Neufchâtel to Les Andelys, 48 miles

We decided to stay a third night at Neufchâtel, partly because the site was pleasant and we wanted to explore more of the Avenue Vert, but mainly because a warm day was in prospect and lazing about all afternoon, then having a BBQ was just too tempting. So that's exactly what we did, a pedal in the morning, and bugger-all for the rest of the day.

The evening was warm, out came the Cadac and a relaxed meal outside. It was clear from the forecast that the sunny spell was destined to be short-lived. so we made the most of it.

France Meteo was not wrong, next morning dawned dull and overcast. We had planned to drive to Giverney and stay in the car park next to Monet's garden. We had heard that motorhomes were allowed to park-up overnight. However, by the time we stopped-off for lunch in a car park by the Seine at Les Andelys, the rain had developed from a steady drizzle to a downpour. We discovered that the campsite next to us was in the ACSI book, so we drew in and decided to call it a day.

By mid-afternoon the rain eased off, and we went for a wander with the vague intention of finding a cash-point, as the Euros we had brought from home were almost spent-up. Les Andelys is interesting rather than beautiful. I had a vague recollection of the place as somewhere associated with Impressionists and Post-impressionists. It is quite close to Paris, but offered the kind of wooded, undulating landscapes that the artists liked to paint. 

Indeed, on the riverside quayside, lined with half-timbered houses overlooked by steep chalk cliffs, you might imagine on a sunny afternoon, Monet, Signac or Bonnard, peering beneath a straw hat at the scene, then dabbing away at a small canvas perched precariously on a three-legged easel.

But this is a romantic dream. In fact Les Andelys today is much more workaday than that. An industrial town running from the Seine up the valley of the tiny river Gambon. Modern plastics factories mix with ancient mills; utilitarian apartment blocks with fadied maison bourgeois. In some respects the town reflects the development France in the twentieth century from an agrarian to an industrial society

Yet chateau Galliard perched on a promontory high above the town attests to a more ancient history. It was built in 1197 by Richatd the Lionheart to defend the English held Dukedom of Normandy from the forces of the French crown. It was not very successful, as only seven years later it fell to the French, in circumstances reminiscent of a chapter from Horrible Histories. Apparently the assailants gained entrance to the fortress by climbing up through the latrines!