France May to Jul 17 - week 2 - 3 to 9 Jun 17

The D-day celebrations were getting under way this week and we saw lots of reenactors in their jeeps and other associated old vehicles. On Saturday we cycled the short distance into Courseilles, wandered around the town, cycled back for lunch, then back out again for a lovely evening watching an excellent swing band and a beautiful sunset over Juno Beach

On Sunday we cycled all along Juno and Sword beaches, then followed the Caen canal to Pegasus Bridge, where we had a beer in the wonderful Café Gondrée.  No visit to Normandy would be complete without a visit to this famous and evocative site. The cycle ride was a total of 27 miles, stopping on the way back to meet a party of NVA veterans for a short service on the beach and a chat with one of the vets. He was a real character and we could have spent hours chatting to the wonderful man. In the evening (well, 2330hrs at night) there was an excellent firework display, although we got caught in a shower of rain. It didn't dampen our enjoyment of the fireworks, or our late night picnic on the beach. 

Piper Bill Millin's statue at Colleville

Café Gondree

On Monday we set off for an hours drive to Sainte Mere Eglise to find the aire next to the airborne museum. The D-Day celebrations were in full swing, with lots of military vehicles and people dressed up in 40s fashion. We wandered around the small town and had a beer with a couple of very pleasant 82nd Airborne Soldiers here for a parade. The parade itself was a boring affair. The German Fallschirmjager detachment did their best to make the 82nd Airborne contingent look smart and the US General made a politically correct speech containing historic references that were inaccurate, but who gives a damn as long as it sounds good eh? The wind picked up and the rain started so we retired to the van and it was very sobering to consider the fact that on this night 70-odd years ago thousands of people were dying.

On the morning of the 6 June we thought we would pop down to Omaha Beach to pay our respects to the 9387 US Servicemen buried there. Obviously there were a lot of ceremonies going on and somehow we managed to delay a huge entourage with lots of police outriders and cars with blacked out windows as we did a 3 point turn in a narrow road. They didn't look impressed - hey ho. 

Leaving the D-Day beach area we headed across to the aire near Mont St Michel in Beauvoir, which is expensive but nice. We walked along to the dam for a view of the Mont and Debs decided that she wanted to blend in so she bought a Breton top (albeit we were still in Normandy and 50 or so metres from the Brittany border).

On Wednesday we cycled to the parking area near the causeway to the Mont and walked across, beating the crowds by getting there early. We climbed the narrow streets past the tat shops and explored the abbey, albeit we gave up on the quietest tour guide in the world as we couldn't hear a word he was saying. As we descended the crowds had appeared and the streets were rammed so we headed back and revisited late in the evening when it was much quieter. We didn't eat there however - when they want 10 euro for a pint of beer (eye watering by even French standards). We made a hasty retreat from Mont St Ripoff and ate delicious Moules Frites in a local bistro.

On Thursday it was nearly time to head for the Ile de Re but we didn't want to arrive at the weekend so we crossed the Loire at Nantes and followed our noses to the sea, ending up at a delightful little site in Pornic with the friendliest staff we had ever encountered in our travels.  A real gem of a site. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon just relaxing by the pool.

On Friday we  cycled into Pornic, walked around town and along the beach. The place is very pretty and would undoubtedly look better when the tide was in.

France May to Jul 17 - week 1- 26 May - 2 Jun 17

We said that we would never travel anywhere on a bank holiday. We did - big mistake!!!!

Friday was ok as we travelled down to Kelseys Farm in Bexley, our stop to do Mother visiting duties before crossing the channel. Enroute we stopped at a weighbridge near Cambridge and were happy that we had loads of spare payload, despite being loaded for a 6 week journey. On Friday afternoon, in glorious sunshine, we entertained the mother in law in a local pub in Bexley. On Saturday we braved Transport for London and, as the trains were screwed yet again, we spent a total of 5 hours travelling to and from West London in roasting heat. We would be glad to see the back of the pathetic and hideously expensive London transport system.

Kelseys Bexley - you wouldn't think that you were so close to London

The Bank Holiday curse struck again on the Sunday as we had a slow jaunt down to the tunnel,
 stopping at a shopping centre near Gillingham for supplies (we were going to pop into Camping International but they offer nowhere for motorhomes to stop, so we didn't bother). Apparently the curse of London Transport had spread to Eurotunnel and there were delays there as well. We queued for an hour to get into the terminal, managed to squeeze in amongst  the thousands of eastern european van drivers towing huge car trailers, and spent an hour an a half sweating as thousands of vehicles tried to manoeuvre and park in spaces built for a few hundred.  Its about time that Eurotunnel invested some more dosh into that ageing and now unreliable crossing.

Queues for Eurotunnel

Eyesore, but necessary, fences when you arrive in France

Finally, late, we parked up at Cité Europe and had a good nights sleep until the storm started. Boy what a storm! The van rocked with the blasts of wind and there were at least 50 flashes of lightning a minute. It was like strobe lighting.

On Monday we did some shopping, filled up with fuel and then the diesel cap managed to self-destruct. Things were going so well! We bought an emergency cap in the local store then headed down to Le Croytoy - a very pleasant aire in a nice seaside town.

Tuesday we set off for Fecamp stopping at a Fiat dealer in Dieppe for a new fuel cap. Of course it was closed for the obligatory French 10 hour lunch break and when he did finally open we were told that it wasn't a Fiat cap but a motorhome one. Grrrr!!

On to Fecamp where we had a walk around this rather uninspiring Norman town, tasted some Benedictine, had an ice cream and retired back to our night stop on the car park, not expecting to get too much sleep as we were near a noisy road and next to a station. We were right. The diesel train started its engines at 0630hrs ready for a 0700hrs departure and as soon as he had gone the bloody church bells sounded. As for the stupid little tit on his backfiring motorbike, popping wheelies up and down the road, the sooner he falls into the harbour the better!

Benedictine

A much quieter site was found on Wednesday at Entretat where we parked up and walked the impressive cliffs, narrowly missing getting caught by the tide as we explored the undercliff cave. The site was full of French vans and it was quite fun commenting on French Motorhomer Fashion. The catwalks of gay Paris it ain't!

Cow's Piss - how delightful!

Thursday saw a quick run in hot sunshine across the impressive Pont de Normandie and onto the aire at Honfleur, parking next to a lovely elderly Belgian couple who wouldn't stop chatting. We wandered around this lovely old port, discovered the beach, and then bought some Cantal cheese before finally trying to stay cool and hydrated in the searing heat.

The Veggie Van arrives at the aire

On Friday we went to Caen to a couple of dealers to source a replacement fuel cap as we had a full tank and didn't want our fuel nicked during the fuel tanker strike. Then off to visit the Green Howard's memorial at Crepon, then along to coast to a campsite in Bernieres sur Mer for a few nights lay up.