Stormy time.

Sadie was rocking wildly and obviously stressed at being sideways on to the full force of a howling gale coming straight  off the sea. We'd left Le Hourdel Sunday morning with a Sat Nav route set toward Le Havre.

A little diversion, or possibly indulgence is called for at this point to satisfy the male. (Oops! Must'nt be sexist here! ) To satisfy any nerd or geek who may be reading this. Sad I know, but it has to be done. This is because a sad and alone but brilliantly creative and spontaneous nerd/geek resides within this author a few too many times to be honestly admitted to.

For example. I have never lost my love of driving. In particular driving on quiet rural roads of which France has an endless supply. To have a sat nav on my Smart phone which with a little programming will furnish me a 'meander on bye roads and back roads' routes is simply wonderful. Couple that with a very comfy and easy to drive vehicle with a high and panoramic viewpoint; Well let me tell you I am in heaven. This definitely is a trip about enjoying the journey. History, architecture, food and culture are, I'm afraid consigned firmly to second place. A meandering journey through the back roads of France punctuated by country or seaside walks with Tanya is, so far, just the ticket for me.

There is one drawback though. We don't actually get very far in a day!

Back to the stormy story. We had diverted off our meandering route and found a lovely end of the road cul de sac above the beach at St-Martin-en-Campagne. We settled in for the rest of the day, and night as there are no crowds or difficulty with wild camping in such a place at this time of year.

The rain was now going off, lunch had been consumed and Tanya now escorted me on a good walk across the deserted sandy beach under the crumbling chalk cliffs. We continued back up through the village and out onto the hillside above those crumbling cliffs. The wind was now getting up and quite frankly gusting savagely and with increasing ferocity. All in all both Tanya and I were glad to get back to Sadie and Sadie, I think, was also glad to see us back. She was rocking alarmingly and once we were inside it was obvious we could not stay there for the night. The gusts hitting her large wind unfriendly side threatened to lift her off her wheels.

A quick pack up was organized and off we went. By now it was late. The light was starting to go and my anxiety was rising. A compromise was reached as can be seen by the photograph. We stayed a little lower down right by the sea and had a very wild and noisy night with howling winds and crashing of huge waves just in front of the sea wall. Sadie did us proud though. I had managed to tuck us tightly against a block of apartments. Sadie was now head into the gale and sheltered somewhat by the apartment block.

The gale howled on all night. I managed to secure the front skylight which was rattling enough to raise fear it may be blown off. That improved things a bit but overall it was not a comfortable night and I did not get much sleep. Cold too as the screaming gale outside meant the gas fired boiler would not light up. All to do with back draught pressure in the flue vent I am reliably informed.

Tanya could not settle either. I finally relented and moved both doggy bed and her to my bed. She happily curled up and slept soundly through it all from then on. I did not. I dozed but was awoken every few moments by the next screaming gust and accompanying rock n roll from Sadie as she shook it off.

This morning it was up, still with the now slightly abated wind, and get the hell out of it to Dieppe. Thankfully it was calmer and sunnier inland which lifted the spirit a touch. We gathered our senses together, topped up with fuel and gas, re programmed sat nav south to 'Vannes' (looks a convenient place and quite a way south) and headed off.

Afraid we hav'nt got all that far. The meandering routed us through some gorgeous villages of classic Normandy half timbered and thatched houses and we had lunch at the side of the river Seine.

Tired and OK we are now snug and warm and safely tucked up for the night in a roadside Aire at 'Cambremer' right smack in the heart of Calvados country.

OH! And no wind and no Sadie rocking wildly.