Granville

The road from Ouistreham to Granville was set, 90 minutes of drive time to the self proclaimed "the Monaco of the North" and previous home to Christian Dior.

Quite an uneventful drive, long straight A roads in the bright sunshine, passing the outskirts of the occasional deserted village (probably behind shuttered windows hiding from the heat) then finally we arrived in Donville Les Bains on the outskirts of the town, a down hill hairpin bend the last challenge to be done just by the entrance to our campsite for the next 2 nights.

Our allocated pitch was a pleasant and decent 7/10, its unofficial rating achieved for being a level pitch (up and down & side to side), a decent size with shade and sun, local to other amenities, e.g cafe / beach and the required boulangerie for the daily baguette et croissant!

We quickly settled into the pitch, it has become a well rehearsed drill, water tank fill up, electrics on, front windscreen cover (to keep cool) and chairs out - cold drink in hand, we are good to go.

It's always amusing to see how many UK vehicles are also parked up, on our wander around we spotted 5 other motorhomes, 4 were clearly in a convoy with a circling of the wagons in action, amusingly a microwave and large hot plate was all on prominent display, suggesting a big dinner was planned for later.

The long sandy beach faced due west, with clear blue skies a couple of great sunsets were being looked forward to.

Weather wise it was overcast yet mildly warm, and perfect for a cycle into the town of Granville the following day, all we needed to do is follow along the beach to the south.

Like much of northern France there is a fair amount of memorials reflecting the occupation of France, Granville was not an exception.

Stumbling across an old ammunitions bunker sabotaged by the occupiers, there is a real sense of how the land was defended over 80 years ago.

The town held up its Monaco claim badge well, hills narrow cobbled streets leading up to Le Roc, which housed an old 12th century fortification with well preserved re purposed buildings, complete with draw bridge and mini Notre Dame Cathedral.

After a potter around the old town buildings and lanes, our cycle journey headed down the hill towards the port.

The port did not want to lose out with its boast as "France's leading shellfish port" with a cycle out to the Cap Lihou harbour lighthouse where we came across some rather unusual metal objects, on close inspection it was noted they were used for dredging the vast shallow sandy bays for shellfish.

Our evening finished with a walk to the beach bistro, which was hosting a music event over the weekend, we managed to catch the last act on the Sunday night over a couple of cocktails and a trip to the beach as the sun was setting.

Tomorrow we head 150 miles south to the Loire Valley.Read more