Travels with a Motorhome (and sometimes without): To Chartres by Walking Along The Eure

Wednesday August 20th

Headed off to Chartres by 10.30. Saw a great little steam train as we left the Bay all the carriages were full of people. Three and a half hour trip down to Chartres, stopping at Pont d’Larche for lunch by the river, in the shadow of the church.

Lunchtime stop

Staying at ‘Des Bords de l’Eure’ municipal site. Drove through some really heavy rain on the way down. The site was nice looking and quiet but a bit dated – especially the loos. There was only one what I would term as ‘normal’ toilet in the men’s area – the other three were of the ‘French’ type where you have to squat and could lose things down the hole if you are not careful. Just how do you flush those things and not get your feet wet? An air freshener or two wouldn’t have gone amiss also. The showers were pretty much the same – could do with an update. The first shower I had was OK – but next morning there was no hot water by nine o’clock.

We could set up where we wanted, so chose a pitch quite close to the shower block. Subsequently found that it was a bit too shady – necessitating K to do her ‘search for sunlight’ later in the stay when sitting outside. Lots of people coming and going. I get the impression that this place is mainly a stopping off point where people stay only for one night – or maybe two, like us. I made pasta in a beefy bolognaise sauce for food. Off to explore Chartres tomorrow.

Thursday August 21^st

Woke up to sunshine and after breakfast we set out for the town centre. Found a path that ran alongside the river Eure right into town – so that was good. Took about thirty minutes easy stroll to get there. We found a place with quite a few motorhomes parked up - some had obviously been there all night. An unofficial aire, then.

We looked at some churches and the cathedral. The famous Chartres maze in the cathedral was covered by chairs – so it took a while for us to spot. Found a spot for lunch in a small park overlooking the town. Took a walk around the rest of the town, visited the tourist information place, and then returned to the site.

There is a ‘Chartres Illuminated’ event on at the moment, and we could see the lights and projectors everywhere. We decided that we couldn’t wait the four hours until it got dark to see the spectacle, and so we returned to the van.