April 30 - On to Honfleur!

 Today we had a nice easy start with breakfast at Chez Claire and Barbara walked into the village for photos.

Church we passed today

 

Road in Normandy

Then, we drove to Honfleur on the coast of Normandy to meet up with Pete and Shirley at a hotel above the town. First, we stopped at Pont l'Eveque and got some of their famous cheese. It was sunny and warm enough to break out sandals and shorts.

    Mark drove us all into town and we strolled the harbor and had a nice lunch.

In Honfleur

      We talked and talked.

      We all ate dinner at the hotel, Le Ferme de la Grande Cour. Very delcious!

Dining Room with Shirley, Pete, Mark

April 29, another day at the seaside

Today we had another nice breakfast at Chez Claire's with homemade bread, yogurt and jams. 

Beuvron-en-Auge

We got a nice early start and headed toward Plage de la Redoubte on Claire's recommendation for a quiet beach. It is just outside Merville-Franceville-Plage and on the Orne Estuary. We walked about 800 meters to the beach, hoping for a picnic spot, but it was windy and no place to sit, so we walked around and heard many birds, but could only identify a few via Merlin and descriptions. It is a place where 3 different plovers nest and is a protected area.

It is called Redoubte Beach because of all the bunkers left there from WWII, also called redoubts. Grim reminders abound in this area.

From there, we drove into the nearby town, Merville-Franceville-Plage, a long name for a small seaside town which we liked very much. We walked along the promenade; the wind calmed down as the day went on and more and more families showed up to enjoy the beach. As tide was out, the beach was very, very wide. 

We had our picnic there - the usual - baguette, cheese, tomato, pate, oranges. This time we added a sparking rhubarb water made across the street from our guesthouse. (We bought another bottle today to take with us tomorrow)

After sitting there quite a while, we had a coffee and tea and the drove to the outskirts of Cabourg where we stopped yesterday, but were driven away by the cold and the wind.

We walked the promenade; today the beach had a lot more people as the weather was sunny and warm. There were walkers and bikers on the promenade. We watched kitesurfers and saw 4 sulky drivers and horses trotting by the water's edge which was very cool. We could envision spending time in Cabourg in the future.

Chez Claire's

Then - back to our guesthouse, Chez Claire. But, we left our key in our room as we'd done every day. But, today is Claire's day to close the cafe and she was busy taking two of her children to lessons- piano, violin, tennis. So - it was locked. We tried email, but knew she'd be unlikely to check it. Barbara tried putting in the one number we had to What's App and to call it - no avail. (We think it was the centralized number for the Chambres d'Hotes) After sitting in the car for 45 minutes, we decided we'd go into the village and eat, although we weren't hungry. But, then we saw a number on her sign. Barbara called that, and lo and behold!, Claire answered. She told us that there was an unlocked door around back. Whew! So, we got in and we had our left-overs from today's picnic sitting in the lovely front garden here. We'd have waited a long time if we'd have had to wait for Claire to get home.

 

April 28 - Beuvon-en-Auge - visit to the seaside

 

Little church next to Chez Claire

Today we had a nice breakfast at our guesthouse, Chez Claire. Claire, is a hard-working mother of three who runs the guesthouse and her restaurant by herself. The bread was homemade as were the yogurts and the jams. Her family also made the apple juice. 

  She recommended that we take a trip today to the seaside, so we took her advice and went to the towns of Cabourg and Houlgate which are side-by-side, separated by the River Dives.

 

  Both have huge, tidal sandy beaches and home from La Belle Epoch, from around 1870-1900. They are a bit reminiscent of the mansions of Newport, but French style. It was very windy walking the promenades of both towns, but we did. We walked by the Grand Hotel in Cabourg and then the wind and chill made us leave and walk up the main shopping street.

     We drove to Houlgate where it was still windy, but it had warmed up a bit. We parked on the outskirts of town and walked a good deal of Roland Garros Promenade and gazed at more impressive Belle Epoch mansions.

  As always, we wonder at how many working class people it took to support the few rich ones.

    We watched windsurfers in Houlgate for quite some time.

    We walked into town and had a light lunch which was delicious - a scallop veloute soup. It was unlike any we'd ever had. Not heavy, but smooth. With some French bread, it made a great lunch.

    We drove back through some very secondary (tertiary) roads with big hedgerows and by some huge estates of horses. This area is known for its horses. Claire, our landlady, has a horse (not here) and her eldest son will work with horses when he finishes school.

 

Beuvron-en-Auge village

 We walked through the little village, bought some bread, looked at some horses just outside of town and also bought some rhubarb sparkling drink to try from a man just across the street here.

Rhubarb sparkling water

   We ate at Claire's restaurant. To keep it simple, she does not change her menu. Mark had an andouille quiche and Barbara had a vegetable quiche. The quiches are very light and, with a salad, it made for a nice dinner. Maybe tomorrow we will try one of her desserts.