Bayeux today, Caen tomorrow! In love with Normandy

This summer the Ty Siriol Clan all drove to France for a week in a little village, Le Molay Littry just outside of Bayeux. It was the first time Mr TS had driven on the right hand side and I have to say that he did so well that by the end of the week it was completely normal to us. We are very grateful for Sheila, the sat nav though even if her pronunciation of French completely destroyed a beautiful language! Even so we still got lost several times with my family following loyally behind us in their car! Grancha simply grinning!

The farm house that we stayed in was fantastic and full of French charm. It truly was a country retreat. I loved sitting out in the evenings watching the sun go down and listening to all the wild life. Nearby ducks made me laugh every night at what I guess was feeding time. It sounded like they were having a domestic dispute! Maybe I shouldn't have found it as funny as I did! 

This is the back of the farmhouse from next to the stream that slowly trickled across the bottom of the garden. This is only about a fifth of the grounds. They had loads of little places to explore for the kids. 

I think that one of my favourite parts of holidaying with the extended family was that we could all sit around a large table like when I was a child (I'm one of four!). It was really funny after a few bottles of wine and trying to converse in French. Somehow we understood each each. L'il Miss knows how to ask for various foods across the table now in drunken French. 

And when in France... It had to be done!

Something else that I love about being abroad is food shopping. I love to look at all the local foods and guess what some of it means. Of course, being gluten free and having allergies might have presented a problem but it was easier than I expected. There were even dedicated areas in the supermarkets for gluten free foods. 

Some local produce was somewhat puzzling though. See the pic below. Does anyone know what part of the pig it is because we had a good laugh and my mum was tempted to bring some home!! 

My favourite day was in Bayeux when we went to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry. We couldn't drive all that way and not show it to L'il Miss. She loved it and surprisingly said it was also her favourite day. Bayeux is a gorgeous medieval town and wonderful to stroll around and explore. Below is a photo of me and Missy next to the river, the building that houses the tapestry (as you are not allowed to photograph the tapestry) and Bayeux Cathedral. 

We were local to the D-day landing beaches so visited several of them over the week, including Omaha beach (my fave), Utah beach, Asnelles beach and Arromanche. The men went off to the museums while the ladies (umm) relaxed on the beach. 

Dad with his trousers rolled up! Missy sensibly in a wetsuit.

 In the water at Arromanche where you can still see some of the break waters from D-day.

Found a sun trap

My beautiful girly

This last photo is at Omaha beach where it is hard to believe the water ran red. The beach is stunning with miles of golden sands. We needed the water to cool off this day as well as it was 30 degrees. It was actually the day we drove home and it was 18 degrees in Poole when we got back. Madness! 

No French holiday would be complete without seeing a chateau. This one is set in beautiful gardens and had a tour guide who walked us around outside explaining how different features were built or lost over the time. Sadly we only saw two rooms inside and we were keen to see more. 

Daddy daughter moment, caught cuddling!

We managed a brief tour of the outskirts of Caen when we got lost and saw the Garden of Birds (Jardin aux oiseux, if my French spelling is any good!) This is a public garden that was built on top of the city's rubbish dump. It was cleaned up over a number of years and has now been sculpted into beautiful gardens with lakes and a petting zoo. 
There is a lookout point at the top where you can see over Caen. This was the perfect place for Missy to meet her twin with the help of the panoramic function on my camera. She ran behind me on to the other side of the shot where I captured her a second time and hey presto, she has a twin! 

I really hope that we can get the chance to go back to France with Missy. It was a fantastic experience for all of us and I love introducing her to new cultures and languages. I guess I'd better start a holiday jar!!! 

If you don't know where to go next year and haven't tried France then I can highly recommend Normandy. It's peaceful, uncrowded and has so many things to do and see on the doorstep. What are you waiting for? Go get your passports!!

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