Today has been a relaxed, gentle day, after a dreadful night. Dreadful because the wind blew intermittently with fury, causing the Caranex to rattle against the internal support poles. Jen however slept through it, oblivious.
By 11.30am we were ready to hit the road. An expensive camp site that while excellently provisioned, the wifi was weak and spasmodic. I did get to watch one of my favourite YouTube stories, LR Time, a German couple who have a Land Rover ‘Discovery rebuild’ obsession, released every Sunday morning.
The campsite, on Ravenoville Plage, part of the Omaha beach D-Day landing sites was soon to be assaulted by 34,000 Americans from the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions, 81 years ago. It would have been alive with expectation of an allied landing, but the Germans were covering a coastline of approximately 6000k’s, unknowing exactly where or when the landing attempt would be made.
A little further up the coast road we came across a wonderful museum of detritus from the battles in the area, and re-creations of both the occupying forces, local and allied living conditions. All within a coastal gun battery emplacement.
Another lateish start in the morning, we continued up the winding narrow lanes along the coast to Cherborg. This is where we arrived from Portsmouth, it must have been ten or eleven years ago, with our bikes to cycle the D-Day landing beaches, during what was the 70th year anniversary of the landings, then on up to Dieppe.
Tide is out in the fishing port of Barfleur
Cherbourg.
Last night’s camp site cost us £34 so we headed for the city based Municipal Camp site in Cherbourg. Municipal run sites are generally quite adequate and well priced. Only when arriving at the entrance, while the barrier arm was up, the office had a deserted look about it. No worries, we drove in and set up camp in a nicely mown site amongst occupied holiday homes, thinking we will pay someone in the morning. Soon after, grumpy person came along telling us to leave, as the camp was closed, and threatening to call the Gendarmes. Then a bolshi woman came to tell us to leave, in her most expressive French. Good luck, I though, possession is 9/10ths..:) More people passing giving us filthy looks. Toilets and shower amenities were open and operating, and that was good enough for us.
A peacefull night passed, but while enjoying breakfast, another male hassled us, but the rain came down sending him scurrying, and soaking the Caranex. The rain didn’t last and we packed up and were on our way, bright and early, at 10am. This hostility is obviously related to holiday home occupiers not wanting to leave the closing site, and taking their frustration out on us. So ended, a free night’s camping..:)
Destination : Tip of Contentin Penninsula. Cap De La Haque.
Our objective today, to again follow the coastline where possible to the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula, to Cap De La Hague.
Not long after achieving that, we passed a massive barbed wire enclosed facility, that google told us, is a nuclear fuel reprocessing site, treating nearly half the world’s spent nuclear rods. Extracting plutonium on site and converting it into a new fuel source.
There are some delightful villages and hamlets en route, to our campsite for the night south of Granville at St Pair-Sur-Mer. It’s now 6.30pm and while we enjoyed 30min of glorious warm sunshine, the clouds have descended and there are showers on their way again.
A beautiful house with a little bit of New Zealand in the foreground, a Cabbage tree in flower. They are numerous and seem to be thriving in this coastal environment.
This evening we will chart a course for tomorrow, heading south east. Where too, will be revealed.
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