Author: Julie

On one of the warmest days so far in June, sun-lovers met at Le Borsalino on the marina in Granville. We enjoyed a varied and unhurried lunch including seafood, salads, turkey, gammon and pizzas.

We then made our way to the old portcullis gate at the entrance to the old town of Granville (known as la Haute Ville – high town) to meet our tour guide. It’s a walled fort built on a peninsula. Originally the Portcullis was the only entrance into the fortified town but these days there are three road accesses.

Offering wide open views of the sea on all sides, its strategic importance was noted very early on and the fortified town was built in the 15th century by the English, to control the seas towards le Mont St Michel and surrounding areas. The area near the modern day Casino and beach was carved out so that, at high tide, the sea would come in, meet with the river that flows through the centre of Granville and flow back out to the sea the other side, making the peninsula an island (but only at high tide!). Nowadays, the area has been raised again and no longer floods!

There are two main streets running the length of the peninsula and the cross streets are named after professions (bakers, plasterers, leather workers). People with these professions lived on those streets. If you changed your profession, you had to move out of the street you were living on.

The residents would sell their wares through their front windows. Some of the houses still have these extra wide ledges in place, but the shops and trades have mainly gone now and there are just a few centred around le Place Cambernon, which is the heart of the old town. The residents originally enjoyed a tax free status so it was very popular, with the over spill occupying le rue des Juifs – which still has many small shops and businesses. Much of the old town was built with granite from the Chaussey islands – Coutances and le Mont St Michel also benefited from the granite of Chaussey. The peninsula was occupied (mainly by the allies) during WW2 as it is a very strategic point on the coast offering full control of the sea surrounding it and the bay of le Mont St Michel.

The old town escaped bombings during WW2 and the only damage was sustained by the church when a large and noisy plane flew over and the vibrations caused all the windows in the church to blow out. These were replaced in the 1950’s. When the Eglise Notre Dame du Cap Lihou was originally constructed the design was Roman, but it was not completed at that time. It was later completed in a gothic style and the two very distinct halves are easily seen from the inside.

Near the church is a very unusual house built into and on top of the fortified wall – it is almost like a small fairytale castle.

Much to our surprise, our tour guide informed us that it was actually only built at the turn of the last century. It is privately owned but rumour has it the owner does, very occasionally, open it up to visitors. Our tour guide was delightfully well-informed and able to answer all our questions. Our thanks to Chris and the committee for organising such an interesting day.

Write up and photos courtesy of members.

October 13 was a lovely sunny day as 19 of us gathered at the marine supplies shop in Blainville-sur-Mer to spend a morning learning about the production of oysters.

Our guide was Claude, who was a mine of knowledge, not just on what happens to today, but also on the history.

He explained how oysters were first transported from Normandy to Rome, with an ingenious network of staging points where the oysters could be kept alive in pools. He brought us up to date, via the Greeks and Louis XV, to the present day and the intensive and innovative production methods. By this time the sunny day had become accompanied by a keen breeze, and we were all a little relieved to hear that we were going indoors.

We headed into the workshops, where we saw how the oysters are stored, cleaned and sorted. This was followed by perhaps the highlight of the visit – a chance for a dégustation! The oysters just kept on coming – and as they were absolutely fresh they were also absolutely delicious – and the accompanying Muscadet made things just perfect. A lovely visit – many thanks to Chris for the organisation and to her and Caroline for the excellent job they did of interpreting Claude’s presentation.

Write up and photos courtesy of members.

Friday 9th September dawned cloudy and breezy with a threat of isolated showers. We had a long drive ahead of us to get to the top right hand corner of the Cotentin peninsular by 10.45, to visit the lighthouse at Gatteville. There seven of us set off up the 365 steps to get to the top; at 75m it is the second highest phare in the whole of France.

The vertical challenge was met, with a few stops on the way up, and the views in the now sunny, but still breezy, weather were amazing. Thankfully none of us needed the defibrillator that was prominently displayed on the top floor!

After the long descent, which all agreed was less strenuous but more uncomfortable, we set off in convoy along the delightful coastal road to find St Vaast-le-Hogue and the Le Débarcadére restaurant for lunch. There we were joined by those who had declined the vertiginous lighthouse option. The repast was first class with sixteen of us sharing a convivial couple of hours.

After lunch Kenza got into commanding mode and we set off to get our tickets for the crossing to the Isle of Tatihou, barely a kilometre offshore. The embarkment point was a good ten minutes walk away on the far side of the harbour and some wise souls (or should that be soles?) drove around to save their legs and feet for the perambulations once ashore. The little blue vessel that takes folk back and forth had the look of a large version of a toy boat; more so in that it had wheels! When it arrived to collect the fourteen of us it ‘drove’ up a slope out of the water so that we could step aboard; the same procedure applied at the other end. We visited during high tide, but at low tides it ‘drives’ the whole way!

The island of Tatihou has fascinating history – very well explained and illustrated in the museum. But that’s not all there is – there are a variety of gardens, various old stone houses and military barracks as well as the prominent and famous Vaubon Tower, erected as part of the defences put on Tatihou at the beginning of the Thirty Years War.

The weather stayed magnificent all day, even getting hot. By the time we all re-boarded the little blue boat, we knew we had walked a lot. And we all agreed that we had had a really lovely day out. 

Write up and photos courtesy of members.

A picnic, a swim in the sea and a game of bat and ball – some of the simple pleasures of the annual beach picnic, one of my favourite Anglophone events, held this year on 11th August.  It was a cool blustery day, but at least the sun was shining.  

We gathered on the beach at Gouville at midday, 14 adults and 3 children, to enjoy our picnics, sharing around some of our goodies

Next, a swim and games. With a brisk wind, the sea was very rough, an orange flag was flying, and we had already watched anxiously as some fishermen struggled to bring their boat ashore in the big waves.

 Nevertheless, three brave souls ventured in for a paddle and a bracing swim. 

Some of us played bat and ball, both singles and doubles, others played beach darts, the children larked around in the sand, and the rest sunbathed, chatted and relaxed, all happy to spend some time together at the seaside.

It was a very enjoyable afternoon  and reminded us how lucky we are to live near these fabulous Normandy beaches.

Write up and photos courtesy of members

“Wear warm clothes” came the surprising advice from the organisers. Well, it is still February so why would we need the reminder? 27 of us met at the appointed hour and were split into 2 groups, because some parts of the tower structures cannot support more than 14 people. Our group started at the bottom, and sat in the body of the cathedral for an interesting historical summary of over 1000 years of Christianity in the Coutances area.

A cathedral is a symbol of the power and authority of the church throughout history and the talk reflected as much of political history as religious. Our guide was clearly well versed in architecture and history and her spoken English was excellent. The warm clothes were proving to be welcome as we walked around the “Ambulatory”. A new word for our vocabulary: it is the space where clergy (and tourists) walk around behind the altar. Our guide showed us the painted walls, (11th century as I recall) and explained the light airiness as being the result of light coloured windows interspersing the darker coloured windows and the lack of dividing walls between the small chapels.

Then it was through a big wooden door and up the first of the spiral stone staircases. Whilst not for the faint hearted, these climbs were not as bad as some of us expected; coming out into small rooms and long stone corridors. We felt very privileged to walk on the uneven pavement overlooking the nave area from small apertures in the wall. Upwards again to the third tier. Across a wooden walkway and up more stone steps. Arriving, eventually on a narrow ledge high in the tower. Our guide explained how a square base becomes an octagon and then becomes a circle; giving the space, light and strength that typifies Coutances cathedral.

We exclaimed over the ancient graffiti (yes really!) and clutched our spectacles as we gazed down at the splendour below. One window described the link between Thomas Becket (late archbishop of Canterbury) and Normandy. We all revelled in our Norman ancestry as the historic links between our two countries was revealed. Downwards by a different route which meant that the most spectacular view was the climax of the visit. On the walkway above the Ambulatory we could look straight down the nave. It reminded of those high camera views of Royal events at Westminster Abbey.

Afterwards (and by this time well and truly cold, despite the warm clothes) we adjourned to “La Moriniere” for a very Norman lunch of Gallettes and Crepes. It was a very convivial end to an informative morning.

Write up courtesy of a member

One fine Wednesday in October (yes, really, it was a lovely day!) twenty Anglophones paid a visit to the Haras National Stud Farm in Saint Lo.

The centre concentrates on breeding the Selle Francais (the French warmblood horse), Percheron and the Norman Cob (a grey work horse).

The architecture is stunning and the space is immense.

We followed up with lunch in a local restaurant.

Lunch: