![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220428_094701-The-Phare-de-Gatteville-600x334.jpg\")
Thursday 28 April 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up at 7am, or maybe it was 10 minutes later because it\u2019s warmer to stay in bed until the heating has warmed up Reggie\u2019s interior. Breakfast \u221a. Send the bed to the ceiling \u221a . Pack everything away \u221a. Lock all cupboards and fridge \u221a. Load more water on board \u221a. Empty the grey waste \u221a. Empty the bin \u221a. Take the rubbish and recycling to the d\u00e9cheterie \u221a. Then head out of the campsite at 9am. Sadly the weather had deteriorated into a grey sky, still with the freezing NE wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lighthouse at Gatteville-le-Phare is the second highest in France and quite a sight to see with the waves spraying over the sea wall and seagulls wheeling overhead. It was freezing out there. A hot chocolate in the \u2018Plus Beaux Village\u2019 of Barfleur was a much warmer thing to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We continued south down the east coast of the Cotentin peninsula through St Vaast la Houge, Quineville and stopped at Sainte-M\u00e9re-Eglise in time for lunch. The market was just closing, as markets always do on the dot of midday in France, so we wandered over to the church which is famous for a WWII \u2018accident\u2019. The town is full of plaques, statues, memorabilia and hanging from the church tower is a white parachute attached to a full-size figurine of an American airman. On the 5th<\/sup> June 1944, John Steele from Illinois jumped from a plane and his parachute got caught on the church tower. After some hours he was freed from the harness by German soldiers and taken prisoner. Happily, he did manage to escape and re-join his troop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Caf\u00e9 Cauquigny was interesting for a Croque Monsieur lunch, with plenty of memorabilia all over its walls. Then we jumped back into Reggie for the big drive back up to Cherbourg and out onto the north-west coast road. We drove all the way out to the Cap de la Hague on a very slow winding road, the opposite point of the Cotentin peninsula from the Gatteville Phare. The wind was really biting on the walk out to the point where we had to take a photo of Rodney in beloved Jack Hague\u2019s bright red jacket. Sadly, Jack died at the end of last year and Rodney has inherited his lovely ski jacket. Jack\u2019s jacket had to be worn at the Cap de la Hague, a point bearing his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The road south was a much easier and faster drive and we managed to get as far as Denneville Plage. We pulled into Camping L\u2019Esperance at 5.50pm, breathing a sigh of relief when we noticed that the office was about to close at 6pm. Phew! The bathrooms were fabulous so we both tarted ourselves up with hair-washes followed by a little nibble of cheese and olives before another early night. We had decided to embark tomorrow on the long drive to Le Fennouiller, near St Gillies Croix de Vie, to spend the weekend with Julia and Kevin at their French home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Friday 29 April 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaving the sleepy campsite at 9:15am we pointed Reggie\u2019s nose in a southerly direction. We managed to set Polly the Pioneer GPS to think of us as a lorry measuring 6.5m in length (gotta include the bikes on the back), 3m high (gotta allow for the solar panels on the roof), and 2.8 m wide (gotta include the chunky wing mirrors. We are under 3.5 tonnes so there shouldn\u2019t be any issues with weight, unless we eat too many pomme frites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We followed the main road down to Lessay, Coutances, Granville and Avranches, then picked up the motorway to Rennes and Nantes. We set a cracking pace due south, finally stopping in an aires near Pl\u00e9chatel for a cheese and olive snack. Today\u2019s selection of cheeses (for Wendy\u2019s information) was a lovely heart shaped Neufchatel and a slightly smelly St Aubin. Suitably sated we continued on to Julia and Kevin\u2019s house in time for dinner. By the time we reached Nantes, the temperature had reached 20c and it felt positively balmy! We’d been so cold in the previous week; we had been dreaming of temperatures like that! And as we crossed the enormous bridge over the Loire, the temperature jumped up to 22c. This was the weather we were looking forward to and it was good to get out of the fleecies and puffa jackets and into some lighter clothes. We even managed to sit outside a restaurant on the seafront for dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travel may not change your life but it does somehow expand it. Thursday 28 April 2022 Up at 7am, or maybe it was 10 minutes later because it\u2019s warmer to stay in bed until the heating has warmed up Reggie\u2019s interior. Breakfast \u221a. Send the bed to the ceiling \u221a . Pack everything away \u221a. 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