Week 9 – Sep 14th to 20th – Our last full week
Day 55 – Monday – as is customary for a Monday it, was a “staying where we were” day, so that Paul could have a good start to the working week. It was a lovely day again and I spent the day getting last week’s blog ready for publication. A standard Monday really!
After work, we hopped on our bikes and headed off, down the handy cycle track into town again – although this time slightly more west so that we could see the western edge of Sword beach. We also popped into the local Carrefour for some fresh milk and lunch stuff, eventually returning to the van for dinner and evening of TV.
Every evening, about 8pm, the local owl comes and hoots for a while. And I haven’t yet mentioned the noisy church (St Pierre) , which rings one chime at 15 minutes past the hour, two at the half-hour, and three at 45 minutes past the hour. On the hour, the bells ring four warning chimes, followed by the number of strikes corresponding to the hour. And they also ring for a longer period at 07:00, 12:00 and 19:00 – which is an ancient Catholic tradition, that acts as a little reminder to have a brief pause or prayer. Luckily the bells fall silent after the 19:00 bell and are quiet all night – until the cycle starts again the next morning. I rather like it.
Day 56 – Tuesday – Paul has an appointment in Le Havre on Thursday and we need to make our way back along the coast in a series of small bites. The first was on Tuesday – to a spot a little inland of Honfleur. A place called La Riviere-Saint-Sauveur
As we arrived my heart sank a little – the site, though nice enough – was almost underneath the busy A29, which takes traffic to the port at Le Havre. As you might imagine, lots of heavy container lorries trundling across the viaduct. Thankfully it did quieten down quite considerably at night.
It rained on and off for the remainder of the day. Nothing dramatic – just drizzle really – but that and the very busy roads put us off our original plan of cycling into beautiful Honfleur – although we have been before. Instead, Paul nipped down the road, during a break in the rain, to a branch of “Wok Up” and we had some very tasty fried noodles with chicken and veg.
There was a “lavoir” just opposite the site. This is an old public washing space – rooted deeply in the old French way of life, where Madame would go with the daily/weekly wash and meet her mates, do the laundry and chew the fat. It was Napoleon III who recognised a public health issue and in 1851, a law was passed, offering 30% subsidies to towns and villages to encourage them to construct public washhouses and so, lavoirs sprung up all over France.
Men were not allowed at the lavoirs. They became a place for women to congregate – something they had never really had before, so not only a health benefit, but also a social one. Many have disappeared, as they were gradually replaced by better housing with hot water and the advent of the washing machine. But you still see them occasionally, where an enlightened local council saw the value in preserving them. They were often very basic, but some towns employed the services of an architect and there are a few very grand ones! It’s always a pleasure to see one. If you’d like to read more about les lavoirs de France, this is a good article.
Day 57 & 58 – Wednesday/Thursday – another moving on day. Our route took us over the soaring and beautiful Pont de Normandie. I vividly remember going over it not long after it had opened (1995). At that time it was both the longest “cable-stayed” bridge in the world, and also held the record for the longest distance between piers, for a cable-stayed bridge. It was more than 250 metres (820 ft) longer between piers than the previous record-holder. It traverses the River Seine, near its mouth at Le Havre. It really is a wonder and, I guess, quiet similar to our own QE ll bridge over the Thames at Dartford. It is followed by the equally impressive 6% gradient on the A29.
The aire at Gruchet La Valasse is situated right next to the magnificent Abbaye du Valasse, which I’m sure must have featured in films – like Les Miserables. It’s very beautiful and we had a lovely ride round the grounds. I think it hosts weddings and other events these days and there seems to be an outdoor amphitheatre for summer events. There’s a little tea-room there too.
Paul’s visit to the French office of Digital Yacht was on Thursday, and he left me snoozing gently – until the jardiniers turned up with their petrol strimmers! Talk about noisy! But it was probably time to get up, anyway.
Paul arrived back early afternoon after an hour long bus ride through more or less all the towns and villages between here and Le Havre! He had enjoyed his visit, though, and will now be able to visualise the location when he speaks to someone from the French Office.
Day 59 – Friday – a quick(ish) trip to Carrefour for groceries and fuel before setting off up the coast, via Fécamp – still a working fishing port – to a little town just outside Le Tréport called Flocques. We were heading there for no other reason than it was in the direction we wanted to go and had a handy, bookable aire.
We had a late lunch on arrival and then a quick beepy after which, I rang the local restaurant and booked a table for dinner, having ascertained that they were dog friendly. The days of sitting outside are coming to an end, as Autumn continues to draw in!
We set off on our bikes and found it immediately. If we’d bothered to check the map before we left, we’d have seen that it was eminently walkable. But no harm done. The restaurant was called La Bonne Assiette 76 – that number is added to differentiate from other establishments with the same name, which means The Good Plate. All the départements in France are also known by a 2 digit number. 76 is Seine-Maritime. There are 96 départements in mainland France. I think we’ve been through at least a dozen this trip. The other 5 are places like Gaudeloupe, Corsica etc.
It was a very good plate by the way. I love the French tradition of “le Menu” – a two or three course meal with several choices for each course. It’s a very economical way of eating and they often show the price of each course individually so that you can see what good value you are getting, when compared with the Carte (what we’d call the menu). We chose the €29 three-course menu. Where could you get a decent three course meal in England for that price(just under £25)
It was dark by the time we left – still a surprise after all those lovely long evenings. And barely had we got on the bikes than we were back home, full and happy. A great start to Le Weekend.
Day 60 – Saturday – I had hatched a plan last night. We would visit Le Tréport and park at the aire (for €8.50) at the top of the cliffs. The Aire is sited close to the Le Funiculaire – a cliff railway, which has been running up and down the impressive chalk cliffs since 1908 – more or less (including time out for a couple of wars). It was most recently refurbished in 2005, and now runs 4 unmanned cars all day – until midnight on Saturdays. And it’s free and also dog friendly.
The car whisked us down to the town and there – like a magic carpet – stood a land train, just about to depart. We have had some very funny experiences on a land train (including a particularly hilarious and rattly one in Rouen with friends Sue & Paul Rogers) but this did not deter us. We paid and leapt on, with no idea where we were going!
Well we certainly got our money’s worth! Le Tréport is part of a trio of towns along with Eu and Mers-les-Bains, known as the Three Sisters (les trois villes soeurs). At one point on the somewhat lengthy journey, Paul was heard to mutter “I think we are going to Calais”.
We left Le Tréport almost immediately – bound for the town of Eu, where Joan of Arc spent the night on her way to Rouen. Eu has connections with Louis Philippe – the penultimate King of France, who had quite a chequered and fascinating career – including surviving no less than 7 assassination attempts and who ended up living out his days in England – Surrey to be precise.
His summer residence was at the Chateau d’Eu, where he welcomed Queen Victoria in 1843 and 1845. Our trip took us to the gates of this stunning palace and we also saw the impressive church of Collégiale Notre-Dame et Saint-Laurent O’Toole and some remains of the 13th century walls of the town – built of flint like our own Portchester Castle.
We went as far as Mers-les-Bains, a Victorian “bathing station” town, where entire families would make the 3 hour train journey from Paris to discover the benefits of bathing and breathe the fresh, iodized air. Many would eventually buy land and build sumptuous second homes in the town.
We then returned along the seafront at Le Tréport and past some of the Parisian “Belle Epoque” second homes there. It reminded me a bit of New Orleans? Difficult to capture their charm on a grey day.
And the cliffs – well to be honest this entire coast gives those famous white cliffs at Dover a bit of a run for their money! It is known as the Alabaster Coast. I was sorry it wasn’t a sunny day as the colour of the water has to be seen to be believed.
We had lunch back up at the top, where all that can be seen of the erstwhile Hotel Trianon are its grand steps. It was requisitioned not long after it had opened, as a WW1 military hospital. It was then knocked about in WW2 by the Germans, who built a shelter from its rubble.
After lunch, we headed off towards Brighton for our Saturday night spot. No – not that one – Brighton-les-Pins. Or Brighton-sur-Mer. Site of a late 19th century failed holiday resort. Land was purchased, hotels built, but look what happened. The sea almost literally took the land back! You can read more about it here.
It was quite a busy site, set in the dunes, and we were parked next to some other Brits who, to our dismay – left their dog out on a lead all afternoon and evening. Whether it was his or their preference we did not find out, but our boys didn’t think much of it either, you could tell.
Day 61 – Sunday – our last Sunday in France, and we were setting off inland for the end of our last weekend. The landscape of the area around the Bay du Somme is like a motheaten jumper! You can see what I mean in the pic below. I think it must be caused by gravel pits although the area is given over to marshland. We saw lots of hunters out in their bright orange jackets as we drove along. No idea what they were hunting but I wished them no success!
The aire in Brimeux is an ex-campsite and borders the lake, which has a large colony of swans. It’s a very peaceful spot – all you can hear (apart from a few lads out whooping it up on their noisy mopeds) is coots and seagulls. Paul moaned and I had to remind him that, 45 years ago-ish, that would have been him on his “Puch 50” (with the baffles removed)!
And so ends our last full week abroad. Feeling a bit wistful as I write this. But what a time we’ve had. And next week, it’ll be vet appointments, shopping and catching the train back to Blighty on Saturday morning. Pretty sure we’ll crack the 3k miles too!
| Period | Miles | Cumulative |
| Week 9 | 203 | 2816 |