Ditto from me sorry it’s belated just doing some nocturnal catching up with your thread!Happy birthday Mrs DBK
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Two Potter Around Northern France (1 Viewer)
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I did my good deed for the week 
yesterday evening. We spotted a UK registered VW camper arrive at the aire just as it was beginning to get dark. I waved at them but didn't leave things at that but instead showed them there was room to squeeze in next to us as our pitch was quite wide. Nice couple with two young daughters.
But we left them this morning and drove north for half an hour to Camping Abijune, CC76733, a little south Étretat.
This afternoon we walked from the site to the coast, a jaunt cleverly captured by Google Timeline, which surprised me as there was no phone signal for the last part of the walk. Does it store GPS locations and upload them later? Clever, however it does it.
If you look on the left it took us 36 minutes to get there, then we spent 14 minutes on the beach and 42 minutes to get back - it was uphill!
The beach has impressive chalk cliffs. We don't have a monopoly on these as no doubt they were once joined to the similar cliffs in Sussex and Kent. This is looking north east towards Étretat.
The holes in the cliffs go right through or open into caves.
Looking south west.
Not the best picture of the cliffs as it was into the sun but it does give an impression of their scale. From the map the sheer bit is about 50m high, so a little over 160 feet. The path along the top is at around 200 feet.
In the village of Le Tilleul, where the campsite is, Mrs DBK spotted an intriguing information board.
William the Conqueror's wife was called Mathilde but it doesn't refer to her, which is what we thought when we first saw this. The land around the village was owned by William, pre-conquest days, and it was his grand daughter, also called Mathilde, who bequeathed land here in 1135 to the parish.
We will visit Fécamp tomorrow to do some shopping and perhaps visit the distillery where thecough mixture liqueur Benedictine is made.
And finally my "Wobble cam" video of the beach. For the English Channel the water was remarkably clear. I've disabled the sound as it recorded Mrs DBK yelling at Charlie for rolling in seaweed.
yesterday evening. We spotted a UK registered VW camper arrive at the aire just as it was beginning to get dark. I waved at them but didn't leave things at that but instead showed them there was room to squeeze in next to us as our pitch was quite wide. Nice couple with two young daughters.But we left them this morning and drove north for half an hour to Camping Abijune, CC76733, a little south Étretat.
This afternoon we walked from the site to the coast, a jaunt cleverly captured by Google Timeline, which surprised me as there was no phone signal for the last part of the walk. Does it store GPS locations and upload them later? Clever, however it does it.
If you look on the left it took us 36 minutes to get there, then we spent 14 minutes on the beach and 42 minutes to get back - it was uphill!
The beach has impressive chalk cliffs. We don't have a monopoly on these as no doubt they were once joined to the similar cliffs in Sussex and Kent.
This is looking north east towards Étretat.The holes in the cliffs go right through or open into caves.
Looking south west.
Not the best picture of the cliffs as it was into the sun but it does give an impression of their scale. From the map the sheer bit is about 50m high, so a little over 160 feet. The path along the top is at around 200 feet.
In the village of Le Tilleul, where the campsite is, Mrs DBK spotted an intriguing information board.
William the Conqueror's wife was called Mathilde but it doesn't refer to her, which is what we thought when we first saw this. The land around the village was owned by William, pre-conquest days, and it was his grand daughter, also called Mathilde, who bequeathed land here in 1135 to the parish.
We will visit Fécamp tomorrow to do some shopping and perhaps visit the distillery where the
And finally my "Wobble cam" video of the beach. For the English Channel the water was remarkably clear. I've disabled the sound as it recorded Mrs DBK yelling at Charlie for rolling in seaweed.
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Bit of a bitty day today*. We drove to Fécamp to do some shopping using our new found strategy of going to a Lidls first for what they do cheaply then on to a "proper" supermarket for the other stuff. Lidl is good for wine, basic cheeses, loo rolls etc and some vegetables. Our problem is their vegetables are often sold in too large a quantity and the range of lettuce is either icebergs or little gems and that's it. So we topped up at the Le Clerc a little south of Fécamp. But Mrs DBK did buy some frozen scallops in Lidls which she used to make a yummy scallops, spinach, bacon and garlic dish tonight.
I had thought of visiting the Benedictine museum/tasting place in the town but the sun was shining and the option of a walk was more attractive. So we drove back to the site with the intention of putting the laundry in the camp's machine, having lunch, hanging the laundry out to dry (they have no tumble dryer here annoyingly) then going for a walk to see the elephant.
Except the washing machine wouldn't start and when eventually this was sorted by the site it started to rain.
The upshot was our proposed longish walk was postponed to tomorrow but we still managed a late afternoon ramble and no less than three geocaches completed. The latter are a bit of a cheat as they were very easy and part of a loop of over thirty caches near here.
On our walk we came across walls with flint embedded in them, just as I've seen in Hampshire and then these houses. The thatched roofs could be Hampshire too but the timber frames? I don't think so. Suggestions if/where houses like this can be found in England would be appreciated. Oxford?
The second house has plants growing on the ridge. I don't think they are weeds as we've seen the same plant on other roofs. The name of it is on the tip of my tongue but I can't recall it but I suspect it is planted deliberately so the roots hold the ridge together. The French obviously haven't learned to thatch correctly as our houses don't need these.
But time to start coming clean about why we are here. This map** will be a good start. It shows the path taken by Henry V's army after landing in August 1415.
Henry V landed near what is now Le Havre with the intention of taking Harfeur then marching towards Paris. This was all about exercising his right to the French crown mentioned in an earlier post.
In 1415 Le Havre didn't exist but on the other hand the port Henry landed at has been swallowed up by the sea. The mouth of the Seine itself has been transformed. Harfleur was a major port at the time but became silted up which is why the present day Le Havre was created. The area between Le Havre and Harnfleur is now oil refineries.
So not much is left of anything Henry V might have seen which is why we are picking up his trail a little later. In a sense this is a pity as the shape of his campaign was heavily influenced by what happened at Harnfleur. It was supposed to fall quickly but it didn't and during the seige Henry's army began to succumb to dysentery, the "bloody flux".
When Harnfleur eventually fell Henry was faced with a choice. Sail back to England or go on. He was not a man riddled with doubt and believing God was on his side he marched on. Not to Paris, he knew his weakened army would not prevail, but to Calais, then part of England.
Following virtually in the footsteps of his great grandfather Edward III he set off first north to around where we are now then along the coast towards Calais.
We will start to follow in his steps tomorrow. Pausing only to find a working tumble dryer somewhere so we can do the towels and sheets. I suspect they didn't worry about such concerns in 1415.
*Alitiration alert.
**. Stolen from this book.
I had thought of visiting the Benedictine museum/tasting place in the town but the sun was shining and the option of a walk was more attractive.
So we drove back to the site with the intention of putting the laundry in the camp's machine, having lunch, hanging the laundry out to dry (they have no tumble dryer here annoyingly) then going for a walk to see the elephant.Except the washing machine wouldn't start and when eventually this was sorted by the site it started to rain.
The upshot was our proposed longish walk was postponed to tomorrow but we still managed a late afternoon ramble and no less than three geocaches completed. The latter are a bit of a cheat as they were very easy and part of a loop of over thirty caches near here.
On our walk we came across walls with flint embedded in them, just as I've seen in Hampshire and then these houses. The thatched roofs could be Hampshire too but the timber frames? I don't think so. Suggestions if/where houses like this can be found in England would be appreciated. Oxford?
The second house has plants growing on the ridge. I don't think they are weeds as we've seen the same plant on other roofs. The name of it is on the tip of my tongue but I can't recall it but I suspect it is planted deliberately so the roots hold the ridge together. The French obviously haven't learned to thatch correctly as our houses don't need these.
But time to start coming clean about why we are here. This map** will be a good start. It shows the path taken by Henry V's army after landing in August 1415.
Henry V landed near what is now Le Havre with the intention of taking Harfeur then marching towards Paris. This was all about exercising his right to the French crown mentioned in an earlier post.
In 1415 Le Havre didn't exist but on the other hand the port Henry landed at has been swallowed up by the sea. The mouth of the Seine itself has been transformed. Harfleur was a major port at the time but became silted up which is why the present day Le Havre was created. The area between Le Havre and Harnfleur is now oil refineries.
So not much is left of anything Henry V might have seen which is why we are picking up his trail a little later. In a sense this is a pity as the shape of his campaign was heavily influenced by what happened at Harnfleur. It was supposed to fall quickly but it didn't and during the seige Henry's army began to succumb to dysentery, the "bloody flux".
When Harnfleur eventually fell Henry was faced with a choice. Sail back to England or go on. He was not a man riddled with doubt and believing God was on his side he marched on. Not to Paris, he knew his weakened army would not prevail, but to Calais, then part of England.
Following virtually in the footsteps of his great grandfather Edward III he set off first north to around where we are now then along the coast towards Calais.
We will start to follow in his steps tomorrow. Pausing only to find a working tumble dryer somewhere so we can do the towels and sheets.
I suspect they didn't worry about such concerns in 1415. *Alitiration alert.
**. Stolen from this book.
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That is our shopping system in both the UK and France. Except it's Aldi and a Sainsbury's 200 yards away and here Lidl and SuperU next door.
I do find for the most part Aldi and Lidl are opposites in UK and France. In the UK Aldi, round our way have well kept clean shops and Lidl are a bit dowdy and often have trolleys of stuff and empty boxes everywhere. Over here in France it's the opposite Lidl's are the smart ones and neat and tidy.
May be just my findings but a nice Aldi in our region is rare.
I do find for the most part Aldi and Lidl are opposites in UK and France. In the UK Aldi, round our way have well kept clean shops and Lidl are a bit dowdy and often have trolleys of stuff and empty boxes everywhere. Over here in France it's the opposite Lidl's are the smart ones and neat and tidy.
May be just my findings but a nice Aldi in our region is rare.
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Any idea why all the security at Monet's garden?
It was about 20 years ago when we last went I don't remember any security at all and easy to walk around with not many visitors.
It was about 20 years ago when we last went I don't remember any security at all and easy to walk around with not many visitors.
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I assumed it was to guard against any terrorist attack, like the sort they've had in Paris. They might have some specific intelligence of course and it isn't a "just in case" thing.
Hear Hear! We go on the 18th.
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We finally managed our walk to the elephant this morning. The route was straightforward, back to the coast then turn right and follow the coastal footpath along the top of the cliffs. Total distance about 8km or 5 miles.
This is looking west from the start of the coastal footpath section.
The tide is well out, compared to what it was like when we came here in the afternoon. The breakwater visible in the distance is an oil port according to the map. I guess this is where the tankers load and unload and there must be pipelines linking this facility to the refineries at Le Havre. I can only assume this is because the mouth of the Seine is too shallow and it keeps the big ships out of the way.
Walking east we spotted our destination in the distance. It is marked by a large arch known as the Manneporte.
You can just see a few figures on the skyline. We soon joined them because this is the best place to see the elephant.
And in close up.
The conical rock is l'Aiguille or the Needle, the arch is the Falaise d'Avel and it was the 19th century author Guy de Maupassant who likened it to an elephant dipping its trunk in the water. De Maupassant was born only a few miles from where we are tonight and he lived for a while at Étretat which is just the other side of the "trunk".
We drove along the coast after lunch, roughly following the line taken by Henry V's army in 1415, as shown in a post above. It is very open country with no large forests I could see or steep hills. But how would you move a large army? Modern maps show the route as a wide arrow but did they march on a broad front? They had carts for the baggage so these had to use the roads. But did the rest walk across fields and over hedges? I find this hard to believe, it would have been very hard going especially as it was frequently wet. I suspect they travelled on a single road with scouts ahead to warn of danger. But which road?
We have stopped tonight at Camping le Marque al, CC20327 and ACSI just short of Dieppe.
Unlike the last site this one has tumble driers and it is time for washing the towels and sheets. The weather is too unreliable at the moment for clothes lines. We washed lightweight stuff at the last place but the van looked like a laundry for a while as there was so much stuff hanging inside the van.
On the map above you might see a Musée de Dieppe, which is a large castle. We will try and walk there tomorrow, weather and washing machines permitting.
The route was straightforward, back to the coast then turn right and follow the coastal footpath along the top of the cliffs. Total distance about 8km or 5 miles.This is looking west from the start of the coastal footpath section.
The tide is well out, compared to what it was like when we came here in the afternoon. The breakwater visible in the distance is an oil port according to the map. I guess this is where the tankers load and unload and there must be pipelines linking this facility to the refineries at Le Havre. I can only assume this is because the mouth of the Seine is too shallow and it keeps the big ships out of the way.
Walking east we spotted our destination in the distance. It is marked by a large arch known as the Manneporte.
You can just see a few figures on the skyline. We soon joined them because this is the best place to see the elephant.
And in close up.
The conical rock is l'Aiguille or the Needle, the arch is the Falaise d'Avel and it was the 19th century author Guy de Maupassant who likened it to an elephant dipping its trunk in the water. De Maupassant was born only a few miles from where we are tonight and he lived for a while at Étretat which is just the other side of the "trunk".
We drove along the coast after lunch, roughly following the line taken by Henry V's army in 1415, as shown in a post above. It is very open country with no large forests I could see or steep hills. But how would you move a large army? Modern maps show the route as a wide arrow but did they march on a broad front? They had carts for the baggage so these had to use the roads. But did the rest walk across fields and over hedges? I find this hard to believe, it would have been very hard going especially as it was frequently wet. I suspect they travelled on a single road with scouts ahead to warn of danger. But which road?
We have stopped tonight at Camping le Marque al, CC20327 and ACSI just short of Dieppe.
Unlike the last site this one has tumble driers and it is time for washing the towels and sheets. The weather is too unreliable at the moment for clothes lines. We washed lightweight stuff at the last place but the van looked like a laundry for a while as there was so much stuff hanging inside the van.
On the map above you might see a Musée de Dieppe, which is a large castle. We will try and walk there tomorrow, weather and washing machines permitting.
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Those limestone (I assume) cliffs are impressive,but not as impressive as those at Dover.........of course.
Is it actually the same rock formation? It’s a long while since I did A level geology.........which I failed.......the reasons for which are now obvious.
Is it actually the same rock formation? It’s a long while since I did A level geology.........which I failed.......the reasons for which are now obvious.
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It's chalk with layers of flints and it just like you see at Beachy Head and around there. This bit of France is known as the Alabaster Coast and this page says they are part of the same geological formation as on the English side.Those limestone (I assume) cliffs are impressive,but not as impressive as those at Dover.........of course.
Is it actually the same rock formation? It’s a long while since I did A level geology.........which I failed.......the reasons for which are now obvious.
White Cliffs of Dover - Wikipedia
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It was a damp morning here today, with frequent showers and several false alarms when the sun appeared only to quickly vanish behind a dark cloud and then the arrival of more rain. Mrs DBK tirelessly trotted between the van and the laundry eventually returning with a large bag of clean, dry bedding and towels. I did my bit by putting the duvet and pillow covers back on.
Just before lunch I briefly spotted an odd looking animal in a distant field. It was odd because of the way it moved, it simply looked strange.
I've come across this before, particularly when plant hunting but it also applies to birds. I can be walking along, looking at the vegetation, and not have a clue what the names are of any of them but I know what I'm looking at are the common ones, a sort of botanical background noise. Then just occasionally something unusual appears and generally it stands out from the rest of the plants because it just looks different. With birds it's not always the appearance that draws your attention but the behaviour of an unusual bird which marks it out.
And so it was with this mystery animal. "What was that?" I asked myself. Annoyingly the animal hid behind a bush for a while but it moved more into the open after a few minutes. I looked at it through binoculars and at first I thought it was a goat. The colour was about right but I could only see its hind quarters at first. Then it moved into full view. It was a wild boar and soon several more joined it. These animals are usually nocturnal from what I've heard but clearly they don't follow this rule in Normandy.
I watched them slowly work along the bottom of a hedge for about ten minutes, no doubt munching on blackberries, nuts and roots. Then they had a clear area to cross which they did fairly promptly.
And then in glorious "Wobblecam" video.
The one which comes from the right and then moves quickly left shows the odd motion which first caught my eye.
After lunch we walked to the castle at Dieppe, going first to the coast and the little village of Pourville sur Mer.
The above is the beach at Pourville, but we are not the first to visit Pourville. Monet spent some time here.
Looking up the coast the other way there are the remains of a concrete pillbox.
It might have been on the clifftop and fallen down due to erosion but I don't think the cliffs have eroded that much. More likely it was built on the top of the shingle beach.
The next section of the walk was uphill but it was enlivened by our discovery of a bizarrely over-engineered stile.
I think it is how Citroën would have made a stile a few decades ago. The rugged simplicity of the 2CV combined with the eccentricity of the DS19.
Walking towards Dieppe, and just above the stile, we came across another Monet inspired notice board.
This is the view today.
And how Monet saw it.
The grafitti around it seems to be a claim Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system is mathematically impossible and the proof of this can be found on YouTube. I hope the author of this statement won't be offended if I don't bother to look?
The next section of the walk was influenced by "éboulements" which is rapidly becoming the Word of the Week as we've seen it often recently. Some of the signs have even warned of frequent éboulements.
The direct route to the castle was fenced off and signs said the road was being realigned due to "éboulements des falaises" or cliff falls. Éboulements means "landslide".
We found an alternative route which meant losing height we then had to climb back up to recover but we eventually emerged overlooking Dieppe.
The entrance to the harbour, and where the ferries land, is just the other side of the breakwater in the distance.
The castle, or Château Musée de Dieppe as it likes to be known now is found at this spot.
The original castle here was built around 1188 but was destroyed only a few years later. Reconstruction started in the 14th century but the major building work wasn't done until the 15th century.
The castle has a dry moat and access is over a narrow bridge which had draw bridges at both ends. These days the draw bridges have been replaced by fixed wooden bridges. These were very worn with large gaps between the planks.
There is a museum inside which we gave a miss, having Charlie with us, but its main exhibits are carved ivory and snuff boxes so we weren't hugely disappointed.
On our return we decided to see if we could find a way past the road works, which we did but it involved walking past a few signs warning of no entry. This being a Sunday there was no one around to challenge us but I was rehearsing my "we are lost" shrug just in case.
We will move on tomorrow to somewhere near the mouth of the Somme.
Just before lunch I briefly spotted an odd looking animal in a distant field. It was odd because of the way it moved, it simply looked strange.
I've come across this before, particularly when plant hunting but it also applies to birds. I can be walking along, looking at the vegetation, and not have a clue what the names are of any of them but I know what I'm looking at are the common ones, a sort of botanical background noise. Then just occasionally something unusual appears and generally it stands out from the rest of the plants because it just looks different. With birds it's not always the appearance that draws your attention but the behaviour of an unusual bird which marks it out.
And so it was with this mystery animal. "What was that?" I asked myself. Annoyingly the animal hid behind a bush for a while but it moved more into the open after a few minutes. I looked at it through binoculars and at first I thought it was a goat. The colour was about right but I could only see its hind quarters at first. Then it moved into full view. It was a wild boar and soon several more joined it. These animals are usually nocturnal from what I've heard but clearly they don't follow this rule in Normandy.
I watched them slowly work along the bottom of a hedge for about ten minutes, no doubt munching on blackberries, nuts and roots. Then they had a clear area to cross which they did fairly promptly.
And then in glorious "Wobblecam" video.
The one which comes from the right and then moves quickly left shows the odd motion which first caught my eye.
After lunch we walked to the castle at Dieppe, going first to the coast and the little village of Pourville sur Mer.
The above is the beach at Pourville, but we are not the first to visit Pourville. Monet spent some time here.
Looking up the coast the other way there are the remains of a concrete pillbox.
It might have been on the clifftop and fallen down due to erosion but I don't think the cliffs have eroded that much. More likely it was built on the top of the shingle beach.
The next section of the walk was uphill but it was enlivened by our discovery of a bizarrely over-engineered stile.
I think it is how Citroën would have made a stile a few decades ago. The rugged simplicity of the 2CV combined with the eccentricity of the DS19.
Walking towards Dieppe, and just above the stile, we came across another Monet inspired notice board.
This is the view today.
And how Monet saw it.
The grafitti around it seems to be a claim Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system is mathematically impossible and the proof of this can be found on YouTube. I hope the author of this statement won't be offended if I don't bother to look?
The next section of the walk was influenced by "éboulements" which is rapidly becoming the Word of the Week as we've seen it often recently. Some of the signs have even warned of frequent éboulements.
The direct route to the castle was fenced off and signs said the road was being realigned due to "éboulements des falaises" or cliff falls. Éboulements means "landslide".
We found an alternative route which meant losing height we then had to climb back up to recover but we eventually emerged overlooking Dieppe.
The entrance to the harbour, and where the ferries land, is just the other side of the breakwater in the distance.
The castle, or Château Musée de Dieppe as it likes to be known now is found at this spot.
The original castle here was built around 1188 but was destroyed only a few years later. Reconstruction started in the 14th century but the major building work wasn't done until the 15th century.
The castle has a dry moat and access is over a narrow bridge which had draw bridges at both ends. These days the draw bridges have been replaced by fixed wooden bridges. These were very worn with large gaps between the planks.
There is a museum inside which we gave a miss, having Charlie with us, but its main exhibits are carved ivory and snuff boxes so we weren't hugely disappointed.
On our return we decided to see if we could find a way past the road works, which we did but it involved walking past a few signs warning of no entry. This being a Sunday there was no one around to challenge us but I was rehearsing my "we are lost" shrug just in case.
We will move on tomorrow to somewhere near the mouth of the Somme.
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Looks great DBK,,will be docking in Caen next friday,,may spend a few days following your route,,thanks. BUSBY.We finally managed our walk to the elephant this morning.
This is looking west from the start of the coastal footpath section.
View attachment 329752
The tide is well out, compared to what it was like when we came here in the afternoon. The breakwater visible in the distance is an oil port according to the map. I guess this is where the tankers load and unload and there must be pipelines linking this facility to the refineries at Le Havre. I can only assume this is because the mouth of the Seine is too shallow and it keeps the big ships out of the way.
Walking east we spotted our destination in the distance. It is marked by a large arch known as the Manneporte.
View attachment 329760
You can just see a few figures on the skyline. We soon joined them because this is the best place to see the elephant.
View attachment 329762
And in close up.
View attachment 329765
The conical rock is l'Aiguille or the Needle, the arch is the Falaise d'Avel and it was the 19th century author Guy de Maupassant who likened it to an elephant dipping its trunk in the water. De Maupassant was born only a few miles from where we are tonight and he lived for a while at Étretat which is just the other side of the "trunk".
We drove along the coast after lunch, roughly following the line taken by Henry V's army in 1415, as shown in a post above. It is very open country with no large forests I could see or steep hills. But how would you move a large army? Modern maps show the route as a wide arrow but did they march on a broad front? They had carts for the baggage so these had to use the roads. But did the rest walk across fields and over hedges? I find this hard to believe, it would have been very hard going especially as it was frequently wet. I suspect they travelled on a single road with scouts ahead to warn of danger. But which road?
We have stopped tonight at Camping le Marque al, CC20327 and ACSI just short of Dieppe.
View attachment 329778
Unlike the last site this one has tumble driers and it is time for washing the towels and sheets. The weather is too unreliable at the moment for clothes lines. We washed lightweight stuff at the last place but the van looked like a laundry for a while as there was so much stuff hanging inside the van.
On the map above you might see a Musée de Dieppe, which is a large castle. We will try and walk there tomorrow, weather and washing machines permitting.
That was an amazingly hot day when Monet painted those two landscapes. The earth is cooling down now thankfully.
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Lovely little herd of boars. You were very lucky to see them.
This latest posting goes to show how easy it is to get off a ferry and immediately head south when you will have missed a fascinating area.
Thanks for a mighty interesting post. Mind you, all your others are super too.
This latest posting goes to show how easy it is to get off a ferry and immediately head south when you will have missed a fascinating area.
Thanks for a mighty interesting post. Mind you, all your others are super too.
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Following once again roughly in the footsteps of Henry V's army we have moved up to the mouth of the Somme River and the aire, CC1322, at St Valery sur Somme.
Lenny HB
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Nice Aire but a bit pricy, restaurants in the town also not cheap. Nice town though.
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I pressed the "post" button by accident above. But I carried on writing the post then lost the lot. Nearly an hours work down the tube. This has happened before. I've been selecting and copying what I've written periodically in the past, so when it vanishes I can just paste it all back in, but I forgot tonight.
I'll see if I can work up the energy to redo it all.
But I carried on writing the post then lost the lot. Nearly an hours work down the tube. This has happened before. I've been selecting and copying what I've written periodically in the past, so when it vanishes I can just paste it all back in, but I forgot tonight. I'll see if I can work up the energy to redo it all.
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I pressed the "post" button by accident above.
I'll see if I can work up the energy to redo it all.
Please do, your posts are so interesting.
Stuck at it....I can’t do half if what you put on here. Thanks for your efforts!I pressed the "post" button by accident above.
I'll see if I can work up the energy to redo it all.
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DBK
LIFE MEMBER
Following once again roughly in the footsteps of Henry V's army we have moved up to the mouth of the Somme river and the aire, CC1322, at St Valery sur Somme.
And zoomed in.
This is a good aire with a number of EHU points, one of which we managed to secure.
It isn't as busy as I expected but the price, €12 a night, might be a factor.
A walk of twenty minutes or so brings you to the "sea front" of St Valery sur Somme.
A long boardwalk, overlooking the river, runs virtually the full length of the town. At the "landward" end is the tourist office where I got a map. Close by is the terminus of the steam railway which runs from here for a few kilometres to the coast at Cayeux sur Mer. From the timetable the next train wasn't due for another hour so I had to be content with a photograph of the (empty) turntable.
Looking across the river we could see several large parties of walkers.
The lot above are walking on the edge of the river, the others were on the salt marsh. I assume these are organised walks as this must be a dangerous place if you are not familiar with the tides and creeks.
The town in the distance is Le Crotoy where there is a CCP aire. This was an option for tonight but it is 3km from the town and has poor reviews. This place is much better for a similar price.
There are lots of smallish information boards around the town. This one was particularly interesting.
It describes the lugworm diggers who gathered bait for commercial fishing. At the beginning of the 20th century over 300 people were employed in this industry. They must have had to walk a long way each day to find new sand to dig.
The main draw here is the Medieval section of the town.
You enter it through the gate above. There are some ramparts overlooking the river you can walk along, which we did. They end at the "Tours Guillaume" where Joan of Arc was held briefly by the English on the way to her execution in Rouen.
We returned through the obligatory narrow streets.
As you enter the town there are signs announcing it as a "Ville Feurie" which is the French equivalent of Britain in Bloom. The normal ratings go from one to four stars and St Valery sur Somme has the four star rating! There is a higher gold category above this although I've never visited one.
But in honour of their achievement here are some flowers.
The award isn't given just on flowers alone but also green spaces, of which St Valery has plenty, the flowers weren't that obvious.
There are undoubtedly prettier places in France but this isn't a bad place to visit.
And zoomed in.
This is a good aire with a number of EHU points, one of which we managed to secure.
It isn't as busy as I expected but the price, €12 a night, might be a factor.
A walk of twenty minutes or so brings you to the "sea front" of St Valery sur Somme.
A long boardwalk, overlooking the river, runs virtually the full length of the town. At the "landward" end is the tourist office where I got a map. Close by is the terminus of the steam railway which runs from here for a few kilometres to the coast at Cayeux sur Mer. From the timetable the next train wasn't due for another hour so I had to be content with a photograph of the (empty) turntable.
Looking across the river we could see several large parties of walkers.
The lot above are walking on the edge of the river, the others were on the salt marsh. I assume these are organised walks as this must be a dangerous place if you are not familiar with the tides and creeks.
The town in the distance is Le Crotoy where there is a CCP aire. This was an option for tonight but it is 3km from the town and has poor reviews. This place is much better for a similar price.
There are lots of smallish information boards around the town. This one was particularly interesting.
It describes the lugworm diggers who gathered bait for commercial fishing. At the beginning of the 20th century over 300 people were employed in this industry. They must have had to walk a long way each day to find new sand to dig.
The main draw here is the Medieval section of the town.
You enter it through the gate above. There are some ramparts overlooking the river you can walk along, which we did. They end at the "Tours Guillaume" where Joan of Arc was held briefly by the English on the way to her execution in Rouen.
We returned through the obligatory narrow streets.
As you enter the town there are signs announcing it as a "Ville Feurie" which is the French equivalent of Britain in Bloom. The normal ratings go from one to four stars and St Valery sur Somme has the four star rating! There is a higher gold category above this although I've never visited one.
But in honour of their achievement here are some flowers.
The award isn't given just on flowers alone but also green spaces, of which St Valery has plenty, the flowers weren't that obvious.
There are undoubtedly prettier places in France but this isn't a bad place to visit.
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Last edited:
Just my thoughts........
There was exactly the same security 2 years ago when I was there last (no, not because of me
). There are coach loads of foreign visitors arriving daily, many of them travelling from Paris. I suspect the presence of soldiers on the streets maybe to reassure the visitors that France is taking their security seriously. Similar security measures were on display at the Pau Grand Prix this year too.
Following once again roughly in the footsteps of Henry V's army we have moved up to the mouth of the Somme river and the aire, CC1322, at St Valery sur Somme.
View attachment 330258
And zoomed in.
View attachment 330257
This is a good aire with a number of EHU points, one of which we managed to secure.
View attachment 330252
It isn't as busy as I expected but the price, €12 a night, might be a factor.
A walk of twenty minutes or so brings you to the "sea front" of St Valery sur Somme.
View attachment 330254
A long boardwalk, overlooking the river, runs virtually the full length of the town. At the "landward" end is the tourist office where I got a map. Close by is the terminus of the steam railway which runs from here for a few kilometres to the coast at Cayeux sur Mer. From the timetable the next train wasn't due for another hour so I had to be content with a photograph of the (empty) turntable.
View attachment 330256
Looking across the river we could see several large parties of walkers.
View attachment 330260
The lot above are walking on the edge of the river, the others were on the salt marsh. I assume these are organised walks as this must be a dangerous place if you are not familiar with the tides and creeks.
The town in the distance is Le Crotoy where there is a CCP aire. This was an option for tonight but it is 3km from the town and has poor reviews. This place is much better for a similar price.
There are lots of smallish information boards around the town. This one was particularly interesting.
View attachment 330268
It describes the lugworm diggers who gathered bait for commercial fishing. At the beginning of the 20th century over 300 people were employed in this industry. They must have had to walk a long way each day to find new sand to dig.
The main draw here is the Medieval section of the town.
View attachment 330261
You enter it through the gate above. There are some ramparts overlooking the river you can walk along, which we did. They end at the "Tours Guillaume" where Joan of Arc was held briefly by the English on the way to her execution in Rouen.
View attachment 330264
We returned through the obligatory narrow streets.
View attachment 330266
View attachment 330265
As you enter the town there are signs announcing it as a "Ville Feurie" which is the French equivalent of Britain in Bloom. The normal ratings go from one to four stars and St Valery sur Somme has the four star rating! There is a higher gold category above this although I've never visited one.
But in honour of their achievement here are some flowers.
View attachment 330267
The award isn't given just on flowers alone but also green spaces, of which St Valery has plenty, the flowers weren't that obvious.
Thank you.
OP
OP
DBK
LIFE MEMBER
I forgot to mention, on the way here today we drove through the town of Eu. Which might look like a spelling error as the French aren't normally mean with the letters of the alphabet, but that really is its name and its place in history is assured because it was in Eu that William the Conqueror married his wife Mathilde.
It is really hard to escape history, and particularly English history, around here.
It is really hard to escape history, and particularly English history, around here.
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Following once again roughly in the footsteps of Henry V's army we have moved up to the mouth of the Somme river and the aire, CC1322, at St Valery sur Somme.
View attachment 330258
And zoomed in.
View attachment 330257
This is a good aire with a number of EHU points, one of which we managed to secure.
View attachment 330252
It isn't as busy as I expected but the price, €12 a night, might be a factor.
A walk of twenty minutes or so brings you to the "sea front" of St Valery sur Somme.
View attachment 330254
A long boardwalk, overlooking the river, runs virtually the full length of the town. At the "landward" end is the tourist office where I got a map. Close by is the terminus of the steam railway which runs from here for a few kilometres to the coast at Cayeux sur Mer. From the timetable the next train wasn't due for another hour so I had to be content with a photograph of the (empty) turntable.
View attachment 330256
Looking across the river we could see several large parties of walkers.
View attachment 330260
The lot above are walking on the edge of the river, the others were on the salt marsh. I assume these are organised walks as this must be a dangerous place if you are not familiar with the tides and creeks.
The town in the distance is Le Crotoy where there is a CCP aire. This was an option for tonight but it is 3km from the town and has poor reviews. This place is much better for a similar price.
There are lots of smallish information boards around the town. This one was particularly interesting.
View attachment 330268
It describes the lugworm diggers who gathered bait for commercial fishing. At the beginning of the 20th century over 300 people were employed in this industry. They must have had to walk a long way each day to find new sand to dig.
The main draw here is the Medieval section of the town.
View attachment 330261
You enter it through the gate above. There are some ramparts overlooking the river you can walk along, which we did. They end at the "Tours Guillaume" where Joan of Arc was held briefly by the English on the way to her execution in Rouen.
View attachment 330264
We returned through the obligatory narrow streets.
View attachment 330266
View attachment 330265
As you enter the town there are signs announcing it as a "Ville Feurie" which is the French equivalent of Britain in Bloom. The normal ratings go from one to four stars and St Valery sur Somme has the four star rating! There is a higher gold category above this although I've never visited one.
But in honour of their achievement here are some flowers.
View attachment 330267
The award isn't given just on flowers alone but also green spaces, of which St Valery has plenty, the flowers weren't that obvious.
There are undoubtedly prettier places in France but this isn't a bad place to visit.
That must be where that well known French expression..... “hang on to your hollyhocks “ comes from.
OP
OP
DBK
LIFE MEMBER
Part 1
Leaving Valery sur Mer we drove east just a little south of the Somme. In 1415 Henry V led his army this way, looking for a place to cross. The obvious place was the ford roughly midway between Valery sur Somme and Abbeville where his Great Grandfather Edward III had crossed in 1346. Unfortunately, in 1415 the French were well aware of this bit of history and when the English arrived at the ford they found a large French force on the other side opposing them.
Unable to cross, the English army continued east on the south bank of the Somme to try and find an undefended crossing further upstream.
And at this point I'm going to leave Henry and his "band of brothers" as Shakespeare called them, and go back to 1346.
Edward's crossing of the ford at Blanchetaque was not unopposed but he was able to defeat the French using his archers and men at arms. They then marched north east and established a defensive position at Crécy en Ponthieu. He did this because he knew the main French army was chasing after him. The French army, waiting at Amiens, had placed detachments at every crossing of the Somme to stop the English. As soon as they heard they had been out manœuvred they rushed to Abbeville, crossed the Somme by the bridge there and headed north.
In 2019 the ford at Blanchetaque no longer exists because the Somme was turned into a canal in the 18th century. So we crossed instead at the swing bridge between Gouy and Petit Port. The token French resistance today to our crossing were some noisy ducks sitting on the road beside the bridge.
From here we drove Forest l'Abbaye where we met a forest fairy a "fée de la forêt".
She looks a little mischievous. According to the inscription you have to respect them otherwise bad things happen so I didn't wonder out loud why she has wooden spoons for wings. We also kept Charlie well away from her post and so far the day has gone well.
The road north from here goes through the Forêt de Crécy which has a number of notable trees and more carved wooden sculpture but you wouldn't know from the road as we saw no signs. It is a huge forest but sadly no aires in it.
Crécy was in turmoil when we arrived, they were copying several other towns we've driven through and were digging up the main street. There's a little museum here about the battle but I don't think it is anything special although we had no chance of confirming this as it was shut!
So instead we drove to the site of the battle, which is signposted, and is reached on the D111 road to Wadicourt. There is a car park on the left just as you leave the town and a wooden observation platform.
The sides are believed to have formed up like this.
The English, in red above, faced south east from where the French forces attacked. The French charge was poorly coordinated and critically it was uphill.
The English archers decimated the attackers. The rapid rate of fire of the English yew longbow inflicted terrible damage and those knights and men at arms who reached the English had to navigate around piles of their dead and pits dug in front of the English position.
The French were very brave, they attacked repeatedly far into the night but every wave was cut down.
Casualty estimates are difficult to make but the English may have lost a few hundred but the French lost over ten thousand and possibly considerably more. The problem is the contempory chroniclers didn't think it important to record the deaths of the common soldiers, the infantry.
To avoid what happened last night, I'm going to post this now. Part 2 to follow after a roast chicken.
Leaving Valery sur Mer we drove east just a little south of the Somme. In 1415 Henry V led his army this way, looking for a place to cross. The obvious place was the ford roughly midway between Valery sur Somme and Abbeville where his Great Grandfather Edward III had crossed in 1346. Unfortunately, in 1415 the French were well aware of this bit of history and when the English arrived at the ford they found a large French force on the other side opposing them.
Unable to cross, the English army continued east on the south bank of the Somme to try and find an undefended crossing further upstream.
And at this point I'm going to leave Henry and his "band of brothers" as Shakespeare called them, and go back to 1346.
Edward's crossing of the ford at Blanchetaque was not unopposed but he was able to defeat the French using his archers and men at arms. They then marched north east and established a defensive position at Crécy en Ponthieu. He did this because he knew the main French army was chasing after him. The French army, waiting at Amiens, had placed detachments at every crossing of the Somme to stop the English. As soon as they heard they had been out manœuvred they rushed to Abbeville, crossed the Somme by the bridge there and headed north.
In 2019 the ford at Blanchetaque no longer exists because the Somme was turned into a canal in the 18th century. So we crossed instead at the swing bridge between Gouy and Petit Port. The token French resistance today to our crossing were some noisy ducks sitting on the road beside the bridge.
From here we drove Forest l'Abbaye where we met a forest fairy a "fée de la forêt".
She looks a little mischievous. According to the inscription you have to respect them otherwise bad things happen so I didn't wonder out loud why she has wooden spoons for wings. We also kept Charlie well away from her post and so far the day has gone well.
The road north from here goes through the Forêt de Crécy which has a number of notable trees and more carved wooden sculpture but you wouldn't know from the road as we saw no signs. It is a huge forest but sadly no aires in it.
Crécy was in turmoil when we arrived, they were copying several other towns we've driven through and were digging up the main street. There's a little museum here about the battle but I don't think it is anything special although we had no chance of confirming this as it was shut!
So instead we drove to the site of the battle, which is signposted, and is reached on the D111 road to Wadicourt. There is a car park on the left just as you leave the town and a wooden observation platform.
The sides are believed to have formed up like this.
The English, in red above, faced south east from where the French forces attacked. The French charge was poorly coordinated and critically it was uphill.
The English archers decimated the attackers. The rapid rate of fire of the English yew longbow inflicted terrible damage and those knights and men at arms who reached the English had to navigate around piles of their dead and pits dug in front of the English position.
The French were very brave, they attacked repeatedly far into the night but every wave was cut down.
Casualty estimates are difficult to make but the English may have lost a few hundred but the French lost over ten thousand and possibly considerably more. The problem is the contempory chroniclers didn't think it important to record the deaths of the common soldiers, the infantry.
To avoid what happened last night, I'm going to post this now. Part 2 to follow after a roast chicken.
Last edited:
OP
OP
DBK
LIFE MEMBER
Part 2
One nice roast chicken with homemade oven chips later...
(God bless Mrs DBK)
The view from the observation tower is just fields but hopefully in the shot below you can see the slope the French had to charge up. The English were formed up nearest the camera, so to speak, looking down the hill.
The slope is more gentle to the left but it would still have slowed them.
From Crecy we headed back, roughly following the Somme valley to Amiens. In 1415 Henry V skirted round this well to the south and we have done the same, stopping for the night at the CCP aire at Ailly sur Noye, CC72978.
Soon after we arrived we both heard a very distinctive bird call, kew-kew-kew-kew and we glimpsed across a field two birds fly into a tree. By the time I'd grabbed my binoculars they had flow off into a wood beyond it. Pigeons were exploding out of the trees and the, kew-kew-kew-kew continued for several more minutes with pigeon panic.
The birds had pointed wings and made rapid shallow wing beats. I'm almost certain they were a pairs of hobbys or perhaps more likely given the time of year a juvenile and an adult. I've got the Collins Bird Guide app on my phone and it has bird calls on it and the sound for a hobby was a perfect match. My first ever hobby.
We walked into Ailly sur Noye this afternoon but it wasn't looking its best...
They must have heard we were coming as they were digging up the main street here to.
The railway line wasn't too attractive either.
The WW1 memorial was different.
Back at the aire you can see the church in the distance. It looks better from here. The big willow was where the hobbys briefly perched.
This is where everything is on the map. Valery sur Somme is in the bottom left, Crécy is at the top, just under the little round picture of me and Ailly sur Noye in the bottom right under the blue blob. The Somme Valley runs from Valery, through Abbeville to Amiens and then on further east.
We will continue following Henry's footsteps tomorrow.
One nice roast chicken with homemade oven chips later...
(God bless Mrs DBK)
The view from the observation tower is just fields but hopefully in the shot below you can see the slope the French had to charge up. The English were formed up nearest the camera, so to speak, looking down the hill.
The slope is more gentle to the left but it would still have slowed them.
From Crecy we headed back, roughly following the Somme valley to Amiens. In 1415 Henry V skirted round this well to the south and we have done the same, stopping for the night at the CCP aire at Ailly sur Noye, CC72978.
Soon after we arrived we both heard a very distinctive bird call, kew-kew-kew-kew and we glimpsed across a field two birds fly into a tree. By the time I'd grabbed my binoculars they had flow off into a wood beyond it. Pigeons were exploding out of the trees and the, kew-kew-kew-kew continued for several more minutes with pigeon panic.
The birds had pointed wings and made rapid shallow wing beats. I'm almost certain they were a pairs of hobbys or perhaps more likely given the time of year a juvenile and an adult. I've got the Collins Bird Guide app on my phone and it has bird calls on it and the sound for a hobby was a perfect match. My first ever hobby.
We walked into Ailly sur Noye this afternoon but it wasn't looking its best...
They must have heard we were coming as they were digging up the main street here to.
The railway line wasn't too attractive either.
The WW1 memorial was different.
Back at the aire you can see the church in the distance. It looks better from here. The big willow was where the hobbys briefly perched.
This is where everything is on the map. Valery sur Somme is in the bottom left, Crécy is at the top, just under the little round picture of me and Ailly sur Noye in the bottom right under the blue blob. The Somme Valley runs from Valery, through Abbeville to Amiens and then on further east.
We will continue following Henry's footsteps tomorrow.
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Last edited:
I am assuming your destination is the visitor center at Azingcourt? Unfortunately they are rebuilding it and it was supposed to be completed by July- I have a holiday home locally and when I visited it 2 weeks ago it is still some way from being complete/ open.
OP
OP
DBK
LIFE MEMBER
Thank you for that, I'd heard it was now open but we'll still go and take things as we find them. There's a strong argument they've got the site of the battle wrong so it may not matter.
I have just had a look on Tripadvisor and a review from yesterday said- "Museum and shop were open but the new buildings were still under construction due to open i September. Sign posting was not good especially to the battle field itself. The exhibits in the museum and explanations were excellent. Worth a visit en route but not worth a detour."
I believe they have moved a few of the exhibits to a temporary location- I believe when the buildings are completed that it will be a very impressive museum. At least you will be able to visit the battlefield at the end of your trip.
I believe they have moved a few of the exhibits to a temporary location- I believe when the buildings are completed that it will be a very impressive museum. At least you will be able to visit the battlefield at the end of your trip.
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