A Lazy Day - Taking to the water

Friday 23rd June

Another restful day. Took a drive along the beach to visit a market in a nearby village. Pretty ordinary and we bought nothing.

This German bunker from WWII was on a nearby beach - low tide.

The boat trip went past it - high tide.

Lunch - another mountain of moules again and fish and chips.

Odette enjoyed the fresh air lunch.

This afternoon we did a 2 hour cruise on a boat to look at the Somme Bay and hopefully see the seals in the bay. We were sort of expecting to see groups of them on the beach just lazing around as we've seen in other seal watches, but no, you had to keep your eyes peeled for heads bobbing above the water. Quite a few to be seen but hard to get decent photos from a bobbing boat.

A couple of seal shots - I need to edit a couple to see if I can centre the seals.

Border collies seem to be a popular breed here.

The weather was great to be out on the water - mid 20s and a slight breeze. A very relaxing afternoon.

They run a tourist steam train around the bay
to the town on the other side - Le Crotoy.

Not far from our village are a couple of fields of red poppies.
They look amazing.

Our window box.

Time to rest - winding down

Tuesday 20th June

We are now staying in a gite in a small village, Vaudricourt, on the Northwest coast of France (well, not quite on the coast but only 10k drive) . We are here for a week of r & r before heading to Greece at the end of next week. We are close to the Bay of Somme  - where the Somme flows to the sea.

On the way here we went via Pozieres where a great uncle of Rob's is buried in the British war cemetery. We came here also in 2016. Very moving for him. 

The British war cemetery at Pozieres.

The war cemeteries are all so beautifully kept. Some gorgeous roses here.

Rob's great uncle Alex leMaitre.

A tribute to the Anzacs at Pozieres.

After leaving there we just continued along the main road (obviously a main truck route), drove past a restaurant Le Poppy with a couple of cars out front and remarked that we didn't think it was still a going concern. Five k further on we remembered we wanted a photo back in Pozieres, so back we went. In that five minutes there was now 6-8 cars at Le Poppy. Five minutes later, back we come, and now a dozen cars at Le Poppy. Definitely lunchtime, and one of the best 'tradie' lunches we have had this trip, and included the wine. 

Le Poppy for lunch. A mixture of tradies, truckies, and travellers like us.

(For the uninitiated - the government here gives workers an allowance for them to take a break at lunchtime and eat at some of the smaller restaurants. This is also in the interests of keeping small businesses going. From 12 onwards we start looking for these establishments with a collection of tradie vans and trucks out front. This is where we stop to eat. Usually a fixed menu, nothing flash, but good wholesome food.)

Nothing really planned for our week except a few short drives to look at the coastal areas. We are about half way between Dieppe and Calais - not sure we will venture that far away.

Wednesday 21st June

Trip in to the nearby town of Saint Valery sur Somme mostly to stock up on food for our quiet week 'at home'. Firstly a walk along the boardwalk where there was a market - mostly clothes and beach type needs. Obviously a very touristy beach destination - lots of people walking, riding bikes, and a few tour buses.

Visited the tourist information centre for maps and info on what to see and do nearby. 

Lots of sheep in the area - there was a shepherd with his dog herding the sheep down to the river - the Somme.

Waiting for his galette with sausage.

One of the hotels in Saint Valery sur Somme.

Looking up into the medieval part of the village.

Boats in the Baie of Somme.

Boring market shopping - but at least I get to go for a walk.

Had a lovely seafood lunch - Rob had his favourite, moules and frites. The moules were soft and lovely and sweet. 

Oops - this was dessert. 😋 

Thursday 22nd June

Met our host, Louis, this morning. He speaks no english, but i am feeling quite pleased with the way our French has come along and we are able to have short and simple conversations. They have a new baby, born at 7 months and still in hospital. I was able to tell him about our 2, and that they are now adults. 

Had hoped to do a tuk tuk tour of the medieval village in Saint Valery sur Somme, but phone number was out of service and could find no other means of contacting them.

Scratch that for today. Next, the washing. It's always there, even on holidays. 

Then lunch at a fish restaurant recommended by Louis. Rob had a seafood platter and I had prawns. One of the items on the platter was crevettes (prawns) grise - I'd never heard of them before. They are really small and you peel them just like a prawn. It's a tiny mouthful, but really nice. The meal was so nice we have booked to go back for Sunday lunch. It's only about 8k away and on the way back we found the shortcut that brings us right past our door.

We call these rinse the digits (doigt=finger).

Finally we continued our drive south along the coast to LeTreport, via a lovely small village on the beach - Ault. This village was much more our style. Quiet and almost no tourists. Then a short detour to another beachside village - Bois de Cise. This was a short dead end road but had some beautiful houses along it. We snapped a few photos, but there were plenty more we could have taken. 

Not the white cliffs of Dover, but the white cliffs of Ault.

Looking up through the village of Ault to the lighthouse.

A few of the houses in Bois de Cise. This was a beautiful little nook just off the main road.

LeTreport on the other hand was big, busy, lots of tourists and traffic, lots of touristy holiday shops. We had a quick drive through and headed back home. 

Cliffs in LeTreport.

The cathedral at LeTreport. There were some really interesting houses in LeTreport but we didn't manage to get photos.

Clocking up the miles

Sunday 18th June

Today was just a day of travel as we headed further north, through the centre of France, but staying clear of big cities. Roads were very good generally, wider, white line down the middle, and some motorway travel.

We ended up at lunchtime in a village we have visited twice before - Autun. There were quite a few restaurants open but we ended up at one where they were doing only one thing - chartacurie platter, omelette and ice cream. It was a lovely meal. 

Are these hippeastrums? They looked lovely.

The walls inside the restaurant at lunchtime displayed a lot of the old metal advertising signs.

Back seat driving.

Staying tonight in an apartment in Chatillon sur Seine, right near the centre of town. We noticed 3 'instant' pizza machines on our drive in so decided that was nice and easy after a long drive. So now we've been there, done that, and won't repeat it. Was just OK. 

Rob enjoyed finishing this bottle of rose with his pizza.
From the southern Ardeche region.

Monday 19th June 

Another day of travel, again on good roads. And France does know how to make straight roads. The area we are in now is much more wide open cropping country. The wheat looks almost ready to harvest.

We took a detour to the village of Provins,  forgetting we had been there on our way south. Duh! It only rang bells when we drove past the restaurant on a corner where we'd had lunch.

It's Monday, so on the lookout for tradie lunch, and success.

Travelling through Chateau Thierry we spotted a war memorial high on a hill. We went for a look - it was a memorial to the American soldiers who fought in the area in WWI. There was a very good information centre there. It is amazing to see how well these cemeteries and memorials are looked after. 

The American memorial monument.

Plan of the battle area, and the ground recovered
in a 3 week period from 18 July 1918.

Now in Soissons which was an area heavily fought over during WWI. We expect to see a lot more battleground stuff in the next day or so.

Forgot this photo a few days ago. Odette liked Labaume too,