24 February 2023

Early spring holiday, 24 February 2023

Caen, Normandy. 

I do wish the blogger app had location services on mobile the way it does on the laptop; I always forget to mark them up when I get home. 

When I was looking at Google Maps last evening, I saw that there were a selection of paths among the dunes, and I decided I would like to walk one of them. Once we had decided which one to do, which was a lovely circular path, just over 2km out and back, we set off just after 9:00 am. It was a walk well worth doing - the paths, mostly raised wooden ones, were fairly level, although a bit sloping in places. But very easy to walk on, and if they wanted you to go up higher, there were ramps as well as steps, so wheel- and pushchair friendly. 

Thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and when we got back to the WoMo it was time to use the services and head on. Our first port of call was a Carrefour City where the Swan Whisperer got gas. I did some shopping, but found, to my horror, that the card was declined. I had to ring the SW to come and bail me out, which he duly did. AND paid for the groceries, too! I then had to spend half an hour on the phone to my bank to persuade them that yes, it was me who had tried to use the card, and would they please unblock it so I could go on using it. Which they eventually did. I should add that the cashier in the Carrefour couldn't have been nicer; she helped the SW get the gas, and then when my card didn't function she said no rush, she would deal with the next customers and I could pay when the SW arrived. Such a lovely woman! 

After that, we set off "properly" towards Caen. We decided to go by the motorway, as we had a long way to go, and the SW loves the Pont de Normandie. It was, sadly, too early to stop at the Aire de la Baie de Somme, and we drove on about an hour further south before we stopped in a services somewhere, although I can't remember exactly where. We had a nice lunch, still using stuff we had brought from home, except for some raspberry sorbet which I couldn't resist! 

After lunch, I dozed off for a bit and woke when we came to a Gare de Péage where the SW stopped to try to find somewhere to come off the motorway for diesel. When he isn't worrying about diesel, he is worrying about water; when he isn't worrying about water, he is worrying about gas; when he isn't worrying about gas, he is worrying about diesel! Anyway, I think we have enough of all three of those commodities for now. He filled the tank at Honfleur, and we went on, but decided that we had had enough motorways for one day, so drove the rest of the way down more minor roads, through towns and villages with pretty churches and market squares, past orchards and former orchards, and finally to Caen and the Camping-Car Park here. 

We had a cup of tea, and then the SW went for a walk at his pace rather than mine, and I did a bit of qi gong to keep myself going. 

ETA I had a email from Eurotunnel apologising for yesterday's delay and giving me a £40 voucher for next time. Always worth complaining. 

No comments:

Post a Comment