Holidays...part 5

Sunday

At Cabourg station

What a difference a day makes – we woke up to grey skies and rain and wind.  Yuck!  The temperature had decreased by over 10 degrees too.  It was like waking up to a typical morning in Ingleton!

Not to worry, we had a plan: by the side our our campsite there runs a train line which also runs along the prom in Houlgate.  We had looked it up – it is a local line which runs from Cabourg to Deauville/Trouville.  It was a nice looking train and you know what the boys are like about their trains.  The timetable was decent enough for a Sunday so we decided to go.  To make sure we got the benefit of riding along the coast, we drove to Cabourg so we could ride alongside the beach in Houlgate.  This we did and what a lovely journey it was too.  There is some very interesting and very large property around here – and looking down on it from a posh train is always very interesting.

We got to Deauville / Trouville in time for lunch and went immediately looking for a nice restaurant for a Menu Prix Fixé.  We didn’t succeed.  It was our fault really.  We had read in the travel guide that Trouville was the more down to earth of the towns and Deauville a bit snooty.  We didn’t however, check where the station was and which way to walk when we got there.  We did look for a map on arrival, but couldn’t find one.  We followed our noses and ended up in Deauville, in a very posh tea room, having a gallette (Matt) and crudités (toasted sandwich – not quite what I was expecting) for me.  Tom wanted a crepe sucre, but we would have had to wait until 2pm for that so he ended up sharing with us.  We reallised once we had ordered that the tea room was obviously very famous for a skewer of lovely looking pastries and dippy eggs that everyone around us were eating – oh hum!  In the end it didn’t cost us much as we had a carafe of tap water to drink. 

Summer skies

We then watched a fountain, looked around the market and headed for the plage as it had stopped raining.  It started to rain as soon as we got near to it!  We then discovered Trouville across the water and a small boat transporting people across so we decided to stand in queue to get it as it was about 1.5 miles to walk up to the bridge and back down again.  The heavens opened on us again, so we headed straight for an establishment for tea and a bun and to get out of the rain.  The first place we went to didn’t have space, but the second did, however, it was a bar and although they advertised that they did food, they didn’t.  Oh hum, we were out of the rain and that was most important.  The bar man then told us where to go for a crepe so we headed over once we finished our drinks.  They were well received but plainly out of a packet and microwaved, not exactly what we were hoping for.  However, by the time we had finished them, the sun was out so we went for a wander.  We found ourselves by the beach.  Tom wanted a paddle, so we went down to the waters edge and he had a play.  However, the heavens opened again so we ran for shelter with everyone else at the Poste de Secours. 

Trouville waterfront

Luckily it was a short shower, and carried on with our wandering and found the main street of Trouville – full of nice looking restaurants, souvenir shops, galleries etc etc.  Ah ha, this is what we had been looking for.  We spent a very pleasant hour looking in the shops and purchasing some local specialties to try out (mainly biscuits and cider).  We then headed back to the station for our return ride home.

Matt and Tom playing tennis

Once back at the campsite we got the bbq on the go and made dinner.  The sky had cleared, and although it wasn’t hot, it was warm and dry.  Afterwards I was playing beach tennis with Tom opposite our tent (we managed to purchase a new set today).  A girl staying in a tent nearby came to ask if she could play and that was it for the rest of the evening.  Tom hung out with Emma for a while, playing games, listening to music, then her older brother, Max got him playing football with him, then another boy materilised for football.  We ended up drinking with the parents of Emma and Max (from Ilkley, they and Matt have a mutual translator friend – always, always we can find someone in common with strangers!).  It was after 10pm by the time Tom went to bed, it was after 11pm by the time we went to bed.

Monday

We were having a good night’s sleep last night until the rain woke us up.  Humpfh!  It was a revolting day.  Really revolting!  It hardly stopped raining all day.  And it was windy and cold too!  This isn’t what we ordered.  We decided it was a museum day and headed over to Caen to go to the Mémorial de Caen – a big museum about the war and for which Canvas Holidays had given us a discount. 

It was a very adult museum – lots of boards of explanation and photos – no buttons to press etc, however, there was quite a lot of cinema and tv screens to watch.  Once again, we found ourselves explaining everything in very simple terms, but not sure how much went in.  The worse bit was when we were going through the sections about the Jews and the fates of the Resistance that got caught.  I thought that too much to explain to him and steered him quickly through – the concept of fighting in a war is bad enough without all the other bits and pieces that went on. 

He did really well considering the nature of the museum and he even managed to sit through a 15 minute film about D-Day full of bombs, bullets, dead bodies etc without getting upset or fidgety.  Query: how can he cope with seeing real live people being shot on a beach, but not Shaun the Sheep dangling over a quarry and living happily ever after?????!!!!!

Moules Muncher

We spent a good 4.5 hours in the museum before heading back.  We stopped off at an Intermarche for more provisions and bbq gel (feeling very positive here) and then headed into Houlgate in search of dinner.  Houlgate was desserted and a lot of cafes and restaurants were either closed or not serving food.  We finally found one which was and ordered moules (for me) and faux fillet (for Matt – to find out what it was more than anything – we think either beef or veal but not sure why it is called faux?!)  Tom was sharing with us as all the children’s meals here are quite expensive €9 / 10 and as unimaginative as in the UK.  Tom decided that moules are really really good.  I was very proud of him as he tucked into moule after moule enjoying every single morsel – but I ended up with only half my dinner as a result!  Still, how many English rural 6 year olds do you know will happily tuck into a bowl of moules?  Next time he can have his own bowl!!!!!

We got back to the campsite half expecting a flooded tent, but it was intact with only a few pools of water.  Tom ate 3 puddings before heading out in the wind and rain to the toilet block to do his teeth and loo.  He then went to bed  and was asleep by 9.10pm – earliest night of the holiday so far, but there was nothing else to do it was such a horrible night.