We were awoken by the bells of the nearby church ringing the Angelus which of course made me think of poor old Quasimodo! After a beautiful breakfast of croissants, home-made jam and delicious fresh French bread (why is it so good?) we hit the D-Day trail and visited some of the sites of the Normandy invasion of 1944. It was a moving and distressing discovery of the sites where the allied forces landed, the German machine-gun dugouts and the tales of bravery and horror culminating in the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer. This cemetery is in the film Saving Private Ryan I believe and is very thought-provoking.
We returned home, stopping frequently to look at beautiful chateaux, manoirs and old farmhouses, for lunch where Gilles had whipped up two amazing cheeses souffles for us which we washed down with some lovely wine and cheese of course! In the afternoon we left the region of calvados for the adjoining region of Manche and visited medieval ruined castles, chapels and saw the Unesco heritage listed watchtowers of Saint-Vaast-La Hougue and the island of Tatihou. We visited the famous Maison du Biscuit and took tea in the quaint Salon de The before buying some delicious buttery biscuits of course! Hugh had a lovely time bird-watching along the coast and we even saw a barn owl just sitting by the side of the road in our headlights as we returned home.
On the way home we also visited some friends of Cecile, who own a dairy farm with a walled courtyard and an imposing farm house with its own chapel and dovecote. For dinner that night we went to a fish restaurant along the sea-front which was delicious (no fish for me but deep fried Camembert yum yum) with a heavenly chocolate fondant desert. The next day, typically on the day we leave Normandy, the sun comes out and we enjoy breakfast overlooking the sea bathed in sunshine. Gilles feeds the birds some breadcrumbs and we soon see a robin, blue-tits, great tits and a dunnock fighting over them (the robin wins!). Hugh had a great time walking along the beach seeing sea-birds. We have a relaxing morning meeting up with our new friends for coffee and admiring the historic buildings in the sun before yet another lovely meal prepared by Gilles. All too soon it is time to leave lovely Normandy for Paris.
For some reason, on Monday I wake up with a stomach which refuses to eat any more cheese. Oh my God - a vegan in Paris - what a nightmare! Oh well, I suppose I have had my fun and now I'm paying for it. So lots of healthy vegetable soup and no dairy products - at least for a week or so before I go to Switzerland and the land of the fondue. However, I have discovered a French Michelin guide on the bookshelf which has the double benefit of improving my French and giving me some lovely suggested walks around various quartiers of Paris with lots of history and architectural facts which cheered me up - just what I needed. So, today after loafing around in my pajamas for a bit, I went for a delightful walk in the Luxembourg gardens and took tea in the charmingly named Pavilion de la Fontaine. The palace (now used by the Senate) was built by Marie de Medici and perhaps for that reason the gardens are full of statues of French Queens even including Mathilda the wife of William the Conquerer for some reason. There is no escaping these Normans!
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