Tapp's Travels

We have just heard that on 23 June, Chateaumeillant recorded a temperature of 43.3°C.  The second highest temperature ever officially recorded in France!  And Chateaumeillant is just 20 kms from Les Fruits de Passau, our campsite north of Montluçon!  Good decision to flee the area!  Tragically, we also hear that two children die shut in a car and 40 people drowned in lakes, rivers and canals across the country.  This is really serious.

Saint-Pois-sur-Mer is ten minutes up the road.  We went to explore one evening as the air temperature declined a bit.  But as we arrived the sky was looking threatening over the tidal swimming pool.  Not sure exactly what it was threatening, but it looked as if it could involve thunder, or possibly thunder AND rain.   “Did you shut the roof lights?”  ” No, didn’t you?”  OK, we have time for a ten minute walk, then we will retreat!

You can always tell when it’s a birthday in the caravan.  The resident birthday card comes out!  It used to be a Valentine’s card for several years before becoming a general caravan decoration and subsequently a birthday card.  Saves weight (and the need to remember to pack a card!)

As planned, we went to the Moulin de Jean for lunch.  I know the caravan is a small place for two people to dress for an outing, but the outcome on this occasion was neither planned or recognised until we we about to get in the car!  A Symphony in Yellow!

Lovely food and, if you look very closely,  you will note the presence of a bougie on Glenda’s dessert.  Served by Jerome who was two years into his time at the restaurant when we last ate here.  He must have been just a lad back then!  He knows Jeremy and Lucy because they have dined here several times over the years.

Happy birthday!

After lunch it was Glenda’s choice of what to do.  She was heart-set on visiting the Guy de Grenne factory shop in Vire.  So, Vire-Normandie it was.

A bit like the Gien porcelain boutique that we visited weeks ago, it was stacked with all sorts of plates, bowls and cutlery.  It was almost exclusively what we didn’t need or want.  By and large (see footnote) this stuff ranged in price from expensive to very expensive – and the place didn’t even have a customer toilet!  So that was Glenda’s birthday treat!  But unlike at Gien nothing was bought this time!  Another result!

Before we left Vire, we went for an explore.  We parked close to the centre and immediately came face to face with a huge green telephone!  On a roundabout.  Covered in 1,700 plants.  As one does!  This unique green sculpture was installed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the invention of the telephone, marking Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 patent.

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The Porte Horloge is the most iconic landmark in Vire Normandie.  It stands behind the roundabout.  Built in the 13th century as the primary fortified gateway to the medieval town, it features two circular towers supporting a 33-metre-high belfry.  Clocks and bells – is that the connection?  Or does the mayor of Vire have some remote genealogical link to A. Bell?

Behind the porte-horloge there is a brilliant blue fountain.  The Wallace Fountain.  I discover that I’m looking at four caryatids!  Caryatids are standing female figures, typically supporting something on their heads.  In this case, the ladies represent Kindness, Charity, Sobriety, and Simplicity.

Slightly more famous caryatids can be seen supporting the porch roof at the Athenian acropolis …

(Thank you internet for finding this copyright-free image.)

In town we saw this tiny car.  It’s about as long as our caravan is wide!  We’ve seen a few like it this trip.  I think it’s a Citroen Ami.  Must be a dream to park!

On the way home from our birthday outing, we stopped off at Saint-Pair-sur-Mer for the stroll along the promenade that we didn’t get the other day.  The sky was much less threatening this evening.

And there was a “band” playing at a beach-side bar.  (Can two people and an electronic backing track be called a band?)  Anyway, the bar had beers with our names on them.  So we really had to pause there.  A very pleasant end to the day!

We are coming to the end of our stay in Normandy.  We’ve already extended three times, but we still have a few more things to do and see.  A trip to Villedieu-les-Poêles is called for.

Walking up the main street from the compulsory fountain opposite the town hall …

… we come to a very tall statue celebrating the bi-centennial of the French Revolution – (1789 – 1989).

At the top of town there’s a collection of small ateliers/boutiques – about 20 of them.  Apparently organised and sponsored by the town’s tourist office.  What a good idea!  The “tenants” cover an impressively wide range of activities from hand made jewellery to pottery, from art restoration to copper-work and from gift shop to stained glass workshop.  More town centres should have this scheme running!  There was even some interestingly named wine on sale!

And there’s a small, long-stay carpark bang in the centre of town …  VERY long-stay!

But look who I’ve found.  It’s the lone piper from Granville – he’s still wearing the same set of dungarees.  To a certain extent, you’ll have to take my word that it’s him.  I saw him walking down the street earlier.

So that’s Villedieu checked off.  On the way home we made another evening visit to Saint-Pois to feed the migratory birds …

… and to stroll along the promenade watching the children jumping off the diving platform, as it got shallower and shallower and more dangerous for diving.

We had planned to listen to the beer and drink the music again!  But no music, no beer and no chairs even tonight!  Come back yesterday!

Still, it was another lovely evening.

One more day, and it’s another trip along the coast.  This time to the south.  One of the “events” at Jeremy and Lucy’s wedding was a champagne breakfast at a coastal chateau followed by a walk to Mont Saint-Michel.  A walk to the “Mont” across the sand at low tide.  Well, it had to be low tide, didn’t it?  We wanted to look at the scene of our escapade.  We had a guide 24 years ago, and, as I recall he said “Follow the footsteps left by groups ahead of us.  If the tracks suddenly end, stop following immediately!  There are a lot of patches of quick-sand out there!”

But first a brief pause at Joullouville-sur-Mer.

Another long beach!  We’ll call in again on the way home.  It’s far too hot to enjoy a beach-side walk in the middle of the day.  We took the coastal roads for miles stopping at intervals to admire the view.

At Genêtes, we stumble on a tea-room of character.  They serve hot and cold drinks, crèpes and icecream – but not much else of interest.  Customers have free rein of the whole house (apart from the kitchen).  The games room had hundreds of boxed games.  We couldn’t even understand the French rules for UNO and Dobble, so we left the games well boxed up as we consumed two lemon crepes… twice.  The second batch came with extra lemon juice by request!

Back on the road and after several stops to admire the view, we arrived at Vains which is now the main departure point for the walk.  No sign of the chateau – and I’m far from certain we even started from here.  I think it might have been a little further north.  But it was a long time ago!  It looks a fair stroll!  Longer than I remember!]

Typical tourist antics!

We extended our stay at Lez Eaux by yet another day!  It’s back up the coast again on our last day in the area.

We have noticed that in Normandy there are lots of communes with “-Ville” in their name.  We have visited six or seven.  I set out to count them on the map.  Have a guess how many there are!  You might be surprised.

Google maps says there’s a highly recommended restaurant/bar at AnneVille-sur-Mer.  Another one of these places located well inland of the beach!  It’s well gone 2 pm by the time we rock up.  And it’s Monday.  Could be finished or full.  Luckily for us, it was neither.  Le Pierrefeu.

Another excellent discovery!

A free to use carpark is located one minute away opposite the dead centre of the village.

There’s beach after beach up the Normandy coast.  They have a lot in common.  Long, straight, hot and covered in sand (and water at high tide, obviously).  This one at Pirou Plage came with a trotting pony (and several tractors as well as an empty tidal swimming pool – all out of view here!)

Passing Regnéville, which actually is “sur-Mer” we saw signs for a chateau and donjon (keep).  Got to be investigated.  I think the ruins of the chateau were open to visit, but the donjon was far more impressive.  There was a path all the way round.  From some angles the ruins of the castle looked to be defying gravity!

Apparently, in 1626, Louis XIII ordered the demolition of all fortified buildings which were not on the national border or deemed not to be of national importance.  The Regnéville chateau and keep managed to survive 11 years after this directive.  Possibly because of its location near the coast.  But the respite was short-lived!

This systematic destruction, orchestrated by Louis’ chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, was a calculated political strategy designed to destroy the military independence of regional nobles and protestant strongholds, centralising absolute power under the French Crown.

And that’s a good note on which to end.  Tomorrow we are definitely moving.  We have identified two campsites on the Crozon Peninsula in the far northwest of Brittany.  They both have space.  Plenty of space!  And both have swimming pools!

Footnote 1:  The expression “by and large” originated from 17th-century sailing terminology.  “By” meant sailing close-hauled into the wind, while “large” meant sailing with the wind behind the ship.  Together, it described a vessel’s ability to handle well in all wind conditions, eventually evolving to mean “in general” or “on the whole”.

Footnote 2:  There are, allegedly, 460 communes in Normandy with “-ville” in their name.  That’s out of a total of 3,332 communes in the region!