After a super relaxing 6 nights on the River Cruise 😂 we picked up Pinot and started our journey to Cherbourg, France to catch our Brittany ferry crossing to Portsmouth. Al Pal covered a huge amount of km’s and covered 3 countries in a day.

Stumbled on the very picturesque town of Honfluer, Normandy, France. Found a great Aire on the water for The evening. Lost count of the amount Art Galleries here with some three abreast. Lots of well known artists who loved to paint here, including Claude Monet. Beautiful old wooden church. Apparently the largest in Europe, built by fisherman originally and the inside resembles an upside down boat.

So many art Galleries…So many temptations..

We had an excursion to the laundrette! Woo hoo, super exciting indeed … I do miss not having a good washing machine ! We have not yet had a time where the washer or the dyer have both worked without incident. This time the washing machine leaked continuously during the cycle, I mean bubbles and all streaming out of the machine and across the floor 😂 we found the owner in the bar next door at 10.30am (apparently her local all day every day, you get the picture). She exuded a heady mixture in equal parts of  booze and nicotine. Out pops her screwdriver and we are in business again. A washing line, when we can erect one between trees is a delight….we are so easily pleased nowadays.

We Made our way up the coast and paid our respects at a few of the D Day landing sites of June 6th 1944. Most allies composed of British, American, Canadian and a very small contingent of French. A very sombre and moving experience especially at the American memorial at Omaha beach… time was limited and  we only covered a small area. Incredibly 35,000 allies and 55,000 Germans died over the 8 week battle to establish a beach head here. This small area was the staging point for the assault and eventual defeat of Germany which eventually led to the wars end in Europe. Incredible individual stories of bravery and heroism throughout the morning. Logistically, this assault from sea was massive and the largest ever undertaken in history. The sheer volume of plant and equipment brought from various ports in Southern England was incredible and the construction of a virtual floating harbour to get all this from ship to shore was staggering. Some of the pontoons and floating road bridges etc are still evident. Certainly the massive loss of life and limb to stop a few lunatics was mind numbing and very sobering when you consider it was during our own parents lifetime.

The Tree of life .. Sword Beach.

Our plans have changed again and we have decided to forego Wales this week and drive straight up to Newcastle. We REVERSED Pinot into the Ferry and are now sat in the lounge with a glass of Champagne listening to a safety alert about abandoning ship if problems arise lol. 

Reversing in …Geez .. glad I am not driving!

We were booked to visit the Breacon Beacons area in Wales for a few days but Allen’s Dad goes into hospital tomorrow for hip replacement and his age and current health mean it’s high risk surgery so fingers crossed he gets through it well. He has been in a lot of pain for a long time now so hopefully this will relieve that problem and we will see him tomorrow. We stopped at a beautiful old pub (The Bush Inn) for dinner and we are currently parked overnight in their car park. It’s in a beautiful setting and so quiet.