Seven twenty two. I can hear noise coming from the boat down below in front of the villa. They must have slept on it. The couple did have a couple of visitors, presumably for dinner, last night and interestingly one of them left after a while in a state of agitation. No idea what had been said. The things you see. I avoided eye contact.
I’m sat on the balcony with a cup of cafe au lait prepared using the espresso machine, more hot water and milk. Feels pretty authentic. It’s cooler out here than the bedroom which is quite stuffy.
Just realised I can see Hotel Normandie and the Casino from where I’m sat. Won’t be visiting either this trip although the former notionally has the best bar in town so it’s not like me.
It struck home last night that Deauville is very much a resort. People just come here for holidays. The winter population of 4,000 grows to 40,000 during the holiday season. Must be totes dead in winter. Bleak, cold windswept. Snice now though 🙂
More racehorses trotting along this morning on the other side of the water. One rider to three saddleless horses. Presumably the riders have saddles. Couldn’t quite see. All part of the vibe.
At the far end of the marina I can see a road cleaning cart brushing its way along, orangey yellow lights flashing away. Gotta keep the place nice looking for the punters. The surface of the water is like glass.
The weather is set to hit thirty again today with a cloudless sky. We are off on a day out to Honfleur. I’ve just read that Honfleur is one of the most popular places to visit in France which doesn’t fill me with confidence regarding finding somewhere to park! Woteva.
You will be aware of Honfleur’s history as a magnet for impressionist artists such as Monet and, well, Monet. It was also where Samuel de Champlain came from and was a big trading port with its ships being involved in cod fishing off Newfoundland (long way to go for a bit of fish) and, less illustriously, the triangular slave trade.
Honfleur is only about half an hour’s drive and there is no rush. This morning I am going to indulge in a bacon baguette. Using lardons. Can’t really get proper bacon in France. It’s okay. When in Rome…
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Back from Honfleur. Lovely place and very easy to understand why it gets so many visiteurs. Historic, interesting, quaint. Streets were somewhat on the narrow side at times. Wouldn’t want to drive into town in a motorhome.
As we arrived in the (a) car park the little tourist train pulled up so we figured we would go on a spin on that first to give us an idea of the place. Don’t bother. Nice enough drive but all they did was take us to a viewing point above town from which all you could see was the river Seine. There was also a nice and very old church there with a stack of exernal bells, one of which was called Pierre. We stopped there for fifteen minutes. Way after everyone was ready to go. It was almost as if the purpose of the tour was just to show the fabulous homes of the rich that lined the hillside. Think Hollywood mansions tour honfleur style.
On the way home we stopped to buy provisions at Intermarche Super. Could also have filled the car up but it was thirty five degrees out and the last thing I wanted to do was stand there at the petrol pumps sweating buckets.
San now on the balcony sans chemise. It is still ot. That is probably us for the day. We have some nice king prawns with salad to fend off starvation later on. It is far too hot to do anything. I have my new book to finish.
The beach is rammed. Well as rammed as it can be in Deauville. The beach here could handle millions of sun worshippers.