Above is a photo of the Vi mentioned below, and the ornate figures at Notre Dame in Amiens.
We found a very handy City guide for Caen, and, as we were in the old part of the city, we strolled around and discovered many old houses which had been the homes of notable Frenchmen. Some of the alleyways were very narrow and winding, but full of character.
Checked out of the hotel at midday with the plan of visiting Rouen, about 60 miles away. There must have been some very big event in Rouen on that day because we found that every car park was "complete" and there was absolutely nowheere to park. The traffic was horrendous and tested the French driving skills to the utmost. So we decided to give Rouen a miss and drove on with no particular destination in mind. We struck lucky by arriving at Neufchatel, and smallish town where we quickly found the Tourist Information office and picked up details of accomodation. There were two hotels suitable, but one was full and other closed! This was when Carol fouond that her mobile phone actually worked and we rang a Chambre D'Hote from the list and scored a super studio apartment on a farm just on the outskirts of town. As the accomodation was so pleasant, and as we had been doing a heap of driving, we decided to stay two nights. The studio had a kitchen and bread cheese and pate with a bottle of wine finished off the day in style.
Our host (who only spoke French) was a delightful fellow and the next morning over breakfast he told us about things to see in the area, and recommended a restaurant for lunch. One of the places he told us about was a preserved V1 Flying bomb launch site in the forest about 10 miles away. It is the only one left of 171 such sites which the Germans had established in the Normandy are to blitz London in 1943/4.
This part of Normandy is extremely beautiful with rolling countryside and superb forests. We were driving on back roads, and had a few problems finding out where we were actually going. But we we found the recommended restaurant just in time to get a table for lunch. Carol read the menu and told me that there was Lambs Liver a la something - so I opted for that after a starter of mushrooms in sauce on a tasty tart base - yummy. The liver arrived in the form of kidneys -whoops - Carol mistranslated "rognons"!! But I was delighted with them as they too were just great. Then a piece of camembert with a small salad, and finally a slice of scrumptious apple pie. Oh b oy - was I full!!
We finally made it back to Neufchatel and a light supper of bread and cheese!
Next day we set out for a Amiens arriving firstly at Albert, where we visited a first class museum of the first world war. It was an underground tunnel lined with diorama of life in the trenches, and hundred of relics from the battles - all encrusted in brown mud! It was almost too much and I was glad to surface again and leave the ghastly images behind. Off we went to Arras, another town which was basically destroyed in 1944 but with no sign of that destruction now apparent. Carol bought herself a dictionary here so that she could expand her vocabulary (like not getting liver and kidneys mixed up).
We arrived in Amiens and found a car park not far from the Notre Dame cathedral. This massive building had the most elaborate main entrance with dozens of carved figures all over the main doors. The inside of the cathedral was elaborate in the extreme with two organ lofts and a gilt encrusted backdrop to the main altar.Like most churches and cathedrals that we have seen both in England and France they have a long history which includes being wholly or partly destroyed by hostilities or fire - and always they rebuild!
We walked across the bridge overe the River Somme and found a cafe for lunch. Took ages to get served and the steak was probably skirt steak and not easy on my old teeth. Lesson learnt - avoid lunches at tourist spots. A quick walk around the town and then we remembered we had to have somewhere to stay that ngith. A phone call to Le Hermitage Chambre D'Hote found us a bed at Ginchy - a tiny village near nowhere, but a most comfortable room and use of kitchen. As the Madam had told us that she would not be able to prov ide an evening meal (it was late when we booked) we stopped at a nearby village where we saw a shop open and bought some beer,cheese etc to assuage the pangs. On the way there we stopped at the Australian/French War Memorial out of Villeurs Brettoneux. The hundreds of headstones told their own story of the young young men who died in the Great War. Carol was upset when she came across one Headstone that covered two brothers who had died within days of each other.
And so we came to our last day - Friday - and decided to go to Lille as this was not far away from Dunkerque our port of embarkation for Dover. We looked at a couple of hotels there but decided that we did not want to pay the 110 euros they were asking and finally decided that we would driv e on to Dunkerque that evening after having a good look around the city.
Arriving at Dunkirque we drove aroound looking for a suitable hotel, and then Carol suggested heading for the Railway station as there were usually a number of hotels nearby. I spotted a sign for a hotel and a vacant car park almost right outside so in we went. The Madam was gorgeous and obviously delighted with Carol's French and we got a lovely big room with shower and views out over the railway square. Madam told us about an excellent restaurant and we trotted of to find it for our last French meal. Her choice was superb and I had the best Sole Meuniere you ever want to eat.
Our Ferry was due to leave at 11.45am so we had plenty of time next morning to see something of this ancient port and we explored the quays and streets with Carol determined to find the Marche (Market). This we did with not qa lot of time to spare, but Carol managed to buy some leeeks and a bag of potatoes to bring back to Ramsay. Had a wonderful smooth crossing home and then drove from Dover to Ramsay in just under 3 hours. A wonderful week in Francce.
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