Thursday 23rd June
We’re off to La Mer,, the sea.
En route to our first seaside destination, Trouville, we stopped at the village of Pont L’Eveque. Here there is a crossing over the River Toucques, which was destroyed by the allied bombing, during the second World War. My first visit was to the church, which looked very imposing from the bridge.
The church had very large buttresses, which reminded me of some of the large cathedrals I had seen in other parts of France. Inside the stained glass windows were most unusually soft, pastel colours and rather contemporary in design .
One street escaped the ravages of war and the street is a wonderful example of the old Normandy half timbered architecture.
As we had limited time in Pont L’Eveque, we were soon on the road again and heading for the Normandy coast and the town of Trouville. Across the bridge from this is Deauville, but as there was difficulty in taking the coach there, it was decided to make Trouville the drop off stop. We had the choice of eating a leisurely lunch here or a very early dinner in Honfleur. i chose the former and joined two other fellow travellers for a fish meal. We walked past the fresh fish stalls displaying fresh oysters and muscles. There was a nice restaurant across the road, so we took a table here and perused the menu. I decided to have the mussels as a starter. They are not something I would normally choose, but I knew they’d be good here, so I ordered mussels for starters in memory of my late husband, Brian, who adored them, and my French friend Francoise, who had lived in Cabourg, just a few miles away. She had cooked them for me. I had delicious Cod for main course.
After our lovely lunch we went our separate ways. I had intended to go across the bridge to Deauville, but realised there wasn’t enough time, so I headed back to the coach pick up point, I realised I had enough time to walk along the wooden pier to the light house.
To the right the beach stretches out into the distance.
Back on the coach we set off for Honfleur i’d been there once before with my friend Francoise. It is part of the Seine estuary and has a beautiful little basin, with the most wonderful, multi-coloured, historic houses. Some people were going exploring, but all I wanted to do was sit outside a bar/restaurant in the sun and soak up the atmosphere
To my right was a charming carousel
After enjoying my relaxing time I decided to find somewhere for a light meal and found a suitable place further down and was presented with a beautiful salad.
Another really lovely day in Normandy.