WoodWalkAbout

WOOD WALKABOUT - AUGUST - First Half



The Dordogne (France) – 1 week
Normandy (France) – 1 week

Dordogne (France)
Temps. 25 - 32 deg. C, Dusk – 10pm







After arriving into the port of Cherbourg , we left the car ferry, The Oscar Wilde, relatively refreshed after our overnight stay on board. We headed south, bound for The Dordogne area of the Perigord region of France, to meet up with our English friends, Melanie & Jonny and their children, David and Ellie. It was at least a ten hour drive, so it was destined to be a long day. Along the way,we stopped into see Mont Saint Michel, the famous island off the northern coast of France midway between Normandy and Brittany, with its famous abbey. Unfortunately, we were too pushed for time to investigate it on foot, so we didn't really do it justice. We would have to be content with photos from the outside this time, and leave the discovering of this marvellous landmark to the throngs of tourists belonging to the campervans and motor homes parked outside on the strip.



Mont Saint Michel

We continued on, passing La Rochelle and Bordeaux before making another late night, (slightly worse for wear,) arrival to the 700 year old Chateau near to the town of Lalinde, about a 45 min drive from Bergerac. Although we continued to catch up with the Simcock family briefly throughout the year, we hadn’t spent any extended time with them since January, so we were all looking forward to seeing them without all the bag-swapping in their attic, that had become customary with our visits. They’d spent the prior week on holiday nearby in the Dordogne, so had arrived early and settled in. After a wine and a natter, Melanie showed us to our rooms, and there we stayed until late the next morning, sleeping off our drive down from the ferry.



Girls at Chateaux Cardoux

Well in central courtyard with weapons from the French Revolution still in the bottom

Chateau Cardoux had been kept in the same family for close to seven centuries, and had undergone much renovation over the years. The owner, Henry, (Onrey) told us it was even under siege during the French Revolution, and that weapons still layed at the bottom of the well in the front courtyard. The Chateau contained two side wings, the left still lived in by the family, and the right, being rented out as holiday accommodation. Our side was spacious, with lots of different living areas so it was perfect for two families who might want their own space, given the different age brackets of the children. Our kids worshiped David and Ellie, but three enamoured children 24/7 had the potential to get a little tiring.

Steve "skyping home at the desk in the drawing room

Sheri and Mitch in central staircase

Now that we were experiencing consistently high temperatures, the best thing about this place as far as the kids were concerned, was the pool. They spent as much time as possible in it, enjoying special games with Ellie and David, like “Pass The Wood” which involved one of our guys being carted from one side of the pool to the other. The one to get back first, won. After the rain of Ireland and Cumbria, the best thing for us, was also the weather, as it meant we could eat outside, which we did each evening. When not swimming or reading a book, board games and cards, were popular past times. Melanie had our kids well sorted, pulling out a new craft activity every other day. They of course lapped this up, and Ellie demonstrated her leadership skills from the Brownie groups she’d lead back home.

Mitch & Cassi enjoying the pool

Ellie showing her able assistants how she plays Octopushy back home

The Simcock-Wood Clan eating outdoors

Melanie and Cassi enjoying some craft

When we were all around, Mitch and Cassi sighting entrepreneurial opportunities, got busy. Cassi did drawings that she later sold from the cocktail trolley she adopted from the sitting room parlour, and Mitchell conducted informative tours of both “Flags” and “National Dress” which came at a price to all participants, (even his parents.) Both of them put an enormous amount of energy into their chosen endeavours, which was lovely to watch. You may well wonder what was Sheridan doing? Well she was busy being a teenager of course. She shared a room with Ellie who was 16, so she was enjoying later bedtimes, and all the new found cudos of hanging out with a big girl. She did however, start to show signs of wear-out by the end of the week but enjoyed it all the same.

Cassi at her window appearing angelic

Steve demonstrating his night time photography prowess at Chateau du Bannes, near Beaumont du Perigord

Field of aging sunflowers infront of Chateau du bannes (above) by day

Sheri at night market dinner in village of Badefols

Cassi at her Artwork Trolley

Early birthday celebrations for Cassidy, Jonny, Ellie and I, all with upcoming birthdays

The Dordogne area of the Perigord region, was extremely pretty, with lots of rolling hills, green grass and trees, not as flat and rocky as Provence. There were also fields of corn and sunflowers as far as the eye could see. Most of the flowers had passed their peak sadly, unable to lift their heavy heads. The Chateau itself was well located, (thanks to Melanie & Jonny’s experience from prior visits,) which meant we were close to a number of small villages, each offering something special and uniquely French. Melanie and Ellie took the girls and I to Sarlat, (a very pretty medieval town to attend the weekly markets. Melanie and I spent an afternoon pottering around Monpazier (a picturesque little village with a central market square, with covered walkways and shops, where we had one (or was it two?) of the best tasting mille feuille (cakes of layered flakey pastry and custard.)

Julie and Melanie in Sarlat on market day

The girls also visited the Lalinde weekly markets, where we had great fun exploring the different stalls, and getting food in for the evening meal.

Steve,the kids and I, discovered Molieres, (the night of a wonderful Night 'Nocturne' Organic Food & Wine market , where we met a talented artist and his wife, and a lady named Annie from Belgium, who gave us the contact details for her friend in Sydney that imported Belgium chocolates.

Elderly man in Molieres weaving baskets outside his house

Molieres Town Square at the "Market Nocturne"

Food stalls at Molieres

J & S enjoying a beer in the heat

Steve and I also had a rare treat, having left the kids with Melanie and Jonny for a couple of hours one day, we visited the small village of Cadoin. Being a rare opportunity, we made the most of it, with a quick lunch and a look around the old Abbey, (which was UNESCO listed,) and visited some galleries. We all later visited the town of Beaumont a couple of times. This small town had won the right to be “the decorated town for the summer”. It had beautiful, brightly coloured decorations made by the children at some of the neighbouring school’s hung high above all the streets in the village - a visual spectacle!

Cadoin Road signs to neighbouring villages

Distant view of Molieres village

Beaumont, "the chosen town" showing off its decorations

On one of our last evenings together we headed to the tiny village of Badefols for another night market experience. Despite the intense heat, we timidly joined the locals, with our BYO crockery and cutlery, (which was apparently the norm at these things,) and enjoyed a meal of paella and strawberry tarts, before heading home. English tourists seemed to be well numbered in the Dordogne area, and with good reason - what was not to like!

Everyone on the way in from the Badofols "Market Nocturne"

Kids at Beaumont du Perigord

When not exploring local villages or in the pool, the boys all took their turn to do their own thing. David and Jonny went climbing and Steve and Mitch did a massive day trip involving a 5 hour round trip to Toulouse to visit the Airbus factory where they saw the A380’s being assembled. They even saw a couple of QANTAS A380's being tested, which Mitch was delighted with!

Steve, Mitch and Melanie also enjoyed a trip to the Gouffre de Prommeyssac Caves which had a fantastic display of crystalised limestone, whilst Sheri accompanied Ellie and family to the Air Park (a tree trekking, place,) where she rode a huge zip wire across a valley of trees.

Ellie and Sheri at the Air Park

Mitch outside the Airbus Factory at Toulouse

Our time in The Dordogne had certainly been blissful. It was really warm, we’d been swimming, had some wonderful time enjoying the chateau, the pool, visiting the local villages, and spending some great time catching up altogether. Sadly all good things had to come to an end. We each made an early departure the following morning - The Simcocks’ to Guildford, The Woods to Normandy in northern France.

Summer holiday traffic at the Tollgates between The Dordogne and Normandy.

Normandy (France)

Temps. 24 -32 deg. C, Dusk 9.30 – 10pm

Having made a lucky escape from the horrendous traffic on route to Paris, we arrived at the The Blue House late afternoon. It was amazing – a beautifully decorated, newly renovated, 12th century, row house, in the peaceful and quaint, little village of Le Bec Hallouin. Our hosts, Nathalie and Dominic were very friendly, being sure to give us all the tips of what to see and do in the local area. Nathalie’s attention to detail meant that our new abode was very homely, and the English-styled, cottage garden out back was perfect for alfresco dining, and offered many spots for reading a good book.

Our first thoughts were, “Oh, if only we were here for more than a week!” There was so much to see and do around Normandy, we feared it would be hard to fit it all in and knock off the school work that didn’t get touched in The Dordogne, and yet leave time to relax in this beautiful home. For this was the house you just wanted to stay in and do as little as possible.

Steve and kids walking up our street

Back garden of the Blue House

Despite it’s obvious charm, Le Bec Hallouin hadn’t been the initial attraction for us here, it was the house itself, which we’d uncovered in Melanie’s “Alistaire Sawday’s French book, and it’s proximity to the various day trip destinations, (D-Day beaches, The Bayeau Tapestry, seaside towns of Deauville and Honfleur,) that had appealled. Another thing on our list was a possible side trip to a tiny village called Bosgouet, where an Australian lady, named Jane Webster, had started a cooking school. I’d bought Jane’s book, “My French Table” for mum for Christmas a year or so ago, and was so inspired by Jane’s story, where she and her family moved from Melbourne, taking their three kids out of school, bought a Chateau, did it up, navigated their way through French residency visas and finally, set up their own cooking school offering live-in cooking courses and tours. Not that we were thinking of following suit mind you, but her story did give us the conviction to go outside the square with our adventure this year, especially when it came to the kids.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t got around to researching what was on offer for an actual class prior to our arrival and tried to make contact upon our arrival. Then checking her website, I discovered she was actlually hosting a tour that same week, with one of her stops including the Abbey at Le Bec Hallouin. Unbeknown to us, the Abbey as it turned out, was right across the road from us and quite reknown on the tourist trail, with Benedictine Monks still in residence. This 17th century abbey and Benedictine Monastery held regular services, and included singing by the nuns of the neighbouring convent. Since we had arrived on a Saturday, the next morning we got up to attend the regular the morning mass, and whose tour group should be out front taking photos of our house, but Jane Webster’s. I couldn’t believe the coincidence of her finding us instead of us finding her, so I went along and introduced myself. She recalled the email from the night before and had a good chat outside the abbey before going in. I told her how her story had inspired us to undertake our own adventure this year, so we made plans to catch up later in the year during a return trip to Paris.

Main street of Le Bec Hallouin
Strip of 12th Century Row houses from across the park

(the cream/blue one on the left under the branches of the tree, being ours.)

As the morning went on it became even more sureal. Having seen the nuns arrive by mini bus into the grounds outside, we all went in and took our places in the congregation. The mass itself was very moving with the beautiful singing from both the nuns and monks combining with the amazing acoustics of this abbey’s arched ceiling. We were in a virtual trance when suddenly, one of the sisters came from the altar and approached us, speaking French. We were slightly panicked, not wanting to disrupt the proceedings, so muttered the only thing we could, “Pardon, no palais vous Francais.” Completely non flustered by our reply, she spoke to us in perfect English, and asked whether the children would like to assist her in taking up the bread. Mitchell jumped at the opportunity and went with Sister B, (as she later became known, because he remembered her name started with B, but couldn’t remember the rest.) I can’t tell you how proud he was to be the only young man in the Offertory Procession. We were pretty proud of him too, as he carried out his duties with the utmost care. He was so excited when he returned to his seat, and joined in the singing with great enthusiasm, even though it was in French. We waved goodbye to the nuns as they left the grounds and realised it was a morning we weren’t likely to forget in a hurry.

Side view of the Abbey and its central courtyard

View of the entrance to the abbey from our window

Our stay in Le Bec Hallouin, got just better and better. The village itself was a small, typical Norman village with timber framed houses and flower decked balconies. It had three restaurants, a corner shop, and whilst nestled in a tiny valley, was set amongst neighbouring fields, so once again, we were not far away from cows and horses. Tourists were attracted to our tiny town because of its quant buildings and of course The Abbey. Infact, we later learnt that when, William The Conqueror conquered Britain, he sent priests from both Caen and Le Bec Hallouin to England as his representatives. Fellow tourists would often photograph the strip containing the “Blue House” with plenty of cyclists and the neighbouring horse riding school passing our door each day. The girls would run to the window to see the horses stroll pass. We had other things to do here in Normandy so horse riding was on hold until Scotland, where we would be stopping next.

The day after we got to Le Bec Hallouin, we went straight up to the local caravan park and hired bikes for us all for the week. The real bonus was that unbeknown to us, there was a fantastic, tree lined cycle track just down the road. It used to be a train line and had been converted for bike use. It ran nearly 60km and was scheduled to be extended as far as Deauville in the next couple of years. Whilst we never got to test its full length, we did give it a good go despite the heat. On our first day out we did a 12km round trip before we even realised. The kids loved the bikes despite Cassi and Mitch having some nasty scrapes, and they gave the grown-ups some much needed exercise whilst seeing the surrounding countryside.

Steve and the kids riding on the cycle way near Le Bec Hallouin

Cassi with her resident cat, who she loved until she saw it catch a budgie

Breakfast at The Blue House

Kids after a water fight in the backyard on a day reaching 32 degrees C.

Despite the location of our peaceful, rural town, we were not far from the freeway making access to other places for day trips incredibly easy. We went to Rouen, and visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Joan of Arc Memorial where she was burned at the stake. The later was quite underwhelming given the significance of this event in French History.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Rouen

Walking through the old town in Rouen

Macaroon trolley and cakes at "Dames Cakes" in Rouen

We also went to the picturesque, seaside town of Honfleur, which was located opposite Le Havre (one of the busiest ports in France. ) Here we saw the unusual medieval buildings all set around St Catherine’s Square, which bordered a flotilla of yachts around the marina. We visited the 11th century Notre Dame Cathedral which was built to celebrate the end of The Hundred Year’s War, and walked the narrow streets popping in and out of the lovely little shops.

Honfleur port near to Le Havre

St Catherine's Square in Honfleur

Kids on yet another Carousel, this time at St Catherine's Square at Honfleur

Picturesque St Catherine's Square Marina

Having dragged Steve and the kids all over town in pursuit of “La Ferme Saint- Simeon Restuaruant”, recommended in “My French Table”, (which was more like a treasure hunt,) we eventually, had a wonderful lunch. The highlight was definitely the most intricate Strawberry Tarts (Tarte a la Fraise,) we’d ever laid eyes on! Thankfully the wild goose chase and all the complaining that had preceded our arrival, had been well worth it!

Lunch at Feme Saint-Simeon Restaurant, overlooking Le Havre

That strawberry tart!

Other side trips during our time in Normandy, included Caen, (now rebuilt) which was once the site of enormous devastation in WW2 by the Allied Bombers. Sheri, Cassi and I had spent the best part of a day there whilst Steve and Mitch went on an organised tour of the D-Day Beaches. Whilst we pottered around the city’s shops, noted the Castle Ducal, (the Castle of William The Conqueror,) and enjoyed the movie, “Age De Glace Tois” otherwise known as “Ice Age Three,” in French, the boys saw where the D-Day landings took place, visiting Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches and and learnt about the problems at Omaha Beach, (the setting for the movie, “Saving Private Ryan,”) where most of the casualties occurred back on June 6, 1944.

"Mr Flags" at the Normandy D-Day Museum

Omaha Beach Cemetery

Mitch infront of the D-Day Memorial

Mitch with old German anti-ship gun at Gold Beach

Before returning home that day, we made a detour to Bayeux to see The Bayeux Tapestry. It was incredible. Measuring 70m long, this embroidery believed to have been done by William The Conqueror’s Wife, Mathilda, and her ladies in waiting, depicted all the events leading up to William’s conquering of England in the 11th century. How this piece of historical fabric had survived at all, never lone the risks posed by wartime, and theft over this period, was quite staggering.

Our final day trip, to Deauville was most enjoyable. We’d chosen the Friday in order to catch the weekly markets in Deauville, and we were glad that we had. It was probably the most organised market, especially in the fresh food area that we’d come across all over France. Once again, the quality and variety of fresh produce had left us amazed. Sheri tried out her French at the cakes stall, and Cassi had fun buying hairclips, whilst Steve and Mitch watched on bemused. We later enjoyed some baguettes and Sheri's cakes for dessert. Given it was our final day in France, before heading to Scotland, how could we not? Our cake sampling tour of Europe therefore continued...

We checked out the marina and had a quick drive up at the beach. As in Devon, the beach was wide. The colourful “sun tents” were a wonderful splash of colour and so very characteristic of the French to present everything in a stylish way.

Fresh food market in Deauville

Umbrellas on Deauville Beach

The following day we made an early departure and headed for The Chunnel, next stop Cambridge enroute to Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Festival and a visit to (Uncle) Nick and (Aunty) Kirsten.

Second half of August Blog - posted seperately