French Holiday Part One

During our stay in Normandy the weather was actually typically British! - some sunshine mixed in with rain and grey! Despite that fact we had a wonderful time and enjoyed visiting the local towns.

We visited Le Phare de Gatteville which is situated on the north east point of Normandy. Le phare means lighthouse in French and what a lighthouse it is! With it's 365 steps to the top, I was a little bit pleased it was too windy for a trip to the top on our visit, but at the same disappointed not to experience the great views from high above.

On the same day we visited a nearby town, Barfleur. It was a lovely sleepy seaside town with picturesque views and a distinctly fishy smell - it is a fishing town after all.

We stayed in a great 3 bedroom gite located only 30 minutes from Cherbourg. The owners were really friendly and nothing was too much trouble. The website here shows some good pictures of the gite, including it's location.

Near to where we stayed, was a town called Bricquebec which has a castle in it's centre where we enjoyed a gorgeous lunch of paella. After a slight mix up with obtaining a fork we were sat in the sunshine eating our lunch. After a walk around the market we strolled back to the car and came across a beautiful stream leading down someones drive way, what a great sight to see on your way home!

We did visit a few beaches while we were there and even had the opportunity to pick our own mussels from the rocks and take them home for tea. The beaches were great, so much sand and space but unfortunately the pictures make it look like it was a grey day with no sun - that was not the case. On the sand it was really hot and bright, by the water it was cooler in the breeze but I even went swimming one day! And if you know me, that was an achievement!