Day Five

The last day.

Up late after having a lie in to make up for the valley of a bed in Room 2 at the Arts & Seine hotel. Breakfast and out on the road.

I set the TomTom to take us home with the toll road option turned off.  We would need petrol before home and decided to divert off the toll free A28 towards Forges les Eaux but at Buchy a few miles down the detour we saw the signs for a Carrefour and immediately changed our minds.

In the end we bought lunch; baguette, ham and several cheeses, plus lemon tea (and a beer for home!)

Then Claire thought we should buy a bottle of Vodka for our neighbours looking after the cat. We checked a few and opted for Polish - not the cheapest but a good looking label!

After fuel we decided as we had about 6 hours to get to the Shuttle we would head north to the coast and work our way along, find a picnic site and have lunch.

I added a "via" to the route home. On the A28 we seemed to be getting nearer Abbeville and still no "left turn clyde" to the sea.

In the next aire I checked and reset the via and it was sorted. Although Le Tréport is probably very nice TomTom decided to avoid it and make sea fall further east.

In the end we ignored the voice telling us to turn one way or another and headed for Cayeux sur Mer. When we were last there the parking along the coast was deserted. In 22c hot sun it was packed and we found a single parking space!

Chichi Bar - Cayeux

Cayeux Beach

Cayeux Beach Huts

A turn along the boardwalk to a small bar, Chichi Bar, for a coffee, was enough. Too many people roasting themselves in the sun, but the beach huts that line the boardwalk are really nice. I took a few photos on my iPhone.

We hopped back in the car to look for a better picnic spot. Drove through historic St Valery sur Somme, which was William the Conquerer's last port before crossing the Channel in 1066. Then onto Le Crotoy across the Somme estuary to a nice stretch of almost empty beach with benches on the seafront; one of which was our lunch spot.

Beach Huts

From Le Crotoy we followed the D940 and D901 back to the Tunnel to get the train home. At the check in we got a train 90 minutes earlier than booked. I usually don't like to do this, but it was free and it saved sitting about waiting to leave. One of the reasons I hate flying!

We arrived home about 5pm local time, unpacked the car, saw to the cat and then Claire sat in the garden and we both had a nice cup of tea.

All in all, the break was what we needed. I could take or leave Disney. Hardly anyone of the adults you looked at seemed to be enjoying their €74 day and we were ambivalent.

The days we toured between Beaux Villages and the D-Day sites were far better, relaxed and as for traffic? There was hardly a traffic jam all week.

Le Crotoy looking across the Somme