yours, mine, 'His' ... we are driving inland

The last two days we were mostly in the car - maybe because of the sun, but mainly because of my desire to visit Mr. Monet's garden.

We started with Le Tréport, although we almost liked the place next to it, Mers-les-Bains, better. It's nice to wander through the streets and alleys without any time pressure. But sometimes I feel like this abundance of time hasn't really sunk in yet. We have to let go little by little. Sometimes we also paralyze ourselves with the 'compulsive' search for the ultimate place to stay overnight. Well, we still have room for improvement... ,-)

We drove on empty country roads to Les Andelys to visit Château Gaillard, a true stronghold of Richard the Lionheart, which he built in just one year. However, the French managed to conquer it after his death ... simply through the toilet window (someone forgot to close it). We were less lucky - Monday = day off. Les Andelys, below the castle, is also worth a walk. Afterwards, it became clear to us why we heard so much German here. A cruise ship from Rostock was docked at the pier. Vernon was one big construction site and couldn't captivate us, so we followed another recommendation and visited La Roche-Guyon. Another castle! This time one that wasn't closed on Mondays, so we strolled through quite empty corridors and halls. Okay, more impressive than the interior was the construction itself. It stood there quite large, nestled against and carved into a limestone cliff. You could walk through rock passages to the separate tower and wander through the casemates expanded by Rommel (so he didn't just cause trouble in Africa). Even a comic book hero (Professor Mortimer, 'The Devil's Trap') once experienced something strange here.

By the way, my French is still quite rusty after the 4th beginner's course, but some kind-hearted French people have already understood me ... before switching to English. There is still potential. Today we will spend the night in the parking lot - unromantic, but practical for the start of tomorrow's day (and the budget).