Time to move on from Deauville. Figured we would stay the night in Rouen afore catching the boat homeIt is seven thirty five and we don’t need to vacate the premises until eleven so still a bit of chillin on the balcony time. Breakfast is a simple granola, yo’ gurt and berries plus finishing off the Normandy ham wot I bought yesterday.
Never made it to the bar at the Normandie. Another time. Actually we liked Deauville but not sure we would specifically return here to stay overnight. It is a cracking seaside resort and very popular with trendy Parisians but it is really a giant beach with lots of bars and restaurants and a few other holiday type resources such as a golf course, racetrack, tennis courts and watersports.
Now I guess that would do for most but I think I preferred Honfleur for its history and quaintness although you would definitely need a place to stay with onsite parking. We had originally booked Hotel L’Absinthe in Honfleur which did have parking but decided that we would prefer self catering and Deauville came up with the goods.
In Rouen we are staying slap bang in the middle of all the action and have valet parking. Here are the keys my good fellow, or words to that effect. Our bags are more or less packed and we just have an overnighter to take in to the hotel. Sagood system. Will arrive early to take advantage of the fact that umpteen museums and old buildings are located within easy walking distance.
We will be near to place du Vieux-Marché and I anticipate loading up with meats and cheeses to take home though not discussed that with THG. Experience has shown that local markets are fantastic places to buy food. Far better than supermarkets. A bit obvs maybs but it is so.
Horses amble by on the beach opposite. I wonder if any of them were racing yesterday. As we left the hippodrome last night there were quite a few horse boxes in motion. Cracking racetrack btw. We paid twelve Euros to sit in the stand right on the finishing line. Bargain. There were people on hand to fend off the hoi polloi who had only shelled out five Euros from coming in 🙂 We did consider dining in the Terrasse restaurant but went up there and there was hardly anyone in with not much atmosphere. The menu was a bit too much on the posh side for those of us who merely wanted a simple steak frites avec une verre du vin rouge. The racetrack is a hundred and sixty years old and one of the top ones in France so they tell us. Defo a step up from Market Rasen.
The speciality in Rouen is duck apaz so that’s tonight’s menu sorted. Just a question of finding the least touristy restaurant in which to eat it. Looked up the best gaffs on Tripadvisor and none of the top three seemed to serve duck. All looked a bit designery. I’m sure the food is v tasty but at this stage of the trip we ain’t after fancy stuff. May be speaking out of turn but I doubt it. Probs booked up anyway.
Just seen a boat float very slowly in front of our dock. I thought to myself hmm that boat is going very slowly. Then the small rubber dinghy with a tiny engine came into view. It was pushing the bigger boat. They ain’t going far. This is life on the balcony in the Marina in Deauville as reported by moi as it happens.