We had gone out to Granville on the coast the other day and were returning via Coutances when we were confronted by a Deviation due no doubt to some road works. The French take Deviations very seriously and they can go on for quite some way. This one had us redirected along country lanes and were signposted as not suitable for trucks. Now Henri, or Jaque or whom so ever was driving the truck that we ended up following either could not read these signs or just didn't care. The inevitable happened on a narrow bridge which was followed by a sharp corner. Henri and truck became firmly wedged on the bridge, a spectacle sufficient to bring the men in the cafe nearby out in their numbers to offer advice. Henri just wanted to save face and get the hell out of there, so with much grinding of metal and stonework he did just that and sped off just as fast as the Deviation would allow.
Now I find myself confronted with my demon in the center of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe looming up and nowhere to hide. Some years back we went to Disneyland with the Fultons and took the Indiana Jones ride, where you are speeding down a tunnel when a very large boulder almost blocking said tunnel rolls towards you and a very squishey end seems on the cards only too be thwarted by the ground opening up and the boulder being swallowed. I had no expectation of the Arc d T meeting the same fate BUT the ground did open up in the form of a tunnel and we were whisked away from the dreaded monument to continue unscathed to the Gare de Nord.
One of our goals in Normandy in this, the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings was to go to the beaches where the invasion took place. The French take this very seriously (and so they should) and the area has been largely preserved as a memorial park complete with shell craters and the remains of much of the German gun emplacements. It was sad to go to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach where some 20,000 are buried.
Now I find myself confronted with my demon in the center of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe looming up and nowhere to hide. Some years back we went to Disneyland with the Fultons and took the Indiana Jones ride, where you are speeding down a tunnel when a very large boulder almost blocking said tunnel rolls towards you and a very squishey end seems on the cards only too be thwarted by the ground opening up and the boulder being swallowed. I had no expectation of the Arc d T meeting the same fate BUT the ground did open up in the form of a tunnel and we were whisked away from the dreaded monument to continue unscathed to the Gare de Nord.
One of our goals in Normandy in this, the 70th anniversary of the D Day landings was to go to the beaches where the invasion took place. The French take this very seriously (and so they should) and the area has been largely preserved as a memorial park complete with shell craters and the remains of much of the German gun emplacements. It was sad to go to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach where some 20,000 are buried.
Omaha Beach.
American Cemetery at Omaha Beach
There are many small museums around the district with mainly American memorabilia and are well worth a wander around.
Another place that I had been looking forward to was Mont Sainte Michel which is a spectacular island fortified monestary and is twinned to Saint Michael's Mount in Cornwall. I'm sorry Cornwall but the Normans have won this one. We spent much of the morning here. The logistics for going on the island are quite involved as you have to park some distance away in a huge car park and are then bused over. There are many thousands visiting each day and I would hate to think of the amount of money which must change hands there.
Mont Sainte Michel
The Small Streets can be a bit busy.
The Skyline of Granville.
And that of Coutances.
We have had many more adventures in France and have enjoyed it very much, the sights have been wonderful as have the people, helping us whenever we so needed it. We move on to Britain tomorrow and to that end have taken an Hotel in the Gare de L'Est giving us a short walk to the Gare de Nord where we catch the Eurostar to Ashford in Kent. This will be a first for us as we have not travelled by Eurostar before. We shall miss the food of France. the beautiful fresh peaches and nectarines the bread and pastries etc. We go from the French thatched houses with their row of irises along the ridge line to the neat and tidy English ones. Hopefully we shall continue to enjoy some fine weather and find plenty to do.
Until we settle in Britain, all the best
David
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