Another chilly night, and a lazy morning. Sophie saw the chap from the other Autotrail and sought to test his limits re standing in the cold, by engaging with him through our door window. I thought he did pretty well considering. Our neighbours were Allan and Dorothy, who are retired, and motorhome full-timers. Coincidentally, we had bumped into them in Cambrai a couple of weeks ago, but it took a while for the penny to drop for us.

I was in the washroom whilst the conversation progressed and it amused me that when Allan explained that his father had fought in the Battle of Cambrai, Sophie asked if his Dad had survived the war. I explained to her afterwards, that Allan would have to be at least 100 years old for that not to be the case.

As I prepared to leave with the usual tipping out and topping up, Sophie was determined to chat further with Allan and Dorothy, which was very neighbourly of her and I got on with my jobs.

We were heading North of Rouen, to take a completely different route for us. The temperature had risen to around 7C, but the same foggy conditions persisted, particularly on the high main road, which was for most of our journey.

As we came lower, ultimately down to the banks of the Seine, we came out of the fog, which was a relief. After a pleasant drive along the river, we found ourselves at Jumièges. They have a very large motorhome aire, with long rural views, loads of parking, and we’re on our own, so should be lovely and peaceful, like last night.

The town, a stone’s throw from the aire, boasts a large abbey ruins, where apparently William the Conqueror popped in on a trip back to France after his successful visit to Hastings to say hello.

After a walk around the attractive little village we headed back to our stop for the night here in Jumièges, a few hundred metres from the Seine.