Day Three - Flexing our Mussels as We Pass Through Fatcamp Again

Highlander Graves

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As British forces were withdrawing from France, Churchill placed the 51st Highland Division under French command after assuring the French that Britain would 'never abandon her ally in her hour of need'. The move was intended to persuade the French to fight on against Hitler as Britain withdrew from the continent.

Remembrance is a Golden Chain that Binds Us Until We Meet Again

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In Northern France Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk had evacuated most of the British Army as well as much of the French, still some combat units and more than 150,000 support and line-of-communication troops had been cut-off to the south by the German Blitzkrieg across France. In addition, the British 52nd Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Division had been rushed to France to bolster the defence of the west of the country. All these forces became known as the “Second BEF” and General Sir Alan Brooke was returned from England to command them. Upon his arrival on 13 June, he quickly realised that there was no chance of success for them and that the French plan to fall back and make a stand in Brittany was unrealistic. Accordingly, in a telephone call on the evening of 14 June, he was able to persuade the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, that all the British troops in France ought to be disengaged and evacuated. Future historians credit this decision with saving hundreds of thousands of troops from being killed or captured. Troops that later returned on the D-Day beaches.

More Fallen Scots

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What I find so fascinating about British military history is that the names of these units exist throughout British history. Many of the Highlander regiments that surrendered at St Valery-en-Caux also served in the American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, the Boer War and WWI. On our visit to Edinburgh Castle a few years back we visited the Scottish National War Memorial where each unit is remembered in its own alcove and where the names of the dead are inscribed in huge leather bound books.

They Didn't Die in Vain

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Even though the troops that gallantly fought in St Valery were eventually defeated and surrendered, their delaying action distracted German units from the bulk of the troops still in France. This delay allowed almost 200,000 more soldiers to escape back to EnglanTake note of the unusual Arabic name on the left grave marker and the late date of death. I think there's more to this guy's story than this simple grave indicates. I suspect he was from one of the French colonies in North Africa and that he either died in captivity or as a member of the Resistance because he died 4 years after the battle at St Valery but a few months before the Allies returned to Normandy.

French Cavalrymen

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One of the accounts I read online said that the French were still using mounted horse soldiers to fight the German tanks and halftracks. As the Battle of St Valery came to a close, the remaining cavalrymen loosed their horses and dug in along a treeline to make their last stand.

Back in the Renault and Headed Westward

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All that time in the graveyard made me hungry. On the outskirts of St Valery we returned to the big LeClerc store where we did more Christmas shopping. We picked-up a few drinks for the drive as well as an umbrella for the persistent rain. Cassie found more stuff she "needed". We briefly considered buying a GPS with European maps to replace my seemingly broken Garmin. But now that the car system was working for us and we still didn't know if the old Garmin was broken or just the car's power source, we held off on buying a replacement. Taking the same route we drove the day before when we approached the town of Cany-Barville I took a left to follow the signs toward an historic chateau. In the meantime Gail grabbed the green Michelin guide and read about Cany Chateau.

All Locked Up. Re-Opens for One Month in the Summer

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From the Chateau's website: "With its majestic main courtyard and its outbuildings, the Castle of Cany still evokes the austere splendor of Louis XIII. It was built between 1640 and 1646 by François MANSART. It still preserves its old furnishing. The chateau of Cany doesn't propose meals or rooms." Must be Google translator on that one.

Part Moat and Part Flooding

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Since we couldn't get into the chateau and it looked like no one was home, we drove down a different service road to try to get a better view of the estate. As it so often seems to happen to us, the further we drove the narrower the road got and the more we feared we might end-up getting trapped or stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Semi-fortunately for us, as we headed down this tiny roadway a contingent of more than a dozen burly lads came jogging from the opposite direction. They were all around the same age (mid to late twenties) so we assumed they were either military or a rugby team. --------------------------------------- Q: How do you confuse a French Soldier? A: Give him a rifle and ask him to shoot it. ----------------------------------------Q: What do women who are snipers in the French military use as camouflage? A: Their armpits.

As Good as It Gets I'm Afraid

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At this point it was raining rather fiercely. Even staying in the car and rolling down the windows to take these shots resulted in wet and foggy lenses. That's the chateau in the background.

Rising Waters

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I was getting a little nervous heading down this road because the rain was just pouring down obstructing our view forward, yet there was nowhere to turn around. We still hoped to get a closer view of the chateau but the road seemed to be taking us farther away. To see what we hoped to see go to: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_de_Cany_Barville.jpg

The Chateau Moat

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From what I've seen in aerial shots the chateau is surrounded by a series of canals serving as a giant moat.

Maybe Now is a Good Time to Turn Around

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We drove up to this bridge over the swollen creek. It seems the actual stone bridge is merely for bikes and pedestrians and only about 4 feet wide. Normally cars would drive down that ramp and across a much shallower stream. With all the rain we were getting the waters had risen up over the banks of the creek.

This Looks Like a Safe Place

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"An excellent spot to turn around " thought I as I pulled into the church nestled op against the creek (river). I got out in the downpour to snap a few pictures and to see if the little chapel warranted a visit. It was locked. When I returned to the car I backed out slowly from the narrow entrance and proceeded to tear out half a shrubbery on my side of the car. No scratches on the car. Time to move on.

December 23 and It's Still So Green

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while the water's a disgusting brown. It really never felt like Winter the entire vacation. The farm fields were green and full of growing crops. The temperatures were cool but comfortable and the days didn't seem all that short. Other than the rain this seems like a great time of the year to visit this corner of Europe.

Back on the Road and Past a Now Familiar Sight

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We finally started to listen once again to the Renault's GPS directions and proceeded westward on the D925 road toward Etretat. In one of the open farm fields we saw the farmers' new moneymaking crop - wind turbines sprouting up near the ocean cliffs. We passed a couple of farms where 5-10 humongous windmills like these were churning out electricity for the locals. These wind turbines seemed to be all over this part of France. And so were nuclear power plants. We passed at least three of them. The French aren't afraid to use the most logical and abundant sources of energy in the world.

Chapelle Notre Dame du Salut

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Once again we were trying to make our drive near the seaside as we headed west. And once again the roads weren't exactly hugging the coastline. Instead of going west I headed due North in hopes of maybe getting a nice view of the English Channel from atop the everpresent cliffs. Just before reaching Fecamp, the place we briefly visited the night before, we came upon this old chapel, converted into a hotel, on the cliffs over Fecamp itself.

A Place We May Book on Our Next Visit

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This area high above the town was almost completely deserted (except when we later tried to stop in the middle of the road to take pictures), but there were a couple of cars in the lot of Hotel Restaurant La Ferme de la Chapelle. From what I can gather this chapel was built in the 14th Century and later a farm was built incorporating the church into its fortress-like walls. It's really a pretty place with fabulous views but the Tripadvisor.com reviews of the hotel itself are not very good.

We Can Do Better Than This

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Th road past the chapel was another narrow affair with little or no guard rail along it as the road dropped precipitously down the high cliffs. At first I didn't want to risk going down the serpentining street as it twisted away around sharp turns and steep drops. So I pulled over just before the first big 180 degree turn and then took this picture through the mist.

Gail Made Me Do It

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When I steeled myself enough to venture down that twisty, scary road, I wanted to keep going without slowing down for silly nonsense like photos. But Gail insisted I stop right in the middle of the street so SHE could take the picture she wanted. Naturally another carf was behind us. I had to keep going, then turned around and headed back uphill. Back at that big nasty turn in the road I stopped only to have another car coming up on us. Once again we drove far enough awat from the great view to let the moron get around us. And once again we turned around and headed for that corner to take our pictures. The next time a car came upon us we made him figure out away around our tour bus. In the ned I snapped maybe 10 different pictures of this same scene using virtually every setting available on my camera. This came out the best in these misty, rainy conditions.