Normandy 1.

Thurs. 30th April.

Owing to the fact that we, and other motorhomes, had to reverse on to the ferry prior to leaving Poole, we were first to drive off on arrival in Cherbourg and reached our chosen overnight stopover at St Pierre-Eglise, about 16 kms away, in next to no time.  After rugging up against the bitterly cold wind, we went to explore the town...everything  had closed for the night so after a wander around, we made our way back to Boris, cooked and ate dinner and retired for the night.

Friday, 1st May.

As we had put all our timepieces forward one hour on arriving in France yesterday, we didn't surface until 8 o'clock this morning but were in no hurry to be on the road so weren't bothered.  Our first visit  today was to Barfleur, a mere 12 km drive away...a lovely fishing harbour and rugging up again, we braved the icy cold wind to stroll around the port, rewarding ouselves with the purchase of our first f.a. cream cakes.

  

Down the road a little way, we came to St-Vaast-le-Hougue where Mike spied a spit roast in progress so quickly pulled in, parked illegally and bought a couple of large lamb chops which we ate for lunch shortly after.  They were so delicious we regretted not buying a couple more but consoled ourselves with our yummy f.a. cakes! 

 
A slightly longer drive took us to Ste-Mere-Eglise, a small town which has a parachute hanging from its church spire and is also home to the US Airborne Museum.  We didn't visit the museum but strolled around the square, inspected the church interior and had coffee at the Stop Club cafe/bar before heading off to nearby Utah Beach. 

Although once again rugging up, we had little defence against the sand blasting we received from the savage wind so stayed just long enough to have a good look around and take a few photos.   

On the way back to Boris, we saw several Citroens in a variety of colours and couldn't resist taking a photo.

Our last stop for today was at Grandcamp-Maisy where we are staying overnight.  We started to walk to the town shortly after arriving but were told by a neighbour that the ville was 'ferme' so we'll leave that till morning when hopefully, the sun will make an appearance and the wind will have disappeared.