3rd August - Rouen - Home

Woke up at 6am because of a text from Josh – bloody time difference! Unsuccessfully tried to get back to sleep for quarter of an hour, then woke Lu up. We got dressed and packed up all of our stuff. Said a tearful goodbye to our loyal comrade Alex and as we left she white her white handkerchief (well... knickers) at us out of the window.

We caught the train straight away to Amiens then onto Boulogne. No one checked our interrails on these trains, then on the way to Calais they checked but we got away with it!
In Calais we caught a bus to the ferry port and as we were an hour early we got to catch an earlier ferry. We got through customs and ate some hash brownie in the departure lounge. It kicked in on the ferry so we sat down. I bought a super nice pasty and coffee. I bought some British newspapers too! (Jacko and Jade Goody STILL on the front page?!) We swayed our way off the ferry, still pretty high, and waited for our coach to London. Once the coach picked us up it didn’t take long to get to Victoria and we bought drinks and I read a trashy magazine.

At 5.30pm we caught the bus back to Newport. It was so odd listening to people’s conversations and understanding what they were saying! When we got to Newport it was pretty surreal! We found Liam who took us both home.

Just before I went to the door of my house, I phoned my mum and told her to ring me back. I knocked on the door before she got the chance. She was so surprised, and it was so great catching up with them. And I ate a massive salad, god I missed fruit and veg!!

It’s weird being hom! At the moment I’m enjoying the creature comforts: a warm bath, free food and a comfy bed, but I know soon I’ll want to be on the move again!

2nd August - Rouen

Woke up at 9 – had a bus to catch to Rouen at 11.34. We packed our stuff and the tent pretty early. We attempted to dry our rain soaked towels with hair dryers...it didn’t work. We left early so we’d be in time for the bus. On the way to the boulangerie we saw a bus go past, even though it wasn’t due for another 40 minutes. We bought patisseries and walked to the bus stop.

At 11.34, when the bus was due, a bus went past... on the other side of the road. It dawned on us that even though we came in the way we were facing, buses go other routes. We had a few options: wait 6 hours for the next bus, walk (with out rucksacks) for 4 hours or hitch-hike!

So again we stuck out our thumbs and this time we had a bit more luck. After a few minutes two guys pulled over. They weren’t going all the way to Rouen, but they took us to the main road about 4km away. They dropped us off, told us which side of the road to go on and we tried again. After about 20 minutes another two guys pulled over and took us a few villages away. One of the blokes used to work in Woolworths in Cardiff- madness! We thumbed a lift for the third time then. A dodgy looking man pulled over. I told him where we were going and he agreed. He chain smoked and played a rather eclectic selection of songs (Daddy, daddy cool!). He took us all the way to the train station and something told me this wasn’t where he was going anyway, so he must’ve gone out of his way for us. In French he told us to “be careful, you are very young,” which were the only words he said to us!

We asked in the train station for local trains to Calais so we didn’t have to go via Paris, and we found one for just the right time to catch our ferry. We then attempted to find an internet cafe to look for accommodation in Rouen or somewhere closer to Calais.
The tourist office was closed and when we found the cafe, which was closed too. We sat outside the Joan of Arc church/museum thing and had food. The cafe never opened so after we led on the grass for a while, we went back to the train station so Alex could check if there were trains that night for her to meet up with Rob.

As there were no hostels in Rouen it seemed that me and Lu would either have to sleep rough or find a cheap hotel. I took a quick look around the train station and the last one I checked in was just as cheap as a hostel, so Alex stayed with us and we checked into the hotel. We had a room with a TV and BEDS! It felt lush after sleeping in the tent for a week!

We got ready to go out Alex took the last part of her space brownie, and we looked for a bar, but it being Sunday, nothing in France is open. We found a lovely looking Indian restaurant which looked like it had plenty of cheap deals on. Once we’d been seated we found out the deals were only for midday. The restaurant was deserted and there was only one member of staff. Being the polite “ladies” we are, we felt obliged to stay. We ordered chicken curry (we suspect this was the only thing he had to offer as he practically forced us to order it.) It was small and expensive, but yummy (even if we had heard the microwave go off.) and we had a weird cocktail (it was milky green...)

We gave up hope of finding a bar/place that sold vodka, so made our way back to the hotel where – lo and behold!- we found a shop which sold wine! We bought a cheap bottle and went back to the hotel for music!

We’d planned to go to a projection display of Monet’s art, but we drank wine and danced on the bed instead. I showered and Alex gave me a message, then we went to bed.

1st August - Rouen

Got up at 9 and went to reception. I tried to get away with saying we’d only just arrived so we only had to pay for one night. I sent the girls away to quickly pack up our stuff while I paid. Turns out they hadn’t charged me for the deposit of the campsite either! The receptionist gave us a map of the site and our new pitch. We carried our already set up tent halfway across the site. As we were putting our bags inside, thinking we’d got away with it, the receptionist said we’d have to pay for the night before as someone had seen us in the pitch the previous night. I felt pretty guilty lying as she was really friendly and we paid the other night.

After that we went to the on-site grocery store. It didn’t have much on offer so we walked into Jumieges. We found a tourist office so we asked inside about youth hostels in Rouen for our last night. Our trains very early on Monday morning, so we need to be at the train station by about 6.45am. The earliest bus from the campsite is at 9, instead of paying €60 for another taxi, we’d prefer to stay in a hostel closer to the train station.

Unfortunately the woman told us there are no hostels in Rouen and all of the hotels are expensive so, so she gave us the number of the campsite closest to the train station.
On the way back to the campsite we bought some patisseries from the bakers – mine was coffee flavoured, yum! We tried to ring the campsite but there was no answer. We then went to go swimming on the on-site pool but it was closed until 2.

We went back to the tent and it started raining really heavily. The girls fell asleep so i wrote for a bit. When they finally bloody woke up we went to phone the campsite again. It turned out it was 3 buses away from the town centre which would be impossible to get before our trains due.

We then sat by the pool and tried (and failed) to figure out a plan. We “swam” (stood in the not-so-heated-poll freezing our tits off) before showering. It started to rain again so we sat in the tent and waited for it to stop...it didn’t. We bought some pizza and chips from the on site store and depressingly sat in the tent all night.

Alex gave me a massage (yay!) and we talked for hours. Then me and Lu imagined a load of really nice places we could go that doesn’t have rain-anywhere but Rouen. Then we slept.

31st July - St.Malo - Rouen

The alarm went off at 8.15- we had to catch a bus at 10.22 and we had no idea what time the trains were. We got cappuccinos, packed our stuff and the tent, and left the campsite. We caught the bus just in time!

We found out the times for the local trains. Most of the time was spent waiting. We waited two hours for our first train (which took only 20 minutes...)

On the next train we sorted out our plan of action: my interrail had run out on Sunday the 26th but I needed to catch trains to Rouen and then on to Calais at the end of the week. We made a plan where Louise showed her ticket and as Alex was showing hers, Lu would slip hers to me. I worked on both the trains we were checked on! Hoping it’ll work on the way to Calais too even though we won’t have Alex to distract!

We got to Rouen at 8.30pm and went to get some food as all we’d had was some biscuits and two bananas between all of us. We found a Chinese restaurant near the station. We looked so out of place in the nice restaurant with our backpacks, trying to steal the chopsticks! I had a really nice curry and vegetable noodles – yay vegetables!!

We then made our way to the bus stop that the woman from the campsite had told us to go to. We walked for ages and when we got the stop it didn’t look like the bus was running anymore. We asked an official looking man, who didn’t speak much English, but we gathered that the bus wasn’t running. I asked how much a taxi would cost to Jumieges (where the campsite was), he whistled and said it was far so the taxi would be expensive.
The man then made a phone call, I hoped it would be someone who could take us to where we wanted to go, but it was just his brother. The official man seemed to think our only problem was not being able to speak French. His brother told me over the phone what I already knew – there were no buses, so we’d have to stay in the town centre.

I’d already paid the deposit for the campsite and I’d be charged for a night whether we went there or not. We didn’t want to catch a taxi which everyone told us would cost around €60, so we found out what side of the road we needed to be on and stuck our thumbs out.
Hitch-hiking in the south seemed pretty common and safe, but I guess in the north at 10pm it’s not as common. A group of people walked past and we told them where we were going. They also whistled and said it was far. So did the three guys who pulled up in a Peugeot. They said they would take us but there wasn’t enough room for us and our bags. A police car went past and waved at us?! And another ar stopped. He was just a middle-aged man se we were wary, but he didn’t even know where Jumieges was.

Eventually we gave up and walked towards the taxi-rank. The three guys in the peugot pulled up again. I offered them €20 to take us but they said there was no room.

We found a taxi and flagged it down. He said it would be €40-50. I attempted to haggle and asked for €30 but he said no so we settled for €40. It was a pretty long journey for a taxi. The meter said €67-odd but he still only charged us €40 and gave us his card!
By now it was 11pm. Reception was closed so we found an empty pitch, set up the tent and decided we’d go to reception in the morning.

30th July - St.Malo

Had a good 12 hour sleep, but still woke up rather groggy. I bought a cappuccino, then once we were all up and dressed, we walked to the supermarket that we’d found the night before. We bought loads of food and planned a picnic. We wanted to hire a pedalo but I don’t think we could.

Once we’re bought bread, cream cheese, loads of salad and fruit, we took it to the space behind our campsite which overlooks the sea. It got really windy so we went to our plot and ate it there. Trust the weather though – it started to rain!

When we finished our food we decided we definitely needed plenty of wine. We bought some cheap white and rosé and started drinking.

After about two or three bottles we decided we needed to shower... together of course. We donned our bikinis and had a very efficient rotation of washing going on.

When we were done, we went back and lit some candles. We opened the rosé called something “oignon” and it tasted like onions too. We chilled outside in our sleeping bags and talked until the candles burnt out, then bed!

29th July - St.Malo

Woke up to seagulls and security – the seagulls had strewn all the rubbish we’d left outside overnight and security came to tell us to clear it up. We’d planned a mission to find an internet cafe. We got a map from reception and set off on our way. We bought “breakfast” in the patisserie – I bought a really nice cheese and ham thing.

We got to the main city of St. Malo and got the directions to the cafe from the tourist desk. When we got there, the owner told us we couldn’t use the computers so we found another.
We ordered coffee and when we got online we made a reservation for the next campsite in Rouen. Me and Lu also booked our ferry and coach back to Newport and we’re both planning to surprise our parents. (I’ve told my mum I’m coming back in two weeks)

Once that was done, Alex bought some postcards and we made our way to a restaurant that we saw had a three course meal deal for €7.50. It was such a nice meal and it was good to finally get some decent food in us!

We then went to the beach and attempted to sunbathe, but the clouds kept blocking the sun and wind blew sand in our mouths, bleh!

We sunbathed a little at the campsite where there was less wind, then ate some sweaty space brownies before the circus that was supposed to be on in the campsite. After a while of wandering the campsite (oú ést la cirque?!) we gave up the idea of the circus and went to look for a bar.

For some reason we walked past all the bars until we were drawn to some neon lights up a steep street we hadn’t been up before. The neon was just a restaurant but we ended up finding another village with loads of shops, a theatre, patisseries etc. We sat in a bus stop to try and find our bearings. (found an unopened tub of couscous...we’re on a low budget so of course Louise put it in her bag).

We walked a bit further and found a supermarket – very cheap – it was like a thing of dreams!! We bought crisps, bread and finally some TIRAMISU! And took them back to the campsite. We ate and stayed in the tent because of the rain. We’re so hardcore; we went to bed at 10.30.

28th July - St.Malo

I woke up earlier than the girls – the church bells told me it was 9am. I got bored after about 10 minutes so I rudely woke the girls up!

After we were all ready, we got some crisps and juice then walked to the beach. We did some topless sunbathing after a while and Louise said she thought she was an old guy filming us...ew! We stayed for a few hours but the sun kept going behind the clouds so we left.
We showered and then went for pizza in the pizzeria near the campsite – very yummy!
When we got back we got into out pyjamas and sat outside the tent in our sleeping bags. We had another bottle of wine and talked for a while.

Just before going to sleep we had some 50cent hot chocolate and talked some more. Just as we were about to drop off we saw people walking around the tent, talking and flashing torches. I poked my head out to ask what they wanted. They didn’t speak much English but I gathered they were security and they told us to shut up.