Last day so a walk on a lovely sandy beach of Normandy was a perfect end to our trip.

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As had been forecast it rained in the night but happily it had cleared when we woke. We have been exceptionally lucky with our weather all month. When it got too hot at 35 degrees in the Camargue we moved a little further north and had some cooling rain, but nearly always at night so never a problem and never much. Perfect really.

We had decided a walk on the beach was the order of the day as we have not seen much sea this trip. When we were in the Camargue it was too hot to walk on the sand. So I picked a spot on the map and we headed out, to Wissant. The overnight rain might have cleared but we discovered it had left everything shrouded in sea style mist. This was the first day in 28 that we took jackets with us but it wasn’t at all cold, just a little damp in the air.

Found a tiny parking spot in Wissant for the Smart Car and realized there was a big market in town. All over the small town actually, must have been well over 100 stalls spread down all the streets and the market place. We didn’t stop to buy as we were heading for the supermarket later but we had a very pleasant browse. I asked a stall keeper how much they had to pay for stalls and he said it was an expensive market and cost €28 for two stalls. Now that is about 3 times what I would need to pay for a market stall in England and would probably get blown or washed away for my trouble. I envy the craftsmen and women of France their super markets.

Once we had ‘done’ the market we walked down the street to the beach. And what a beach it was. Miles or I suppose kilometers as we were in France, of soft sandy beach, the sort which is perfect for walking along. Slightly sadly the sun was not really out so the sky wasn’t very blue as with a beach like this, which had lots of standing water being so flat, when the sun shines you usually get gorgeous blue sky reflections in the sand. Never mind next time and apart from that it was perfect for a stroll. A few hardy people were in the sea but a paddle was good enough for me.

So back to the town and we stopped for lunch and I am delighted to say that I provided super entertainment for the couple from the Netherlands at the next table. I ordered Crabe Entier, forgetting what that means in France. A whole, undressed crab, claws intact. I have to say the meat in those claws was absolutely delicious but I really do need lessons in how to extract it. Which was the point the Netherland’s lady nearly fell off her chair laughing and I had to reassure her, also laughing my head off, that it was fine for her to laugh as much as she wanted.

When I put the crackers on that first big claw bits flew absolutely everywhere 😊 The crab did get its own back and I sported a plaster on my index finger for a week where it cut me. I have since watched a Utube video of a chef preparing a crab and I think I left quite a bit of meat behind in the body but I know there are bits in there not to be eaten and didn’t know which bits were which. Let’s hope the restaurant staff enjoyed the good bits after I had left them in the shell 😊. According to the video though I did attack the claws correctly even if there was flying debris and at least I provided good entertainment for the other customers.

From Wissant we headed back to the campsite via a supermarche as we never leave France without some foody goodies. Jus d’abricot for Paula is a must and some nougat is always popular. Not forgetting a selection of super little desert pots.

So back to the campsite where I stored our French goodies ready for travelling and had a last swim of the trip. Bob had suggested we would eat at the campsite restaurant but I had some nice steak, perfect for a stroganoff so we had that instead and it was Good.

So that is the end of this trip. Written retrospectively so I know what happened next. We caught the ferry without incident next morning and drove slowly, as always in the UK, home. Queueing past motorway accidents and road works and road closures and arriving home about 2 hours later than the Sat Nav said we should. But we are accustomed to that and I hate that last drive home on England’s crowded roads after a month of French empty ones.

Next trip will be different so prepare for a different style which will probably be revealed at some point in September 😊

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