We didn't hurry all that much this morning, but nevertheless were away by 10:00. We drove down to Caen via the motorway, and were interested - or startled, perhaps, is the more appropriate term - to discover that the A13 now has what they call "free-flowing" tolls; in other words, they have removed the toll booths, and just pick up ANPR; you have 72 hours then to pay your toll, although if you have a Liber-T pass, as we do, that is also picked up so the tolls are already paid. At least, we hope so. I don't know how well this will work in practice, but it is certainly a great time-saver.
We arrived in Caen shortly before 13:00, after a hideously wet drive,
and decided to lunch out. Google Maps showed us there was a creperie about 10 minutes; walk away, and we went there. The Swan Whisperer had the day's special - I forget what it was - but I was intrigued to see that they had what they called "Galettes burgers" all named after the D-Day beaches, so of course I had to get the Gold one, didn't I, since my father landed on Gold Beach a few days after D-Day in 1944! It was delicious, but far too much - two fried eggs, a burger, and various bits underneath - I think onions, cheese and tomato, and bacon, too. And a bowl of lettuce.
I ate half of my helping, and the Swan Whisperer demolished the rest of it, although I did leave some salad. We had cider to drink. And very good it was, too, but we only wanted coffee after that. The waiter was so nice, and told me all about his English friend who had driven one of the barges across the Channel, as I'd mentioned that the Gold was because of Daddy.
By this time, the rain was away, and, indeed, the sun came out. We caught a bus into Caen - memo to self: do try to find out how the buses work and how you buy tickets before you try to catch one. Fortunately the driver was very patient and showed us what to do. Basically you get issued a card on which he or she programmes the number of tickets you want, and then you validate them on a machine. So coming back we got new tickets loaded on to the same card, which must be a great saving of paper!
Anyway, we got off the bus in the centre of Caen, and had a lovely walk round the centre; we didn't get as far as the Cathedral, but we saw the Eglise Saint-Jean, and wondered how badly it had been damaged in the war. Sadly, although there were posters explainng the damage and the reconstruction, they were in a side chapel, which was full of people praying a rosary, so we couldn't go in to look.
After that, we walked on to the Place de la République, where the Christmas Market was busy setting up; it doesn't open until tomorrow, but some stalls were selling things already, although most weren't. We agreed it was rather nice to wander around without feeling obliged to buy something, even if only mulled wine!
We then headed on further towards the Castle, wandering down at least one lovely alley en route; I was beginning to flag by then, so we didn't go up to the Castle itself, but walked round it until we found the bus stop that would take us back to the campsite. After a much-needed cup of tea, the SW decided he would go out for another walk, picking up bread for supper on his way back, and I knitted for a bit, and then did part of the tai chi form before settling down to write this! More photos on Facebook, as usual.
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