As I said we are now on a lovely aire at Le Treport where we get electricity in the price of €7.20. It is laid out just like a small campsite and with the sun shining we are sitting out on the grass in our chairs enjoying a beer. Our battery was very grateful to be plugged in and still has not finished recharging but we will certainly not worry now if we go a few days without electricity. The journey here was very simple and although we stopped off at a possible campsite for Andy, Carole, Joe and Eleanor we were still here by midday. The campsite we went to look at was in two different books, one said it had a beautiful sandy beach, the other rocks, so even if we were not going for them we would have gone just to see which it was. In the event not only is it rocks but the first thing we saw was a sign in red saying currents dangerous do not enter water! Not quite what we were looking for at all, still at least now we know.
Time for me to get the blog written, up to us arriving at Le Treport, so we can nip to Mc Donald’s tomorrow and get it posted and as you know by now that’s been done. We also downloaded a load of emails most of them rubbish but a couple needed dealing with. The blasted wi-fi will not send replies from our outlook so sorry if you are wondering why we have not replied but we did try! Don’t stop sending your personal emails as we enjoy reading them a lot.
Tuesday 13th July
Quite a productive day really, cycled to Mc Donald’s got blog posted and downloaded emails then on to supermarket, did large amount of washing, then cycled into town and along sea front, smashing. Sadly the beach here is pebbles as otherwise it would be perfect for our needs. At this rate I can see Carole opting to go back to last year’s place! It’s still very hot until quite late and we are sitting out when suddenly they started letting off lots of fireworks, we looked at each other and said, Bastille Day! This happened last year we remembered, it was a beautiful display and went on until almost midnight.
Wednesday 14th July
We’ve decided on another day here as Joan has not had her moules and frites yet so we spent our day getting a bit of essential shopping, milk etc, cycling to town and strolling around, plus lunch. Joan had her moules in a restaurant beside the port just like she did last year with Carole. This I do not believe, last year it rained when we went for our lunch, this year it poured, and we had to cycle back to the van and got soaked. Still the sun came out red hot shortly afterwards and dried everything. Then another brilliant firework display at eleven pm, where do they get the money?
Thursday 15th
Awoke to rain today so decided to head off on route for Le Mont St Michel, via a place called Vimoutiers where there is a free aire. The journey was straightforward and we arrived fairly early so having set up we went into town for a wander and a drink. On the way in we encountered several teenagers all sitting on the gate we had to pass through. Joan pretended she would have to limbo under the gate as the way was blocked, which totally threw them, but they were as good as gold and very polite. It is apparently where they all congregate every day.
Neither of us had realised we were in the home of Camembert cheese and so we nipped into the little museum and while there bought one for Carole who we know loves it. I tried to ask the young lady how you knew if it was smelly enough and ready to eat but she mistook my question and changed the one she had sold us for one with a longer shelf life and advised us to take it out of the fridge in good time for their arrival.
Oh dear the responsibility, they take their cheese very seriously do Andy and Carole as those who attended their wedding will remember. Anyway after a wander around the town, a visit to the patisserie and a beer at a pavement cafe, we had a look inside the lovely old church then made our way back and again encountered the youngsters who were just moving off. When one of them spoke to Joan, she replied we are English, which was like a magic word. All at once it explained her eccentric behaviour and also the signal for a couple of them to show their ability to converse with us which was lovely.
Then it was back for one of Joan’s new party tricks, she pours two glasses of wine or brandy, depending on which end of the meal we are at. Often one glass will be slightly fuller than the other but bless her, just so they will be equal she drinks some of the full one so they are level, isn’t that nice? (She really thinks I am that stupid, honest!).
Friday 16th July
It was dustbin day today so of course we were awake about 6am! Anyway after an abortive attempt to return to sleep we decided to make an early start and so we arrived at Mont St Michel about 11.30am. In fact we probably would have been even earlier if it had not been for the fact that the silly sat-nav couldn’t find the aire. What was worse was we actually drove past it but we were so intent on seeing the Mont which appeared on our right that we were actually looking the wrong way! Still, first we nipped along to take a look and see if we could find the aire just below it, which apparently floods from time to time.
We did see it but it turns out that they all leave and move to higher ground just before high tide. Anyway having found the right place we had a quick lunch and cycled back to the Mont. We did the tourist thing and walked up and up until nearly at the top we suddenly encountered a ticket office which wanted £17 for us to go right to the top. You will not be surprised that at this time our legs became very tired and we retreated back down by another route. 
The point is, the Mont itself is the spectacle with only mud flats and the car park to see from the top, whereas inside it is a fascinating place, with shops, hotels and restaurants all tucked away like a medieval town. Every corner you turn is amazing. I was not the only one who was fascinated that the roof tiles are actually made of wood. Of course there are huge crowds all over the place so God only knows what it’s like when it’s really busy. One old couple had sort of managed to get into a seat in a larger than usual firing slot and fallen asleep, it was manic.
Having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves we returned, cycling against a horrendous wind and arrived back at the van exhausted. Joan said she would like to return at night and take some pictures of it lit up which seemed like a good idea at the time. As we both sit here surrounded by wet clothes it doesn’t seem so good. Having decided to walk as it was such a nice night with fairly clear skies, we kept going until we had got pretty close. She took a couple of shots with the zoom and then we started back. Just about then we felt a couple of spots of rain and pulled our hoods up. After a very short time it stopped and we pulled our hoods off and congratulated ourselves on getting away with it, Ha! Almost immediately the heavens opened and just chucked water at us in bucketfuls. We managed to run a bit to a covered hotel entrance and waited until it eased enough to paddle back to the van. What made it worse is that the pictures are not too good either, we need a tripod!
So there we are another wonderful week in paradise
Lots of love
Bryan & Joan XXXX
1 comment:
K&K: Good to see you are still enjoying yourselves. Weather here is just as bizare as you seem to be experiencing, hot sunshine, and unexpected downpours.
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