Not lost in France....for a week

[HGS]

Annual big trip this year was for a week in Normandy

8 participants and for the 1st time we vetoed hotels and rented a house

Took a bit of finding a decent one with suitable sleeping arrangements....good friends but not that good

Went down to Portsmouth on Friday 20th June.....lovely weather.
To break up the monotonous motorway took a detour from North Wales to Clarksons places

Diddly Squat Farm was busy, but OK. Stupidly long queue for the shop. Had a quick drink and then off to the Farmers Dog



Only 12 miles further south







Box ticked, hawkstone lager is OK

We stayed at a Greene Inn at Portsmouth called The Farmhouse. Cheap enough and only 10 minutes from the ferry

Few beers and made the mistake of ordering the Quadzilla burger (2x Chicken and 2 x beef), as did the other 7 as it was buy one get one free.....too much



But seeing as we were leaving before breakfast opened, it worked out OK. They do put on freshly brewed coffe for early leavers

Boarding was fine. Brittany Ferries. Weather was lovely again



6 hours and we were in Ouistreham, Caen.

The house was in a small town called Livarot Pays Du A'uge. An hours ride SE from the port.

The house turned out better than the advert











Lots of room. Full kitchen, washer, dryer, BBQ. Large seating area outside and an outdoor pool
The house is on the grounds of a chateau that had other properties, even it's own chapel. The owners were lovely and couldn't be more helpful but not over instrusive
One good point is that all towels and linen was provided. There was a starter pack of tea, coffee, sugar, charcoal and cider to get us started













Rather than list food, we used the BBQ all week which compromised of kebabs, steaks, chicken / beef burgers
Breakfast were simple.....cereal and someone went on the boulangerie run to the town a km away. 3 to choose from

More to follow.......

 

[HGS]

Food pics























Get those out of the way

Evening view







Next up....the main reason for the trip

 

[HGS]

We spent 2 and half days covering the places we wanted to see regarding WW2
Very humbling places

Pegasus Bridge









Quite a gathering of classics on the Pegasus Bridge car park



Saint Aubin Sur Mer Sword / Juno





Wn27 is a Widerstandsnest at the eastern end of the Juno Beach D-Day landing area on the beach front of the town of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer.

Little remains of the strongpoint built here, but what does is well worth a visit - a type 1694 Ringstand with the original 5cm KwK L60 anti tank gun still inside.

This ringstand benefits from the addition of a concrete roof to protect the gun inside from air attack.
Protected from troops and vehicles landing on the beach by a thick concrete wall, this gun could swivel through 180 degrees to fire along the beach in both directions, as well as inland too, covering the main roads around the beach area in the town.

The bunker was attacked from inland by Canadian forces and shows damage from being hit by 75mm rounds from Sherman tanks which made their way through the area on D-Day.







Colleville Sur Mer for the American Cemetary
The feel and the presence here was palpable













To be continued.......

 

[HGS]

Very very good visitors centre at the American Cemetary

Nearly 9400 plots

45 sets of brothers side by side




There is seperate area listing all the dead that were not recovered / missing

1500





In the surrounding area were a few more visitor centres .... and loads of tanks!!!!!!




































To be continued........

 

[HGS]

Arromanches Les Bains

Mulberry Harbour













We went past the church in Sainte-Mère-Église

This is where American paratrooper Joh Steel got tangle on the spire and spent 2 hours playing dead until the Germans took him prisoner

There is a dummy paratrooper there now

https://www.military.com/history/paratrooper-started-d-day-hanging-chute-church.html

Passing through the little villages, so many of them still bear the bullet marks

For the rest of the week we had trips out to a couple of areas

The Parc Naturel regional et Geoparc Normandie Mayenne and Parc Naturel regional Du Perche

Lots of straight flat roads to get to them but interesting places along the way

​

oops...forgot a cake pic




We spent about 150 euros each less than we usually do and felt we ate and drank better

Weather was outstanding for the 9 days. One morning of mist in France which soon burnt off and an overnight thunderstorm. THe Chateau owner opened his massive garage for the bikes

Luckily one of the group is an ex Navy chef....and would not let anyone else cook in the evening.....so we just kept bringing him beers

All in all one of the best weeks we've had and have been doing them since 2003

Germany again next year, but definitely renting a house again. Either in the Eifel region or just over the border in Belgium

 

[Robbi]

Fantastic report, thank you.

 

[Zorro]

Brilliant ride report. Beautiful area and so accessible. Thank you

 

[Davey B]

Great report. We've been renting houses for a few years now. It all just makes sense, provided there's enough stuff to see 'locally' and sufficient decent roads for day trips.
(We were going on a camping trip to the Swiss Alps about 8 yrs ago, one of the lads found a very nice apartment for the same period...that was cheaper than us camping)

 

[matgriff]

Last time we did a two week trip to France, six of us (three couples) we just rented a big ish house with an outside pool in Brittany for a week off Airbnb, it was way cheaper than three hotel rooms for a week, then we did similar in Honfleur, just rented a great house in the town centre. As long as everyone gets on with each other it's a good option.

 

[Traffic893]

Some great pics there. Lovely looking accommodation.

 

[walkingpictures]

That's a great write up and some superb photos

 

[Tinytim]

That's a great write up and some superb photos

 

[HGS]

Last time we did a two week trip to France, six of us (three couples) we just rented a big ish house with an outside pool in Brittany for a week off Airbnb, it was way cheaper than three hotel rooms for a week, then we did similar in Honfleur, just rented a great house in the town centre. As long as everyone gets on with each other it's a good option.

Took us a while....only 22 years to go self catering

It was always left ot me to book accomodation and travel (but at least I know it's done right) and getting a house for 8 chaps with twin beds, bedding & towels in a nice location was a lot easier than I thought it would be...its the future

The swimming pool was an added bonus

 

[HGS]

Fprgot the tractor hanging from the ceiling picture

 

[grantmac]

Great report and great pictures. If you’re thinking about the Eifel or Belgian Ardennes for next year happy to help with route ideas etc as we know the area pretty well. The Eifel especially as we are there at least 4 times a year.
Just love your comment about one of your crew being an ex Navy chef!
I would love to able to cook. It’s an art form in itself when done well.

 

[crumbles]

Looks like a Mf 135...

 

[Lord Snooty]

Fantastic accommodation! When visiting St Mere Eglise, cross the road immediately opposite and check out the railings in front of the building and you will notice that several of the vertical rails have been hit by bullets, I've been there several times and this was the first time I've spotted them.

 

[SBD]

Looks like a Mf 135...

Yeah, with new tyres…

 

[Bloomers100]

Great report. Thanks

 

[HGS]

Great report and great pictures. If you’re thinking about the Eifel or Belgian Ardennes for next year happy to help with route ideas etc as we know the area pretty well. The Eifel especially as we are there at least 4 times a year.
Just love your comment about one of your crew being an ex Navy chef!
I would love to able to cook. It’s an art form in itself when done well.

Hi

Thank you for the offer of routes. We have been to the Eifel region 8 times over the years and Ardennes once before, but just always hotels

If you have any gpx files they would be most welcome

The art is cooking for 8 and getting all the stuff done at the same whilst keeping it nice. I struggle cooking for 4