We have recently returned from our Easter holiday, where we spent 17 days touring Normandy and Brittany. The main reason that we went to Normandy was because we wanted to see the British and American Cemeteries there. We actually went to Normandy a couple of years ago but that was a complete wash out and the only thing that we ever saw was the car's wiper blades.
We left home around 13:00 on Friday, March 16th and we made very good timeindeed, until we were 1/2 way round the M25 then it took us 75 minutes to cover 16 miles. As usual we overnited at Lenacre Court Farm, which is a CL in Whitfield just outside Dover. We went into Dover for Chinese meal at the Chapter Eight, which is one of favourite eating holes, after which we nipped into Tesco to top the tank up followed by an early night, because we were booked on 06:05 P&O ferry.
We were the only people on the site apart from a few permanently pitched vans around the back, the pitches were actually classed as hard standing that part was only just wide enough for the van to stand on, so when you stepped out of the van you were on the grass , or shall I say in mud! The following day we spent in and around Bayeux, trying to make the most of the weather, as it rained on and off for most of the day, but we did manage to get round the British military cemetery.
After leaving the cemetery we went in to Bayeux and had a walk round the town centre admiring some of the beautiful old buildings.
By 16:00 we were pretty well wet through, so we went back to the van, whhere we stayed for the rest of the day. The following day we went up to Cherbourg and came back down the East coast to Utah Beach. Despite the pouring rain for most of the time we were able to get out and take a couple of photos on the way down the coast.
When we got to Utah Beach the weather wasn't too bad so we did manage to have a wander round.
Just a shower
As before, it then started to rain quite hard so we went back to the caravan, and after 18:00 hours we had clear blue skies, and we went for a walk round Tourniers. The following day (Tuesday) we went to Grandcamp Masie and slowly made our way down the coast to Point du Hoc, where we had a monsoon! after that we went down as far as Arromanches-les-Baines.
Grandcamp Masie
Point-do-Hoc
That's the wife enjoying a walk up the prom!
The following morning we went to see some friends of ours in St Martin Besaces, after which went up to St Lo, where we managed to grab some lunch between the heavy showers, it actually cleared up about 02:30 so we went to the British Military Museum in Bayeux.
It was very cold last night and we were more than glad that we had left the electric blanket in the van from our previous holiday. We woke up on the Thursday morning to a beautiful blue sky, so we went into Molay Littery were we had a walk round the street market and the town centre.
After lunch we went over to the American Cemetery at Colleville-su-Mur, where it really made you stop to think when you saw the vast amount of headstones, it is no wonder that the Americans said that they won the war, when you compare the number of American gravestones to the British ones.
Looking down on Ohama Beach from the Cemetery.
As we were due to move on in the morning, we packed away as much as possible in order to get an early start, which we did, as we were away from Le Pickard by 09:30 and drove all the way in mainly torrential rain to our next port of call, which was Le Boterff in Brittany. Le Boterff is a CL type of site situated just outside of St-Mayeux. The site itself is very clean and offers all the facilities of the major sites, yet again, we were the only people on the site!
We had very heavy rain during the night, in fact it sounded as if the Eric Delaney Band was playing on the van's roof. Despite the weather, we decided to have a run up to St Brieuc and St-Quay-Portrieux and calling in at Binic on the way back.
St Brieuc
The above 3 pictures are St-Quay-Portrieux.
The above 2 pictures are of Etables-sur-Mur
The above 2 pictures are of Binic Bay and a memorial there to some French fishermen who were drowned in a storm in Bantry Bay, Ireland.
The following day we got ready and went down to St-Nazaire, which we did not think much of so we carried on to Pornichet and le Baule-Escoublac, which we thought were very nice indeed.
The above 2 pictures are St Nazaire.
The above block of pictures were all taken in la Baule-Escoublac, from where we made our way back to the caravan.
Again it looked like being a nice day, so we decided to have a day round the local lakes and St Aignan,
The above pictures are St Aignan, Lac de Guerledan and the Abbey at the head of the lake.
The following day it was raining when we got up, so we decided to have a run through the lanes to Loudeac, where we had an expensive lunch, but it was rubbish.
The above block of pictures are of the church in De Krenenan and the nearby fountain.
It was very cold over night, but we got up to a very nice Thursday morning, and decided to have a lazy day round the local little villages, but after an hour the heavens opened and after that we only got out of the car for lunch and to top up up with diesel.
We got up quite early the next day and by 07:45 we were on our way to Camping Bien Assise near Calais. After several stops we were there and setup by 16:00. For those who have never been to Bien Assise, it is a very nice site in all respects and within an easy 20 to 30 minutes drive to the Ferry Port in Calais or nearer still to the tunnel.
The following day (Saturday) we had a run into Calais, where we had lunch then along to Sangatte, where we sat on the beach for a while watching the ferries go and come.
From Sagatte, we went to Cite Europe where we topped up our liquer supplies and the car's fuel tank ready for the morning, as were booked on the 09:15 ferry.
We were up in good time for the ferry and were amazed to see how many vehicles there was to go on it. There was quite a few coaches full of school children on the way back home from some ski resort, when we got on the ferry we had all on to find a couple of seats, and as regards having a breakfast that was out of the question due to the size of queque.
When we got to Dover it took us nearly 45 minutes to get off the ferry, so we decided to drive straight home without a stop.
