Mileage 47 from the Lighthouse near Barfleur to the Lighthouse at Goury
Parking Co-ordinates 49.71424, -1.93494
Before I tell you about today I've just got a couple more pics to share from the Gatteville lighthouse near Barfleur (where we spent last night) - you really had to be there to appreciate the moment but they might give you a bit of an idea of what it was like!
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| The sky as the sun went down |
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| And the lit light that to this day continues to save lives! |
Today we hadn't got far to go - we were just nipping across the top of the Cotentin Peninsula, so to
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| The Lin is an old grinding stone but the puzzle is to spot the difference between the two shots 😂😂😂 - maybe somebodies being a Wally!! |
Our second stop was a few miles further on just outside Cherbourg where we enjoyed a cup of coffee, and it was a good job we'd stopped there because our plan 'had' been to move a little further on and pull into Cherbourg's Aire because after our wild camping night T4rdis2 was in need of ablutions! However, although we managed to complete said tasks there was no room at the inn for us to park, and as we drove through and out of the town everywhere was heaving so we were quite glad to leave the mayhem behind.
And it was just after Cherbourg that we commenced travelling along Route des Caps which is a 65 mile coastal route that takes in lovely beaches, high chalk cliffs and another lighthouse at Goury near the town of Auderville. We also passed by Port Racine at Saint Germain des Vaux which is said to be the smallest port in France with an area of just 957 square yards and an entrance between two jetties that is just 12 yards wide. However, we couldn't stop at that point because the roads were narrow and windy and all the gaps were already taken by cars.Therefore we pushed on to our resting place for tonight which was to be the free Aire near the lighthouse, and if anything it was more beautiful than our wild spot had been the night before. Here we found ourselves in a small field (with room for about 20 vans) that looked out over The Goury lighthouse which sits just a short distance from the rocky coast on a small island.
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There is also a Lifeboat Station at the port of Goury and it seems that it was from here that the initiative to provide the whole coastline of France with sea rescue sprung up! The boathouse is octagonal in shape and has a turntable that allows the lifeboat to be launched in two directions - either towards the Port or out into the open sea!
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| The Lifeboat station is the building at the back |
Once settled we took a walk down to the coast and along the shingle beach and it was here that my dear husband decided to climb a very steep 'track' up onto the top of one of the old German Bunkers
But I played it safe and stayed at the bottom to take the pics!
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| Our Camping Spot which was an hour behind the times! You can see T4rdis2 but only with it's back turned!! |
Saturday 13th July 2019 🌞🌞🌞⛅🌞🌞🌞
Mileage 40 from Goury to Portbail
Parking Co-ordinates 49.33753, -1.7008
Today we only did another short hop along the coast to Portbail, but as usual we had a stop along the way at Les Pieux beach to paddle and it was another one that went on for miles.
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| It was very hot but the water was freezing |
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One of the tidal basins
and also more war history
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| Eglise Saint Martin du Gouey which was partly destroyed in the war and had to be rebuilt |
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| The only house in Portbail's main street that wasn't destroyed in the bombings of June 1944 |
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| And Eglise Notre Dame which is no longer a church but an exhibition hall |
Sunday 14th July 2019 ⛅🌞🌞⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞
Mileage 42 - There and back to see how far it was !!😂😂😂
When we got up this morning we hadn't realised it was Bastille Day which is the 'National Day of France' and is called 'La Fete Nationale' over here. Bastille Day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14th July 1789 and a turning point towards victory in the french Revolution. It's celebrated throughout France in nearly all the big cities as well as in many smaller villages with lots of partying and fireworks. Thus, it seemed that every French family were out and ready to party, and consequently, when we reached today's destination which was Gouville Sur Mer we were stopped in our tracks because the town was having a 'Fete' and our way was obstructed by a 'Route Barre' sign! Therefore, we could go no further towards our planned stopping place, and we also knew that all the other village Aires would probably be full so this made us wish we'd never left the large Aire at Portbail in the first place!
So after a quick coffee break while we considered our options we did no more than turn ourselves around and head back the way we'd come, and luckily we managed to sneak into the last available space on the Portbail site.
And all of the above had been achieved by 1pm so to fill the rest of the day we quickly packed a picnic and took ourselves off for a walk along the coast and through the dunes before retiring back to T4rdis2 to wait and see if there would be any fireworks later.
Monday 15th July 2019 ⛅⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞🌞🔥
Mileage 40 form Portbail to Dragey Ronthon
Parking Co-ordinates 48.71049, -1.51056
Nope!! There were no fireworks close by last night but around 11pm, when it was just getting properly dark, we did see some very pretty ones in the distance!
This morning we left Portbail and headed back Gouville Sur Mer to see what we'd missed yesterday! When we arrived there were still lots of 'travelling show people' packing up their big lorries and pulling away with at least one trailer or caravan, but more often then not they hitched a second one on the back! So to start with the there was lots of hussle and bussle and we did wonder if it was safe to leave our van but very quickly once they were nearly all gone the motorhomers started to arrive in force.
Therefore we did venture out for a walk along the sea front, but actually the sea front was quite a long way away!
It seems that the tides here are amongst the largest in Europe and fishing on foot is very popular particularly when the tides are at their lowest, and that is when the sea can recede by over 3 miles. The info boards informed us that sometimes there can be literally thousands of enthusiastic amateurs who search the beach for clams, crabs, lobsters and in the rock pools fish such as sea bream and rock salmon can be found.
Oyster farming is also big business here! Small oysters are mainly imported from the Atlantic coast and placed, a thousand or so at a time, in small ventilated plastic pockets which are fixed to metal tables below the high water mark. The oysters are regularly inspected and sorted according to size, and after three or four years they are ready for eating. At Gouville there are 259 acres of oyster beds and some 2,600 tons a year are produced. However, even though there were some people participating in digging in the muddy sands we decided not to join them because there's no way I could swallow a slimy oyster whole and I just can't imagine why anybody else would pay good money to do so! 🤮🤮🤮
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| The Oyster Beds |
Our final destination for today was a small Aire at Dragey Ronthon - another one that is only a stones throw from a beach without any sea! The top part of it was made up of fine pale sand that quite a few sun worshippers were taking full advantage of, but as you went down to the shore line the sand turned to thick mud and you'd have needed a telescope to spot the water! But it was from here that we got our first glimpse of Mont Saint Michel and from where we stood it looked as if it's rocky island was only about a mile or so away!
However, Google reliably informed us that we'd have to walk 4 and half miles to get there so that just goes to show how poor my judgement might have been! But as we go round into Brittany we'll get quite a bit closer to it but because of the tide times at the mo I'm fairly sure all we'll be doing is admiring it from afar !
And that's it for another episode!
See you soon 😙😙
Click here to see all our French camping spots.
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