Free!
Our crossing of England was shorter than expected. It must be said that the country did nothing to keep us there any longer, and the discovery of a ferry line to France closer than the port of Dover was undoubtedly a sign… So here we are in France for the final part of this adventure, on the Normandy coast…
General statistics of the adventure so far…
Total Distance (km)
Gasoil (L)
Countries Visited
9.259 km
1.506 L
4
No country for Marvin…
27-30/06/2025 – Washtubs Barbondale -> Portsmouth
Before the rumours start to spread, let’s be clear: yes, England offers beautiful landscapes and striking contrasts between the vast green meadows of Northumberland, the almost alpine valleys of the Lake District, or the more agricultural landscapes of the south, but which compensate with charming little stone villages like those of the Cotswolds. We visited all the places we had planned, even if we did it faster than we expected. But there you go, when you’re not welcome somewhere, you might as well accept it… We may (probably) have missed something in English culture or society, but we have to admit that, never since we started traveling with Marvin and in any other country, have we had so much trouble finding places to sleep, and never have we felt so… pushed towards the exit. The United Kingdom will probably remain in our memories as the land of prohibitions: no passing (private road), no parking, no camping, no overnight, and even, no turning, in front of the gate of a house, on the side of the road. The only places where camper-vans are allowed are in campsites costing €50 per night or more (and you have to book at least six months in advance because they’re all full anyway), or in simple parking lots, sometimes not even paved, located between a motorway and a railway line, for the modest sum of €30 per night…
The United Kingdom officially allows wild camping, provided that private property is respected (which is completely understandable, by the way). But here’s the thing, in a country where 99,9% of the territory is private, and the only public spaces, like this park where we slept on the way, are only public because a Lord more visionary than the others donated part of his land “for the public to enjoy in perpetuity”, that leaves few options for “wild” camping… Anyway, after a few days trying, in vain, to find nice places, we got tired of sleeping on the side of the road, and we decided to get to our next stop more quickly: France. Luckily, we also found a ferry line that allowed us to embark in Portsmouth (instead of Dover), and arrive in Caen (instead of Calais), closer to the cliffs of Étretat where we wanted to go… So there you go… England is over. Our idea of a trip with Marvin doesn’t really match what the country has to offer… Too bad… In the meantime, let’s get back to croissants, good bread and local markets! The adventure resumes, the real one, the one we love!…
On the banks of the Seine…
1/07/2025 – Ouistreham (Caen) -> Marais-Vernier
Barely disembarking from our ferry, we headed north again to get closer to our next stop: Étretat. So why not go there directly? Because an extreme heatwave is hitting France these days, and it’s not necessarily the best time to go for a bike ride along the cliffs in the blazing sun. Tomorrow, the temperatures will drop to more acceptable levels, so in the meantime, we’ve settled on the banks of the Seine, near Le Havre (but on the other bank, in the Eure department), where a perfect breeze allows us to comfortably weather the heatwave, by the water, between a nature reserve and the big boats going up the river… On our left, the pretty Pont de Normandie (brand new, all white) and on our right, the Pont de Tancarville (a little less new, but still red… 🤓). A light breeze refreshes us, despite temperatures of over 30ºC. The perfect place to begin this new chapter in France!…
Gentleman burglar…
2-3/07/2025 – Marais-Vernier -> Étretatl
There are destinations we’ve seen countless times on TV or in magazines. And yet, some always make us say “Wow!” of admiration when you see them in real life for the first time. The chalk cliffs of Étretat are a good example. For sure, we have seen many cliffs in Ireland… But these are truly spectacular, when the setting sun turns these vertical walls, more than 90m high, from an almost blinding white to soft orange tones. Étretat was the home of Arsène Lupin and his lair, the “Hollow Needle,” where many of his adventures took place. During his heyday, Jacques Offenbach, Maupassant, Flaubert, Courbet, and Monet, among others, strolled through the narrow streets lined with traditional Norman houses. We cycled along the cliffs from one end to the other, between needles stuck in the ocean and majestic arches overlooking the waves, before returning to the Pays d’Auge for a stop on the road to the Cotentin Peninsula.
D-Day…
4-6/07/2025 – Étretat -> Cherbourg
To avoid making anyone jealous, we crossed the Seine via the Pont de Tancarville on the way out, and via the Pont de Normandie on the way back, the latter being a bit more monumental than the former… 😉 After a first night in the beautiful Forêt du Billot (private but freely accessible, and PEFC certified), and a second at the Pointe des Brévands, watching the tide rise and the birds fishing (and the oyster farmers “oyster farming,” too, with a sudden craving for seafood… 🤣), we chose Utah Beach for our visit to the landing beaches…
Less famous than its neighbour, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach was the riskiest landing point (because it was closest to Cherbourg and the German defences). A very well thought museum explains all the details of that morning of June 6, 1944, when hundreds of ships and thousands of men breached Hitler’s famous “Atlantic Wall” and changed the course of history. Beyond the museum, it’s hard not to come across a German bunker or battery while walking around here. The coast seems to have one every 500 meters, in addition to those located further inland. History, that of June 6, 1944, seems present on every path, in every forest, or on every beach. In fact, American flags fly alongside the French flag on most public buildings around here. It’s hard, in this context, not to think that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s words, in his “Letter to an American,” resonate strangely these days…
A few more photos of Cherbourg (and its Place Marie, made famous by Jacques Demy’s film “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”), a last stop to admire the Redoutable (one of the first nuclear submarines built by France, and decommissioned in 1991), and we’ll spend one last night at the very top of the Cotentin Peninsula before continuing south towards Brittany…
Back to the Blog
