Our First Week In France

Friendly people.

Everywhere we went the locals were friendly. Every day I bonjour'ed all the way to the toilet and back :-) I even bonjour'ed the English campers and guess what! They bonjour'ed me back which I found quite amusing, must have thought I was a local. One French lady or should I say madame, said my French was very good, which made me feel quite proud, seeing as I could only say bonjour, madame and Monsieur. Anyway, the week went on and I bonjour'ed everything that moved. In the UK being so familiar in and around toilets would get you funny looks or even arrested. :-).

One of the main reasons for travelling to Normandy for our first trip to France, as I have said before, was to just do a short stress free trip and a recce. Our second reason and something we have been planning for some time was to visit the D-Day beaches and towns, plus pay our respects at a few of the war grave cemetery's. Something I personally think everyone in the UK should do at least once as this was an important stage in our history and those who died for the liberation of France & Europe should never be forgotten.

For those caravanners that take the tele away with the van, on this side of France the reception from the channel islands is excellent, even the Status aerial on the roof of the van received a good signal. Everywhere else in France, you will require a Satellite system, which I will possibly talk about in the future, not that I'm any expert.

Our first campsite and on the this trip our only campsite, was situated on the coast and near to the small but charming town of Les Pieux. This we booked via Select Sites which included the ferry crossing from Porstmouth to Cherbourg.

Camping Village Le Grand Large, 11 Route du Grand Large, 50340 Les Pieux [tel:02 33 52 40 75]  is a medium sized site situated on the west coast and adjacent to a beach that stretches as far as the eye can see. It has the following-: wc, chemical waste disposal, baby facilities, showers, hook-up  , gas,  laundry, shop, bar, restaurant, snacks, heated pool & child pool, playground, games,  boules, tennis, dogs, open 5Apr-21 Sep.

Once we had settled in and ordered our daily bread from the on site bar/shop, we made our way to Les Pieux and the travelling market which visited a circuit of local towns, today was Les Pieux's turn. The French markets are old fashioned and full of local produce, long may they continue. As a boy I can remember going to Long Eaton Market in Derbyshire, this was in the 50's. Fresh vegetables, meats and sausages with meat in them. A lot of which came from local farms. We have moved on in the UK and in some way's not for the better. The French village markets as I said earlier are old fashioned and have held on to old traditions and standards, they are full of local produce, a joy to walk round sampling meats, cheese, pate's, mushrooms, the list goes on.

More to follow:-