taraabit

September 20th 2018

The coast line we followed today is obviously very popular and still busy with tourists, we tried to pull in to two different coastal towns with harbours and beaches but found it impossible to park Homer anywhere.

We stopped for lunch in a car park outside a large primary school and it made me smile as we watched the antics of the parents, some came to collect very young children, but others were bringing older children, some came early, others almost on time and there were those that screeched to a halt and a child bailed out of the car and sprinted for the school door. There was a lollipop lady on duty wearing a short high viz jacket but her lollipop pole was a wooden bat not much bigger than a table tennis bat with halt written on it!

We have moved inland a short distance to Montreuile sur La Mer, which hasn’t been by the sea for centuries as the river estuary silted up a long time ago, we have treated ourselves to a two night stopover on a camp site in what were the former walled gardens of a chateau. The site is just below the walls of an ancient town and we have saved the pleasure of visiting it until tomorrow, instead this evening we went for a long walk along the river that flows below the town.

Sept 19th 2018.

Almost a year to the day we were staying next to a beautiful beach on the north Brittany coast, todays beach (50m from Homer) isn’t quite so good but very enjoyable, on both we only left footprints in the sand, but take away wonderful memories.

Over the past two evenings whilst walking Layla we have both suffered mosquito bites, I have approx 20! for some reason they go for my ankles and the itching kept me awake last night.

Our first stop this morning was Fécamp where using Google we found a vets to take Layla to, they were superb within 20 mins she had been registered , examined, a tapeworm tablet administered and her pet passport completed, all for 22.50 euros, less than half the price we normally pay.

We only drove for 32 miles today as where we are staying seemed well worth stopping at, dogs were allowed on the beach so Layla has had a good time chasing pebbles and running away from the waves. The weather is still warm and sunny so we have enjoyed the long walks we have taken today, the cliffs here remind you of Dover and you can see where they are constantly eroding leaving the harder stone behind.

Tuesday 18th September

We started our journey today by crossing the estuary on the Ponte de Normandie and avoided Le Havre as we took a short drive of 32 miles up the coast to Etretat.

We were on tonight’s aire well before midday which probably turned out to be a wise move as all the motorhome stops and camp site in the town were full by late afternoon.

Etretat is a small seaside town with a pebbly beach and spectacular cliffs at each end of the short beach, it reminded me somewhat of the Dorset coast. It was a favourite haunt of Monet and one of his paintings show the sardine boats being launched against the background of the cliff with its natural archway. Again as we’ve found along this coast line it was heavily fortified in the Second World War.

Sept 17th 2018

We spent a little time this morning before leaving chatting to the couple we met last night plus another couple who were Scottish but driving a Hymer with a German registration number.

We then headed the short distance north to the coast at Arromanche which was the scene of Operation Overlord in June 1944 when the allies built two floating harbours to bring the tanks and other heavy equipment ashore to support the invasion. Remnants of the harbour are still in existence today as can be seen in one of the following photos.

After leaving here we followed the coast road, stopping at first at a supermarket for provisions and a shiny new non stick frying pan. We found it difficult to find somewhere to park for lunch but ( one here for Steffi) we were dead lucky and eventually parked next to a cemetery.

We only use the sat nav to take us the last few miles to our destination and today it went haywire, took me along some tiny lanes around a housing area, down an extremely steep hill just wide enough to squeeze through until we popped out near tonight’s aire. We often drive along the main road around or into Honfleur and it is wide and straight, so why it decided that route I’ve no idea, if it hadn’t cost us so much it would be in the bottom of the harbour now.

Tonight’s aire is huge and can take 240 motorhomes and it’s full, because we arrived early we got a good position and electric hook up, from the front window we can see the harbour and from the rear the huge suspension bridge which we will travel over tomorrow.

Honfleur is a city on the estuary where the River Seine meets the English Channel, the old harbour is surrounded by 16th to 18th century buildings and was a haunt of some of the Impressionist painters, even today there are many shops selling art work especially modern sculptures. It is is a busy tourist town but still pleasant to walk around and there are lots of restaurants.

September 16th 2018

The journey north today showed the changes in scenery, large fields giving way to smaller ones, the appearance of herds of cows, troupeau de vache, the soft yellow stone of the houses in the south changing to a darker colour and gone are the red clay roof tiles to be replaced by slate. The first hints of autumn are felt as it is cooler in the mornings and late evening and leaves are changing colour.

Today we are in an aire at The Museum Memorial De La Bataille de Normandie in Bayeux.

We wanted to see the Bayeux tapestry and the famous cathedral and this aire seemed which is close to the centre was a good place to stop, as luck would have it and unbeknown to us, this weekend is European Heritage Weekend and entry to museums is free! This save us 30 euros in entrance fees.

Bordeaux Cathedral is the seat of the Bishops of Bayeux , it was consecrated in July 1077 by Bishop Otto the half brother of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, who was in attendance. It was here that Harold swore an oath to William promising him the kingdom of England when King Edward died, the breaking of this oath lead to the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings.

The Bayeux Tapestry is 68m long and 50cm tall and depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings culminating in the death of King Harold. The embroidery depicts more than 600 characters, forty ships and hundreds of animals and mythological figures. It was originally displayed for two weeks each year in Bayeux Cathedral as a means of educating people, many of whom were illiterate, about the event.

I did suggest Michelle do a little darning on it but with her dodgy eye sight she can’t thread a needle 😉

The Musee Memorial De La Bataille de Normandie shows the events of the WW2 invasion of Normandy which commenced in 1944. It gave details of those involved on both sides, the equipment and weapons used, and the stark realities of how many died. On the opposite side of the road is a War Cemetery again bringing home the horrors of war.

We spent the evening in a van of a Welsh couple and their Jack Russell dog that Layla had befriended, it was good to share a drink and find out about each other’s experiences, they have recently retired, rented out their house and are the road for a year.

September 15th 2018

Apart from one minor hitch we’ve had a good day today travelling through some attractive towns and villages with more varied scenery. The minor hitch! Many of the petrol stations are sited at supermarkets and are automated so you can only pay by card, however we find them very temperamental and often refuse to accept our cards. This morning this happened with my first card, it then accepted my second card but refused to deliver any fuel, by now there was a queue behind me so I gave up and drove off. Twenty kilometres down the road I pulled into the next fuel station and in the process of having one of my cards again denied realised I’d left one of my cards in the machine at the previous station.

Little I could do about it there in yet another queue, but thankfully by debit card worked so I filled up and drove off, minutes later I stopped and used my ipad to cancel my card so hopefully there was no misuse of it.

On our journey today we stopped at a town called La Flèche on the River Loir, not the same river as last night, it was an attractive town and appeared quite prosperous judging by the 94 euro meal at one restaurant we looked at.

After the lost card incident we stopped outside a small village for lunch, it had a parkland area with a lake and someone had a small holding adjacent with a variety of animals.

Our stop for tonight is in a small village called Sainte Suzanne which is known a Cite Medieval and has other honours allocated to it for its natural beauty. During the afternoon the village was packed with guests for what appeared to be a ” society ” wedding, the guests were dressed very expensively and there was a large number of men in dress uniform from more than one of the services, the medals on chests made more noise than the church bells.

We enjoyed a walk around what was originally a castle that is reputed to have seen off an attack by William the Conqueror and now has a Chateau in its grounds.

The aire we are on tonight is again run and provided by the same company as that in Saumur, this time we managed the barrier with ease.

September 14th 2018

When you leave A with destination B in mind having researched it and looking forward to getting there, then the route in between can become a bit of a drag, today felt a bit like that. It was our own fault as we decided to put some miles on the clock and unfortunately there wasn’t a lot in the scenery on the way to wow us.

We stopped for lunch at Parthenay and as were eating in Homer four cars of character being driven by four Englishmen pulled into the car park, they were on tour together and it was something they did regularly.

Our aire for tonight is on an island in the middle of the River Loire at Saumur, it cost 12.5 euros for the night and had a fiddly system to get in by paying by card, some people have had an equally difficult time getting out so tomorrow could be interesting. Saumur is an attractive town with its white buildings and is situated on the banks of the Loire, it has ancient narrow streets packed with a large variety of shops, something for everyone. Towering above the town is the ancient Château de Saumur which has wonderful views across the area.We spent a great time wandering around Saumur and if we’d had the time we could easily have spent tomorrow here as well as there were many other historical buildings we would have enjoyed seeing.

After our evening meal we took Layla for a long walk around the island we are on, she chased rabbits, had a paddle and attempted to follow a man onto his houseboat, usual chaos for her. It was quite dark by the time we returned.

September 13th 2018.

After a visit to deposit money in the French bank and a trip to fill up with diesel we left Montpon at 10.30 am this morning.

We spent yesterday evening and a part of this morning ramming every square inch of Homer with food, wine, objects we have gathered on our travels and items we are taking home for others, there’s hardly room for us.

We drove north via Chalais and headed for Cognac, we found it hard to find parking for Homer and ended up parked by the side of the River Charente in a 90 min zone. We were very close to at least two of the famous Cognac producers but of course with our amazing ability to time things wrongly, they were shut for lunch.

After a quick snack we went for a walk around Cognac and found it very interesting and I’m sure we will return in the future, we would have found it difficult to find room for any more bottles, even though Michelle has a penchant for Pinot Charente, my suggestion of jettisoning some of her shoes didn’t go down well.

We drove north from Cognac to Matha, a small countryside town where the free aire we are staying in tonight is in the grounds of a chateau and we are parked close to the old gatehouse. We have enjoyed several long walks around the area with Layla and she is currently snoring away under the table.

September 12th 2018

Earlier this evening it rained for approx an hour accompanied by the odd rumble of thunder and oddly the sun shone for most of that time, it came after a day when the temperature had quickly hit 31 degrees and a hot wind blew all day. As it was only the fourth time it had rained in 6 weeks we didn’t feel too put out.

We have never been here so late in September before, careers in education always meant we were back in the uk by the end of August, so we have been able this year to see the commencement of the Vendage ( grape harvest). This commences approx 100 days after the first flowers blossom on the vines. Depending on the vineyard, the steepness of land, type of grape etc the grapes are either harvested mechanically or by hand.

Another tradition we came across for the first time this year occured when we visited the cave where we always stock up with wine to take home, they were selling a strange cloudy sweet wine called Bourru. I wasn’t sure what it was all about but bought a 1.5 litre bottle for 3 euros. I’ve looked it up on Google and found it is known by different names in different parts of France and other wine producing countries.

Sometimes known as Gruff or Grumpy wine it is a must during fermentation, this cloudy wine still contains lots of sugar and yeast doesn’t keep long, it has very low alcoholic content. The tradition started with wine makers allowing people to taste this early wine to gauge its possible future outcome and continues in some regions until November.

September 11th 2018

Our visitors left today flying back from Bergerac to the UK. Always feels a bit strange when your down to two.

Now commences the pack away for the winter months, the parasols, sun loungers, outdoor tables and chairs have to be packed away into their winter storage area, it’s strange with just two chairs and one table left out. Then there’s the food in the fridge and the freezer and other food people like to buy whilst here but doesn’t get finished. It’s time for creativity as I try and combine as many of the items as possible into a palatable meal, tonight it was two different curries.

Over the past 10 days we have combined a mixture of visits and carrying out tasks in and around the house, we have as blogged been to Bergerac and Lalinde, we’ve also visited the lake at Jemaye, Libourne and a vide Grenier at Moulin Neuf, where Sophie bought another old suitcase to add to her collection and I bought another brass garden object.

We kept Sophie busy trimming the conifer hedge, mowing the field and helping me prune numerous trees.

My mom has enjoyed immensely playing with Layla, we kept her occupied with a variety of small jobs including varnishing 5 doors, bizarrely she loves washing up and fights for the right to do so, who are we to prevent her such enjoyment. It does however come at a cost as she gets through dishcloths, a bottle of washing up liquid and most of the contents of the LPG tank that heats the water, her comment being “I like to do the job properly”.

Below are a few other photos you may enjoy.

We don’t have TV here so reading and doing jigsaws are one way we occupy ourselves when it’s too hot to be outdoors, Ive finished a 496 piece one, it should have been 500 but Layla ate four of the pieces.