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Published: September 14th 2012
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We arrived in Auberville, a lovely beachside town in Normandy, in glorious sunshine. Our final HelpX experience was at La Cour de la Grange, a set of 'gites' run by a funny couple named Anne and Tom. ('Gite' is the French word to describe a self-contained accommodation - kind of like a B&B but normally stand-alone and with kitchenettes). La Cour de la Grange used to be an equestrian centre, and Anne and Tom found it about 7 years ago in a state of terrible disrepair. They turned the sets of stables into very quaint cottages, one that they live in, 3 that they rent out and one that has been recently completed to house volunteers like us!
This HelpX was a bit different to our previous placements. We had our own little cottage separate to the main house and were in charge of cooking the majority of our own meals (Anne and Tom would provide all the food for us to cook with). It was a nice change to be a bit more independent and have the freedom to cook whatever and whenever we liked. The other good thing about La Cour de la Grange is that we worked
Villers-sur-Mer
Abe really loved the garden scape of Villers-sur-Mer. 4 x 6-hour days, which gave us 3 days each week to explore the nearby towns.
Our work was mainly gardening (Abe is now an expert whipper-snipper) and I did a lot of cleaning of the gites and ironing bedsheets. One of the days I spent outside working with Abe we were tasked with painting a wooden bridge with some protective oil stuff. The bridge crossed from the shore of the big lake to an island in the middle. Due to the low water level it was easy enough to get under the bridge with a pair of gumboots so I borrowed a pair from Anne and set to work. The lake was home to heaps of frogs, that we'd been trying to spot the whole time we were at La Cour. As I was sitting quietly on the shore painting the underside of the bridge, frog after frog made an appearance. This was all quite lovely until I looked up as saw that I was surrounded by four frogs, all just floating in the water looking straight at me. Bit by bit, and frog by frog they were edging closer to me, and they reminded me
Home!
Our very tidy cottage. of crocodiles with their little beady eyes popping out of the water. In a somewhat hysterical voice I yelled up to Abe who was on top of the bridge.. "Are French frogs poisonous??" to which I received no end of mocking. As they continued to get closer I high-tailed it out of there and spent the rest of our time at La Cour very wary of those creepy frogs. However on our last day, we were informed that there is actually a little snake that also lives in the lake (Abe managed to spot it too). If I'd known that earlier there's no way I would have set foot in the bloody lake!!
During our first 'weekend' off work we walked along the beach to the next town of Houlgate. Anne and Tom had warned us that we had to time our walk with the low tides, because at high-tide the sea would come all the way up to the cliffs. We left Auberville a few hours before high tide, planning to spend high tide in Houlgate and then walk back as the tide was going out. It turns out that we left our run too late,
The dreaded bridge
And all those nasty frogs and snakes! and there were a few hairy rock-climbing moments around a few of the peaks but we managed to reach Houlgate safely but for a few nasty scratches on our feet. However due to the isolating nature of the tide, this stretch of beach is a favourite spot of Normandy's nudists, who make the walk to one any of the isolated coves and get to spend a private day in the buff. As we were had left our run so late, we had the pleasure of viewing a great many of these nudists, who were equally as surprised to see us. You'll have to ask poor old Abe about the image he has burned into his brain after he popped his head over a rocky outcrop and into a cove that some unsuspecting nudist thought was private.
The following weekend we walked 9km along the beach in the opposite direction to the towns of Deauville and Trouville. We were forewarned that Deauville was where 'the other half lived' and it was lovely (for me, at least) to window-shop in the many Louis Vuitton and Chanel shops that lined the streets. Deauville hosts an American Cinema Festival every September
Bayeux
Lovely lovely Bayeux and each year they have some American movie star that graces the town with their presence and is hence known as "Maison de la Stars!". Unfortunately we didn't spot anyone remotely famous in Deauville. Oh well.
During our stay at La Cour de la Grange, Anne's daughter and her two children came over from the UK to stay. Abe and I cooked our famous Portugese Chicken for their first night and it was lovely to get to know Emma, Chasby (9 years) and Billie (6 years). After a few wines were enjoyed, it came out that Emma (Anne's daughter) was actually a Soapie star in the UK in the 90s! Some of her more famous roles were as Gloria in 'Minder' and as Dr. Gail Benson in 'Medics'. We watched an episode of Minder, and despite her high pants and massive bouffant hair-do, Emma was a total dish!
We had a wonderfully relaxing time in Auberville, strolling the beachside towns, enjoying freshly laid eggs and amazing fresh bread and laughing at the antics of the 7 hens and 3 dogs (Solo, Tara & Ziggy). It seems as though before we knew it, it was
Mont Saint Michel
Shame about the weather. And the tide. time to make tracks for our final bit of 'sightseeing' in France. We made Bayeux our home for four nights, using it as a base to explore Mont Saint Michel and the D-Day beaches. Bayeux itself also had a lot to offer us, a gorgeous Cathedral and narrow cobblestone roads that somehow managed to escape WW2 unscathed. Bayeux was even the first city to be liberated by the Allies and Charles De Gaulle made one of his famous first public addresses back on French soil here. Bayeux is also the home of the Bayeux Tapestry - an amazing 76m long tapestry telling the story of William the Conquerer's defeat of the English at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Very interesting indeed. We also indulged in a little of Normandy's specialty… Apple Cider! Neither Abe nor I have ever really taken to cider, finding it to be too sickly sweet however the Normans make a very delicious 'Brut' that is dry and oh-so-drinkable!
Our final stop in France was Normandy capital of Rouen, famous for being the town that burnt French Patron Saint, Joan of Arc (or Jeanne d'Arc as the French call her) alive at the stake. Rouen was quite nice, however we we had three days of quite miserable weather which just whet our appetite even more for the glorious sunshine in store for us at our next destination, Portugal! The only thing standing in our way is a Ryanair flight, which by all accounts can be a bit of a nightmare. Wish us luck!
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