Tuesday 25 March - Villedieu les Poeles to Le Crotoy

Still cold and cloudy but at least it was dry when we surfaced. Most of the other vans left before us so after breakfast emptied the waste tanks - water was off - and rejoined the autoroute to Caen. Our plan was to drop onto the coastal D roads once clear of the Pont du Normandie but we got a bit lost on the Caen ring and found ourselves heading for Ouistreham then getting caught up in a traffic holdup. Managed to circumvent that then took the canal/river crossing at Pegasus Bridge to get us heading in the right direction with a bit of skillful navigation from Bren. However we were then plagued with diversions, weight limits etc so found ourselves turning back onto the A13 and we'll take the toll, got to be a better way. Discovered that the A13 is now a free-flow toll road, that is, you are just registered on camera and you pay online up to 72 hours later, like the Dartford Crossing. We settled that quickly and easily later on.

Crossed the bridge, still a magnificent sight no matter how many times we've gone that way, then to avoid more tolls turned towards Le Havre and eventually, with more nav from Bren, got onto the D925 for Fecamp where we stopped in a LeClerc car park for a late lunch. We've used this route several times before and although it's obviously not as fast as the autoroute we're not in any particular rush and the roads are good enough for us to enjoy a more leisurely pace. Although it would be later than our usual stopping time we elected to push on to Le Crotoy, a favourite and regular stopover at the aire. It's a large site so the dozen or so vans parked up looked a bit lost but left lots of choice for a pitch.

A little bit of unforecasted rain after tea but still cold so the heating was switched on, something we've rarely had to do this trip in the evenings. We're now easily within shouting distance of Eurotunnel and the weather forecast is dry but cool for all the way home.