Author: tonylusted

This is the “all good things come to an end” bit, where I return to the UK. This time, though, I had a cabin on the boat. Just as well, as it was the last weekend of the school holidays and the whole boat seemed to have been taken over by couples each with 2 kids under ten  –  the cabin was a peaceful sanctuary !

The journey from Thouars to Le Havre was routine with plenty of time to spare. The only downside was that the catering at the ferry terminal was closed – again ! No bloody coffee – somebody is really missing a trick there. Weather deteriorated drastically crossing the Channel, but Portsmouth was still pretty at night – all lit up like.

Ferry was late as well, so it was well after midnight when I arrived at my old Uni friends Pete and Val Hunnisett, newly moved to Bexhill. Nice house with fantastic fittings to a very high standard. Makes my place look really scruffy ! Pete has not been at all well but now has hair, so the chemo has done its trick and he’s truly on the mend.  Beautiful and sunny next day, to such an extent we had a LONG walk along the seafront, followed by a leisurely lunch at the De La Warr Pavilion. 

Both Pete and Val are well into archery, so we popped up to their practice site for a while.  Pete says he is OK on his stance, but needs to get his strength back now – time enough mate.

Next day, it was a long all day meander back to the Forest of Dean, via Eastbourne, Beachy Head and ( my favourite road) the A272, then Marlborough and over the Downs to Gloucester.  Ages since I’ve driven that way, so really quite a pleasure. Not unexpectedly, mega-blowy at Beachy Head ( good for clearing a muzzy brain!). Then it started raining  – welcome back !

BEACHY HEAD LIGHTHOUSE

OLD LIGHTHOUSE, WHERE THEY FILMED THE SERIES “THE SHE-DEVIL” ON THE TV SOME TIME BACK

WHITE HORSE NEAR MARLBOROUGH

All in all a good finish to a busy 2 weeks – when’s the next holiday ??????

So here we are at the Morton mansion in the ancient medieval town of Thouars, (on the banks of the river Thouet) for a rest.

All this dashing about’s fine when on hols, but it is great sometimes to just stop ! They live on the outskirts of the town, down a quiet road (sorry rue) near some good pre-prandial walking down by the river. The real attraction of this house ( in my view anyway) is the HUGE HUGE basement, which has been partly made into a very nice 2 person office, complete with “mission control” numbers of computer screens, etc. The garage is still big enough for two sensible sized cars. There is even a swimming pool ! Sorry to say that the time I was there it was uncharacteristically COLD, so no dip for me I’m afraid.

A bit of sightseeing in Saumur, which has an impressive château on the banks of the Loire. Can’t imagine anybody over-running that place – plenty of opportunity for boiling oil and/or arrows to be thrown at the invaders. Some amazing wood carvings and ancient carpets on display. Not normally my “thing”, but there was no getting away from the fantastic craftsmanship.

BOILING OIL, ANYBODY ?

COOO – LOOK AT THE VOOOO

STEVE’S NEW HOUSE ?

FANTASTIC CARVING

BIT DRAFTY FOR DINNER, EH ?

On of the highlights of my stay was a visit to the  Ackermann champagne caves for some free sampling and a bit of discretionary purchasing – oh and the obligatory tour and film show. Great visit, as I could sample the goods without the need to drive. Steve and Alison are the only guys I know who have a loyalty card for a boozer-ery – how OTT can you get !

I LIKE THIS KIND OF RETAIL THERAPY

AND WHAT SIZE WOULD SIR DESIRE ?

Another was a BBQ with Morton family friends at a camp site near Saumur. Bit of a nostalgia trip for the Morton’s, as they had stayed there 10 years previously, whilst sussing out where to live in France. Needless to say, a large amount of local pressed grape was consumed !

CHEERS !

CHARACTERISTIC HOLIDAY POSE

Somewhere in this lot Steve managed to teach me the rudiments of building a web site. What you are seeing is the result of his never-ending patience with yours truly. Not as agile brain-wise as I used to be ! Although I have to say, it is the sort of thing he does everyday, so easy-peasy really for him. This was also the trip that convinced me I should join the Apple world .

My final day on the Normandy beaches.

Frankly, I was starting to get a bit “museum-ed out” ( if you see what I mean !), so I decided in the interests of fairness, I would visit the German cemetery at La Cambe, the American Ranger memorial at Pointe de Hoc, OMAHA beach itself and then turn south to Thouars in the late afternoon.

The German cemetery is different, in that there are plaques on the ground rather than vertical stones. Also a big mound in the middle for a mass grave for the unknown warriors. More than 21 thousand dead buried her. The German authorities have decided to have a Peace Garden, comprising trees stretching along the entrance road. The exhibition is very much pointed toward re-conciliation and teaching the youth of today why wars, generally, are an incredibly bad idea.

GERMAN CEMETERY

FISH MARKET IN GRANDCAMP-MAISY

WORLD PEACE STATUE

Along the way, stumbled into Grandcamp-Maisy, a port with REAL fishing boats and a REAL fish market. Obviously still thriving. Just outside the village is an enormous stainless steel statue, erected as part of the World Peace Foundation’s work after the war, 10 m tall and weighting 12 tons.

Pointe du Hoc was my next stop. This was an extremely important target for the Allies during D-Day, as the Pointe was the home of a German gun battery which overlooked Omaha Beach. The American Rangers were tasked to scale the cliffs and knock out the guns. Remember the scenes from the LONGEST DAY ? The American funded visitors centre and the associated information plaques are truly impressive – even the car park is well organised.   Much of the site has been left as it was, with bomb craters everywhere. You can even go into the bunker from which the Germans high command spotted the incoming armada.

At Vierville, there are several memorials, including one actually set into beach, called Les Braves, made from stainless steel and representing the rise of freedom. Huge beach !

Just up the road (on one of the few exit roads from the beach) is the Omaha Beach Memorial Museum.  Very American oriented, there is a series of diorama’s depicting what it was actually like day-to-day on the beach and its surroundings, including loads of hardware. Completely different from the other museums and (frankly) refreshingly so ! Good cinema presentation as well.

So back to Caen, point south towards Alencon, turn off the autoroute at Saumur and then to my sister’s house in Thouars.

My overall impression of the D-Day beaches ? I need more time ! The whole subject is HUGE ! I have been genuinely surprised by the whole scale of things.  I think I now know enough to do a bit more reading/digging. Rumour has it that my father ( who was in the Royal Army Medical Corps) came over in the second wave, so that might be an interesting avenue to explore.  Will have to re-visit next year – but I won’t choose August again !