Our final stops

Our night was slightly disturbed. We had parked near a yellow digger that got taken away at 11pm and then a huge truck turned up at 2.30am to deliver another machine! This was taken into the chateaux garden at 8am!

We headed into Fontainebleau through the chateau grounds and small garden for a coffee and croissant after walking the dogs once the gates opened at 9am. We wondered round the market and bought some food before walking back through the chateau grounds.

On returning to the van we decided to move down the road to Saint Mammes. We parked overlooking the Seine and watched the huge barges moving up the river as we ate our lunch.

In the afternoon we took the bikes for a ride along the canal to Episy. On the way back we stopped briefly to share a couple of lovely small cakes from the boulangerie in Saint Lazare. We then got back to watch a fisherman catch a fish on the bank by the van before having a late walk up the river and a beer at the local bar.

In the morning we drove to Anizy-le-Chateau to visit the vet so they could have their worming tablet so they were allowed back into the uk! We then carried on all the way to Arras to a huge aire on the edge of the city - but conveniently right next to the canel which was great for dog walks.

On Thursday morning we spent a couple of hours walking round the lovely town. It has a huge square with a Town Hall and Belfry tower at one end. We thought we would be tourists and pay to go up the tower - but sadly it was closed due to 'technical issues'! There is also a lovely row of Art Deco style houses in the town. On the way to the van we saw a huge pension age government demonstration.

On returning to the van we drove to the the supermarket to buy some lunch and wine to take home then drove to Gravelines  - a village 15mins from the tunnel. On the way we stopped at a car park next to a german war cemetery for lunch - the cemetery commemorates the 44830 German soldiers who died in action.

After a long walk around the rectangular rowing lake at Gravelines we settled in for the night - listening to the rain!