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| Bayeux: D-Day 75! |
We left Bristol on the Tuesday for
Poole, where we stayed overnight with a leisurely afternoon and early fish-and-chips supper. We expected that the ferry next morning to
Cherbourg would be quite quiet, given that extra crossings had been scheduled for a No-Deal Brexit, but in fact it became clear that this was far from the case, and we had a long wait for boarding during which we were passed by numerous vintage cars, and a few WW2 vehicles. In the lounge we sat next to a group of middle-aged Brits who were associated with at least one of the jeeps, and were crossing ahead of the D[Day commemorations, Most were dressed (and in the case of the women coiffured and made-up) appropriately in US uniform. Some interesting eavesdropping there!
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| Angers - a fine city, nice when it's finished! |
All we then had to do was spend the afternoon getting to
Angers for a three-night stay, The southerly progress down the Cotentin peninsula was going well, but we then hit the East-West
autoroute and the significance of dates dawned" The next day would be Ascension day, so for many this was the after-work escape from Paris for a four day "
pont" The traffic got increasingly dense, culminating in a gross "
bouchon" before the Porte d'Angers toll. It was so bad we began to wonder if we would make a deadline for Reception at the hotel, but once through it we got into the city quite easily only to discover serious roadworks right in front of said hotel, with no chance of even a brief stop! We were directed to their idea of safe parking and struggled bag through the pavement closures to find that the "lift" was a vertical coffin with a mind of its own! The, manageress was called in response to our lack of enthusiasm, and she offered a move to another hotel. We declined and set off frazzled and hungry. The first ten minutes' walk found nothing open, but turning a corner we found the heart of the Old City and it was lively and interesting. We found a small Italian and took a call from booking.com resolving issues. Next day we found ourselves a room in the Ibis, and the rest of the stay was delightful!
The weather helped, as did the hotel having temporarily free easy parking outside and a bicycle rack inside the front door! We went for walks around many parts of the city - quiet with the bank holiday - and Bob did a ride along the river. It was good to be back in France and we were relaxed! We ate in a
"street food" Thai, and a bizarre
place where everything came in a jar! After checking out on the Saturday we drove to a point Bob had been to on the bike - where the Marne and Loire join. This was very pretty!
Next we spent the weekend - as we have for years - in
Confolens with George and his household, but this time - unusually - we had beautiful sunshine! Unfortunately G was suffering from back trouble. so we were largely based at his model home, where son Gregory and girlfriend were also resident for holiday and revision. We did show our "wedding" slide show, and on Sunday go as six to Angouleme for another Asian buffet.wok.grill! This one was particularly impressive!
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| Mind the Gap! |
We had chosen the next place to give us a nearby beach, high quality accommodation on a 5* campsite and bike ride potential, whilst being
en route to Toulouse. As we neared
Contis Plage it was looking good, and we were made very welcome. There were not many punters about and the only drawbacks seemed to be a strong wind and the distance from a sizeable village! Oh - and a bit of a struggle to get up the two steps from ground to terrace with no handrail! Otherwise it looked like a good place for a week! We visited the deserted pool bar, inspected the restaurant, and got in some goodies from the little shop! Next morning we were preparing a birthday breakfast, and Ruth was laying the table on the terrace when she took one wrong step around it and tumbled to the rough ground below! Thus was Greyrocks' fate for the summer sealed!
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