where art collides philosoperontap

Back in my conservatory, doors open, birds singing away and the sun streaming in. I’ve had to move the chair around so I don’t get dazzled. I have my dressing gown on which actually makes it a little on the warm side.

Breakfasted well on two fine Weetabix biscuits with milk and a couple of slices of seeded toast which were ok but not as good as sourdough. THG’s home made marmalade, yum, natch.

The overnight news is that our Tom picked up my macbook charger from the hotel, yay. Although I won’t get it back until a week on Saturday I have decided not to buy a new one in the interim period. It charges overnight using a mobile phone charger and most of next week is going to be spent playing golf, eating and drinking in  Mala’ ga so I’ll get by.

In anticipation of some terrific golf I yesterday invested in a new pair of golf shoes. I did buy some new rubber studs for my existing footjoys but couldn’t get the old ones off! They are about 14 years old and still a very good pair of shoes but without a grip they ain’t so much use. Also bought some new tees and balls. I only really need the one ball, two just in case I have to play a provisional but it is more economic to buy them in packs.

I set off for the South of Spain on the 09:20 on Monday morning headed for Gatwick. The rest of the Lincoln based party are on a crack of dawn Ryan Air or similar flight from East Midlands on the Tuesday. Not my thang. I shall have a bacon sandwich on the train, a glass of beer or two or maybe a cocktail in the lounge and a relaxing three hour flight to Andalucía where a car will then whisk me to the accommodation and perhaps a digestif before hitting the hay. Life is there to be lived. The others should arrive at the hotel around lunchtime on Tuesday.

Not totes decided on the luggage yet. I don’t really want to take a suitcase/check in bag but will be away for 6 nights including two back in London. Weroff to see the Sinatra musical, conveniently located next to our hotel, having cocktails with my niece Lils and lunch at Cafe Pacifico with the kids (and Lils).

In other news the Newport Arch chinese, closed since covid times, has reopened as an Indo Chinese gaff called Ni Hao Delhi. A visit is called for but it won’t be for a while. Actually I don’t think it has physically opened yet but it has an online presence. Warming up the audience. I like the idea of being able to order a chinese starter (crispy duck) and indian main (special mixed balti with plain naan). Never bother with a pud. Looking at their website however neither of these dishes are on the menu. I’m sure we will find something that works.

Another vid on the QJAY Studios website shows how you use AI to make a vid – it’s not all about just telling AI to go make a vid.

https://qjaystudios.com/blog/i-opened-my-dream-restaurant-using-ai-video

Dunno if I’ve mentioned but our John owns and operates QJAY Studios. He is a talented musician and video producer. Looking at ads online these days they are mostly AI produced. Or at least have significant AI involvement. However if you leave it to AI to make the soundtrack you tend to get elevator muzak and John’s big differentiator is that he can add humanity to an AI generated video with human produced sounds. His own instrument is the sax but he uses a lot of high end music generation tools (the modern versions of a synth) to create the sounds around it.

Left me macbook pro charger in the hotel room yesterday dinneye. Worra pain. The macbook does charge up overnight using a phone charger but will hopefully get it back. Spoke to the night porter and when housekeeping get in this morning they are going to report back. In the meantime my third day (well lunch actually) on the trot in London has been cancelled due to Adam having a bit of a sniffle. Actually happy with that. It’s a six hour round trip really when you top and tail the train time with travel and waiting time at each end. Should I not go I can get on with a few jobs.

In the meantime dropping THG off at the station this am.

Managed to get an earlier train home yesterday so had a bit of time to prep for the Scouts AGM which went well. New leadership team since last year’s AGM. All change.

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Didn’t go to London. Popped in to Waitrose for some provisions and came away with a free Pieminster steak and ale pie which will be tonight’s tea. Coming out of Waitrose the sun was shining and I drew in a deep breath of the beautiful autumn air. Then at home I spent an hour or so catching up on some admin.

Hotel called. The charger has been found and our Tom, who is in the area this evening, is picking it up for me. I’ll be seeing him next weekend and can pick it up then, if I can wait that long. Left the hotel a good review, fair play to them.

Watched a bit of cricket. Pakistan being walloped. Then figured I’d try changing the studs on my golf shoes. They haven’t been changed since I bought the shoes maybe 14 or 15 years ago when I was a member of Torksey. Not a hope in hell. Glued in solid. Took them to American Golf to see if they could sort it but no chance. Ended up buying a new pair of Under Armors. Grates to spell Armour that way. I guess after 15 years the old Footjoys don’t owe me anything.

Now back in the shed watching da criquet again. Pakistan trail by 312 and lost two wickets in the first over of their second innings.

THG is on her way back from Liverpool. Poor girl has had a nightmare of a trip. Train between Sheffield and Liverpool delayed due to an onboard medical incident and arrived late. Then all the Merseyrail trains were cancelled because of someone on the line. No way THG was going to get to see her sister. Ended up turning around and catching an earlier train to retrace her route back to Lincoln. The train between Liverpool and Sheffield arrived late and she missed the connection. Picking her up at 6pm to go for a drink in the Blue Monkey (or whatever it is called).

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This afternoon, on my way back from American Golf I observed a dead badger on the bypass going up the hill. Shame I thought but I believe that that is a sign that there are a lot of them around. Then after I’d been for a drink with THG on my way back to the car a bloke ran past me on the road in the rain. I thought to myself I wonder why he isn’t running on the pavement. It is quite narrow on the Eastgate I guess. Then a car rolled up behind him and had to slow down to his speed. The woman driver wound her window down and shouted at him “hey mate, there is a path you know”. Hehehe.

Breakfasted well on a partial English. Almost full but no egg or tomayto. I don’t do black pudding. Two sausages which for me is over the top but there were two left in the fridge that needed using, so used they were. I did think I was facing a relaxed morning ahead but realise now that I have a meeting with my accountant at nine thirty so I’ll have to get dressed for that 🙂 

Heading for London this pm. I was going to have dinner with one of the boys from Brussels but he changed his schedule to come tomorrow morning and so that’s off. However I booked a non-cancellable hotel room rate so I’m going anyway. I don’t normally book a non-cancellable tariff but London prices can get so ridiculous that it can be the only way to get a vaguely sensible room rate. Even then it is expensive. The upside is that I now get to meet our Joe.

Trying a new hotel this trip, the Derby Curio by Hilton or some such moniker. It’s new to me but also new on the market. See how it goze. It happens to be the nearest Hilton to Bishopsgate which is why I chose it. Just a short walk in the morning.

THG is off out running with the Pink Ladies, fair play. She is running the Lincoln 10k this year and is starting to gear up for it. V proud of her. 

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Meeting over and now need to think what to do with the rest of the morning. Gotta pack obvs. Socks, pants, tshirt and jeans, toothbrush etc. That doesn’t take long. 2 mins ish. I wouldn’t even bother sticking the jeans in but I’m currently in shorts mode and don’t really want to wear shorts tomorrow. Could also take out the recycling.

Now playing Stacey’s Mom in the shed. Came on as a random track. Not seen the accompanying vid before. Before we know it the music has moved on to Stayin’ Alive. Really my era. The Cave disco under Summerland at the end of the prom in Douglas. Now playing Kung Fu Fighting. It is the tref’s faves playlist on random with some Spotify suggested tracks interspersed with my choices.

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Uneventful trip to Laandan other than it was raining when I got ere so I jumped in a cab. Not much of a queue which surprised me a little as I thought London Taxis got busier during wet weather. The hotel is nice enough and they’ve given me a voucher for a free cocktail which I’ll have to decide whether to spend before going out or when I get back. Depends really whether I can find a pub showing the Bournemouth v Lincoln game. Trouble is there is European Cup action and a few games in the Carabao (league) Cup that are probably of more interest to the general public so the Imps will be lower down in the priority. The solution would be to come back to the hotel and watch it on my laptop in the bar, which is where the free cocktail would come into it. It’s also half price between 5pm and 6pm but I won’t be around then. I’ll let you know what happens obvs.

Good night’s kip. Been an exhausting summer. Need a holiday now where I do nothing. Will be a couple of weeks yet. 3 days in London this week then Malaga for golf the next one.

We did have a nice afternoon at Auburn Hall Gardens with @phil, Rachel, Rob and Jen the pilates teacher. Was chucking it down when we got there so we did the visit in reverse order starting with a cup of tea and coffee cake before wandering around les jardins when the sun came out.

Had a snooze when we got home followed by a bit of chicken salad with the last of the baguettes from Saturday night, a bath and early to bed. My first bath of 2027. I know this because Hannah bought me some bubble bath last Christmas and this was the first time I’d used it!

Looks like a nice day out. Need to decide what to have for breakfast. Did have a bacon sarnie in mind but we don’t got no bred so that’s off. Had a weetabix yesterday so might do same again today, with the remaining grapefruit.

Gotta take the car to Wilco Motosave down the road to get the tyre fixed. Currently running on the spare since the puncture on our last day in Normandy. There was no obvious sign of the cause of the problemo. Also going to see if I can make a start with the log splitter that Ajax dropped off yesterday. Aaand got a bit of work to do in prep for meeting Manuel in London on Wednesday though that can probs wait until tomorrow morning as I’m not going down until the afternoon. Staying the night because of an early ish start for the conference on Wednesday which would otherwise mean catching a train from Newark to get to London by 08:30 or thereabouts. I didn’t do very early starts these days if I can help it. Bleurgh.

Staying at a new gaff cos it’s near where the meeting is: The Derby London City, Curio Collection by Hilton, fwiw.

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News from the tyre front is that it is kaput as it has a nail in at an angle. Brand new tyre that.

French evening went well. We were celebrating philosopherontap’s 18th birthday. Only a few of us but it worked out. Good job I had a spare gas cylinder. I hadn’t turned it off at the cylinder after cleaning the bbq grill earlier and there is almost certainly a leek somewhere in the metal piping. Gonna need to buy a new regulator as well methinks. Will be next year before we need it now as I suspect the bbq season is mostly over. My sister @ann and husband Toby use theirs all year round, including Christmas Day. Anyway after a bit of a slow start the meat turned out perfect. I was using a meater probe in the beef and that alerted me to the fact that the gas had run out as the temperature didn’t seem to be rising. Itwas nice to see @Ivan who came up for the afternoon/bbq.

Just started to rain. Quite refreshing/relaxing. THG will need to take a brolly with her to church. I’ll be chillin out and putting some stuff away from last night. The cognac, Normandy whisky and calvados were big hits. They will be put away now until the next get together. Maybe even until Christmas. Amazing that we now start talking about Christmas. People have already started posting pics of mince pies for sale in Tesco. I don’t mind a mince pie.

This afternoon we are off to Auburn Hall for their annual garden open day. The rain is only expected to last the morning and hopefully it won’t spoil the open day. It’s a charidee job. There is an alternative jaunt if necessary to see Ajax’s vehicle on display in the vintage vehicle day at the Bomber Command Memorial but there again that too is an outdoor event.

Rain is getting heavier. 09:35 and I’ve not yet had breakfast. THG has left some grapefruit segments out for me. Not particularly hungry yet. There are ingreds in the fridge to make a full English but they can happily stay there until another day. Seem to have a bit of a dodgy tummy anyway. 

It is amazing how quickly the garden has turned green again. Shows how resilient grass is.

All is quiet.

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Bit of a power nap when we got back from Auburn Hall gardens. Totes zonked and guts been playing up a bit. A quiet night in front of the telly with THG is called for. Dunno what’s on. Songs of Praise with Harry Secombe, probs.

Read the paper this morning (oh boy) whilst downstairs making the tea. Wasn’t paper paper obvs, it was online, but I still call it reading the paper. Years ago we used to get a paper, on a weekend, the Sunday Times. It was quite a tome and the different sections were useful for things like lighting the fire. Stopped bothering decades ago. It ain’t cheap nowadays. I do sometimes get the FT on Saturday though I haven’t for a while.

Gotta nip out shortly. Need some baguettes, ice and milk. We are having a French themed bbq with tomahawk steak, butterflied lamb, pommes sarladaises, French beans and a green salad with some of my v nice French dressing. Apericubes, salami/saucisson, pongy cheese and tarte tartin top and tail the evening and I have a number of bottles of cognac, Normandy whisky and calvados to throw into the mix.

The beef and lamb will need careful timing/coordination and I’ll finish off the pommes when the meat is resting. I’ve already thrown together a persillade and par cooked the spuds. Ciao amigos, Waitrose beckons.

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When I got back THG asked whether I’d be wearing the Breton stripey shirt I purchaysed for ten Euros in the market in Concarneau. Hadn’t really given it a thought though now that she’s mentioned it I might well do. Trouble is I don’t have a beret to go with it. The last one I bought was a bright pink one I got from a tourist stall near Montmartre after a boozy lunch with @Wayne and @Simon. Lasted less than two hours. Left it in the taxi en route to Au Bon Coin restaurant. At least that one was only six bucks.

Finished first meeting ahead of schedule and was able to bring the second forward. As a result I am now sat in the KLM lounge with 3 hours ahead of me before I need to set off for gate D 6 and the bus. The priority security pass worked a treat Andy Rawnsley. In fact I got there an hour and a half ahead of my booked slot (I couldn’t change it to  an earlier one) but I showed the guy at the entrance and he said just head on in. What’s more I can tell you the Duty Free strategy worked. 2 x 1l Tanqueray £25 in Humberside. 25 euros each in AMS. Same price as Tesco. I kept them in the sealed bags with receipts and after examination the security guy let them through. The limit is 48 hours so if you are just off on a short trip it works.

The trip was a success. Looking at conference venues and the last one I saw was the best.

Interesting to compare the security setups of Humberside and Schipol. Didn’t need to get anything out of the bag at the latter and my hips didn’t set off the alarm. The opposite was true in Humberside. In fact I had a trainee body searcher took me through the whole gamut of body searches You will be pleased to know I was “clean”.

Taxi arrived early to take me to Humberside airport. Said he was glad of the job as it got him out of Lincoln where the arrival of the tour de britain (or similar) cycle race was expected this morning. Lots of road closures. Told me he’d started work at 3:30 am so that he could finish before the bikes arrived. THG was planning to go and watch them whizz by. Over in the blink of an eye I’d imagine. The flutter of eyelashes.

Now on the 09:50 from HUY to AMS. sbeen a while since I’ve flown from here. Easy. Small airport with more helicopter and private jet flights than schedule airlines, the only one of which seems to be KLM. It’s an expensive airport to fly from but with v cheap duty free. The sales assistant persuaded me that as I was only away for less than 48 hours I could keep the duty free gin in sealed bags which would be acceptable to the security people on the return trip. This was a new one on me but with a litre of tanqueray at £12.50 I decided it was worth taking the risk. Even though the flights aint cheap the alternative is train to london and then eurostar. A whole days journey and probably more expensive, at least in business class. It isn’t worth paying an extra £500 for business class on this 45min flight. I’ve paid that much to upgrade to first with BA on a transatlantic flight. Now that was a reasonable deal I thought.

Breakfasted before security. I was the only person in the restaurant. £10 ish for a full english, tea, toast and a glass of milk. They gave me the milk free. It wasn’t on the pricelist. Just poured me a cupful from the sugar/milk station. Bit warm. The food was bearable but the service was top notch.

They printed both boarding cards on the one piece of paper this trip. Not seen that before. Mustn’t lose the bit of paper though they can easily print me another I guess. The only negative about the AMS flight is the return leg where the queues to get through security are notoriously long and i have no status to get in the priority queue. It wasn’t worth the cost of the biz class upgrade to skip the line. I will see if they have a paid for option for fast track though i don’t remember that they do. 

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Now on the train to Amsterdam central. 11.75 euros return. I did initially jump in a taxi to save me the effort of buying a ticket but when the driver told me it would be 93 euros one way I jumped out again. The hotel, the Barbizon Palace is directly opposite the train station.

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Turns out I’d bought a bus ticket not a train ticket so I couldn’t get out through the station barriers, doh. The woman in the kiosk said at least I’d paid for the ticket and gave me a free barcode to get me out!

Walked from our hoose to Lincoln Central stayshun. Got there only to find our trane was cancelled. Bloody typical. A technical problem with the train. We took an alternative route via Donny. Only problem was that our Andy only had an hour for lunch and the orig train got me in at twenty to twelve which made a noon meet perfectly possible. The revised timetable got me to the revised restaurant/pub at 12:20. Vocation Ltd was empty but we had a nice couple of pints and I had a v nice lambburger. Andy had to go back to werk but WIll, Tom and I wandered on to a pub whose name escapes me but is a former bank. The highlight of the visit was that the barmaid told me she had just been promoted. She needed to tell someone and I was the one. She was moving to be assistant manager of the York Tap. I was thrilled for her. We will be in the York Tap for Capacity Yorkshire on Thursday 17th December and will look her up.

Didn’t manage to catch the 2.40 ish and am now on the 3.40 ish.

The girl opposite me is getting off at Retford. We exchanged no words during our journey here. Most of the train seems to have got off at Retford. Sgood. Not much going for it, Retford, tbh.

A precocious 12 year old sat opposite has been negotiating with her mother for a cookie. Mum stayed very much in control. Now the kid is wearing a pink eye mask. 

Nice to see young couples on train. Love is…

Arrived home around 13:15 yesterday. Long old drive punctuated by only a few hours sleep on the boat and a 90 minute meeting in Windsor (8am to 9.30am – the things I do). Boat arrived a few mins earlier than advertised. We were first on and first off. It’s a quality of life thing. Last off = long queue to get through customs. First off = no queue whatsoever. Take yer pick.

The birdbath was full. The lake was full. Haven’t checked water butts but they will be full. It’s been raining in Lincoln. Plenty of tomatoes to pick, and apples, which are v sweet. Grapes starting to ripen and have grown. Greenhouse water butts full and the one by the potting shed half full – that was totes empty beforehand.

Been on a Waitrose run and got meself a Charlie Bigham chichen jalfraize (or however you sbel it) for dinner. Had a really fab holiday but now, as is the nature of things, quite exhausted.

There were lots of memorable things to look back at from the trip. At the last minute we switched from an overland route to coastal due to the heatwave continuing to hit France and booked a hotel in Les Sables D’Olonne. It was peak season so most of the “good” places were booked but we managed to get a a gaff with private parking opposite the marina. Private parking can be important in the middle of towns and it is one of the things I look out for. The hotel waited until we had booked the room before emailing us just to mention there was a rave going on over the road and what we could buy tickets for it if we wanted. Err. I sleep through these things but THG doesn’t and it was bloody noisy. 

At lunchtime we found a bar on the quay and I hade fish and chips which was just the right portion size and included tartar sauce but no mushy peas. We dined in that first night and whilst the food was okay the service was interminably slow. They were understaffed. The couple sat next to us upped and left. The second night we pushed the boat out and ate at La Cotriade. Great seafood. As you might imagine seafood was a strongpoint of Les Sables. The other memorable thing was the waiter in the temporary market who could spin his tray, toss it up and catch it on his index finger. When I asked to do a vid of him doing this he and his pals were greatly amused. We let Les Sables after 2 nights, stopping at eleclerc where the cashier nearly fell off her chair when the final bill for the food shop came out. We were feeding 8 after all.

The Farmhouse at La Broulie was stunning. Perfect for the extended family who all got on well together and made the week one of those fantastic memorable holidays. We went out to buy croissants for breakfast, as you do, we visited the place where Richard Coeur de Lion died. Turns out he was Duke of Aquitaine. A highpoint was the private chefs coming in on the Wednesday night.

At the end of a very memorable week the fam parted company and THG and I set off back to the coast. Our hotel, Maison Des Ambassadeurs, was notionally the best hotel in LA Rochelle and really was a quality gaff. The only thing that we had to comment on was the breakfast. Nothing wrong with it but it didn’t live up to the 5 star experience that was the rest of the stay.

The following two nights we were at Hotel Les Sables Blancs just outside Concarneau. Great spot, huge terrace/deck outside the room, good restaurant, great breakfast where prawns and oysters were options. Only thing that let it down was the internet access which was v puer. Not a deal breaker but something that should be so easy to sort out. The food there was great. The staff were really just kids on vacation jobs but they were fine. I had a haircut under a gazebo in the marketplace, we strolled around the very cool walled town, had drinks in a cool locals bar called Le Cabestan and dined at Ty Cosy where the food and the service were great. I had dropped in during the afternoon to book and when we arrived got the best table in the house. We each bought a stripey Breton fisherman’s top for 10 Euros from a stall in the market. It was also very tempting to buy food but staying as we were in a hotel didn’t need to.

As a general rule when people spoke to us in English, as unfortunately they mostly did, we said that we didn’t speak English but French was ok. It was obvious that we did speak English but we got 100% smiles and approval from the French. What is it about us that makes people think we speak English. I would tell the waiter that I could speak French and Welsh which confused them no end. I really don’t like the fact that most people from the UK make very little effort to speak the local language where they go. “But I don’t speak French/German/Spanish/pick yer own”. Soz love that isn’t an acceptable stance.

We moved on from Concarneau to Granville which I’d never heard of before I booked the hotel but it was in the right general direction of the Brittany Ferries port in Ouistreham. Birthplace of Christian Dior, fwiw. He worked for the Germans during ww2 which was conveniently not mentioned. I guess you had to get by. He did financially support his sister who was in the French Resistance. We never got to see his “museum” as we only found out on the dat=y that you had to book. We hadn’t.

Anyway Granvile was great. Bought twelve very arty door/drawer knobs and we had the best oysters I’ve ever had from a quayside fish shop that was also a restaurant. Stunning. Our hotel looked out over the bay of Mont S Michel and I spend some time on the balcony just taking in the scene. There was a seawater swimming pool outside the hotel and we could access the prom by lift from our room. As we drove away from the hotel we found we were trapped by an ambulance attending an incident. It was a one way street with no other way out, Hey…

We finished off near Utah Beach. In the past I’ve stayed at Domaine Utah Beach which is a seriously good hotel but it is about 5 km from Chez Roger, one of our all time fave restaurants. We opted instead for a chalet in a campsite about 200m from Rog’s place. It had a 2 night min stay but fir us it was worth burning the second night just to be able to walk back from dinner. Our ferry left at 23:30 on the second night. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Dead Man’s Corner Museum. A seriously good ww2 tribute to those involved in the Normandy invasion. Included Dick Winters’ uniforms and that of Forest Guth including eh Nazi flag he liberated and the contemporary photo of he and it at Marmion farm on DDay is v famous.

On our last and very rainy morning we popped in to the caff at Utah Beach. Known as Le Roosevelt it is packed with DDay memorabilia and hundreds of autographs of veterans who took part in the invasion. The table we were sat at had the signatures of Babe Heffron, wild Bill Guarnere and Shifty Powers. If you know you know.

Back at the campsite we packed the car and were about to set off when I noticed we had a flat tyre. Sigh. Fortunately he AA were there in less than an hour, fitted the spare, and we were on our way. Now I’ve had folk commenting about why I didn’t change the tyre meself. Well when I pay someone to do this sort of thing and that someone is an experienced mechanic I don’t see why I should get my hands dirty and risk not doing a good job.

In the end it resulted in about an hour and a quarter’s delay which did affect our plans. We skipped the Pegasus Bridge museum but did visit the famous caff that was the first to be liberated on DDay by british airborne troops led by Richard Todd (it only took cash and wasn’t much of a caff but it had history on its side). The site of the glider landings is amazing. You wonder how on earth they managed to get down in such a small space. Anyway there ended our French holiday. We hit carrefour in Ouistreham to buy some supplies although we couldn’t buy cheese as the bloody British have decided they don’t want to risk importing mad cow disease or simlar.

So ze cvestion of ze moment is vill ze invasion happen to day. Ze veather is terrible and zose Allies vould be stupid to get out of bed zis morning.

Well yes some of us are a bit stupid. THG is off out blackberry picking, and I am in no way suggesting she is stupid. We spotted some berries on the short walk to Chez Roger last night and the lass is determined to have some with her granola. We brought some of THG’s very fine home made granola on the trip. She will have the umbrella for protection and is going to stop at the campsite bar on the way back to pick up bread and croissants.

We had planned to use the pool this am. Still might though le jury is still out on that one. I have a pair of budgie smugglers with me that are the regulation attire for the pool. Bought them for our rugby world cup trip a few years back only to find that that campsite wasn’t bothered about sticking to the regs. This one is. Nae bother.

Then we have a bit of car repacking to do. We emptied everything out when we arrived yesterday (in blazing sunshine), particularly as there was a pong emitting from somewhere in the back. Turned out to be a lettuce that was no longer fresh and now barely recognisable as a lettuce.

We will probs stay here until after lunch and then meander our way up the coast checking on the situation on the landing beaches. Our destination this evening is Ouistreham ferry port where, at 23:30 the Mont St Michel is due to ship us back to Portsmouth from where we can drive home. The ferry timings are a bit unfortunate. They let you on about 45 mins before departure by which time it’s time for kip. Too late to have dinner on board. May grab a quick beer.

Before the ferry we have the obligatory stop at Carrefour to load up on local delicacies such as tinned fish and apple tarts. Not totes decided on dinner plans yet. There is a caff at the port but it is pretty crappy. Last time we came we got to the port early to make sure we were near the front. Unfortunately we got pulled aside in a random car search which blew that plan out of the water, so to speak. This time it won’t matter as we have priority boarding/disembarkation. Was sold out the last time.

Pics are from last night’s sortie to Chez Roger. They’ve done it up over the winter and it looks great.

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Seeing as we had a bit of time to kill this morning and the weather is inclement we went on a jaunt to Utah Beach. The caff there, Le Roosevelt, if v atmospheric with lots of D Day memorabilia and autographs of men who had been there that day. The kitchen was not open to do me a crepe but we sat down and had a thé vert menthe and a café creme. Hit the jackpot really. All the tables were covered in veterans autographs and ours had Shifty Powers, Wild Bill Guarniere and Babe Heffron amongst them. Wowsers. I mentioned this to the kid behind the bar but not only had he not heard of them but he hadn’t even heard of Band of Brothers. He turned out to be only 17 years old.

We strolled to the beach. Tide was right in. Now back in the campsite chillin before we set off for Pegasus Bridge. Bugger all internet access. It’s a bit like the conditions in June 1944, ish.

En route to the beach we saw some horses being trained. A car was pulling what looked like four starting gates each of which contained a horse. Novel. I’ve previously seen horses on the beach here being driven by what I can only describe as little racing chariots.

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All packed up and ready to leave Camping La Baie des Vaies when a gremlin struck. Flat rear passenger tyre. Bugger. I called International Rescue and they sent their best operative, one Mickael Beltrame based out of St Marie du Mont. Mick arrivéed with in an our of receiving the distress signal and soon fixed the problem by installing the spare. Couldn’t see what was causing the problem so wanted to take it back to base to troubleshoot and fix but we declined what would have been a significant chunk of our remaining budgeted time in la belle France.

We had planned to visit the Pegasus Bridge memorial/museum but were later getting there than expected due to the puncture so we opted to just go to cafe Gondrée, famous for being the first French property to be freed from Nazzi oppression on J Jour. Trouble is the caff didn’t have a loo and theone down the street the woman pointed us towards was closed. Moreover they didn’t have crepes which had been one of our “last things to do before leaving for home” aaand only took hard cash, something that was by now in v short supply. I had ordered a coffee and an Orangina and paid for it with ten of King Charles’ finest notes but when THG returned from the abortive mission to the loo we drank up and went over the road to a much better gaff that served us crepes and took payment by credit card.

Before leaving the spot we took a look at the monuments marking the landing position of the gliders after they had landed. Blimming eck they didn’t have much space to get down.

Claude recommended Le Goeland for dinner before checking in for the ferry. A last steak frites later we have now checked in and are first in the lane with just under 4 hours before we sail. Il fait beau.

Writing this morning from bed. Doesn’t look nice enough to sit out on the balcony though I haven’t been out to try it. THG reports the furniture might be a bit damp anyway. More rain forecast this morning for this side of the Cotentin peninsula but none around Utah beach which is this morning’s destination. Our last stop before life returns to normal, if there is such a thing as normal.

,,,

Breakfast done by 9:15. Packed and ready to load up the Silver Bullet, However our fave fabric shop in Granville, Un peu de ci, Un peu de ca, doesn’t open until ten so we have a bit of chill time. Handily it is on the way to Carentan beyond which is the Dead Man’s Corner Museum and our second destination of the day.

Still chucking it down ere, off and on, so I am definitely not sat out on the balcony. It isn’t that the balcony gets wet. It’s the not quite sitting out on a balcony temperature that is the issue. I could put on my stripey long sleeved Breton shirt but it wouldn’t feel right without a beret.

We have had our last hotel breakfast for the trip. Our next accommodation is Camping la Baie des Veys campsite. You have to order bread and croissants in. Will see how it goze. Otherwise on Sunday we are stopping off at the Castle Hotel in Windsor for a meeting, believe it or not, en route home from Portsmouth ferry port. We might get fed there as it’ll be around 8:30 in the morning.

More when we get to the campsite, I daresay.

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Bit of excitement as we  (tried to) left the hotel ce matin. The hotel is on a complicated one way street and lo an ambulance was blocking the road. A local car had the same issue but he reveresed up one of the one ways. I didn’t have enough local knowledge to do that so decided to go back to the hotel and sit it out. As I was making the manouvre the hotel receptionist rang and said something in French that i couldn’t understand as I was doinga three point turn on a narrow street so I just said I was on my way back and I’d speak ot her in a minute.

Turns out I hadn’t paid the bill! Doh. I’m used to express checkouts where you just drop the key off and skeedadle but that did not work here, apparentement. Chilled for a bit on a sofa in the lobby. The queue started to grow. After a while the ambulance had finished doing what it was doing and cleared off leaving the road clear for us. Our first destination was a fabric shop where THG had a few bits and bobs she wanted to purchayse and we then set the guidance computer to Carentan. 

We had half a tank of fuel which was plenty to get us back to Portsmouth but decided we might as well fill up and stopped at an Eleclerc in Coutances. Worra mistake. There must have been 8 or 10 pumps but once you’d filled up you had to drive forward to pay at the kiosk. The pump was not usable until the person in front of you had paid and that person’s car had to filter into the kiosk lane competing/sharing the space with the other 9 pump users. Took us 15 – 20 frustrating mins to fill up but at least that’s out of the way. We now have enough fuel to get home.

Amusingly, despite tootling along at the speed limit, French cars did keep trying to overtake us. Of course it didn’t get them very far on the single carriageway main roads of Normandy as there were other cars in front of us tootling along at the same speeds. There was one car in particular with Swiss plates who we imagined was just ambling along enjoying the open skies. “Isn’t it great vizout mountains, and no flugelhorns, cowbells or yodelling to distract us”.

Made it to Carentan with 45 mins to spare before we were due to check in at Dead Man’s Corner Museum for the 1pm filum showing. THG sourced some lunch supplies at the Carrefour Express and I nipped to my regular cave des vins (Cave du Vert Bosquet)  for some calvados and Normandy whisky.

The museum is fantastic if you are a fan of these things. Crammed with exhibits, a C47 flight simulator in a real C47 and loads of genuine WW2 memorabilia you could buy if you were that way inclined which I wasn’t. There was a briefing before the flight simulator. We were sat next to a mother who talked incessantly with her small daughter. We decided to get away from them for the actual simulator and sat in the empty three seats that would have been an obvious place for them to sit. Unfortunately the attendant made everyone move around to create space for them and we ended up sat next to them. Fortunately the simulator was too noisy for them to chat.

We are now checked in to Camping de Baie des Vayes and chillin with a small bottle of beer. Le soleil brillait and all is well. Our last night in France.

There is internet access onsite here but you have to be practically glued to a seat in the bar to get a decent wifi signal. Mobile connectivity is also a bit dodge. After all they didn’t have mobile phones on D Day (J Jour). We are only a couple of kilometres from Utah Beach ici. I can almost hear the tanks rolling by on their way to the front line.

We (I) have now done most of the WW2 sites I want to see, at least the 101st Airborne ones. I have a map of all the Easy Company sites of interest including where some of the parachutists landed and where some of the main action happened: Brecourt Manor & Carentan. If yer interested let me know and I’ll send a link.

The cows around here have suddenly started to get noisy. Must be milking time. After all, the area is famous for its butter and fromage. During WW2 the presence of cows in a field was considered to be a good thing as it was a sign that the field was not mined.

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Great evening as usual in Chez Roger. Old Rog really tests your tastea buds with the courses and the wine pairings are v innovative, if slightly small portions. The upstair s bit was not open today but we had a nice table in the window on the veranda bit looking out at the estuary. 5 Americans came in after us and left before us. Ditto the couple on the table behind us. Was very nice to see an old couple holding hands across the table. We were greeted in English, for some reason, but soon put them right.

Had a beer in the campsite bar before going to Rog’s. The only others in there were a family of four playing a card game. This is a great spot tbh, if you wanted to bring a family.

Calm here in the Bay of Mont St Michel. Not quite comfortable sitting out on the balcony temperature without a light sweater yet. Unfortunately, and in my wisdom, I haven’t brought such a sweater on the trip and have under these circumstances been wearing my flowery linen jacket which unfortunately is starting to see some wear and tear. This particular jacket gets compliments all over the world. I recall wearing it on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz some years ago when an ageing hippy came walking towards me. He stopped, shook me firmly by the hand, and said cool threads man, cool threads. Ditto some bloke in a Range Rover at the hotel in La Rochelle. Our Peugeot 208 (the Silver Bullet) was blocking the exit to the hotel courtyard and he was having to wait whilst the valet parked another car before moving ours. Great jacket, he said.

Although I am slowly moving away from flowery shirts as they wear out, and the thinner silk ones are already doing this, this jacket is too good to not have one. Arranging another trip to Shanghai just to have one made is not on the cards but at some stage I will have to consider my options.

The other news this morning is that we were going to visit the Dior Museum but are now probably not. Turns out you have to book and there are no spaces left today. Availability starts at 12.30 tomorrow which doesn’t work for us. We want to be on our way to the Dead Man’s Corner museum by then. It’s only a small gaff so looks like they restrict numbers. You can rock up on spec but the website says there can be queues of up to an hour and tbh I ain’t that bothered about looking at women’s dresses.

Did make me think about DMC and I have now bought advanced tix for the 12.45 entry. We have the 45 min filum at 1pm and the 15 min C47 simulator at 2pm. They have the same plane used in the Band of Brothers. Shud be gud. Our campsite is just down the road at the edge of the estuary. This trip we will have gone from farmhouse in 75 acres with our own pool to 5 star hotel to 4 star hotel to 3 stars and then a campsite 🙂 It’s the only place we could stay within walking distance of Chez Roger on le Grand Vey, Utah Beach. We have paid for 2 nights as that is the min stay but it is still a lot cheaper than any of our other accommodations. Dead Man’s Corner will take us to fourish at which time we can check in to the campsite and use the pool before getting ready for Rog.

Down at breakfast we sat at a table in the window. It wasn’t the table I had my eye on but as I was filling up with freshly squeezed orange juice a family of three alighted on it. No problemo I thought. I’ll take the one next to it. Then the dad proceeded to drag my second option table to join it with the first and so bagsed the best and second best spots. Nothing much in it tbh. We were happy with ours. I had some grapefruit, cafe au lait and some breakfast breads with four squeezed oranges.

Said family has now appeared on the terrace below our balcony. The kid has a thick comic book that he’s been working his way through fair play. I’d guess he is around four. His dad is playing with his phone.

We have three full days of the holiday left. Today and tomorrow are sorted and the ferry doesn’t leave until 23:00 on Saturday so we have all day to play with. We’ve done most of the good ww2 spots at least once (with DMC being the exception) so will have a think. There is the obligatory visit to Carrefour before getting on the boat. Need to stock up on various local delicacies. The serious stuff will have to be sourced from artisanal shops somewhere en route in Normandy. Camembert etc. need to see if I can buy a bottle of Le Breuil (comme les éditions Single Cask ou Finition Palo Cortado/Calvados).

…

Bit of a walk up to the high town this am taking in a bit of the Atlantic wall, the lighthouse, church of Notre Dame, the Grand Porte with drawbridge, a caff called BAR la Rafale (cafe au lait and a mint tea) and then a walk around the sea walls until we descended past some more Atlantic wall fortifications to buy sandwiches for a picnic lunch which we took sitting on the prom looking out to sea. The Geermans had blown up a lot of the fortifications before retreating.

Now back in my usual seat on the balcony having some R&R from the R&R. Out to Restaurant du Port ce soir.

…

Spectac thunderstorms far out to sea in the Bay of Mont St Michel. The very dark sky is touching the sea at the horizon and is being lit up occasionally as the lightning strikes. An occasional lighthouse flashes. Ya don’t want to be out in that weather. Oddly it is very calm here in Granville. No wind. We had a great dinner in Restaurant du Port (or simlar). Best foie gras I’ve ever had fair play. Walked home and had a digestif in the bar around the corner from the hotel. Bar Tender. Very gay manager/owner chatted with a couple of guys who I assumed were pals. I asked if they sold the tshirts as merch but negative. Would have regretted it in the morning anyway. Had a double calvados. Nowt special but hey… We are in Normandy. Even the sea in front of the hotel is dark. No swimming ce soir.

No sound from the storm. The lightning is probably too far away. Never seen such a dark sky as this. I guess it might get nearer but I’ll probs be asleep.

Dawn, Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. I’ve just woken up and come out onto the balcony. The coastline is shrouded in mist and it is very very easy to imagine it is the morning of D Day, or J Jour as they call it around here. Weather is going to be much nicer than in 1944.

The allies didn’t land here, they landed on the other side of the peninsula but the parachute divisions did fly over this side, a little further up the coast. On Friday we are off to Utah Beach, an 80 minute drive, but in 1944 it would only have taken minutes by air before the C47 transports started to drop their human payloads. I’m a bit of a WW2 nerd. Hardly surprising for someone born 16 years after the end of the war and whose childhood included comics filled with tales of commando raids and other such warlike activities. There was also Roy of the Rovers, the Beano and the Dandy so it wasn’t all blood and guts, though the Beano in those days was far less politically correct than it is now. Is it still going even?

One person has appeared on the prom. Brought my binocs out with me but there really isn’t anything to see. No boats, no fishermen, no swimmers. It’s all happening on the other side of the headland.

This gaff is called the Mercure Granville Le Grand Large. Hotels in France are named “Le Grand Large” because the phrase translates poetically to “the open sea” or “the great wide horizon,” highlighting an expansive ocean view. I googled it. The hotel does have a fantastic vista over the Bay of Mont St Michel and would have been an interesting place to watch the airborne troops fly over in the distance, sky lighting up with flak and tracer. Doubt it had been built in ww2. 1993. I just looked it up.

It’s notionally the best hotel in Granville. Not sure Granville can support a particularly “good” hotel. Thissun is fine. The views from the balcony are good and it has an (very tight spaces) underground car park which is one of the things I look for in hotels in town centres. A car park, not necessarily underground. Rooms are quite small and the balcony you can just about fit on. Also their beer supplies were v limited. Not complaining, just noting. Lots of Christian Dior decor around the hotel. The lad was born in Granville in 1905.

Gonna be 27 degrees here this pm and we are gonna go swimming,in the sea! The hotel has lift access to the prom. There is a sea water open air pool within stone skimming distance. THGs idea but one has to be supportive one’s chosen life partner innit. She has also entered the Lincoln 10k which I won’t be doing but I will be there to support her.

…

09:44 and there is movement. A speed boat surfs its way north, there are swimmers and a helicopter has just flown over. I count 6 walkers on the prom, 3 people in the outdoor seawater pool and one just climbing down the steps into the sea.

This morning whilst lying in bed we booked a show in London. It was conveniently in the same street as our hotel in September. Family lunch. It is a Wednesday but it feels like a Saturday. We are also probably ready to go home but leave on Saturday on a 23:00 or similar boat. Friday night, which is the actual 18th birthday of philosopherontap, is a biggie as we are dining at Chez Roger, one of our fave restaurants. They only offer a 5 course menu surprise but you can add oysters and upgrade to lobster. You do get asked if you have any allergies but that’s yer only choice. Chez Rog is a couple of miles along the coast road from Utah Beach and the building would likely have been there in 1944. Not the restaurant though. Couldn’t get the ingredients and it would probably have been filled with German soldiers. Not the convivial gaff it is these days. They close for the winter but I got in touch through their facebook page which also serves as their website.

Today we are exploring Granville.

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I have just discovered something. Instead of elevator muzak they have some quite good jazz. Fair play. Discovered it upon our return from swimming in the salt water of the Bay of Mont St Michel. We are now going to have showers before heading out on the town. Living the dream.

…

Went to the beach without my device. Seemed the sensible thing to do. Just had the room key and the number to get in through the hotel gate on the prom. That number is memorised now. Could have taken a credit card I guess in case we wanted a beer on the prom but there were no bars anyway so it didn’t matter.

It is a very rare thing for me to go out without my device.  I like to take pics and vids of interesting things. I also use the stylus to write things down. In the past I’d take a notebook but I stopped doing that once I had a phone with a stylus. It is v useful.

Anyway the point is I was unable to make notes. The water, cold at first, soon became bearable and THG and I were immersed in no time. What was lacking was sun. If your shoulders were out of the water you began to shiver. It was a classic beach scene. We used the seawater pool that has eight starter boxes, if that’s what you call them, from which folk could dive in when racing. You know the sort. These were white concrete boxes with black numbers in a funky font on the side. One to eight. I really felt a photo of them would have very much been the right thing but I wouldn’t have my phone with me in the sea even if I had it with me in my shirt pocket.

Afterwards we suntered along the prom past lots of clean white beach huts. At the far end there was a sign pointing up some steps to the Christian Dior house garden. That’s for tomorrow. Funny to think that some people live a designer lifestyle. Nothing wrong with it I guess other than perhaps it doesn’t necessarily attract the right sort of person.

We discovered that the sandy beach at the end of the prom was much nicer than the stony seaweed covered stuff we had been sitting on. Tomorrow maybe. Not that we are beach types. It is quite interesting to look at some of the people around who clearly are. Very tanned. Must spend a lot of time in the sun. Not my thang. V risky tbh and I’m not a worrier.

I’m now sat in the lounge.

Sat on our balcony at Mercure Granville Le Grand Large. We’ve been out for a stroll, had a beer and ended up at The Tender Bar next to the casino for some nosh. I’m now sat on our balcony surveying the seaside scene. Load of folks who appear to know each other down on the terrace below. Nobody drinking. One woman has a piece of paper in her hand. Maybe it’s a teetotal convention. Who nose. It was too hot out here earlier when I went down to wait for THG. A few kids still in the water. It is very calm.

Seagull noises that didn’t exit in Concarneau. Big bay out there.

Watching (sort of) blackpool v the imps on the laptop. Cup game. THG has her Bose phones on and is watching summat different. Some sewing prog.