Wet/Dry

I slept really badly which is not what I was hoping for after my 03.00 start on Monday morning. No reason- everywhere was quiet and the bed was comfy. I arose to the hissing sound of tyres on a wet surface .
It poured for most of the morning.

My powerful power pack kept my phone fully charged and I used to charge my watch for a short while.

Heidi and I were out around 06.30 for her to deal with essential matters. A large group of moped riders chose the layby where I was standing to assemble for whatever is taking their fancy today. They are unpleasantly loud bits of machinery, especially if you take into account their power and size. Both diminutive. My brain was battered by all the popping and cracking and there was a disgusting fumy haze. Once their ringleader had rounded up all the outliers, they were off.

We went straight into brekkie. It was self service. I can’t even manage that! But the plates were very small which did not help.

My coffee was the first near disaster: I kept pressing the button but nothing happened. Some French gent took pity on me and pointed to a silver button beside the little icon button. Not an icon that responded to touch. Then I put the cup in the wrong place and ended up with a cup of dark coloured, on a bad day, wee-like fluid. Aha! I knew I could sort that with a dose of espresso. But it wasn’t meant to go over the floor.

In the meantime, H was sitting patiently at her table wondering if I was ever likely to return.
I grabbed a couple of little milk pots and a croissant and some scrambled egg and bacon and returned to H.

Her expression said it all… I had forgotten her sausage so it was back again to pick one up. My croissant managed not to slide on the floor but it was a close run thing. And the apricot jam was not too bad with the bacon but tasted strange with the egg.

The pots of milk I had picked up turned out to be fromage frais which in no way enhances coffee.

I returned upstairs to tidy the bedroom and by now it was after 9.00. The charger shop would open at 9.30, just time to fill the car with a dose of fuel.

The charger shop supplied me with what hoped I needed so then H and I were off to the vet for her rabies booster and worm treatment.
I thought it a bit odd that there was not much space inside the vet’s surgery. Usually there is loads do the animals do not eat each other. The other thing that strange was the lack of animals – babies prevailed: then it dawned me – I was in a human surgery not a vet one. That was next door. Red of face and feeling more of an idiot than usual, I just airily blamed the ‘English’.

Apart from nearly eating the vet’s hand ver a stubborn refusal to take the worm pill, H was perfectly behaved. And her passport was updated with a new rabies jab. And it has even survived the ferry pre- check in, check in.

We then drove west trying to find the British Normandy War Memorial. The one Rishi Sunak did go to. Once I exited the no entry, sauf riverains bit of road we drove back into Ver sur Mer. And there it was . Or rather was not. The car park was there but the memorial was an 8 minute walk according to the sign. I’m not stupid! Why didn’t they just say it was nearly a 1km walk away. Reminded me of those lying signs at Gatwick Airport.

We set off on our 8 (15) minute walk. It was a 3 poo day today for H. First thing, a dump at the vets and now at the Memorial.

You will have seen recent news coverage of the memorial. It is in a stunning situation overlooking distant remains of mulberry harbours at Asnelles. The art installation of metal silhouetted soldiers set amongst wild flower meadows is equally stunning and very moving. The simplicity of the stark memorial with its simple lines hits the right note. The history of Dday and ensuing fighting is etched into stone pillars that line the 8 minute walk. The poppies are crocheted.

By the time we were back at the car, I knew it was probably too late to get that seafood / shellfish lunch I crave. It had been raining all morning so I decided to head back to Ouistreham and try and pick something up there. And I would save the beaches for tomorrow when it might not be raining. It didn’t help that a very very large group of bikers ( not the moped variety) had split into very large smaller groups and were occupying various restaurants:

The something I picked up was a very nice, warm, goat’s cheese salad. And the sun had appeared, briefly.

A bit like this!

I thought rest was needed after all that walking, and H agreed so we returned to our hotel to check out the new chargers which are now busy and charging things.

We shall go out for another short stroll in about one hour or so. Later than that and everything will be closed and the French tucked up in bed.

It has been a fulfilling day, apart from the rain. I feel I have achieved a fair bit. I even managed to get into the hotel without difficulty. (Everything operates on a 6 digit PIN code, including room entry)Reception staff are only available at certain times of day and 15.30 is not one of them. I’ve tattooed the code on my wrist because I got fed up with having to find the relevant bit of paper or screenshot.

Tomorrow I may try and actually reach Arromanches and Asnelles beaches without things like memorial installations to distract me:

And this evening we made it to the vast beach at Ouistreham. Breezy, empty! Apart from jogging people.