En vacances!

Hello again!

Just got back to Leeds after a wonderful week away in France! We took the Megabus down to London, and then the train back to my parents' place in Sussex last Saturday, then set off on the ferry on the Sunday morning. We had our only spot of rain for the week (if you discount the - literally - two drops in Rennes) on the way out of Dieppe, but as we carried on down through Normandy and into Brittany the weather cleared, and it was hot and sunny from then on.

After settling in on Sunday evening, we got up bright and early on Monday to catch the train (for free, only a coin machine on the station platform, and no conductor) to Rennes to meet Kim, who was staying with Sev for a while. We walked around the city, had lunch and did a little shopping, then when Sev got back from work we all went up to Dinan for dinner, taking a walk down to the old port to enjoy bolées of good breton cider before heading back to the town for some galettes...


On Tuesday we headed over to the west coast of Brittany to visit the little port at St. Goustan, then headed along the coast to Arradon, where people were sailing around the archipelago, before heading back to the house.


Wednesday was a day of cleaning, painting and hedge trimming at the house, although we managed to get to the beach at Pléneuf-val-André for a little while and some swimming, although the water was a little chilly in places (I won't say which places)...


On Thursday we headed back to Normandy, where John and I were staying with Babeth. We had a long walk around the town, and I showed John the places I used to shop in, where I used to live and work. That night we headed to the beach in Fécamp to see the Retraite aux Flambeaux, which should be a torchlight procession down from the church at the top of the cliffs, Notre Dame de Salut into the town, but instead took the form of thousands of motorbikes heading onto the seafront.

This was all really a preparation for Bastille Day on the 14th. We spent a few hours on the beach, swimming in the (admittedly colder and more treacherous, but somehow easier to manage) sea, and then prepared ourselves for the evening. We bought what seemed like several hundred bangers and headed to the beach to enjoy the fireworks.

Then it was the end of the week, or so we thought. On Saturday, we got up and got ready to leave for England. However, due to a technical problem with my phone (user error?), we missed our ferry! I won't bore you with the details, but you can read what happened here... Luckily, there was another boat at 8pm, so we had a few hours to kill. We were told by the woman at the tourist office that:

a) There was no bus to the port
b) There was nowhere to leave our luggage
and c) There was nothing we could do in the town if we had our cases.

We spent the afternoon nursing various cokes, coffees and beers, outstaying our welcome at a few of Dieppe's finest establishments (and some of the worst, too), before catching the ferry back to England!

All in all, a very good week, lovely weather, lots of good food and drink and great company!

See the photos here (including some taken at my sister's place at the start).