Catching up with friends in Pacy-sur-Eure

Yesterday flew by. We had a delayed start because of a poor night’s sleep, problems with the gas water heater, John needing to wash his hair, and me having problems making the sat nav go where I wanted it to! In the end we were on the road, driving north to Normandy. The plan was to travel via an aire in Pacy-sur-Eure where we could empty the loo and top up on drinking water, before heading to Giverny to meet Mike and Gail.

The journey was through beautiful countryside… firstly, flat ploughed fields but, later, the hills and forests of Île-de-France, west of Paris. En route, I had a text from Gail to say they’d reached the aire at Pacy and it might be worth staying there rather than moving to Giverny. When we arrived, we agreed. It’s a lovely new aire with 6 vehicle bays, toilets, drinking water, waste water disposal, chemical toilet waste disposal and even free electric hook up! What a treat!

After lunch and a brew and a chat with Mike and Gail we headed out for a walk with their dog, Tedi. Pacy-sur-Eure isn’t the most beautiful or interesting town we’ve stayed in, but is very pleasant.

We passed a former railway station with many old trains then stopped by l’île des Moulins (island of the mills), in the middle of the river Eure, with the water racing past and over a weir.

Then we wandered along the main street, which was packed with small independent shops selling all sorts of French produce… cheese, fish, meats, bread, flowers. There were also many interesting old buildings, including lavoirs (wash houses) along the river.

We found a few caches, including one in the photos above, down a very long, very narrow alley. Just as we reached a lake before the final cache, the heavens opened.

The rain was heavy for a while and we were soon soaked. Thankfully the cache was easy to find and we headed back to our vans to dry off.

Mike and Gail made dinner for us and we had a very enjoyable evening… good food and wine, and excellent company. What more could we want?