Tag Archives: coutainville

Tuesday 30th May 2017 – THAT WAS A NICE SURPRISE!

Yes, there I was down in town doing the rounds and I had a ‘phone call (well, I had a few, but there was one in particular). “We’re just off to the beach. Would you like to come along?”

Well, there I was – not had a shower for a few days, not changed my clothes since ditto and not shaved likewise, and even I was noticing it. But as regular readers of this rubbish will recall, that’s never stopped me in the past so I dashed back home to pick up Caliburn.

Last night wasn’t (quite) as late as the previous and once more I’d had difficulty sleeping. I was awake before the alarm went off too. But it was something else to haul myself out of my stinking pit with a bound and a leap. But I eventually crawled out of bed and had breakfast.

Having organised a few things here and there, I headed off to the Bank. I’d needed some cash as I’d run out, and I needed them to put their stamp on the form that I need to send off about my pension payments. Having done that, I headed off to the Post Office and their new self-service machine which is about three times more complicated than queueing at the counter.

And it was here that I had my phone call.

Seeing as I had already bought my baguette I quickly made my butties, and Caliburn and I shot off to La Pointe d’Agon.

liz terry messenger la pointe d'agon manche normandy franceBy the time that I arrived, Liz, Terry, Darren, Kate, Dylan and Robyn had beaten me to it and had already put on the nosebags. With my butties, I sat down with them and joined in the affray.

You’ll probably notice that the weather wasn’t so good. It was cold, overcast and windy but that kind of weather is never going to put kids off visiting the beach, building sandcastles and hunting for impressive seashells.

They weren’t so keen on swimming however and I can’t say that I might blame them.

We had eaten our butties at the side of the car park for two reasons.

  1. You don’t want to get sand in your sandwiches
  2. The tide was in and the beach was submerged

strawberry moose la pointe d'agon manche normandy franceBut by the time that we had finished eating and chatting – which was quite a while because a lot has happened since the last time that I have seen Kate and Darren, the tide had gone out.

It goes out quickly here and quite far too so we set off. Strawberry Moose was with us too, and it’s a long way for him to walk, and so he hitched a ride out across the sand dunes to the water’s edge

strawberry moose pointe d'agon manche normandy franceAnd His Nibs isn’t as light as he might be either, and a 6-year old can soon find him to be something of a burden on a long walk. In the end, Yours Truly ended up carrying him out.

And while we were relaxing, or walking in the water or collecting seas shells, the sun came out and it was a very pleasant afternoon. So much so that round about 16:30 we decided to head off into Agon-Countainville for ice-cream and, in my case, a nice hot coffee.

I came back home later, having called at the Casino for the tomatoes and the pots of fruit purée that I had forgotten on Saturday. Tea was the last helping of the kidney bean and tomato stuff with pasta.

And if I’m not careful, I’ll be having an early night. And tomorrow, I’m sure that I shall find something to do.

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

Sunday 2nd April 2017 – I HAD A NICE …

… walk this afternoon.

Much better than my sleep (or lack thereof) during the night because that wasn’t so good. I’ve no idea why because the bed is quite comfortable and it’s not particularly noisy outside, but nevertheless I couldn’t go to sleep. And when I did, I kept on waking up.

Mind you, with no alarm going off (well, it IS Sunday) it was about 09:15 when I hauled myself out of bed and first thing that I did was to go for a shower.

After breakfast, I hung around for a while and then went down to the end of the road to meet Liz. She took me back to see the house that they have bought about 30 kilometres or so from here in Roncey. It needs a lot of work, like most places do, but it’s down the bottom of a long private drive on a hilltop overlooking a picturesque valley and facing full south. It really is marvellous and has bags of potential.

We had home-made soup and then went off to the seaside at Coutainville. This is one of Liz’s favourite places and I can see why she likes it. We had a look there to see if there was any apartment to let but nothing struck me.

Nevertheless, a nice long walk on the promenade in the beautiful afternoon sun was just what the doctor ordered.

Liz had made vegan burgers and carrot-cake for tea tonight. It was nice to get back into my old habits. Especially as a doggy-bag was made up for me to keep me going for the next day or so – about which I shall have no complaints whatever. And Terry drove me back here afterwards as I was feeling quite exhausted.

It’s nice to see good friends, that’s for sure, and Liz and Terry are among the best. As I have said before, I don’t have many friends but quantity has never been a substitute for quality, and what friends I do have are the best in the world.

Now I’m going to have an early night and hope that I can sleep better than last night.