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Honfleur – and then ferry

For my last full day and night of the Western Odyssey I drove the few miles across Normandy countryside to where the Seine flows into the sea between the town of Honfleur and my sailing port of Le Havre. I stayed at the very nice 2-star Camping du Phare, for an extremely reasonable cost without..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Cities-Towns, France, Places

War Grave

The grave of my Mum’s first cousin, Captain Arthur Deakin Eteson

I visited the WWII cemetery at Hottot-Les-Bagues to look for the grave of Captain Arthur Deakin Eteson, only son of my Mum’s aunt and uncle, who died in the Normandy landings aged 27. In looking for his grave, (before..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in France, Musings, Places

WWII and the EU

I drove to Caen WWII Memorial Centre and spent 3 hours dedicated to reminding myself about this momentous and horrendous time period in not just Europe but the world’s 20th century history.

In continuing to my overnight stop at the village of Asnelles – the D-Day landing site ‘Gold..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Cities-Towns, France, Musings

Against the clock now – Mont St Michel, Normandy Beaches, Honfleur

Booked the ferry from Le Havre to return to the UK Fri 6 July, and planned the route from Perros-Guirec via Mont Saint Michel, Caen and the Normandy beaches and then Honfleur town visit. Apart from passing through, this is my first visit to Normandy.

The weather continues to be perfect for..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in France, Places

Cote de Granit Rose – trip down memory lane

Have very fond memories of one or two holidays taken with extended family when the next generation were children – did that actually happen! – in this part of northern Brittany, when the weather didn’t perform like british Cornwall. I wanted to see whether it was still as beautiful..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in France, Places

Legs – let’s hear it

Had a moment of mindfulness, or put more simply, I thought gratefully about my legs today, as they carried me back along Mont St Michel causeway to my trusty steed; decided to go with silliness in the sunshine – particularly given that my youngest sister demanded more than just pictures of..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Equipment, Musings

Emotional Ups & Downs

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked how I had been in terms of general ‘up or down’ over the 3 – 4 months of being mostly on my own. The answer was that over all, I have been very happy to be doing this exploring, and despite doing it solo, but I have enjoyed other travellers’..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Musings

EU Citizenship Achieved

I am very proud to announce that I have now met the quintessential pre-requisite for joining my continental cousins; perhaps doesn’t satisfy the british cycling ‘cool’, but already gave up on that long ago and more recently with a pannier rack, and non-mountain bike tyres on my..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Musings, The Good

Bounty Hunters – along to Benodet

I love a good beach and go out of my way to see them, even if I don’t lie on one, or go in the water. Reminds me of the advert for the Bounty chocolate bar from my youth, where “they went in search of paradise”.

My journey to Benodet went via the Bay of La Baule, on the Loire-Atlantique..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in France, Places

Music & Dance

Wanted to record that one of the things I’ve really missed now into the 4th month of being in the van, is the ability to blast out music and do some bopping to it. The first can obviously be, and is done whilst driving, although I feel this can then compromise somewhat my wanting to take in..

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Musings