16 August 2012

Down a lb!!  At 61 lbs, I'm almost back to where I was before the vacation.  I had a nice massage today and the weather is fabulous so I'm grilling burgers for the next few nights.  And now to finish my vacation stories:
The next day, we headed off to more sea-front towns, with a stop at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the site of some serious fighting with the paratroopers.  I had no idea that about 2/3 of the causalities on 6 June were among the paratroopers!  The church is Eglise Notre-Dame de la Paix.

It's very beautiful inside.

This is a building on the Granville medieval walls, dated 1025!  What a view!



One of the things we saw as we walked into town was this studio with ceramic skulls; no idea what was up with this but I took a picture anyway :-)

A view of the Granville harbor.

The church in our village--Aumeville-Lestre:

And then it was time to head home, via Calais and The Mermaid Inn in Rye.  I meant to get up early and get some pictures, but I forgot to set my alarm back, so I ended up getting up really early!  But I got some nice early morning shots around Mermaid Street, starting with this one of a gull and chimney pot (and a TV antenna) out my bedroom window.

Window in the dining room.



Early morning, Mermaid Street.

 
The Mermaid Inn sign.

The House Opposite, Mermaid Street

Ceramic signs.

 The Olde Bell Inn

 More signs

Knole House, Sevenoaks, a "calendar house" with 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards.  I don't know about time but these folks definitely had too much money on their hands!

The Sackville Leopards

The Orangery and a costume exhibit.

All-in-all, a great trip!  And it was easy to start back on the diet.  It wasn't quite as easy to catch up the blog, but I've managed!  Later...



15 August 2012

Still 60 lbs--and I was a bit hungry today.  Bummer!  But I'm hanging in there and trying to stay busy as a distraction.  I went to the Turkish Baths tonight after work, which was a nice treat.  I've also discovered that my new (smaller) size in my favorite Ulla Popken tunics has gotten me into the cheaper sizes!  What a deal!!  And now to continue with my France story:

On Monday, we headed into the larger village just up the road (Quettehou) to check out the tourist office and do a little sightseeing.  We also went down to the beach near where we were staying just to have a look but it was a bit chilly for the beach so we didn't stay long.  The lady at the tourist office was British (go figure) and she gave us lots of good info on the World War II sights and also told us to be sure to get to the American cemetery at Omaha Beach--that it was a very moving experience.It kept trying to rain all day, so we finally had lunch and headed back to the cottage to read all the touristy info we had--and watch more of the Olympics in French.

On Tuesday, we went to Mont saint Michel, which was fabulous!  I read somewhere that there are 14 permanent residents on the island--and 3 million visitors every year!  It's a beautiful place, although the parking is a bit of a hassle.  I suspect the earlier you get there, the better, which unfortunatelydidn't happen.  This shot is as we arrived.

After a lot of walking and a free shuttle ride, we made it.  This is a view of the Pilgrim's Way, teeming with tourists now as it was with pilgrims back in the day. 

The first order of business was lunch!  This is where we ate and the food was really good!  I had  traditional Normandy lobster soup (known to the rest of the world as lobster bisque), an omelet and a sampler of 3 chocolate desserts.  Very yummy!  The omelet tasted like it had been cooked over a wood fire.  About halfway thru the meal, they seated another family (husband, wife and older teenage daughter) next to us.  I felt a bit sorry for the husband; he was obviously excited to be there but his wife was a major sourpuss!  They were American but his French was really good.  I say that because he was actually conversing with the waiter.  When I trot out my French, they always correct my pronouncations but they weren't doing that to him :-)

The battlements, as we were leaving.



Mont Saint Michel in the late afternoon, as we were leaving.  I loved this place; it will definitely be worth another trip when there aren't so many tourists around!

The next day, we did a little more local sightseeing.  The next few pictures are from La chapelle Saint Michel de Lestre, a pretty little ruin about a mile from our cottage.



This is the merry-go-round outside the Debarkquement Museum in Arromanches.  This has to be the prettiest merry-go-round I've ever seen and the various animals and other things to ride were pretty unique, too.  The Debarquement Museum had excellent models of the Mulberry Harbor, parts of which are still visible on the beach.

The beach at Arromanches.  I had a huge pot of moules (mussels) for lunch--very yummy!

The America Museum at Ver-sur-Mer,  museum about the first efforts at airborne transatlantic mail delivery.  Commander Richard Byrd's plane was the America--hence the name.  Since Ver-sur-Mer is on Gold Beach, one of the British invasion beaches, it was also a good museum of the British landings.

 To be finished tomorrow...

13 August 2012

I'm ba-a-a-ck!  The holiday in Normandy was great--even if I did gain a few lbs :-(  I'm at 60 lbs lost, but I've started right back on the diet today, so I'm confident I can knock those lbs right off.  That's my story--and I'm sticking to it.  It was a good day at work today; I even managed to get all my e-mails caught up.  And a good, fishy day on the diet!
Anyway, it was a fun holiday.  I'm not sure I'm up to a full description today but I'll get as far as I can.  We stopped and had lunch at The Kestrel before heading over to Hull to get the ferry on Friday, 03 August.  Usually this is a pretty quick affair, so we figured we'd have time to check out The Deep, the aquarium in Hull--but it wasn't to be.  It took forever for our ood to be served and when it arried Jeff's was too hot to eat and mine had been sitting under a heat lamp for so long, the salmon was pretty dried out.  Bummer!  So we found The Deep (just so we'd know where it is the next time) and headed to the ferry terminal.  We got settled in our cabin and then had dinner.
We arrived in Zeebrugges the next morning and set out.   According to the TomTom, Barfleur (a close town) was about 5 hours, which didn't take into account huge delays at the toll booths. But we got to the village (Aumeville-Lestre) and managed to find the cottage--all in enough time to hit the Inter Marche (French grocery store--I love French grocery stores!) and get stuff for dinner and breakfast. We grilled chicken, red onions and peppers and had rice to go with it all. Our landlady had left us a lovely bottle of wine and some biscuits, which were both really good. The next morning, we got up, had breakfast (porridge for me) and headed into Bayeux.

This is a shot of Bayeux Cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux), my favoite of the Normandy Cathedrals--and possibly of all the cathedrals I've seen!  I just love this one; it's so beautiful.   The architecture in 1077 when the cathedral was consecrated was Norman-Romanesque, but what we see now is mostly 13th century Gothic.  William the Conqueror was present when his half-brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux consecreted the cathedral.  Bayeux is a bit out of the way, so the cathedral has not been ravaged by the many wars thru the centuries as other places.  As you can see in the next shot, it's just as lovely inside as out.

This is a picture of an interesting steeple (or something) which I spotted on the way to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum.  We headed over to see this after we finished with Mass. 

The Bayeux Tapestry, which isn't really a tapestry but an embroidery, was commissioned by Bishop Odo and tells the story of how William, Duke of Normandy came to be King of England in 1066.  It's about 70 meters long and about 0.5 meters high; the story is told in about 58 (I think) linen panels of various widths.  It is absolutely stunning!  The admission is E7.80 (or a little over $10) and includes the tapestry, an audio guide (lots of language choices) and the museum on the next floor.  I've been twice and seen different stuff each time.  I figure I'm good for another couple of visits before I start to get bored.
 This next shot is the side of the restaurant (a crepiery) where we had lunch.  I guess crepes are the sweet version and gallettes are the savory.  Very yummy, especially with a nice cup of sparkling local cidre.  The area is the old Tanners nd Dyers part of the town.

This is Montebourg Abbey, which was just a few miles from where we were staying.  It's now a school of some sort.

Stained glass inside the church at Montebourg Abbey.

Detail of the decoration above the church door at Montebourg Abbey.

On Tuesday, we got up and headed off for the D-Day (Debarquement in French) Beaches.  This was a memorial along the road on the way to Utah Beach.  There was an American flag and a French flag here but I only got a shot og the American flag at this stop.  I think this is also the spot where the French General LeClerc came back to France.

We climbed over the dunes and there were some folks down there harness racing; made for some nice shots.

And another shot of the American flag before heading back to the car.  I only brought the one card for my camera, so I wanted to download the pictures to my computer before moving on.

While I was waiting on the computer, I happened to glance up and see this pine cone "bug", which I just had to gt a picture of.  I'm such a child!

This is the memorial (and museum) at Utah Beach.

A fully restored B-26 at the Utah Beach Museum.

The church at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.

Inside the church.

Motorcycle in the small museum across the road from the church.

One of the exhibits in the museum; it took me a moment to figure out I was looking at an authentic flag :-)

Jeep outside the museum.

Omaha Beach. For some reason, I wasn't expecting such lovely, tranquil beaches; it seemed like the events of almost 70 years ago should have left a mark...

The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, a very moving visit.

 Church at Colleville-sur-Mer.

After we had a look around this church, we went on home and had another BBQ for supper at the cottage.  More to come tomorrow night...



02 August 2012

Down another lb to 66 lbs lost!  After today, I'll be in damage control mode for 10 days. 
Finally finished cleaning out the car and am now starting to pack.  Still have to make a trip to the tip and a trip to the commissary for a few bits.  Since we're self-catering, I've put together a list of things from the pantry here to take along, rather than buying everything there.  Just little bits, like spices and condiments (soy sauce, chili powder, cumin) and grill things like charcoal and (real) heavy duty foil.  Someone told me one time you can mend airplanes with American heavy-duty foil--unlike British foil, which is weaker than tissue paper.
You would think I'd learn to just shut up after a while--but you'd be wrong!  I'm getting better, but there's one person in particular who just brings out the worst in me.  You've heard of the anti-Christ?  Well, you need to meet the anti-Christ's cousin--the anti-Hellmann's!  [The advertising slogan in the States (and maybe other places too) for Hellmann's mayonaise is 'Bring out the Hellmann's and bring out the best.']  Today, this person was crying about some stuff happening at work and I just had to respond to the Facebook post.  I'll probably live to regret my comments--but every once in a while I just can't stand the idiocy any more.  The good news is that this person is getting a lot of (deserved) flak about this latest in a long line of badly-thought-out posts.

Now it's time to pack and get the last load of laundry started.  I'm getting very excited!  I guess it's also time to check a weather site so I have some idea what to pack.  Ya think?!  I still plan to write something everyday while I'm gone but I'll do it as a text file and then download when (if?) I can find a WiFi cafe.  Happy early August--and I'll be back on 13 August.

01 August 2012

Woo Hoo!!  Down another lb for 65 lbs lost!

Took the car in for its 50,000 mile service.  Ugh!  That was an expensive trip!  I thought it was going to be about L125 but it turns out I needed new front AND rear brake pads (L114/pair) so it was almost L400.  Bummer!  But the car is ready for the trip to France, so that's the important part.  The roads here are so hard on brakes and tires!!

I finally gave up and turned the heat back on--because it's cold and damp and because I want my shirts to dry in a reasonable amount of time.  I don't really like to pack damp clothes :-)

I went downtown to change some Euros; I would have done it on post but--since I had Sterling--those cheap b@$+@rds would have changed the Sterling to dollars and then the dollars to Euros.  I would have been hit twice with fees!  Anyway, to get to the post office, I had to walk by several cafes and I found myself thinking I could stop and have something--generally involving bread and/or chocolate.  But I would keep going and then congratulate myself for resisting :-)  I realized today that this is a game I've been playing with myself for several weeks now and it seems to be working.  (This also gives you an idea of how low my amusement threshold is...)

Even though I'm on vacation, I'm working 4 hours tonight for one of my co-workers whose wife is poorly.  It's no big deal and it saves me 4 hours of vacation.  I managed to get a few burgers grilled for tonight and tomorrow night, in between the raindrops, too.  Plus I've almost got the car cleared out--so I can start to pack it tomorrow.  What a hassle that is!  Everytime I have to clear out the car, I vow I'm going to stay on top of things--which sometimes lasts less than a day.  My new vow is to stop beating mysef up about the junk in the car, which hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping!