Blog 21 / August 2015
The Canadian parcel arrived and the clothes I made for
the kids so many miles away from them, fitted OK, although Alex looks a little
restricted in his waistcoat, so Nona will try harder next time. I am still in
the motions of documenting our trip to Canada, the pictures and notes all set
out in word only the padding to write up and the event will be there for us to
remember for ever.
Oh, the joys of babies, Graham and Ann had their
granddaughter come and visit for a few days so we took the opportunity to get
together, as we do every week and got to know her a little better. I was offered a cuddle and took up the
challenge, like a well-oiled Nona should, although it is true to say that it has
been a few years since we have been in the company of one, so young.
Mike and I popped into the tourist office to buy some
post cards of Carentan and we came across this little exhibition of photographs
of traditional Normandy buildings in our area. They boasted about the
construction of Mass houses since year dot and how it is now so important to
keep these pockets of history in good condition, alive and well. We went around the expo reading up all the notes
and information and became aware that we
actually live in a house like these and it was probably about time we got the
ground floor windows painted so we could say, we are making the effort to keep ours in good nick…..ooops
Mike was busy doing his daily duty checking the water
quality in the swimming pool in case we need a dip in an emergency, and that
does happen…then Mike came across this little fella. Now you may think this is
normal …. Newt near water …. but we
could not imagine how he managed to clamber up four feet of plastic sides then
over the blow up collar so we can only surmise that he was dropped in by a bird
and therefore mike was holding its life in his hands…we found a nice wet place
in the pond area to give him another go at life, and wished him good luck …
We decided to close the mobile homes early as the
demand was slow and people seemed only to want accommodation for 4 nights and less
and then wanted to turn up, tonight! This gives us an extra work load and
commitment to have to stay at home so we pulled the plug hoping that next year our
French holiday makers will be in a better position to commit at least a week in
advance so that we do not have to arrange our lives around a B&B,
just-turn-up style of business. We set off to St Malo for a 3 night break in
the Camping Municipal and set up camp ready to investigate and enjoy
We
walked for hours and both felt the impact, Mike especially, but we ventured
into St Malo both days and did all the touristy stuff.
It occurred to us that we keep running into World War
2 events and I went on the lookout for photos of St Malo just after the war as
80% of the city was destroyed. The city was rebuilt in the traditional style
though not in traditional materials and if you look hard enough you get a sense
of how modern it actually is. I was therefore quite keen to find a source in
the city where we could grasp the enormity of the task but sadly we found
nothing. The museum of history never mentioned it and although this WW2 museum at
the back of the camp site spoke about the great battle that took place here,
there was no real information about the reconstruction of an ancient city…..is
it perhaps because they don’t want tourists to know that the buildings are
actually only 60 years old….I don’t know, but I was disappointed. I have found
some pictures since, on line, but that does not count…..
But then, you climb to the highest point, a little
huffy and puffy and realise that there is enough to feed the historic appetite
and Mike and I spent time on this view discussing the day we sailed here in
Beema. We talked our way in through the buoyage system and how we felt about
this quite difficult Port entrance. Do we miss Beema ?….yes, I guess on a day
like that looking out at sea we do miss the concentration of all that skill and
knowledge we had built up during our sailing years together.
Our second days walk into the city took us past this
vista which frankly just made me chuckle as it looked like the ferry had got
lost and found a slot in the marina and we
know how it feels to arrive here and the
marina to say, sorry mate, no moorings
available, but that is another tale to tell…. I was also reminded of the sight
of huge cruiser ships going through Venice and in this beautiful warm sunshine
it nearly felt like Venice….
After four days away we were delighted to see on our
return that the pond had found it’s balance and the fish were visible and
looking very happy. The lily pads have been eaten away by the ducks and I don’t
know why we didn’t think they would ignore them but we have a plan to make them
duck proof and will instigate that next week, but the fish are a great success.
Whist
on the subject of fish we got a call to get Mike’s tackle out and get down to
the carp lake in Perier for an inter friends carp fishing competition. We turned up to find that we
were 8 contestants although the ladies
in the group decided to sit back and chat our way to catch the largest carp. Shirley
however, is the best lady fisherman I know and did not disappoint by landing an
18 pounder within 30 minutes of the starting hooter
Mike sat patiently in his little swim but by 9:30 in
the evening he had not even had a nibble and with the other competitors long
gone home to their evening meals the four of us saw the contest to its bitter
end. Mark did have a bite but could not
get to the rod quick enough and as the fish took flight the rod slipped into
the depth of the lake never to be seen again. We had a great afternoon in great
company and hope to do it again very soon.
We have discovered that if you make the effort and go
out to the free concerts in our local churches, there is a fantastic night out
to be had. We went to Fresville for a concert
of varied music with flutes, strings and piano and the voice of a very
impressive lady singing Shakespeare style sonnets which set the hairs on the
back of my neck up right. A violin solo with this small orchestra was so well
played and touching that it left me in tears as this ensemble of wonderful
musicians shared their skills for us with no fuss or showmanship just
accomplished talent and savoir faires.
There was a 10 minuet break in the programme and we
took the opportunity to walk around this lovely little village church building
and Shirley who works in the antiques business was considering how we could get
this confessional box into her handbag to put in the corner of her lounge. It was a lovely bit of furniture that we
might just walk past and not take too
much notice, but being out with people
who see these things opens your eyes to other things and makes a night out great fun and
interesting. At the end of the concert we all tumbled out into the village
square and the chaps made the point that a local pub would have closed the
evening perfectly. Do we miss not having a good pub to visit, yes we all do. We
met up the next day for Moules frites at the end of a mornings rummaging at the
Port bail vide grenier, so the concert review was considered over a glass of
rose instead of a pint of bitter.
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