Feecamp onwards ... revealing the mystery!!!

Left Fecamp early to avoid major traffic problems. First BIG achievement for today was working out how the ‘toll roads’ work. (TIP for future travellers … you take a ticket on your way through the toll gates … indication the location you entered the toll road… when you leave the toll road … you give your ticket to a cashier who works out the cost. Costs vary depending on the distance travelled on the toll roads. Seems fair.) All sounds so simple … but when you can’t read the signs .. it is somewhat more stressful. Some queues are for card holders or those who want to use credit cards … tried to avoid those. Much preferred to try to talk to a person … who couldn’t understand us anyway!!! We successfully negotiated 2 toll gates!!! and avoided any others for the next 2 days … Woohoo!!!

Our goal for the day (which I had avoided identifying) was to get to Villers Bretonneux. We managed that very early … after all it isn’t very far from Fecamp. We took some time to visit the Adelaide cemetery and the memorial for the 11000 Australians missing in France during the First World War . Another emotional experience…. so may graves … so many very young men … and a memorial which was erected just before the second World War … and damaged during that war … still shows the signs of damage.
Visited the Franco-Australian Museum above the Victoria School which was reconstructed with contributions from the children of Victoria. Looking at the photos of the devastation which occurred in those villages … how did they ever recover!!! We could see a large sign on the wall in the school grounds, ‘Never forget Australia’ … and they have pictures of Australian animals on the walls and windows. What a sight!
Too early to stop so we pushed on… next goal … CLERMONT … not Clermont Ferrand. But we found Clermont on the map … somewhere south of Villers Bretonneux. We drove in … but took a wrong turn … and we were suddenly out of Clermont heading for the next town … Compeigne. Haf thought we might stop in Clermont, but not to be. Compeigne turned out to be another gem. A finishing stage for the our de France … preparations in full swing .. a great atmosphere.
Achievements in Compiegne … found our way into the town (you have to count these as achievements … especially these medieval towns with really narrow streets, and all signs in a foreign language!!) … got into a parking station (not sure at this stage how to get out of it) … got some accommodation for the night … and found a cache with a geocoin!!!