Day 3 — Rouen to Bordeaux

Published on 1 October 2026 at 19:42

🐰 Buddy’s Journey – Day 3: Rouen ➡️ Bordeaux 💜

Another long day on the road, another chapter in Millie’s journey 🌹

Day 3 of Buddy’s Journey is complete.

Rouen ➡️ Bordeaux.

Another day done.

Another huge number of miles behind us.

And another day spent carrying our beautiful Millie Rose with us every step of the way. 💜🐰

🌅 Another early start

Today started before 5am.

After another restless night, we were up, getting everything packed away, loading the car and making sure we had everything we needed for another long day on the road.

By around 5:30am, we were back in the car and heading towards Bordeaux.

It was still early, everyone was tired, and there was a long road ahead of us.

But there was something quite special about setting off while the world around us was still waking up.

The roads were quieter, the sky slowly began to change and we knew that another day of Buddy's Journey had begun.

Our destination was Bordeaux.

But, as we've discovered over the last few days, sometimes the journey itself becomes just as important as where you're actually going.

🚗 Watching France go by

The drive from Rouen to Bordeaux was another long one, but there was so much to see along the way.

As the miles passed, the French countryside seemed to change constantly.

We passed beautiful little villages, traditional houses, farms and fields stretching further than we could see.

There were huge fields of sunflowers 🌻, rows of corn 🌽 and so many different landscapes that made us stop and appreciate just how far from home we really were.

Sometimes you're so focused on getting from one place to another that you don't realise just how much you're actually seeing.

There were moments when I found myself simply staring out of the window, watching the countryside pass by and thinking about how completely different life feels now.

It's strange.

We're actually doing this.

We're driving across France on our way to Spain, with Buddy travelling beside us and Millie in our thoughts every single mile.

There are moments where it still doesn't feel completely real.

🐰 Carrying Millie with us

One of the most important parts of this journey for me is knowing that Millie is physically travelling with us.

Her mini urn is safely inside Buddy. 🐰💜

That little bunny has become so much more than just a teddy.

Buddy travelled with Millie during so many of her adventures, and now Buddy is travelling again — carrying a tiny part of my beautiful girl with her.

Knowing that means more than I could ever properly explain.

Every time I look at Buddy, I think of Millie.

I think about her little face.

Her laughter.

Her singing.

Her excitement.

All the silly little comments she would have made.

I can imagine her looking out of the car window and asking questions about everything she could see.

I can imagine her getting excited when we reached somewhere new.

And I can imagine her telling us how long she thought the journey was taking! 😂

I wish more than anything that she was here.

I wish she was sitting in the car with us.

I wish we could hear her voice.

I wish we could watch her experience all of this.

But instead, we're doing it with her memory beside us.

And although that doesn't make the sadness disappear, it does make this journey incredibly special.

💜 When the emotions hit

There have been moments during this journey when the emotions have completely caught up with me.

The tiredness doesn't help.

The long days don't help.

And sometimes simply seeing something beautiful makes me think about how much I wish Millie was here to see it too.

There are moments when I feel completely overwhelmed by the fact that we're travelling so far from home without her.

Then I look at Buddy.

And I remember.

She's still coming with us.

She is part of every mile.

Every road.

Every destination.

Every photograph.

Every memory we make.

This journey isn't about leaving Millie behind.

It's about taking her with us. 🌹

🌻 Making memories for Millie

As we drove through France today, I kept thinking about how many memories we're creating.

Not the memories I wanted to make.

I wanted Millie here making them with us.

But memories all the same.

Every place we pass becomes part of Buddy's story.

Every destination becomes another chapter.

And every mile becomes another part of Millie's story.

One day, we'll look back at photographs from this journey and remember the roads we travelled, the places we visited, the things that made us laugh and the moments that made us cry.

We'll remember how tired we were.

We'll remember the early starts.

We'll remember the long stretches of road.

We'll remember the beautiful countryside.

We'll remember Buddy sitting there beside us.

And most importantly, we'll remember why we did it.

For Millie.