… down in the harbour this morning.
First of all, we had the Normandy Trader in. She’s on one of her shuttle trips between Jersey and Normandy bringing in a load of scrap, and I couldn’t see what she was taking away.
That was because by the time that I had got down there, she had loaded up and gone out. She didn’t hang about at all.
The reason for my delay was that another bit of movement in the harbour had caught my eye.
La Grande Ancre was just setting out on the tide – presumably heading towards the Iles de Chausey (she was back a short while later).
So despite her being registered in Cherbourg, it looks as if she’s now a permanent fixture here in Granville, and I’m all in favour of that as you know.
Also in the harbour today is a piece of history.
She’s the Lys Noir – the “Black Lily” and was built in 1914 in Arcachon as a pleasure yacht for a German prince. But on the outbreak of World War I she was confiscated by the French authorities as a prize of war and subsequently sold into private hands.
She was rebuilt here in Granville in the 1980s and now belongs to an Association to which she has given her name.
In front of it is the ferry that goes to the Channel Islands – presumably being prepared for the season.
But my attention was caught by the name that has been painted out underneath. She is in fact the famous former “Bornholm Express”.
She was built in Singapore in 2006 and came to Denmark on the deck of a cargo ship. Her task was to operate a fast ferry service between Sweden and the island of Bornholm. But the ferry service was unsuccessful and closed down.
And this is where she has ended up – arriving in 2014.
So apart from that, last night was a better night’s sleep and I was off on my travels.
I was in fact at a football match – Altrincham v Morton. But at the ground the end where I usually stand was full of yellow-shirted Southport supporters. However, walking into the ground (there was no-one on the gate) I was just in time to see Morton’s second goal – and we hadn’t played 15 minutes yet. A beautiful shot from a narrow angle on the right wing across the keeper. I headed to an open spot on the far side and found myself in a group of about 50 Morton supporters who were clearly delighted by the result. I started to chat to a young girl there, with half an eye on the game, but a group of very tall men came and stood right in front of us. Despite me asking, they weren’t inclined to leave so we went down to the front – a wooden wicker fence to keep the crowds off the pitch, but there out view was obstructed by a concrete wall which was actually the support of a motorway flyover
We had the usual morning performance, and then the shower, shave and general tidy-up, and then it was shopping time.
And remember the roadworks by LIDL? There was a workman loitering in the vicinity so I went over to quiz him, but he saw me coming and walked away.
Did I mention that there’s a new line of product on sale at LIDL? I can’t remember.
But we have kangaroo meat now on offer, and I bet that you are hopping mad about that.
As for me, I didn’t buy anything out of the ordinary as such but they did have some of the Swedish vegan oatmeal biscuits on offer – the second box half-price – so two large boxes came home with me. And delicious they are too.
On the way back I stopped at the building site that we saw last week, to see what was going on.
They are still clearing the site at the moment, but I did notice that they have put some retaining supports in between the two houses on either side.
The are obviously worried about movement while there’s nothing in between them holding them up.
They say that Auvergnats have a reputation of being près de leurs sous, as they say around here. But Auvergnats have nothing on a Normandy Solicitor.
Solicitors in FRance are allowed to act as Estate Agents and their price calculation is worked out on the basis of the asking price for the client, plus 6% to cover the expenses of the transaction.
So have a close look at the price of this property for sale in a solicitor’s office.
While I was on the docks just now, another thing that regular readers of this rubbish might recall is the piles of shipping containers that arrived for the people rebuilding the harbour gates.
You can se what they have done with them – made two walls and put a roof of sorts over the top.
And I can’t say that I blame them either what with this weather that we have been having.
After lunch I had a few things to do, and then I went off for my afternoon walk.
And I was right yesterday about “Spring is Sprung”.
Regular readers of this rubbish will recall me mentioning the topiary guy the other weeK. He’s been back and cut the bushes and this gave me an opportunity to inspect them.
And sure enough – the first buds of 2018 are out already, although you might not believe it given the weather that we have just been having.
There are also hundreds (and I am not joking either) of Primary School kids wandering around Granville at the moment in the company of dozens of adults. Being a firm believer in “if you want to know the answer, you have to ask the question” and so having buttonholed a teacher I was told that it’s “Classe de Découvert” – discovery class, and the kids (at least, those to whom i was talking) had come from Nancy for the week.
But when was the last time that you heard of British kids being sent halfway across the country for a week for a Discovery Class?
Tea was stuffed peppers and spicy rice again, and then my evening walk.
And now I’m off to bed – see where I end up tonight, hey?
