France 2012, Day eighteen, The journey home

Day eighteen, Sep 18th 2012

It was still dark when we left for the port, the drive there was straightforward and we arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Once on board the MV Normandie, we went on deck to watch a very nice sunrise, over towards Cabourg.

Had a couple of cups of tea before we got a reclining seat overlooking the ships bows and tried to get some sleep, ready for the long drive through England.

I got lots of boat photos as we passed the Isle of Wight and then more when entering Portsmouth.

Then it was just the long drag north.

Day Seventeen or Day One

France 2012, Day seventeen, Normandy

Day seventeen, Sep 17th 2012

Last day in France and it was overcast, so we got ready what we could for the trip home and went out for a drive in the car. The first stop was Cerisy-la-Forêt (see last year) and then drove on to the coast at  Port-en-Bessin (see last year).

I wasn't heading for Port-en-Bessin but that is where we ended up, anyway we parked up and went down onto the beach to collected some of the large shells we had spotter from the car park.

 

It was quite amazing just how many shells there were, I was going to say I have never seen so many before but I probably have.

We then looked around the tourist shops before, we moved on, driving north along the coast to Arromanches (see last year), where I was heading in the first place. This year we got parked in town and walked down to the front to see the remains of Port Winston and the Mulberry harbour.

We also looked in the shops and even bought some presents to take home.  Then it was back to the site to finish packing but not before we had a couple of beers in the campsite bar.

After getting ready as much as we could and packing the car we had as early a night as we could.

Day Sixteen or Day Eighteen

France 2012, Day sixteen, Normandy

Day sixteen, Sep 16th 2012

We have driven around the Boulevard périphérique de Caen (Caen ring road) many times but never visited Caen. Today we would put that right.

On the way to Caen we came across a War Cemetery at Tilly-sur-Seulles and pulled over to pay our respects. There were a lot of graves from the DLI (Durham Light Infantry), my granddads old regiment.  I signed the book of condolences and I found it to be a very emotional experience.

 

Planned to park near the castle next to the marina but when we arrived, the road to the car park was closed for a market. So we parked on the road right next to the castle. Only paid for a couple of hours though, it was very sunny and we didn't want to waste the day walking around shops etc.

 

We set off to walk the top of the castle walls, but there is only a short section open to the public, and we were soon back down. There are some very good views over the city from up there though.  Struggled to find the toilets (no signs) and then got directions to two of them.

After walking around the inside of the castle we left via a different gate and came out close to the car.

 

From Caen we drove to Pegasus Bridge, we had visited last year but we took Mick and Bren for a look this time. As last time we parked close to the museum where the old bridge is and walked over to the new bridge.

The difference this year was we visited the pub on the opposite side or the road this time, the Café Gondrée.  Café Gondrée was the first house to be liberated during D-Day.

Mick and I went in for a beer and to take some photos, but the old lady behind the bar stopped us and pointed out the No Photos sign on the wall.   I found this to be very strange.   I assume the old lady was Arlette Gondrée, who now runs Café Gondrée and was a small child living in the home when it was liberated.   I have read many unflattering reports about her being very rude to visitors, well she didn't make us feel welcome.  If we ever come back, I will use the other bar again, that one also had toilets. The one good thing was, I got a new beer and it wasn't bad.

 

Next we drove to Ouistreham, it was very busy, it was a Sunday and I should have expected it but that didn't help us get parked.   After a quick visit to Le Grand Bunker, a German command post for the Atlantic Wall, now a museum and a short drive along the sea front, We set off back to the campsite, I wanted to time the drive, as we would have to do it early on the morning in two days time, to catch the ferry.

Day fifteen or Day seventeen

France 2012, Day fifteen, back to Normandy

Day fifteen, Sep 15th 2012

What a long day we had in front of us. Moving back to Normandy with a visit to La Rochelle thrown in along the way.

Checked out and set off for La Rochelle, I had a route planned with a stop at a car park next to the port. Well, for some reason I got (or did not get) the right slip road near La Rochelle and MS AutoRoute just kept directing us to Normandy. So getting to the parking place was a bit of a challenge and added time onto our journey.

We got to a car park, not necessarily the one I was aiming for but close enough to the port and old town. We were next to the Musee Maritime La Rochelle, we didn't have time to look in there and there was some sort of event on in there.

We crossed over a couple of bridges and into the old fortified port, I was on the lookout for a toilet, so I rather rushed the walk in.   Suitably relieved, we had a good, if brief, look around and decided, we all wanted to come back someday.

On the far side of the port there were several large marques set up and quite a lot of people milling about. No further investigation, the crowds were there for a TV festival, Festival de la Fiction TV, there also seemed to be as many paparazzi as fans there.

It was time to get back on the road, we still had about 250 miles to go, I took a few more photos and headed back to the car.

Towards the end of our journey, we had to pass relatively close to Mont Saint-Michel, so thought it would be a good idea to visit, before the causeway is closed and removed. Well we were too late, the road was closed and you had to park miles away and take a shuttle bus in. We drove off without stopping and I suspect many more will do the same. Also it was chaos, with no direction signs or explanations as to what was happening. The road was just closed, with an abrupt man telling people they have to turn round.

Our last trip to Mont Saint-Michel.

We continued on to the campsite.

After checking in at Domaine de Litteau and sorting the room, Dot and I went over to the bar for a couple of glasses Leffe each before supper.

Day fourteen or Day sixteen

France 2012, Day fourteen, Charente-Maritime

Day fourteen, Sep 14th 2012

It was market day in Les Mathes, so we did the one mile into town again. It was only a small market but it had plenty of fresh produce on sale. It was also very hot, so after a quick look around the stalls, we retired to the Tabac, for a cool refreshing beer.

On the news that morning there had been uproar, concerning a French magazine, showing topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge. I had a look in the Tabac and sure enough it was on the shelves but as far as I could see, there wasn't much to see anyway.

We had a couple of beers and then moved on to the next bar, in fact we did the same as we did on day eight.  Only much earlier this time, after another beer we went back to the site for lunch.

After lunch dot and I went over to the pool area and of course had more beer.

Then it was an early night, we were moving on in the morning.

Day Thirteen or Day Fifteen

France 2012, Day thirteen, Charente-Maritime

Day thirteen, Sep 13th 2012

I know how bad this seems but we went to McDonald's for lunch. In our defence, we only ever go when we are on holiday (and not that often) and we wanted to use the free WiFi.  Mind you cheeseburger and chips fills a gap.

After lunch we headed back onto the Île d'Oléron and this time we drove to the far end of the island, about twenty miles. I knew there was a lighthouse there but I didn't expect it to be so popular there and very busy. We parked in an overflow car park and walked over to the lighthouse, it was a lot more touristy than I thought it would be, with many souvenir shops and fast food stalls.

It was a nice hot day and after looking at the lighthouse and reading all the information signs we had a walk around the headland where it is situated.  Not much else left to say about that, we just a nice walk in the sun.

By the time we walked back as far as the car, the car parks were even busier and the Aire was already full of motorhomes. 

Next we just drove back to the site, we were going to drive along the coast but the roads were very busy.    Back at the site went over to the pool bar for refreshments.

Day Twelve or Day Fourteen

France 2012, Day twelve, Charente-Maritime

Day twelve, Sep 12th 2012

I thought we should have a day out sightseeing, so we packed a picnic lunch and headed for Saintes.

Why Saintes? Well we knew nothing about the place except that, Brenda's maiden name was Saint, it was also the closest large town to the campsite and Dot had seen that there was a Roman Amphitheatre there.

I had picked out a car park close to the river but we could not work the barrier when we got there, so I parked on the street. Paid for two hours parking and walked the short distance to the river.

At the river there was a Roman Arch, The Arch of Germanicus and also a small museum of Roman ruins (not to mention toilets). The arch dates from 18 or 19 AD but was moved in 1843 and was restored in 1851. It looks like it has been put back together by armatures.

I got a street map from the tourist info, at least we would know where we were going now. We had a look around the Roman artefacts, took photos of the bridges and crossed over the river and into the town centre.

Dot noticed on the map where the Roman amphitheatre was and we set off to find it. I had the map and knew the general direction and the were plenty of signposts pointing to it, although many of them were pointing different ways.  The skyline along the way is dominated by a couple large churches, the Cathédrale Saint Pierre and the Basilique Saint-Eutrope.

There was quite a climb to get to the amphitheatre (good views from the top though) and then it was down the other side of the hill, only to climb another hill to get the entrance.

By the time we arrived at the amphitheatre there wasn't much time left to do the full tour, also we were getting hungry (we had left the picnic in the car).  So we just had a walk around the outside and took photos over the fence, before heading back into the centre.

Back down in the centre (via a much shorter route), we had a very brief look around the place and an even quicker look at the shops.

We didn't stop long to shop but did look in at the cathedral stonemasons and watched the craftsmen/women for a wile. I have done this before near to York cathedral and I suppose there will be a stonemasons like it near every other big cathedral.

We then crossed back over the river to find the car and our lunch.  I did take a few more bridge photos on the way back.

It was late by now and we could have had our picnic by the river but we were not sure when the parking ticket ran out. So we drove off to find another spot to eat, there was a place we had passed by on the way to Saintes. When we arrived in Saujon, it was very busy and there was nowhere to park. So we drove on and ended up parked close where we wanted to be anyway.

I don't know if I was tired, hungry, dehydrated or all three but I got a bit ratty when the others couldn't make up their minds where to sit to have our food. I wandered off and moved the car closer to where we had walked to, to calm down a bit.

After our late lunch we drove back to the site, via an Aldi and the most roundabout route you could possibly think of.

Day Eleven or Day Thirteen 

France 2012, Day eleven, Charente-Maritime

Day eleven, Sep 11th 2012

After a morning sat reading in the sun we thought we should visit out local beach at La Palmyre.

We parked on the sea front and had a short walk along the beach path, we wandered along the front for about an hour or so, until the sky's turned very dark.  We headed back to the car very quickly. 

As it looked like rain we just drove to the centre where the shops and bars are.  We walk around the shops but didn't buy much, we also didn't go into any of the bars.

We had a quiet night, we were up late the night previous. 

Day Ten or Day Twelve.