The cousins arrive early on Sunday and we set off immediately on a whirlwind tour of the countryside. First stop of the day (after a couple of hours drive) is Stonehenge, the second stop (after a few more hours) is Tintagle Castle (the supposed place of King Arthur's birth) then finally, mercifully we take them to our house after another hour or so of driving and the sun finally setting.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657515116741
Again the next day we set off in a blaze of fury to see Falmouth, the Maritime museum, and Pendennis Castle. Then a drive over to the Roseland peninsula to see St. Mawes Castle and finally a stop at the Roseland Brewery for dinner.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657491049512
Day Three and just like the others, up at dawn and out of the house for a drive to St. Michael's Mount. A grand castle on top of a rock in the middle of the sea. A stop at a pub and an abandoned mill and the day is complete.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657520545435
Days Four and Five we stopped torturing them and let them have some time to recoup. Though they decided that they wanted to drive some more to a tile factor in Exeter two hours away on Day Five.
Day Six we again pile in the car for a 4 hour drive to Newport. We make a quick stop on the Jurassic Coast to look for fossils, a dinner stop and then to the hotel in Southampton to prepare for the next day.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157655188962153
Day Seven... We board a ferry...Correction, we board a cargo ferry and several dozen other walk on passengers. We are off to Dieppe France. We say goodbye to the white cliffs of Newport, very similar to the white cliffs of Dover, and float off over the Channel. We arrive in Dieppe, clear customs and are immediately thrown into another language. Our taxi driver does not speak English, nor does the rental car agent speak any English and we are very rough with our French. Luckily another group renting a car has two kids that are learning English in school and between some broken Franglish a phone call and hand gestures we get a car and are off. After several hours of driving through the French country side we arrive in Connelles at our condo (and luckily they do speak English). It is situated on a beautiful river in a very rural French country side. With the long drive under our belt we decide to take a recommendation for dinner from the concierge. Off to Auberge de L'Andelle we go http://aubergedelandelle.fr/html/index.html It is in a little town called Ponte-Saint-Piere. At first glance it looks very fancy and we are not properly dressed, but alas we have reservations so we go in. We are the second group to get there. Using our limited French we get the menus, which is all in French... no big deal right? The concierge didn't mention that the people at the restaurant do not speak any English!!! Well, I guess, what do you expect, we are in rural France, why would they. Again through gestures and our very short French vocab we have an absolutely amazing, authentic French cuisine dinner. There was duck, fish, salads, local wine and desserts... and cheese! Todd and I tried over 20 different local cheeses that ranged in taste from light and nutty to pungent and wet horse blanket, ones that smelled very foul but tasted amazing to the exact opposite. All in all a one of a kind experience with good people. From there, back to the condo for an early next day.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657095837979
Day Eight starts at 5am and the sooner we can get on the road the better, we have a 2 hour drive to Bayeux to start our all day D-Day tour. An intense day of museums, landing sites from D-Day, and cemeteries ensues. I don't think that I have the words to describe all of what we saw and felt. Being at the landing sites and seeing the monumental task that lay before the soldiers on that day, seeing the cemeteries where the brave men and women of that day are laid to rest, being in Sainte-Mere-Eglise where the soldiers were dropped for Operation Overlord, documented in the movie The Longest Day, and the passion of our tour guide whose grandmother lived through it all and passed her passion to him about that day was truly an experience. Thank you Todd for opening our eyes to it all. We were not sure what to expect but are forever changed by it. A quick bite in one of the only restaurants open on a Sunday, which is apparently where all of the other Americans go for dinner, and we are back on the road for the 2 hour drive back to the condo.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657448344766
Day Nine, a nice slow start with no real agenda. We get up and head out of the house with the intention of dropping us off in Dieppe for our ferry ride out the next day. A stop back in Rouen starts with a good walk around, a coffee in a quaint cafe, a visit to the Joan of Arc memorial, and many other interesting sites. Now off to a coastal town, Honfleur. A visit to a Calvados store, Compagnie des Calvados, and a few samples for Pommeau and Calvados, a stop at a seafood restaurant, La Grenouille, for a mountain of shellfish, whelks, periwinkles, brown shrimp and oysters, a visit to a beer bar by the harbor and a few churches round out the visit to Honfleur. Back in the car we make our way to Dieppe. Along the way we see a sign for Etretat, rock arches on the coast. After a little while exploring the pebble covered beach we decide to finish the drive to Dieppe. After getting a little lost and not knowing the exact location of the hotel we make it to our hotel and say goodbye to Todd and Amanda.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657448601556
Day Ten we are back on the ferry at 6am heading to the UK. A beautiful sunrise as we head home.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128680841@N03/albums/72157657101709910
Thank you Todd and Amanda for an amazing trip, we wouldn't have changed anything. We look forward to our next adventure.