15 April

I woke up and prepared myself for the day and was down for breakfast (le petit dejunier) by 7. I didn’t find a petit dejunier on the table – it was a grande dejunier! Apart from a small jug of orange juice, three slices of ham, a croissant, four pieces of a baguette, three different types of cheese and three different home-made conserves (including rhubarb), three was the largest teacup I have seen. When I asked for milk with the tea, he heated it up in a jug – so the tea took a lot longer to drink. I certainly would recommend this place to anyone, but come prepared to spend longer at breakfast than you would normally at a restaurant for a four course meal!
Eventually I got as much as I could down, paid the bill, left a note in the visitor’s book, finished packing and left. I headed out along the coast, still by the D940.
As a note, the land yesterday in the north of the Somme was flat. The villages were easy to see, but because the land was so flat and featureless, I could understand that moving a signpost around would get everyone lost (before the days of SatNavs of course). Today the land turned back to undulating and the most remarkable feature to me is the lack of fencing (the land is cropped) and the use of the land to within less than a metre of the road.
The road varied between along the coast and inland, but although the sea (the English Channel or La Manche from this side) was visible, few parts of the coast were. One spot was just before Buologne, where I pulled up to take some photos. In Boulogne, I did a little more shopping, this time at an Aldi Supermarket (little different from those at home, except for the language). I can’t understand the total spoken to me, but of course I can see it on the register so can give pretty near exact money (yesterday’s supermarket was Lidl). In going through Boulogne, I saw a pretty purple house, so photographed it as I knew Fran would like to see it.
Between Boulogne and St-Valery-en-Caux, I saw a Renault dealership, so called in and now I can work the cruise control.
At St-Valery-en-Caux I stopped at the beach (La Plage) but found it was pebbly – there are photos of it. While on the hunt for a public convenience, I came across a Red Cross office. Red Cross in France do blood donations, so I might be able to arrange one while I am here. Then, later in my meanderings I found what I was looking for. The trick seems to be to find the public parking area, walk around it and you’ll see the signs for the toilets. After that I found a patisserie and bought a baguette, sat in the car and had a little (with my head out the door, to save crumbing the rest of the car), then drove off west.
The place I decided to visit the beach at was called Voucette, and I didn’t see it on any map – not surprising as there were only about ten houses in the village. The cliffs are chalky and prone to erosion, hence the signs. Again the beach was pebbly, so I don’t know whether I would really want to swim there.
I headed off to Caen to get information on B&Bs for the night. When I programmed the SatNav, it told me it would take over two hours to get there, despite the fact that I could see from the map it was only about sixty kilometres away. I just followed the signs and found out why the SatNav had directed me around – the direct road is a toll road, costing me €10 to drive halfway there (about thirty kilometres). We live and learn. At Caen, they didn’t stop charging – no free parking to visit the Tourist Bureau. I did get a list of B&Bs, but it only came with a map, no book so no actual addresses, just areas. I headed out towards Bayeux, home of the tapestry, to look for a place for the night. As I left the outskirts of Caen, I saw a Lions stand selling tulips to raise money for cancer, so I dropped in and got some. I showed my Lions hat to the seller, and when I said Australian, he immediately changed to English. While stopped, I picked out some likely places and headed towards them.
As they had no addresses, I couldn’t call in. So I rang – a difficult task when they don’t speak English and my French over the mobile is pretty hard for a native speaker to understand. The first two were full, but the third wasn’t – and it turned out to be only ten minutes away. I rang again from the village of Ryes and the wife came to meet and guide me in – and I had passed just a few metres away on my way in.
I looked at the room and decided to spend two nights, as that way I don’t have to spend any time tomorrow looking for somewhere to stay. I will see as much as I can during the day, then find a Macca’s for tea and send the last two days’ photos and blogs. I did look but there are no network in the village, so I can’t tag on someone else.
There is a small boy living here who showed me a small pigeon he had found (and was surprised when I was able to coo back). A car pulled up, so there must be at least one other couple staying here, but once out of the cities, English becomes rarer (although all the children learn it as a language, and have done for years). Still, I am managing, and that’s all I can expect. Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium will prove more interesting I think.
At 9, it is still light outside, surprising considering it is early spring, and it is dawn before 7. As most breakfasts are at 8, that cuts into the day, but I cannot complain. It’s better than no breakfast.
And so, another day draws to a close (for me at least) and I will away to the arms of Morpheus.