It’s time to slow the pace down and live life more like we would at home. While we have things we want to do, we don’t have a set schedule other than a surprise later in this post. We will cook dinner most nights, take long walks and stream a few shows. We are staying at a gîte in the village of Douvres La Delivrande, a few miles from the beaches.
Plenty of walking/bike trails
Old town around the corner
What’s a gîte?
A gîte is a fully furnished rental apartment located in rural or small towns in France. In this case we had to request linens, which was an extra fee. The one we found is a new small two story building next to the owner's home for a quite reasonable price. We suspect it’s built on the site of a former garage. We like being close to the host in case we need assistance. Air BnB or gîte, it’s worked out best having someone explain how the systems work even if we don’t speak the same language. There is always pantomime or Google Translate. We also like this arrangement as it gives us a slower pace with lots of unplanned time to relax. The place is also pretty nice.
Now it was not all perfect during our stay and it never is. Some foreign appliance always seems to get the best of us. This time there was a combination microwave/oven that resulted in a very underbaked pizza (even after doubling the cooking time). We did not use the oven after that! There was also a 2-burner cooktop that worked fine for me but refused to acknowledge Jeff's fingers. The real kicker for me was the clothes washing machine which is often the case. First load I washed, I chose a setting that I thought would be the equivalent of a delicate. Um no. Over 3 hours later, it finally stopped - yes, the thing ran for 3 hours, and I fretted as a brand-new top was in there. Now this is just washing; drying meant placing on a drying rack. Next time I chose the 20-degree setting thinking cool wash. Nope, my clothes came out HOT. From then on, I chose the 15-minute everyday wash and went with that.
Cider trail
Normandy is the one part of France that does not grow grapes. They grow apples. Incredibly they said something like over 700 varietals are grown in Normandy. Overwhelmingly if not, all are not fit to eat - yes, you read that correctly we were warned if you eat them, you will be sick to your stomach. On our first full day in Normandy we visited 2 cideries and decided that was enough for the trip unless there was something special at one. We have also decided we do not like French apple cider. It was too fruity for my taste buds. Honestly, I think the cideries that have tasting rooms are counting on you buying some of their distilled spirits rather than their cider. At the first spot (Famille Dupont), we just did a tasting. We tried 1 or 2 ciders then we moved onto distilled spirits. The only distilled spirit I had heard of was calvados but there are a couple of others too. First up was Pommeau de Normandy which is the same as calvados but not aged in French oak barrels which turns out is a requirement for calvados. Almost forgot to mention they recommend drinking it cold as in the bottle we tasted had ice stuck to it from the freezer it came from. Then we started on the calvados (think apple brandy), the differences here being how many years the liquid was aged. Then suddenly there was a cream version too. 50 or so years ago the region came up with rules for making calvados and our taster recommended not drinking anything older because you have no idea what you are getting - could be moonshine.
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Family Dupont Ciderie
Distillery and aging barrels
Pommeau
Our second stop at Pierre Huet Ciderie allowed us to do a tour - cost a whole 3 euros each. The tour was quite interesting. We started under an apple tree since that is the beginning of the process. I was surprised that they wait till the apples have fallen from the trees before picking them. They use a large vacuum like machine to pick them. The apples are then rinsed and sorted. The sorting gets the percent of the different varietals they want in their juices together. Supposedly there are a mixture of bitter, sour, sweet and bittersweet apples in the final product. Steps of the production are: pick, clean, grind/macerate, press, let the bits and pieces float to the top, then store the juice depending on its final product. Cider is in vats where the natural juices will sweeten and form alcohol over time - no adding yeast like in wine. Then we get to the distillation process. Amazingly to me they have fancy new distillation equipment BUT it is wood fired, so they are keeping exact temperatures with a wood fire. It is a double distillation process to be calvados and if it is another spirit, it is only distilled once. After distillation it is stored in large oak barrels. These barrels are on their sides, and the top is purposely concave. These are very large and old barrels. It is then transferred to smaller oak barrels so that more of the oak taste is transferred to it. As in so much of alcoholic drinks there are time requirements for how long they must age in the barrels to be calvados. The barrel holding area smelled wonderful. Then onto the tasting room. In addition to apples, they have a pear cider which is only 2% alcohol. Amazingly to me I really liked it - very crisp said by the woman who does not like pears. We moved on to the apple ciders and then onto the spirits. We enjoyed the 12-year aged one enough to buy a small bottle. We almost bought a bottle of pear cider too, but I vetoed it because truthfully, I doubted we could drink it before we move on and our bags are getting quite heavy from the other bottles we have bought!
Pierre Huet home, though no longer occupied
Grinder
It smelled so wonderful
Wood burning oven bottom right provided another pleasant odor
Second fermentation
D-Day part II, Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches
We start out for a day exploring the British Normandy Memorial and the local beach towns. We are headed to the British memorial because I read an article about a short term installation that sounds impressive. We get to the memorial and first see another installation with areas with information and crocheted poppies at the bottom of each pillar. I am thinking we are in the wrong place then I realize all those dark sticks I see in the distance are it - Standing with Giants. It is 1,475 silhouettes of people who fought on D Day. They are 6 feet tall and spread out in a field of flowers. Along the outer edge are little placards talking about people who fought at D Day. Many died that day, but some lived long lives. Uncannily, where we first walked up there was a placard for a man with the last name Jay. It was quite moving and impressive. The outside of the British memorial was nice in that it had a long columned walkway and, on each column, where the names of the soldiers who died by date and military division. From there we realized that we needed to find lunch so off we went to a neighboring beach town.
A few of the figures with red poppies
“Standing with Giants”
Two nurses remembered for their sacrifice evacuating patients on a sinking hospital ship
We find a place to park and then start checking out the menu boards on the restaurants. We pick one and have a nice light lunch of salads with camembert cheese and sausage and apples - the Normandy styled one. We wander out on the pier some and around the town for a while before we decide to head to the next town.
Courseulles-sur-Mer
Juno Beach
Next beach town has a big beach right now - low tide and people are out at the water edge picking something. Mussels maybe? We enjoy a long walk along the sea wall. While the beach is currently quite wide/deep we can tell from the tide line that it comes most of the way up to this concrete walkway. On our walkway are shops in areas and in others it is full of little huts. We think changing rooms but then notice one is full of all sorts of beach items from chairs to toys. I don't see anyone swimming, some wading and a lot of sunbathing or hanging out. After that we head to the grocery store to pick up items to cook for dinner. The write up says it is the largest Hyper U in Normandy - it is the size of a big Walmart. Find our purchases and weigh and price our produce this time and head home to fix a nice supper.
Luc-sur-Mer
We pondered if they were collecting mussels
Surprise spot
To all of our friends on the cruise who did not get to go to Mount St Michel because of the severe wind gusts, I apologize but Jeff and I did an overnight trip to Mount St Michel. The plan was hatched the day the boat had to cancel our port visit. Since there are only 5 hotels on the mount and only 1 of them had 1 room - take it or lose it time. We took it. We got up in the morning and head to Granville to visit the Christian Dior home and then went on to Mount St Michel.
Dior Home
From the mini-series a few years ago, I knew that his childhood home was now a museum and that it sat on some land that had very nice gardens. The house tour is limited to 50 people at a time since it is a nice house but not a huge mansion. It is literally on the coast in a town that over time became a summer home for his family and many others. All of the houses in the neighborhood are nice and unique. The entry way talks about how there used to be a mural on the bottom of the stairs and along the ceiling but they just have a little spot now. Seems young Christian really liked the design. The front room of the first floor was the winter garden with a huge window that looks kind of like a ship wheel. The owners prior to the Diors were into shipping thus the design. While it is a nice house and enjoyable to wander around, what you really stop and look at is the clothing. Many outfits from his collections and ones after he died. Surprising to me, he was a big fan of England and English stuff so much there was a store in London, and he did some designs specifically for Great Britain using tartans and other British materials. The house sits on a large plat of land that is well landscaped including several rose gardens. I believe his first fragrance - Miss Dior's scent is based on the flowers from these gardens.
See the wheel shaped window above and interior shot below
Ship’s wheel window
Old piano used as a garden ornament
Quite some hand bag
Mount St. Michael
From Granville we have another half hour or so drive till we get to the parking lot on land for the hotel guests at Mount St Micheal. As we are driving there, I suddenly tell Jeff to pull over which he does and goes what?!! I tell him to look because you can see the island rising out of the sea from here and it is impressive even at this distance. You can see it over the crop and pasture fields.
We were in awe of the scale and beauty
We find our parking spot, hop on the bus to go over the causeway and get to the mount. It is an impressive and amazing sight. We are a day or 2 away from the highest of high tides for a while but even so it is amazing how much difference there is in high and low tide placement. We ditch our stuff in our room and start wandering.
View we were greeted with after stepping off the shuttle
Mount St Michael is a mixture of a medieval town, a fort and an abbey. The abbey came first. Seems a duke had St Michael appear to him twice saying he wanted a place built for pilgrims and the duke ignored him. Then St Michael got serious and hit the guy on the head - he built a simple church on the top of this coastal island. Over time the church grew and became a Benedictine Abbey. With the growth of the abbey and pilgrims coming, a town formed at its base. This went on for some time until the 100 years war (oh that thing again!). For fear of British attacks a fort with ramparts and cannons was built around the base of much of the island. The British did come - off and on for 30 years but were never able to get in.
Drawbridge with massive doors and grate that drops from above
Opposite side of drawbridge
After the French revolution, the church was kicked out of the abbey, and it became a prison. It would be used as a prison one other time before it would be permanently returned to the church and considered a French historic site. The Germans did take possession of the mount. The Luftwaffe used it for a radar installation and a place for troops to visit as tourists. Now adays it is just attacked/overwhelmed by tourists. When we were looking for our parking lot - we went by some lots numbered like 26 or something insane. Since they were empty and were so for a long way, I had a false hope that it was not too crowded. Oh no many, many people were there. We arrived around 3 which was low tide and many had left or were leaving for the day, but still lots of humanity was there. Oh, and many bring their dogs of all sizes too. Anyway, we started off walking along the ramparts trying to circle and see as much of the island as possible.
Village from the ramparts
Looking up at Abby from ramparts
We saw people (and Jeff joined) walking out in the mud flats and kids playing. Jeff reported that some areas were slippery and that he saw one man get his leg stuck up to almost his knee and his wife had to pull him out. After exploring on land and mud, we decided to find dinner. Happily, the crowds kept dropping in size. The shuttle busses run till 10 pm, but you can walk across the causeway at any time so there were still more people wandering around then I would have expected. We found an area we had not explored early and wandered some more before going to bed - it had quieted down by then.
Day 1 low tide
Day 1 high tide
Next morning, breakfast at the hotel a little wandering and then a tour. Actually I should back up. Jeff got up quite early so that he could take photos of the low tide and did a time-lapsed photo of the water coming in. Note the time for each photo and video to get a feel for how fast it changes.
6:40 am with delivery trucks restocking the restaurants
7:12 am
Click here for time lapse video of tide coming in.
10 minutes in 30 seconds.
9:38 am Clean up once the tide starts heading out
9:54 am
10 am
Past high, but still a lot of water
Over breakfast I hear another customer say how he had gotten up early to hear the singing at the abbey - wish I had known. We have a guided tour of the abbey latter. The abbey does currently have both monks and nuns onsite. The monks are with the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem. it is still a pilgrimage spot but no longer a popular one. We learn that the abbey is built on the rock, how there was a fire at one time so part of it smaller than it used to be, and see all sorts of rooms. We see huge fireplaces for cooking for guests - nobles and peasants same room but separate; we see the fireplace in the room where the monks copied manuscripts. Learned that except for the infirmary those were the only fireplaces in the abbey - monks were not exactly pampered. We wandered in the church/chapel, we saw interesting hall ways and oh the cloister. The cloister was rectangular instead of the usual square because of what part of the abbey it was on top of, but the real interesting part was the very detailed carvings on the cloister frames and hearing that they used to be painted many colors like they were a garden. At the end of the tour, I asked about the noon mass. The tour guide said just go backwards on the tour till you get to the chapel. Thus, we saw everything a second time. I told Jeff oh its a weekday mass it will be short. Um nope - full hour exactly all in French. Now some of it was sung and they have gorgeous voices. Then guess what we ended up going through the tour again so we could get to the proper spot to return our headphones. Yep, we did the tour 3 times in one morning. Whew. Up and down old stone stairs all morning.
Cloister
Amazing carving that was once painted in the colors of the garden that where the lawn is today
Monks refractory
Ovens and heat for reception hall for honored guests
There was a hidden benefit to the length of the mass. The tide it is out - way out. Now not as far as it can go as in 9 miles out per our guide. The landscape has changed and it is pretty. We eat lunch and head for home.
1:38 pm
1:40 pm
2:50 pm
Before the end though I should double back to when it was a prison. One of the rooms we went through has a huge wheel to hoist up provisions from the bay. It worked by prisoners walking on it to move it. Think a hamster wheel. As we leave, we comment that the village could be a perfect stand in for parts of the Harry Potter Park in Florida. Only this is the real thing.
Men would walk in the wheel like a hamster to raise and lower a slide
Ramp on left held sled raised by wheel above
Le Havre
MuMa is officially Musee d'art Moderne Andre Malraux in Le Havre, and it is on my list of sites to see. It has one of the largest impressionist art displays in France. Additionally, it is in the hometown of Claude Monet and this summer they have a special exhibit called Monet in Havre. We get our tickets and as soon as we enter the museum, we are in the exhibit. There are 2 nice incredibly large displays of Legos by a Chinese artist that recreates 2 of Monet's famous water lily paintings. Considering they are Legos it is impressive. As we wander around, we see early work from teenage Monet. Seems he first made money as a character artist. As a 16- and 17-year-old, his pencil sketches are quite impressive. He had a couple of notebooks that he sketched in, and some copies of pages were on display. We were also introduced to Eugene Boudin a painter that mentored Monet. Boudin was known as the painter of skies and the skies in several of his paintings were quite nice. There were several paintings of Monet's including ones painted in London and in settings near to Le Havre. We wandered the small museum some more and then went to find something to eat which we found at a kiosk in front of the museum. We were relieved that the museum was not crowded since there was a large cruise ship docked nearby.
Japanese artists version of water Lilly series using Legos
Monet created in mid teens
From Monet’s water Lilly series
Cliffs of Etreat
After wandering around the waterfront for a few minutes, we hoped in the car and set off for our 2nd destination for the day. Falaises D'Etreat or the cliffs of Etreat which are the French version of the white cliffs of Dover in England. We weren't completely sure where we were going, but we happily found them quite easily. We headed for the town and the "pebble beach." Well Google sent us to a golf course which is on one of the cliffs, but not where we needed to be. Then the town was just finishing up a farmer's market, so we ended parking a half a mile away and walking into town and heading to the water hoping we were in the correct spot. Happily, we were. The cliffs are quite impressive. They are quite vertical, white with no vegetation and broken down some by the water. The beach is pebbles until right before the water line where it changes to sand. Jeff walked on the beach some to get photos and then we decided to climb the steps on the northern cliff since we saw a church and a memorial up there. The views were great and the cliffs are impressive. One last thing, as in so much of the French coastline, there was a German bunker from WWII.
Part of the Nazi’s Atlantic Wall, But north of the D-Day landings
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