From Dover to Reims, France: the journey so far:

Saturday 13th to Tuesday 16th September 2025

Saturday – Dover:

After leaving Chartwell, it took a further hour and a half to reach Dover. We planned to stay on a car park, which is used for overnight stays by motorhomes, usually before catching the ferry, about 5 minutes away. This worked out well for us and there were about a dozen other vans there. It was a pay and display car park, but was free after 6pm and on Sundays, so win-win!

Sunday – Guarbecque:

After an uneventful and smooth Channel crossing, we headed south towards our intended stop-over of Aire-sur-la-Lys, where there is a nice motorhome aire. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the barrier system was not working, so despite the efforts of ourselves and others, we had to move on.

Guarbecque is a village in the Pas-de-Calais department of France. We identified a free stop-over with no services which looked promising, facing the canal. At first it looked as though it had been redeveloped, but the proprietor of the cafe there, assured us it was fine to stay, so with just ducks for company, we did. We also had a lovely walk along the canal. It blew a hoolie that night, but all was well.

Monday – La Fère

After a very peaceful night, we headed further south towards our planned stop-over of Saint-Quentin, which has a nice motorhome aire, just next to the canal. Sadly, when we arrived, it was full and there was another motorhome already waiting in the hope of someone vacating a space. It felt as though it might be time to start becoming paranoid.

After lunch and a short wait, it was clear that we would not be getting a space any time soon, so we moved on further south, to La Fère, to stay on the municipal campsite. La Fère is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is pleasant enough, but perhaps unremarkable. We were again close to a canal, so took our bikes out for a spin.

Tuesday – Reims:

The city of Reims is in the Marne department in the Grand Est region of France. It is famous for its huge and very ornate gothic cathedral, which we enjoyed visiting.

The city is full of ornate buildings and there is a definite vibrant cafe atmosphere:

The Vergeur Museum Hugues Krafft House looked interesting, but we were only able to see it from the outside:

We visited the Carnegie Library, which is a masterpiece of Art Nouveau design:

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is not the only large church in the city. There is also the Basilica of Saint Rémi, a World Heritage Site, where the remains of Saint Rémi are entombed.

In many respects, the basilica is more impressive than the cathedral. There are many, many arches.

We walked back to the park-up alongside the canal (a recurring theme?).

We are staying the night on a free park-up around 25 minutes walk from the city centre. A bit noisy, but there are lots of other motorhomes here.

Phew! That is all for today. TTFN and See-u-Later.