Day 9 REIMS - ROUEN 14.08.2022

Today we left Champagne on country roads to see more of the landscape. However, we didn't see any vineyards. We were pretty much alone on well-developed roads. There was a roundabout at every turn to a village. Everything was well signposted. We soon reached Normandy, and everywhere you looked, there were agricultural areas. Corn, wheat, sunflowers, and so on. It is hard to imagine that agriculture only makes up 2.5% of France. We drove through fields for hours.

By 3 PM, we reached Rouen and also the youth hostel, our next accommodation. At the reception, we could already see that we could only check in at 6 PM. As hope dies last, we hoped for an earlier time, but were disappointed. The door was locked. Walking around the building made us feel a bit uneasy. It was not cozy outside, but dirty.

We then went to the city center to visit the tourist information office. As in every French city, we had trouble finding parking. In this context, it should be mentioned that our "wilde Hilde" is our toddler. The cost of parking here is on par with having an additional child in the hotel.

After some searching, we managed to find a parking space, even for free! We then had coffee and tea in a small bistro and walked to the information office. It was located right in front of the cathedral, which was also called Notre Dame and was similar in structure to its namesakes. However, it is famous for Monet, who designed a series of paintings here.

In front of the cathedral, there were two street musicians playing good music, so we stayed there for a while. Eventually, our waiting time was over and we drove to the hostel. Now it was open, but the hostel manager was unpleasant. They didn't lend out towels, but we had some in our beach bag. Our room was on the ground floor, overlooking the garden with seating areas frequented by young people. We suspected a football team. Our room had a strange smell. When I opened the window, I stepped into a puddle of water on the floor. My husband immediately wiped it up, but the water confused me. When I looked up at the ceiling, there was a large water stain from which it was dripping. I wanted a different room. According to the hostel manager, the youth hostel was full. He couldn't explain the water damage, but he came back with a ladder to open up the ceiling panel at that spot. Then he was gone again, and miraculously there was another available room on the first floor. It had a bunk bed, but I can also climb up. The room was not completely clean, but acceptable.

Dinner was not offered here. But there was a kitchen where you could cook for yourself. I checked it out. The smell alone made me leave again. Since the youth hostel was located in the suburbs, there were not many restaurants nearby. However, there should be a Moroccan restaurant nearby. It was, unfortunately, closed. After not finding anything after 2 km and the area not being so exciting either, we got some pizza to take away at a small pizza shop. A few meters away, there was a small supermarket that had cold beer. Now quickly back to the hostel so that the pizza wouldn't get cold and the beer wouldn't get warm. At around 8:30 PM, we sat in the garden, it tasted good, and it was slowly getting cooler. We had always had temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and the rooms were accordingly heated.