Friday 11th We spent the day driving up through the Normandy countryside, taking smaller roads through rolling hills dotted with small towns and lined with hedgerows. We unfortunately became stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of no-where which we later found out to be caused by a major local fair. We were creeping along not really knowing what was ahead but there were no side roads that we felt were suitable to take the camper so persisted on our route hoping that it would not lead us into a difficult situation. We finally reached the town where most of the other cars were headed but found our way barred by marquees and crowds of people. No one seemed to talk English and we had no idea whether we should turn around even if we could with such a long vehicle. Luckily for us the police were very kind and we manoeuvred through the crowds to find our way to the other side of the town towards our destination. The rest of the drive was very pleasant, green fields, small picturesque towns and grazing cattle. We arrived on the coast of Normandy to the area referred to Utah beach, where the American troops landed in 1944, it was a very windy spot and the waves were crashing in on the beach. After having our lunch we decided to head down the coast and visit the site of a German gun emplacement which is now a museum where you can wander through the bunkers and look at the displays of war artefacts. We found this quite interesting but as it was quite windy decided that it was enough for the day and so headed off to find a spot for the night.
The next day was still very windy but we spent the day working our way along the coast of Normandy, visiting a German war cemetery, the large American one at Omaha beach and another major gun emplacement that looked out over Omaha beach and down the coast to Utah beach.
By Sunday we had enough of the WW2 memorabilia and decided that we should visit Bayeux and the tapestry commemorating the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. The streets of Bayeux were quiet and lucky for us it was very easy to find a place to park. The tapestry is almost 70 meters long and with it they had some other informative displays and a documentary film explaining its history. I suppose you could call it the first cartoon strip with detailed panels describing the events leading up to the invasion, the intrigue involved in the planning and the outcome. The panel itself has a very interesting history as well, surviving fires, war and misuse over the centuries so it is a wonder that it still is in quite good condition for it’s age.
Monday we decided that we would head back in the direction of s’Gravendeel, Holland, we had a few minor things to do on the camper, so thought it would be easier to do this at Martins where he had some tools and we could do some washing etc. We wound our way through Northern France and visited the Australian WW1 memorial near Villiers Bretoneaux which was a very moving place situated on a hill overlooking the fields and valleys of the French countryside. It was hard to believe that such a peaceful place had been the place of such misery and destruction almost 100 yrs ago.
After leaving the memorial we headed straight over the border into Belgium looking for a camper stop to stay for the night. We entered a site into the tom tom but when we arrived it was in the middle of a city. This we decided was not a good spot for the night and quickly retraced our route back to the main highway. We found that there was not a lot of camper stops in that part of Belgium and decided to keep driving towards our destination, hoping that we would find a suitable spot to stop for the night. Unfortunately when we did find a spot, it was not ideal, the road in front was very rough and the trucks travelling along at speed were bumping over it and made a lot of noise. We didn’t get a lot of sleep and as soon as it was getting light decided to get on the road and stop for breakfast further on.
We arrived at Martins place about 5.30pm Tuesday and have spent 6 days with him; Ewout has spent some time making some repairs and alterations on the camper. We have gone for a bike ride into Dordrecht to the market and visited Cousin Simon. It’s been a pretty relaxed time and we have enjoyed being in a house for a while after being on the road for so long.
Monday we are on the road again. We have planned a small trip over the border into Belgium and Germany, visiting some friends we made in Hungary, to have a barbeque and drink some beer. Should be a good time and we are looking forward to catching up with them again.