testament…and they are beautiful.

We have seen many places of worship during this trip, because we admire the architecture, the craftmanship of the stone-work, and the artworks, and have almost become ‘cathedral-ed out’.

However, the big French cathedrals although mostly Gothic in style, have all been quite different, particularly in their stonework, spires and windows. All are very impressive.

Marg at the Porte des Allemands in Metz

While in Metz, we visited the old town and the interesting Porte des Allemands, one of the last medieval bridge castles in France. It is quite impressive, having two 13th century round towers and two 15th century gun bastions.

But after a few days in Metz it was time to move on, and out of France.

We’ve seen a very large number of markets, wineries, vineyards, Gothic and Medieval buildings, castles, and of course, cathedrals, throughout this wonderful country. Its history is amazing and we’ve found the people to be very helpful and friendly. We’ve loved our months here and are sorry to be moving on.

But we said farewell to France and crossed over the border into Germany, ready for our next adventure. 

This blog describes part of our 6-month campervan trip around western Europe, which began in Prague in April.