I’d considered the merits of following the river South out  of Authou, along the valley. It would mean we’d start the day without having to slog up a hot sweaty hill for a change, but with camp sites becoming more scarce it became apparent that we’d need to head West, out of the valley and on to the nearby town of Bernay. Although steep and long, the hill was cycleable for us, and the tree cover kept the strong morning sun off our backs as we struggled up. The rest of the ride was quite gentle, traffic free and picturesque. Broken down old barns seem to be a constant feature of the Normandy countryside, we’ve decided the French like to preserve the decaying nature of the odd farm building to lend the area a sense of history. We descended into Bernay amidst bustling pavements and traffic filled streets. Being just before lunch time on Saturday the high street was com;pletely given over to the weekly market stalls, and we pushed our bikes through the hubbub on our way to the camp site on the other side of town.
Once we made it we found a spotless site, and the receptionist was a very excitable, animated lady who thrust handfulls of leaflets for local attractions into our hands while trying her best to remember the English for all sorts of complicated sentences she wanted to tell us. Lovely hot showers and the enticing sights and smells we’d glimpsed whilst fighting our way through the town persuaded us of the need to stay here for a couple of nights at least, to explore the town, do a bit of window shopping in the fancy looking cake shops, butchers and bakers, and also find an internet connection.
Once we’d set up camp we walked back into town, and at the advice of the receptionist we sought out the local Mcdonald’s to make use of their free wireless internet connection. This turned out to be less of a culturally lacking experience than we’d expected when Kez discovered a taste for Lipton’s Ice Tea, which they served in large cardboard cups. I managed to get online and the heavens opened outside. Three hours later it was still raining and I was still tinkering on the internet, Kez was getting the right hump and the noisy children’s party was still in full swing on the other side of the canteen. After another hour it finally eased off and to Kez’s relief I flipped the laptop closed and we made our way back to camp, popping into a boucherie for some local sausages for tea.