West of Paris, close to the business district of La Défence, St. Cloud, Rueil-Malmaison and Nanterre, Suresnes has a privileged location. It has everything you need for a pleasant stay in Paris (!) : restaurants, stores and a small park just outside, from where you have a magnificent view of Paris. And the town is right opposite our campsite, so it's the perfect place for shopping, a good meal and refueling.

We did just that and were amazed. Just a stone's throw away from the big city, time seems to have slowed down completely: it's cozy, nobody is rushing. The people are nice, the gendarmes are polite, there is the obligatory weekly market and a restaurant that became our second home.

We liked the parking garage in Rue Jules Ferry. It was usually almost empty and reasonably priced, but we could only get in and out with our rear-view mirrors folded in. So you have to be very careful there.

It's only two or three minutes from the parking garage to the nearest supermarket. You don't have the same wide choice here as at Leclerc, Carrefour or Auchan on the greenfield site, but everything a camper needs to survive is available here at reasonable prices.

It takes just as long to get to the weekly market, which covers the whole of the lower Rue Desbassayans de Richmont and the entire Place du Général Leclerc.

This is an institution in Suresnes. There are weekly markets in almost every town in France and we got to know many of them. In addition to flowers, fresh food, fish, sausage and meat products, cheese from the region and from a little further afield, this one also offers everything that you can get in a department store in Germany: clothes, shoes, toys, which the nearby supermarket doesn't offer. It takes place twice a week and we were amazed at the number of customers we saw.

The campsite's small restaurant is comparatively good and reasonably priced, but it can't compete with the cuisine on the other side of the river. Within days, we became short-term regulars at O P’tit Resto - Restaurant Brasserie. It's really worth recommending, because everything fits perfectly: Taste, price, fun.

A small park in front of the town hall invites you to take a walk, or even just a break. It was hot and we enjoyed the cool shade provided by the trees.

Just outside, on the edge of the village on a hill, we find a war cemetery, the Mémorial de la France combattante. It is the most important memorial for French fighters of the Second World War. It commemorates the members of the armed forces of France and the colonies as well as the members of the French Resistance.

Here, too, there is another small park with old trees in whose shade you can relax in the peace and quiet far away from the bustling metropolis and enjoy an unobstructed view over the rooftops of the city to the landmarks that tower above it.

It seems to be true what we have been told by the French for many years: here is France and Paris is far away ... .