Tag Archives: baguette

Friday 12th May 2017 – ONCE MORE …

… I’m stuck on the sofa unable to move.

Today has been another one of those days where I’ve worked my whatsits off.

as I mentioned last night, I had my shower and then ended up in my beautiful, comfortable, exciting bed with all of my nice, clean, new bedding. And it was so nice to be in there too – so how do you explain the 02:15 awakening and the fact that I couldn’t go back to sleep again for what seemed like hours?

Nevertheless, I had to be up and about something-like as the telephone man was due to call “sometime between 08:00 and 09:00”. And sure enough, at 08:37 (I checked the time) he turned up at the door.

We had a little difficulty with something that didn’t work quite right and it took a while to resolve the issue. But by 10:30 I had the internet and, just as soon as I can buy a telephone, I’ll have a telephone line too.

That was the cue to nip out rather smartish- like and buy a baguette before they all sold out. And then the work began. Almost everything (and certainly everything big) from IKEA came out of Caliburn and is now upstairs in the apartment. It took me quite a few trips to do it but there we are.

having done all of that I set to work to build the big cupboard that will be facing the front door. The purpose of this is to create a little alcove where one can take off one’s wet coat and shoes without traipsing all kinds of muck through the place. “Not like you!” I hear you say, but I have changed … "and about time too" – ed.

The unit wasn’t complicated to assemble, but it took a lot of effort because it’s 2m35 tall, so I’m glad that I brought my steps with me. And the mirrored doors that I have chosen – they were flaming heavy too and I had to invent a contraption to jack them up to the required height – without any of the D-i-Y aids that I would have had in the Auvergne too.

But the heavy doors – now here’s the rub. I want the unit to be free-standing, side-on to the wall and facing the front door (eventually there will be a dresser back-to-back with it) but the doors are so heavy that when they are open, they tilt the unit forwards and over. That’s clearly no good.

At the moment I have it weighted down with a load of stuff that is yet to be tidied away, but it seems that tomorrow I’ll have to buy some drill bits and wall anchors.

That took me until 14:00 anyway and despite the fact that it’s not quite finished, I called it a morning and made lunch.

After lunch, I attacked the other unit. That’s a posh shelving unit like the other one that I assembled yesterday but this has some drawers and glass doors to display the family heirlooms. That one was flaming complicated with all kinds of shenanigans but it’s all done now and it really does look quite impressive – just what I wanted.

But I was too tired to finish off the big unit, to put the stuff in the posh unit or to assemble the other two chairs that I brought up. Aching everywhere because some of this stuff that I carried upstairs was flaming heavy.

So tomorrow I’ll finish it off and then go and do some shopping.

But let’s hope that I have a better night tonight. After all, I didn’t pay all of this money for nothing, did I?

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Thursday 11th May 2017 – I ENDED UP …

… not going to bed – or to sofa – very early at all. In fact, just as I was about to retire someone came on line and we ended up having a very long chat about all kinds of things – a chat that went on for a couple of hours. It was after 12:00 by the time that I retired, and that’s not something that’s happening too often these days as you know.

Nevertheless, I was awake quite early – long before the alarm – but it took me quite a while to summon up the energy to leave my stinking pit. It wasn’t easy, I promise you. and it took me ages to pluck up the courage to go down to the depot de pain for my baguette.

But once I was awake, I was off. And I’ve had another hard-working day today too. I now have two rather large bookcases, ready to bring some more books back from the Auvergne next time I’m there, whenever that might be, and I also now have another quite posh set of shelves.

And I bet that my LPs never ever thought that they would ever see the light of day again, but there they are on the shelves along with the DVDs and CDs that I brought with me (not all of them by a long way) and the Hi-Fi – first time that the Hi-Fi and the LPs, and the DVD and Video players, have seen the light of day since 2011 and how I have missed them … "you’ll need to improve your aim" – ed.

Although that might not sound like too much, what took the time was filling the shelves and rearranging everything. That was quite a work of art and now it can truly be said that the floor is quite reasonably tidy for me.

But it wasn’t like that at one point, because I was at a certain moment up to my knees in cardboard boxes. And I’m not joking either. But now, all of the cardboard has been gathered up from everywhere and there’s a big pile right by the side of the sofa. When the rest of the stuff is brought out of Caliburn (which might be tomorrow – you never know) I can move the empty cardboard down into Caliburn and head off to the dechetterie.

Rosemary rang me up later this afternoon for a chat – all of … errr … 1 hour and 11 minutes. I like talking to Rosemary and it’s good to talk to her, especially when we are putting the world to rights. And it seems to need it just now, doesn’t it?

So now, I’m going to have a shower. And there’s a good reason for this – namely that tonight I can finally go to sleep on my new bed. All new bedding, quilts and pillows too, and you have no idea just how much I’ve been looking forward to this. That’s why I’m going to pretty myself up and smell properly for a change.

It’s a shame to ruin the new bed, isn’t it?

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Wednesday 10th May 2017 – I’M WHACKED YET AGAIN …

… but at least I have more furniture and the place is a little more tidy.

Once again, I fell asleep watching my film. And once again I was off on my travels – with a welcome return of Zero, who has accompanied me on many of my nocturnal voyages in the past. I was in Stoke on Trent at the house of someone I once knew, and it was a total mess with rubbish and filth absolutely everywhere – the kind of conditions in which not even I could live, and that’s saying something. I’d been looking after Zero and after she had gone to bed I’d washed my socks and undies in the sink and left them on the draining board to dry. But then the couple came back and the woman expressed surprise, if not anger, at seeing my washing there. I did explain that I didn’t expect them back until long after I had awoken, but that cut no ice. So then it was a case of looking for the bread. But in every cupboard that I opened, it was full of cake – a kind of yellowy raisin cake – and as you opened a cupboard door, the action caused a pile of cake to fall out on the floor, so they just picked it up off the disgusting floor and put it back.

This morning I was awake long before the alarm went off and breakfast was yet again early. I had a good relax but at 08:30 nipped out to the depot de pain to pick up my baguette.

And so to work.

It took three trips to bring up the shelving for the kitchen. And much longer than I expected to assemble it. But what took even longer was to fill it with everything. I never realised just how much tinned food I had. It’s going to take me a year to eat all of it. But the pile of stuff that you saw on the floor nearest the camera in the photo from a couple of weeks ago – that is no more. It’s all on the shelves and there’s room to move about.

After lunch I attacked the kitchen table. That was an expensive piece of kit and weighs a ton. I had to open all of the packets and bring it up bit by bit. It took ages to assemble and I needed a crane to move it, but it’s a really good size (160×70 with two drop-down leaves) and has 6 drawers built in. As you know, storage is a big issue here.

It needs an oilcloth on it but that’s for Saturday when I’m out and about. In the meantime it is covered by the plastic sheet from off the mattress. That should protect it.

And that’s not all either. There was still time before knocking off to assemble a couple of chairs. I’ve bought four to go with my table and there are two now assembled – one in the kitchen area and the other in the bedroom for now.

Talking of the bedroom, I’m having another night on the sofa. I found a label for the mattress and this told me that the waiting period for sleeping on it is 72 hours. I want it to be the best possible, so another day won’t hurt. But I am looking forward to sleeping on it.

But as for sleeping, I did have a little … errr … relax after I finished the table and before I attacked the chairs.

With the kitchen table I’ve arranged it so that it’s by the sink and I can use it as a worktop. It was nice to have a place where I could properly fix a meal.

So now it’s an early night yet again. And hope that I might be able to watch a film all the way through.

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Tuesday 9th May 2017 – BLIMEY!

These knives that I bought at IKEA yesterday aren’t half sharp. I cut myself three times today making lunch – once with the big bread knife slicing open the baguette and twice with the little one slicing my tomato. They are so sharp that in fact you don’t feel yourself being cut.

But you certainly feel it afterwards.

As seems to be the usual situation here, I fell asleep in the middle of the film. And it was still dark when I awoke. I’d been on my travels too, driving a vehicle somewhere and in doing a three-point turn in someone’s draiveway I’d bumped his vehicle. He was an old naggy guy and his wife was an old naggy woman too. his vehicle was a rusty wreck but I couldn’t argue my way out of any liability and so we settled by my paying him £20:00. And it was then once I’d given him the cash that he told me that his vehicle had been bumped in exactly the same place a week ago and that the insurance company was to pay him for the damage.

After an early breakfast and having had a little relax, I attacked the bed. And it’s now finished -and when the mattress has finished expanding (tomorrow evening, I reckon) I can go to sleep on it.

But it took me all day to do the bed instead of the hour or so that I was hoping, because it was dismantled into all kinds of fiddly little bits and pieces that took ages to find, ages to sort out and ages to fix. And I ended up with a bad back too so I had to go and sit down for an hour or two in between.

Not only that, I had to go out for my bank appointment at 13:30 seeing as how it was arranged for 14:00. And i’ve found a short cut down into town too so it didn’t take me long to get there.

The appointment dragged on and on though – well more than 90 minutes and I had to send out for some water. I could drop off my insurance certificate on the estate agents and then walk back up the hill. It was so hot that I had to stop for a breather on the way up, and it was a good job that I had bought a bottle of water.

So now the bed’s finished, and tomorrow night I’ll be sleeping on it. So it’s the sofa again tonight.

But before I go, I’ll just mention the baguette. You might recall me moaning about it the other day – the bread from the depot de pain at the newsagent’s. It seems that I picked up the wrong baguette there.They do have the standard ones, and at a more-democratic €0:90 too. I just didn’t see them the other day.

So now I know.

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Saturday 6th May 2017 – THIS SOFA …

… isn’t all that bad to sleep on. It’s slightly too short so I have to curl up a little and my neck aches slightly if I’m not in a good position, but I’ve slept in far worse places far more uncomfortably than this. It’ll do fine for a few days, and again whenever it’s necessary.

I fell asleep watching the film last night – same as usual, and I was off on my travels again. On a long-distance bus going to Crewe and I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to alight, and I was astonished that the conductor never came to collect my fare until we turned off Nantwich Road into Edleston Road, so that put paid to my idea of asking him about where I should alight.

I was awake long before the alarm went off but it took me a while to pluck up the strength to leave my nice warm and comfortable sofa. And it was a delight to have nice cold soya milk, nice cold grapefruit juice and all of that, although I have realised that I don’t have any glasses. A bit of a miscalculation there, I reckon. I’ll have to sort through the boxes that I brought with me that originated from my flat in Belgium in 2011.

At 08:30 I went out through the driving rain down to the newsagents where there’s a depot de pain. His baguettesare quite expensive and not very good value. I shall have to see what I can do about bread in the long term because I’m not sure how sustainable this idea of the depot de pain is going to be for my projects.

And I had a laugh on the way back. The rain really was dreadful and some old codger actually stopped in his car and offered me a lift back. But I was only 50 yards away so I declined. But it was interesting to say the least.

That’s the only time that I set foot outside my door today. For the rest of the time I’ve spent trying to tidy up and sort out my stuff. If you remember the piles that were all over the place the other day, it’s now a lot more tidy and there are a lot fewer boxes lying around. They have been … errr … consolidated.

Another thing that I did was to cut my hair. It’s been getting too long. And I’ve had a shave too. There’s hot water now which is really nice and tomorrow I’ll be having a shower. That will be nice.

Tea was another cooking on the portable halogen hob and it worked a treat too. A tinned curry with rice and everything.

I’m going to have another go at watching a film now. Let’s see if I can watch it right through to the end.

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Wednesday 26th April 2017 – THAT’S TWO MORE …

… ruins crossed off the list this morning.

Two new constructions of which I would have been the first inhabitant.

The first one was a nice apartment but the finishing was terrible. They had installed the kitchen unit and then painted the walls with the result that half of the paint was on the unit. And they hadn’t painted behind the unit either, which gave me a good chance to look at the plasterboard. It wasn’t “hydro” plasterboard but cheap 10mm stuff that wouldn’t last five minutes once it became wet (which is an odds-on certainty behind a kitchen unit). It wouldn’t have been so bad had they tiled it, or even painted it, but that was a load of rubbish and I’m not becoming involved with those kinds of issues.

The second one was a studio, nice and big, but with the black damp already rising out of the floor – and in a new untenanted studio too.

So no danger of me moving into anywhere here.

garden gnome brehal manche normandy franceBut I was disappointed about these apartments anyway, because there is someone living just across the road from here that has a similar kind of sense of humour as me, and that’s something quite rare in France, isn’t it?

This isn’t all that was on display either. The whole garden front, sides and back, was covered in garden ornaments. And I have to be honest and say that the idea of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, a pile of sprouting mushrooms and half a dozen tuinkabouwters living in the immediate vicinity is one that would appeal to me.

old railway station ancienne gare brehal manche normandy franceThat’s not the only exciting thing here in the vicinity either. This building is actually just across the car park from the building that I was visiting, and regular readers of this rubbish will recognise this for what it is.

It is of course a railway station.

Brehal did once have a railway service, on the line between Granville and Conde sur Vire. Opened in 1909, it was another one of these ephemeral local lines – a tacot with a narrow gauge of one metre.

Ephemeral it certainly was. Not quite matching the 8 years of railway line between Pionsat and Gouttieres, it struggled on for a grand total of 32 years, closing officially in 1941 due to “wartime conditions” and never reopening.

However, I have seen in someone’s memoirs a story that it closed in the mid-1930s and that the rails were removed some time round about 1937-38

I’d had a bad night again – not comfortable in my new bed. And far too much noise for my liking. Despite switching off the film early last night, I couldn’t go to sleep and that’s the thing that always puts me in a bad mood.

After breakfast I hit the streets to Brehal to see these ruins, and then wandered off to the bank for some money. And found myself passing a launderette. I was having a free morning, and I had a pile of dirty clothes in Caliburn and having found the washing soap when I had Caliburn stripped out the other day, I spend a pleasant hour in the launderette with a good book while my washing was going round.

Having picked up a baguette, I headed for the beach. Far too windy and hailstormy to sit outside but I did profit by pulling about 6 months worth of rubbish out of Caliburn and dumping it in a waste bin.

oyster beds coudeville plage manche normandy franceAnd having a good look at the oyster beds out here too. With the tide being quite low right now, you can actually see them.

While I was eating my butty I had an interesting exchange of text messages –
“Why didn’t you say hello to me?”
“What?”
“When you walked past me just now”
“Did I just walk past you?”
“Yes you did!”
“Where was that?”
“On the car park”
“Which one?”
“The one right outside the sous-prefecture“.
“But I wasn’t there”
“Where are you?”
“Sitting by the seaside in Brehal in Normandy”
“Ohh dear – I’ve texted the wrong number! Sorry”.

Back here, I sat outside in the verandah with a good book and a coffee for a while. And then I made my tea in the kitchen in the garage.

But I’m really fed up with this. Not only do I have the landlady sitting watching me while I eat my breakfast, she came to watch over me while I cooked and ate my tea. And I’m not comfortable in my new quarters either.

I can’t be doing with this. It’s the cheapest place in the whole of Normandy and it’s easy to see why. I’m moving on on Sunday morning – and I don’t care where to – and it will be a cold day in hell before I ever come back here.

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Tuesday 25th April 2017 – I HAD ONE OF THOSE DAYS …

… where I did nothing at all of any note.

After my early night (and falling asleep yet again in the middle of a film) I had an early morning – like 05:40. And I was up and about by 06:20. This really is becoming ridiculous.

Once breakfast was out of the way I didn’t do very much at all – just took it easy and lazed about.

There was a reason for that too – in that it was raining. First rain that we have had since I can’t remember when. Several weeks, at least. maybe even when i was exploring in Verdun a month or so ago. I really can’t remember.

However the sun did come out eventually and I plucked up the courage to go off and buy a baguette in Brehal. I could even sit and eat my butty and drink my coffee outside here, fighting off the cat who insisted to try to push the tray off my lap and climb on instead.

This afternoon though, I had things to do.

As you know, I’ve packed Caliburn upside-down. The things that were easy to hand went in first and the more difficult things went in last. That meant that my cheque book (which I shall need at the weekend) was right at the bottom.

Consequently, I unpacked Caliburn and eventually retrieved it. It really was right at the bottom too and took some finding. But tidying up in there has made much more space and I even found a few other things that will come in handy in the immediate future. I did forget to look for my nail scissors though.

Tea was more of the kidney bean whatsit that I made last night, and now I have to pack.

Yes, I’m moving, but not very far. I’m in a little apartment here that has two bedrooms, a kitchen/diner and bathroom. But it’s let until the end of the week to people who need both of the bedrooms.

But there’s a bedroom in the main part of the house with a sink and so on, and the landlady has rigged me up a kettle and so on in there. And there’s a kitchen in the garage space which is used by people who camp here in summer (there isn’t anyone at the moment) and I can use that.

It’s only until Saturday night, and then I have to move on. I really do hope that one of these ruins that I’m seeing tomorrow is up to the task. I’m totally fed up of having to keep on moving house like this – one day here, two days there.

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Friday 2&st April 2017 – HAVING FALLEN …

… asleep early last night in the middle of the film that I was watching, I was wide-awake at 05:30 and up and about drinking a coffee at 06:20, long before breakfast.

Breakfast was another one of those discussion mornings and I’m really not up to that at all so early in the morning. I cleared off rather quickly into my little room where I had a few things to do, including to write a letter (and I’ll have to hope that the printer that I have brought with me in Caliburn is up to the job).

What with one thing and another, it was almost midday when I managed to leave here, and by the time I reached Bent-Tin Ci … errr … Netto at Brehal, all of the bread had gone.

But never mind. The Super U was around the corner and I bought a baguette there. 2 minutes to choose my baguette and about an hour to pay for it. And I’d probably still be there now had a woman not let me pass in front of her at the check-out queue.

plage les salines bricqueville sur mer manche normandy franceHaving organised lunch, I headed off for the tidal road and the sand dunes at les Salines by Bricqueville sur Mer where I went the other day.

There were quite a few people there today and several children, all of whom were having loads of fun in the sun and wind. I made my butties and I can now understand why they are called SANDwiches.

at least I had some more vegan cheese that I had bought in Leuven. Spreading paste or hummus here would have been interesting.

boat into water slipway plage les salines bricqueville sur mer manche normandy franceHaving eaten my butties and fruit I lay down out of the wind as much as I could to have a nice doze in the sun, because it really was a warm day.

However, my little doze didn’t last too long, and it wasn’t the kids who awoke me either. We had a big tractor that turned up on the slipway in mid-afternoon, and it was towing a rather large cabin-cruiser-type of boat

boat into water slipway plage les salines bricqueville sur mer manche normandy franceAnd that wasn’t the only excitement either.

Coming up from the southern direction from Saint-Martin-le-Vieux was another tractor that was towing another boat.

This wasn’t a cabin cruiser or anything like that but it seemed to be a small fishing boat. We’ve seen plenty of them out there fishing but I wouldn’t have expected them to have gone into the water at a place like this

boat into water slipway plage les salines bricqueville sur mer manche normandy franceThe larger cabin cruiser was however first in the queue to be launched, and the procedure gathered quite a crowd because it was really was quite a complicated procedure.

If you look very closely at the image, you’ll notice that the tractor that pulled the boat down the slipway has cleared off and we’ve acquired another, different type, something like the tractors that have big wheels and are high off the ground for working in the vinyards.

boat into water slipway plage les salines bricqueville sur mer manche normandy franceAnd so eventually the trailer with the cabin cruiser was shunted into the water and the cabin cruiser floated free and cleared off.

It really looked as if the fishing boat was to be next, but the tractor pulled it up the slipway and they cleared off into the sunset.

It wasn’t long before I cleared off in the sunset too. The sun started to go lower in the sky and the wind was going colder and colder. You can only stick it out for so long, as the bishop said to the actress, and I came back here.

It’s hard to read a book and drink a coffee when a cat wants to sit on your knee, and it goes without saying that the cat won in the end. But then I came back in here.

Tea was the last of the stuff that I had made the other night, lengthened with a tin of green beans. And now I’m ready for yet another early night.

And it goes without saying that the two phone calls from estate agents that I was expecting today – not one of them called me back.

What a shower!

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Wednesday 19th April 2017 – I HAD A …

cat BRICQUEVILLE SUR MER manche normandy france… spectator while I was making my tea tonight.

Old, creaking, grey around the edges and more than just a little mangy.

But that’s enough about me – let’s talk about the cat. He’s seen better days of course (but then, haven’t we all) but he is friendly and enjoys his little cuddles. It takes a lot to move him from his comfy seat in the verandah, but then any kind of activity in the kitchen usually works for any animal.

Last night I was asleep long before the end of the film that I was watching (I can’t even remember what it was now … "it was Fantomas Contre Scotland Yard with Louis de Funes" – ed …) and slept right through without awakening until about 06:30.

Breakfast was quite a simple affair – exactly what I had specified – but I couldn’t do with the landlady insisting on engaging me with conversation at some silly time of the morning. I don’t do mornings, as you know.

This morning I cracked on with a few things that needed doing and then I wandered off to buy a baguette for lunch. And good luck in Bent Tin City … errrr … I mean Netto. Not only was the baguette cooked properly, I managed to find some vegan salad dressing. I forgot to mention yesterday that every salad dressing in the LeClerc yesterday had milk in it, and I just don’t understand that at all. Mind you, Netto is renowned for catering to the … errr … budget-conscious, so that’s where you’ll find the basest products.

And the basest customers too – especially after this morning.

st martin le vieux manche normandy franceIt was pretty windy on the seafront at Bricqueville sur Mer and so I headed off down the coast. Eventually, I ended up at St martin le Vieux.

Here on the promenade, I managed to find a little spec out of the wind where I could sit on a bench and make my butties, as well as read my book for a while.

I know that I’m supposed to be working but I’m not as young (or as fit) as I used to be and I need to take things carefully

st martin le vieux manche normandy franceAll in all, I was there for an hour or so and I would have been there even now, except that the sun went in and it started to become quite cold. I didn’t fancy staying out there much longer.

But at least there’s a good view of the rock of Granville away down there, and you can see Donville le Bains in at the head of the bay down there. I’m still lamenting on that dreadful studio that I saw there, with one foot in the sea, but I do have my pride and I haven’t come here to live in a slum.

sheep bricqueville sur mer manche normandy franceI headed back up the coast to the seafront at Bricqueville but was interrupted by a herd of sheep moving about. It’s a tidal road like the one that we encountered in New Brunswick in 2011 and apparently the sheep know when the tide is turning, for they head off to the high ground.

Once they had cleared off I drove down to the parking area where I … errr … closed my eyes for a short while. This is getting to be rather too much of a habit, isn’t it?

When I awoke, the wind had dropped and so I went off to sit on the beach amongst the dunes for a while – with my book. No-one was more surprised than me to see that I was still there at 16:40. I was quite comfortable there.

Back here, I had a good search through Caliburn for some papers. I didn’t find the ones that I wanted but I found some others of equal importance which is just as well. And I found some stuff for tea too. Lentils and veg in a tomato sauce with pasta – and piles of it too, enough for the next few days. My spectator enjoyed the scene anyway.

So I’ll have another early night, and try to watch the rest of my film tonight. See how far I get, hey?

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Monday 17th April 2017 – I FELL ASLEEP …

… in the middle of Carry on Spying last night.It just goes to show you how tired I was.

And it was a deep sleep too. I remember very little until about 06:20 this morning. I must have been really tired, that’s all that I can say.

I wasn’t hungry this morning so I passed on breakfast. Instead, I had a few things that needed dealing with on the laptop. and once I’d organised that, I decided to go for a walk.

jullouville granville manche normandy franceIt’s only about 50 or so metres to the promenade from here. And although the weather wasn’t the best (whatever happened to the sunshine that greeted me yesterday?) it wasn’t all that windy, just for a change.

There’s a good view of Granville right over there in the distance to the left. About 6 kms away, so they say, and maybe they are right too. But I didn’t fancy going for a walk all that way this morning.

carolles plage jullouville manche normandy franceNow that looks more like it, though. Carolles-Plage is 2 or 3 kilometres down there (it looks a lot closer with the telephoto lens) and I enjoyed my visit there the other day when I was driving around.

As long as the weather holds out, it should be a nice walk all the way down there and there’s a café, if I remember.
An early-morning cuppa will do me good.

metal detecting jullouville manche normandy franceBut I can’t leave here without taking a photo of the people on the beach? We saw a few the other day at Agon-Countainville and we weren’t sure what they were doing.

But there’s no doubt whatever about what these people are up to. They aren’t raking around for shellfish or anything like that, they are metal-detecting. and finding one or two things too by the looks of it.

And knowing what is washed ashore on the beaches of Normandy every now and again, they might be in for something or a surprise too one of these days.

jullouville carolles plage manche normandy franceafter a kilometre or so, the promenade gives out and you have to descend onto the beach.

It’s quite hard work walking on loose sand (well, it is for me these days anyway) and so I headed down to the waterline, otherwise I might find myself in Dire Straits.

Luckily the tide was still out at the moment (but on its way in, I noticed) and so I could find some firm sand upon which to walk.

jullouville carolle plage manche normandy franceDown at the headland at the end of the beach were a few clefts in the cliffs. I was planning to creep in but there were too many watery ponds and loose rocks about and I didn’t really fancy the idea.

Instead, I went and had the most expensive coffee that I have had for a long time – all €3:00 of it. There is a downside to coming to live at the seaside, especially in the middle of the tourist season.

But I needed the break and to sit and relax. It was a long way down to here.

jullouville manche normandy francehaving refreshed myself appropriately and had a little repose, I headed back slowly up the beach, dodging the incoming tide. And it was a slow wander back too because I was feeling rather weary and had to stop a few times to catch my breath.

It gave me an opportunity to examine the sea front at Jullouville though, and I noticed several apartment buildings,
or blocks of flats, along the seafront. I shall have to go for another wander tomorrow and make suitable enquiries.

I’m sure that something will present itself.

boat in bay granville manche normandy franceThere was something white on the sea away in the distance somewhere round about St Pair sur Mer. And with a decent zoom lens you can actually enlarge, crop and paste so that you can see what it is.

It’s some kind of cabin cruiser out there, and that’s turned out to be a nice photograph, with Granville away there in the background.

What wouldn’t I give for an apartment in a block of flats over there? Preferably one that doesn’t have a hedge screening the view.

I picked up a couple of baguettes (one for tea) from a boulanger who knows how to bake bread properly, and then I headed off to the Tourist Information Office to pick up a brochure on holiday lets. I need to make further plans for the next few months.

kite surfing jullouville manche normandy franceI took my bread and salad stuff down to the promenade so that I could sit and eat my butty as the sun had now finally come out.

And here right in front of me was a guy kite-surfing. There were a few of them actually, but he was the one closest to the shore so I took a photo.

I was also engaged in conversation by a rather vocal local yokel, of which there seem to be several hanging around in the neighbourhood. It’s quite easy to spot the dikkeneks from Paris and single them out from the yokels who live around here.

Back here in my little room I made a start on doing something, but the next thing that I remembered was that it was 16:25 – I’d had a good doze off, and for a couple of hours too. That walk had taken it right out of me, as things seem to do these days.

It was a shame to waste the sunlight and so I went back out for a stroll around the town and on the beach. And then returned here for tea -the rest of my vegetables and the second baguette.

Now I shall be trying for another go at Carry on Spying but I’m sure that I’ll probably go to sleep long before I … ZZZZZZZ

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Tuesday 11th April 2017 – I’VE JUST HAD ….

… the most extraordinary proposition put to me.

And no, Rhys, it’s not like that. And it doesn’t involve sheep either.

I went to see two more ruins this morning. And I was quite right too. One was really beautiful, with a magnificent view out to sea and the price wasabout right too. But it was furnished, and furnished too in the worst possible taste, and it was thoroughly filthy. Not even I as a tenant would leave an apartment in this kind of state. We shan’t talk about the kitchen either.

But it was the other one in the same building that really got me. It was another studio – which was superficially larger. But all of the difference and more was taken up by a totally pointless hall d’entrée and I didn’t understand that at all.

And worse was to come. For it had a balcony, which the one at the top didn’t have, but this was on the first floor and it had a stunning view of the car park and the high hedge that screened it from the view of the sea.

But there was one thing that totally shocked me – and it does take a lot to do that, I’ll tell you. There had been transfers or patches stuck on the wall, and it was impossible to remove them. "Don’t worry" said the estate agent. "The landlord will buy the paint and you can paint over them". At that, I turned on my heels and walked out.

Some, if not all of these landlords whom I have encountered, are living on a totally different planet than I am, and I’m sure that it’s not me who is devoid of reality. I expect a clean and tidy apartment in good order and good repair in a respectable building – that’s a prime consideration. But clearly many of these landlords – and many of the tenants too, I shouldn’t wonder – have totally different ideas than I have. Whatever is the world coming to?

So last night I slept the Sleep of the Dead and it wasn’t until the alarm went off that I staggered to my feet. 10 minutes under the shower soon restored me to life (well, sort-of, anyway) and I was glad that I wasn’t having breakfast because I wasn’t hungry in the least. I headed off instead through the fog and mist and the roadworks (of which there were more than just a few) for my rendezvous with destiny.

The esate agent had a bit of a moan about dropping me of at the railway station but then she can’t pick and choose her clients either.

sncf gare de granville manche normandy franceI had a long wait for my train so I had plenty of time to relax and buy a coffee – but then it was worth the wait because it was a very modern diesel mutiple-unit. A bit lightweight and it rolled around quite a lot, but on the other hand the seats were super-comfortable and there were plenty of power points all over the place.

My neighbours were a young woman and her two kids who were pleying an exciting game of cards all the way to Paris. It certainly kept them amused and out of mischief for a while.

Lunch was the baguette that I had bought last night for this morning’s breakfast, together with the bowl of mint couscous that I had bought from LeClerc on Saturday, washed down with sparkling water that I had brought with me. Very acceptable.

The Paris metro was the usual incomprehensible maze, worsened by the fact that one half of the metro station at Montparnasse is cloed for renovation – and it’s the half that I need. Consequently it’s a bit all round the houses to reach the Gare du Nord.

tgv paris gare du mord france bruxelles midi belgium We had an exciting few minutes of security alert as someone had forgotten their luggage in the waiting room, and then we were all ready to board out train – the one on the right of course.

There’s one of these stupid security checks that you have to pass before boarding the train these days – and that’s the kind of thing that gets on my nerves as you all well-know. But at least I had a comfortable seat on the train and I was quite undisturbed.

Imagine my surprise on arriving at Bruxelles Gare du Midi to discover that there was a train for leuven pulling in right at that moment. That involved something of a sprint but nevertheless I leapt aboard, as did another family who immediately discovered that they had leapt aboard the wrong train.

I was okay though and ended up being decanted in Leuven much earlier than anticipated.

verbond van belgische tuinbouwcooperaties belgium april avril 2017Walking around the ring road towards where I’m staying tonight, I noticed this sign on a wall by a door to a building.

Verbond is “Association”, tuin is “garden”, bouw is “building” and cooperatie is “co-operative”. And so I’m wondering if this building is the headquarters of the Association for people who share garden sheds with other people.

belgium march mars 2017My early arrival gave me time to visit the Colruyt supermarket down the road to stock up with breakfast material, which is good news.

And my trip down the road took me past a fritkot that advertised a terrace, so on the way back I stopped for tea. The terrace is hardly the most exciting terrace in the world as you can see, but it was nice to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air

I’m not staying in my usual hostel but in a flat-hotel place called the Condo Gardens. Here I have my own tiny little studio and although breakfast isn’t included, it’s totally self-sufficient.

And I do hope that the bed is comfy because I’m ready for it.

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Sunday 9th April 2017 – WHAT WITH …

… my late night last night, I was looking forward to a decent, long sleep without an alarm to bother me. And so there I was, wide awake eventually, thinking that I can’t stay lying in bed for ever and wandering around the kitchen when I noticed the time – 08:30.

Yes, quite!

But after breakfast I started going through the room putting the less-essential stuff into one of my big blue IKEA bags to take down to Caliburn later in the day. And there was a fair bit to go too. It also gave me an opportunity to tidy up a little and do some more cleaning which you all know isn’t my strong point.

Once that was organised I went down to the boulangerie from where I bought that good baguette the other day. And it was bizarre, if not downright amusing, to see the difference in people’s tastes, with loads of people all coming and going in different directions carrying their favourite baguettes from their favourite boulangerie.

plage casino granville manche normandy franceFor lunch I made myself the usual sandwich and then toddled off to my favourite spot on the promenade at the back of the casino down at the end of the street to sit in the sun, to eat my butties, read my book and to admire the view.

With it being Sunday and also the hottest day of the year, all of the benches were taken and that meant a pretty uncomfortable lunchtime break.

plage casino granville manche normandy france I had to stand up in the sun, leaning on the wall, to eat my butties, read my book and admire the view. And to also rue the fact that, as I had mentioned yesterday, I have all of this beach furniture and I’ve managed to leave it all behind back in my barn in the Auvergne.

Normally, you might think that that will teach me lesson. But it’s far from being the first time that something like this has happened, and it will be far from the last time either.

There’s only so much time that you can spend standing up, and so back here, I had a little doze for half an hour and then hit toe road for Liz and Terry’s new place at Roncey. We had a delicious pie followed by ginger cake for tea, and hats off to Liz who had conjured that up out of nothing and cooked it in the oven in the caravan, because she has no kitchen.

In the fog and mist and in the dark I came back later. And it’s nice to be able to drive at full speed down narrow lanes without worrying whether you are going to hit a sanglier or a chevreuil.

So now its bedtime – my last night here. Tomorrow I have to find a hotel and that will be exciting. I’ve forgotten that it’s the Easter break.

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5th April 2017 – WELL THAT’S ANOTHER …

residence l'ermitage manche normandy france… complete and utter waste of an afternoon as far as I am concerned.

Somewhere in that big building down there on the seasfront in the distance at Donville-les-Bains is a studio to let.
Vue sur mer so they told me, and so I went to look this afternoon in the company of an estate agent.

Vue sur mer there certainly is, but not the vue sur mer that I was hoping to have, but I do realise that I shall have to make compromises.

It’s a old hotel by the looks of things that’s been converted into studios and apartments, and the first thing that I noticed was that the building has seen much better days.There’s been no process of renovation for about 30 years by the looks of things.

And then the front doors to the building were wide open. And in a holiday resort too. That’s not a good plan as far as security goes.

It’s also one of these rabbit warrens, with about 10 apartments and studios on the same floor. It’s not going to be quiet.

As for the studio itself, it is only small – 23M² – but that doesn’t bother me as it is less to clean. But half of that is in the bathroom – which is totally silly if you ask me.

And the rest is … well … derelict is probably too strong a term to use, but it’s definitely seen much better days as far as the decoration goes.

The kitchen is like something out of the 1950s. One of those silly units with the sink with cupboard underneath and the ancient cooker elements right on top of the fridge so the ice cream melts when you are trying to cook something. And there’s no possibility of inventing something different.

Don’t get me wrong though – the price was right at €280 per month, but I want something with much more style than this. My days of slumming it in all kinds of disreputable accommodation are long-gone. I’ve earned a comfortable retirement.

Last night was a slightly better night and although it took ages to go off to sleep, I was away with the fairies until the alarm awoke me. High time that I managed that.

I like the idea of the really cold stuff in the fridge. It’s beautiful for breakfast. And two mugs of coffee too. Luxury. And then I had a relax for a while.

Later on I had a good walk looking for another boulangerie and the baguette in this one is the best to date. Far from perfect, but an improvement on the others.

After lunch we had the appointment at Donville-les-Bains and then back here at Granville I made an exciting discovery. The ice-cream stall by the casino sells sorbets. expensive, mind you, but I treated myself nevertheless.

And then a climb up the hundred or so stairs to the old town. It took me a while with several stops for breath, but there I was. And I went for a walk around. There’s no boulangerie up there, but a very friendly and garrulous newspaper-shop proprietor up there is a dêpot de pain and he sells bread at 08:00 6 days per week at 08:00. That’s useful to know.

The walk down here, underneath the arch and over the drawbridge, was very nice too. But the climb had worn me out and I had a good hour or so crashing out.

for tea I had the last of my vegan burgers with spuds and mixed veg, followed by the last of the carrot cake and some more soya dessert. That’s a shame. I shall have to start to use my imagination now.

And an early night again. About time, too. Tomorrow is a new day, and we shall see what that brings me.

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Tuesday 4th April 2017 – I THINK THAT IT’S THE FRIDGE …

… that’s causing me my sleeping issues. I had a good night last night up to about 03:40 when I awoke with a bang. The fridge was rattling away like nobody’s business and so I rearranged a few things inside, made sure that the door was properly closed, and then stuck my head back underneath the quilt.

And there I stayed until the alarm awoke me.

After breakfast I relaxed for a good while and then went out to find a baguette. Four different bakers I have tried here, and four awful baguettes that have the constituency of chewing gum. At this rate, I’ll be having to make my own.

Lunch was partaken in here seeing as how it was misty and damp outside. And then we hit the streets.

I headed south through St Pair sur Mer to Jullouville and Carolle. And apart from a couple of beautiful beaches (especially Carolle-Plage where I stopped for half an hour and read a book) there was nothing of interest.

Mind you, we did have an exciting time at the Square-Immo offices in Jullouville. Yours Truly arrives just as the estate agent is departing. He looks at me – and I look at him.
After a minute’s pause – “well, can I come in?”
“No” replied the estate agent. “I’m just leaving” and he ushered me out of the door.

And they say that there’s a recession ongoing in Western Europe. Is it any surprise when they heave customers out of their shops like this?

So dodging the raindrops, I drove across Granville to Breville. And there was nothing there either. It’s all looking a bit miserable.

However there were two camp-sites and so I made enquiries. This idea of parking up a caravan for the summer and seeing what the winter brings is certainly not impossible. While I have paid less for accommodation in the recent past, it does have its attractions from a financial point of view and might save me from embarrassment when I end up with nowhere to live.

I came home via Donville les Bains to have another look around at the place. It certainly has its attractions too and I shall look a little further into this.

I had vegan burgers for tea, with potatoes and veg. Followed by more vegan carrot cake and soya cream. Now I’m ready for anything – but bed is the most likely.

Despite having had a decent sleep last night, I’m still worn out. It’s taking its toll of me.

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Tuesday 14th March 2017 – YOU MIGHT …

… or, more likely, might not … be wondering where I’ve been for the last few days. Well, almost a week in fact.

The truth is that I have had a very (un)pleasant stay amid the local facilities of the town of Verdun.

No, not the Nick, Rhys, the local hospital.

I was rushed in there on Wednesday night/Thursday morning after the landlady of the Hotel du Tigre found me flaked out in my bed having had the most serious relapse to date. She promptly called for an ambulance.

There was no internet in the hospital and somehow my telephone had become damaged so I was out of touch.

Anyway, they threw me out this morning and a taxi took me back to the hotel.

I’m still not 100% fit – far from it, in fact – so I had a slow, steady drive southwards and ended up at Bar-le-Duc where I bought a baguette and made myself a butty.

On my way through the town I’d seen an “Orange” boutique and so when it opened after lunch I trotted off round there to see what they could do about my phone. I’d managed to clean it up and dry it out but the keyboard wasn’t working, so I hoped that they could do something about it.

Nothing that they could do on the spot so repair would involve sending it away, and the hourly charge was something rather ludicrous. However, my contract has only one month to go before renewal and on renewal I would be entitled to a new telephone at a discount price. One or two deft keystrokes and I suddenly found myself the owner of a brand-new Samsung Smartphone, for all of €44:00. About half the price of the postage and minimum repair charge.

Later on, I was back on the road and had a gentle drive across the northern Burgundy mountains as far as Auxerre. This is where the new telephone came in handy because a quick search on the internet told me where the Première Class Hotel was situated – it’s quite a way out of the city.

Hopefully I’ll have a good sleep and a decent breakfast and make myself ready for the next stage of my journey.

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