Tuesday 1 October

Alberto and Simone are welcoming hosts. We enjoyed a simple breakfast that was a combination of Italian and French style. Home made compote-jam preserves of peach and a pear and cinnamon were delicious, as was the apple and walnut cake I smelt cooking last night. Some baguettes with cheese and ham selection, juice, fruit and yoghurts were also offered.

I was a bit disappointed that we only had Comte cheese, one slice of ham, and one little square of butter each. However, we are only paying about 80euro a night, so this is indicative of you get what you pay for. Having said that, butter and cheese are not expensive here so why be so tight? Our room is very large by French standards and we have a spacious bathroom with heated towel rail and a bidet. That we are happy about the former as it assists with our washing.

Today we set off for Etretat to see the famous rock formations on the beach of the English Channel and the Sculpture gardens. The trip took just under two hours each way and the nav obeyed our instructions and avoided the toll roads. Today the narrow roads were increasing a bit to much for my liking, including a few where you had to pull over to let someone pass. Unlike the English roads you generally have a better line of sight without those hedgerows or tree covered narrow lanes. Regardless they are a tad stressful.

The scenery is not quite as pretty as the cider trail area near Caen, however we did pass through a couple of stunning tiny villages with half timbered houses framed with beautiful romantic gardens, restored stables, farm houses, red brick houses with decorative work, and progressing upwards to some very stately farm manors. There is a lot of horticulture, the last of corn fields and new crops down, a few cows, and we even passed an ‘escargot’ farm!

As with the English seaside villages parking is at a premium in Etretat, so were found a paid parking lot not too far from town and walked into the ‘ville’ to find some lunch. It must have escaped the worst of bombing as there are a lot of lovely old homes there. We chose a restaurant with the ambiance of an old stable come workshop, we think built in the 18th century. Low timber ceilings and lots of saddlery and tools adorning the walls.

Lunch was simple but tasty cassoulet and a more authentic galette than in Ouistreham which had egg, ham, cheese and onions picked in cider. The cassoulet was also authentic with duck and two different types of sausage. The flavours were delicate and the beans so creamy and tender in just the right amount of a tomato based sauce. They added a few of the pickled onions towards the end, which gave a nice al dente texture and a bit of lift. We could not quite finish the generous serving.

Then came the second challenge of the day (the first being the driving), climbing the hill to the gardens. All the information we had read said that the steps were not suitable for people with mobility issues, however, there was a more gentle way suitable for strollers. There is also a petite train option. I picked the latter, but Vern wanted us to walk, whilst we still could. Righty ho. A belly full of food, an arthritic knee, and tight muscles from our 8km walk yesterday did not seem to factor into the equation.

The more gentle option, sans steps was as steep as anything. I think it would have been a boot camp workout pushing a stroller. I did it, albeit with frequent stops. Did I feel pleased with myself? No, not really as the gardens themselves are full of steps so my legs did not appreciate the double dose. The walk up was about 20 minutes and then we spent a good hour or so experiencing the gardens.

The gardens are set into the hill and use sculpture and manicured plants to take you on an experiential journey. At each ‘installation’ they have a perfume jar with a scent that you lift the lid to experience it on an olfactory level, plus music or sounds playing from discrete speakers. We thoroughly enjoyed it, even when we got one little shower of rain as that made the ‘rain drop faces’ look like they were crying! Suffice to say we really enjoyed the gardens and recommend it highly if you are in the area.

At the top of the cliff there are good views, a church (currently being restored, and the remains of a monument to two pilots who were last seen flying low over the area, on a failed flight from Paris to New York in a 450cc plane.

The limestone cliffs have an arch that looks like an elephant and are white reminiscent of their cousins across the channel. We were fortunate to have the sun out most of the day, albeit a bit breezy. They are bigger and closer than I expected and were an impressive sight. Together with the gardens it was a very worthwhile excursion. We wouldn’t go there for the rocks-cliffs alone.

We are certainly getting to see a lot of Normandy and getting a feeling for the popular areas Parisians and more like to holiday at. Normandy appears very fertile, green, productive and has a slower pace. The people are friendly – especially when they find out we are kiwi’s vs English and we are being very well fed and watered.

Vern continues to drive very well on the wrong side of the road, and we made it back home safe, stopping off at the local mini supermarket for a picnic salad dinner. Our host laid the table for us and we shared some of our nice organic cider with Alberto and chatted a bit over our dinner before they left us to ourselves. Simone would not let us do our own dishes, despite Verns willing offer.

They have already put a home baked snack of almond cake bars, kettle and coffee in our room for our early start in the morning. Such thoughtfulness!