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

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Whenever we travel I always prefer to stay in the same accommodations for as long as possible. Packing up and moving every morning is a pain. Because we were covering so much territory on this vacation, we didn't get to experience that luxury too often. But here in St. Valery we were booked for two nights. That meant that today we could spend the whole day doing whatever we found interesting rather than having to get to a certain locale in time to check-in.

Since it was a Sunday and only two days before Christmas we figured that most stores would be closed and that we'd have trouble finding breakfast sandwiches. Last night while sitting down in the lounge accessing the internet, the proprietor of the Hotel Henry IV walked in and introduced himself. He was a very nice fellow and spoke some English. He asked us about our day and our plans for the next. Then explained that the kid who let us in was his son. We chatted awhile and then he asked if we wanted breakfast in the morning. "Sure" we said together. And the next morning we came down and enjoyed one of the best non-German breakfasts ever.

As soon as we sat down our host asked whether we wanted coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Then brought out a huge baguette of fresh French bread on a cutting board. This was followed by jellies and marmalade. Then a platter of meat and cheese. As we were "ooohing" and "awwwwing" over this he brought out a basket of toast, followed by yogurts, croissants, cereal and carafes of orange juice and water. I am happy to say we did America proud and finished almost everything he put on the table. Maybe that wasn't his intent, but if you put a feast in front of me I'm gonna stuff myself.

Normally I devise a very specific itinerary for each day of the trip, often down to the very hour we need to be in certain places. This year I set up more of a free form platform mainly because this was all brand new territory for us and because there was just so much to see in a rather small territory. For our previous day I had only planned for us to drive from Rouen to Dieppe, then along the coast to St Valery. I figured we'd spend much more time in Dieppe than we did. Instead we continued well West of St Valery and took in many of the sights we were scheduled to see today. So now I decided that one of the places I planned to hit on our long Monday drive, Etretat, was near enough for us to put on our travel plans for today. We would do a leisurely trip out there and stop at any points of interest along the way. Our Michelin green guide was loaded with interesting diversions along the way.

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Photos

We Couldn't Ask for a Better Parking Spot
That's our lovely Renault Clio in the middle of the three cars. I really grew to love that car after two weeks. I wouldn't want to own one in the US because no one would know how to fix one, but over there there were Renault dealerships in virtually every town. Driving a diesel was much more enjoyable than I expected. At over 40 mpg how could I complain?

Looks Like Another Ugly Day
Again, I guess we should be grateful it wasn't snowing or icy, but we were already sick of the incessant rain and grey skies. But it almost seemed like it was working in our favor: hardly anyone else was out on the road today and we were able to drive at our own pace snapping away like the tourists we were.

Downtown St. Valery-en-Caux
View looking the opposite way down the street from our hotel.

Hotel Henry IV
This was a great find on Booking.com. Great price, really nice quiet hotel, perfect location and a great host.

St Valery-en-Caux Harbor
I thought it was kind of interesting that the boats in this river harbor were not taken out of the water in Winter. Apparently there's no fear of ice or storm surge in this heavily protected harbor. Amazingly, on a few occassions we actually saw sailboats out in the English Channel during this trip.

The Girls Get Pensive
As soon as we left the hotel in our Renault we headed back up around the riverbend, past the crumbling chalk cliffs and parked in the seaside parking lot. Almost as soon as we left the car the rain began to fall. Note Cassie's purchase from the previous day: pink Wellies which were perfect for the weather conditions on the trip.

Crazy Dutch Campers
There were a number of strange recurring oddities we experienced throughout the trip, but maybe the strangest to me was seeing all the knuckleheads who camped overnight in the empty beachside parking lots. Nine times out of ten they were Dutch like these folks. I couldn't understand why you would drive hundreds of miles from your own seaside country to another one with worse weather, camp overnight in a deserted parking lot, stay in your camper the whole time because the stupid thing is too huge to drive into any of the little villages along the beach and to do this at Christmastime.

Entrance to the Harbor
The sea was angry this day. All the rain turned the river flowing into the channel into a brown mess. On the hillside in the background are two monuments dedicated to British troops that held off the Germans while their comrades made their way back to England aboard ships.

The St Valery Cliffs
I read somewhere that these soft chalk cliffs were used by the Germans to build gun emplacements inside caves that they excavated. If you look closely you can see a few that were hollowed out. Had the weather been nicer we might have checked them out..

The Lighthouse of St Valery-en-Caux
We could only stand up here at the end of the cement pier for a few seconds because the wind was intense and the rain was stinging our faces.

Take a Closer Look
At this point the river meets the English Channel. The muddy river's floodwaters contrast sharply with the green of the salt water.

More Dutch Christmas Campers
We could see the people sitting inside sipping their coffee and watching the river basin fill gradually as more alluvium washed down from the cliffs. The place that they were camping at can only be reached by a single one lane road. When we were driving there big chunks of rocks and chalk had already crumbled down on the road. They very easily could end up stranded there.

I Had Pony
After leaving the harbor I decided we needed to drive up to those monuments to the British Tommies. After passing through a residential area we eventually emerged into farm country high up on the cliffs. I ignored the signs warning us about something - we would just tell the cops that we don't speak French if caught. The narrow road got narrower and narrower until it was practically a footpath and still no monuments. Then Cassie spotted these guys and made me stop.

My sister had pony, my cousin had pony...
Ninety percent of the time we couldn't get Cassie to get out of the car when we made photo op stops, but show her pony and poof, she's out of the car in flash. In the pouring rain. She finally had enough of them when this brave one came up and wiped his wet snot on her coat.

Poor Disgusting Creatures
The rain may have been an irritant to us, but these Normandy beasts hardly noticed. This guy looks like he's saturated.

Our First German Bunker?
I was all excited when we rounded the bend and spotted this semi-hidden concrete structure. High up on the cliffs I naturally deduced this was some sort of pillboxr artillery battery. When we drew nearer I saw a sign indicating that it was a water storage facility.

Right Under our Noses
After our unsuccessful foray to the top of the cliffs in search of the British war monuments, we decided it was time to head west toward Fecamp and Etretat. Driving back through St Valery-en-Caux we spotted this colorful roadside marker dedicated to the French cuirassiers (cavalry) and chasseurs (light infantry) killed in the delaying actions of 1940.

St. Valery-en-Caux Franco-British Cemetery
Right near that small monument we spotted a sign indicating another Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. Passing the town church we agains began to drive up another hillside where we enountered this beautifully maintained war cemetery.

Fitting Weather Conditions for a Solemn Placeer Condi
At the entrance to the cemetery the first view is of all these crosses. These gravemarkers were for French soldiers and the rectangular ones further along were for the British troops.