Thursday, April 12, 2007

783.4 miles

Or 1260kms. That’s how far we drove on or road trip around Normandy – France from the front door of our house.
The weather the warm, the sky was blue and the baguettes were fresh. We had the best time ever. We caught the Transmarche car ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe late on Thursday night and arrived in the foggy French port very early on Friday morning and made our way straight to the Famous and space ship looking Mont St-Michel. It’s more than spectacular to look at. In the area surrounding Mont St-Michel, the tide flow is one of the biggest in Europe which it makes it more amazing. It’s either surrounded by water or quick sand flats for as far as the eye can see.
What made our tip all the more fun was that we camped. We spent the first night just out of town and had the BEST dinner ever. I love crème brule!
We then headed across the beautiful country side towards the D-day beaches of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beach. There wasn’t that much to see except on the cliffs near Omaha beach which had all the German forts and bunkers still almost in tact and what looked like bomb holes in the ground everywhere. If you were an American the D-day beaches would have had a greater meaning, there were lots of them around. We also went to the big American war cemetery. We then drove down the coastal road though hundreds of beautiful French towns passing the biggest, most amazing Château’s ever. Sal and I couldn’t believe our eyes. It was one after another all the way down to Honfleur, we were playing spot the Château. Some were old and in need of urgent repair, others were something dreams are made of.
The lovely town of Honfleur was our next stop, located on both the coast and the Siene estuary. This is a fairy tale town. A beautiful old town located around the port with yummy French shops and a great atmosphere. However very busy with people everywhere.
For our last night of camping we drove to the small French town of Jumieges, famous for its abbey, one of the most impressive ruins in France. The abbey dates back to the 7th century and has had numerous additions over time. The most impressive thing about the abbey is that it has had no restoration done so it’s all original.
Monday, our last day we headed off early to the amazing white cliffs at Etretat. What a sight to see. After eating enough brie and baguettes to last a life time and drinking enough cider to sink a ship our fabulous weekend had drawn to a close. We headed back to Dieppe and boarded the ferry back to England.
This trip was up there with one of the best we have done so far. The ease of getting around and camping and the friendly and fun French people, beautiful coastal and country areas and all the yummy food, where can we go next? Switzerland is next weekend!

A bridge near Le Havre crossing the Siene when we first arrived

Our campsite near Mont St-Michel

One of many beautiful Château’s along the coast of NormandyMont St-Michel from a distance
Spring time!

Sally J.....
It looked amazing at night

One of the main landing spots on D-Day

Picturesque Honfleur harbour

Abbaye de Jumieges
A perfect day to be in the gardens of the abbey
Amazing looking white cliffs at Etretat
L & S

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow lachie, NICe description. i was THERE with you. am inspired to see all that. great photos too. can't believe you guys are off having such good adventures. i'll just live thru you both for now. funfun. x C

Anonymous said...

sounds like a fun weekend in France, I can't believe you did that all in a few days! Great photos, great adventures....