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Auxerre (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

I finally made it to Auxerre. This capital of the Yonne Department in the north west of Burgundy has long been on my list of places to visit in France but, for some reason, it just hasn’t happened… until now. Auxerre is a beautiful medieval city, not unlike Troyes with it’s many half timbered buildings and; it’s an easy place to walk with plenty of interest about it. Having now seen some of it, I think the city doesn’t have the profile it deserves and is too often overlooked by visitors to France in favour of lesser towns and cities. I really like the place and will definitely return when we are next down this way.

We parked the Van without any difficulty and within easy walking distance of the old town. The spires of the city’s Cathedral Saint Etienne d’Auxerre and the Abbey Saint-Germain drew us across the River Yonne to the old town by way of the Tournelle Bridge.

The easiest way to explore Auxerre and ensure that none of the city’s major attractions are missed is to follow a series of small bronze shields fixed into the pavement. These shields form the 5 kilometre long ‘Cadet Rousselle Route’ and they lead to the city’s numerous points of interest. Many of the shields are numbered (67 in total) and a brochure issued by the local tourist office (costing 1.50 Euros) provides background information on each of these numbered ‘points of interest’. Indeed, one numbered shield alongside a statue on Place Charles Surugue, serves to introduce Cadet Rousselle; an eccentric but very popular 18th century bailiff of the city after which the Cadet Rousselle Route was named.

The monument to Cadet Rousselle was created by the renowned French painter and sculptor Francois Brochet. He has at least two other monuments on show in Auxerre – the Restif de La Bretonne and Marie-Noel. Of the three, I favour the one to Cadet Rousselle. For my part, you can keep the other two.

We didn’t bother with the brochure but we chanced on the Route near two of the city’s more preeminent buildings, the Hotel de Ville and the 15th century Tour d’Horloge. Of these two buildings, the colourful clock tower (Tour d’Horloge) is by far the more spectacular . The clock itself has two hands but in this case one is the solar hand which travels around the dial every 24 hours and tells the solar time while the other is about 3/4 hour behind the solar hand and identifies the phases of the moon. Don’t ask me how that works. I gave up on Physics very early in my school life.

Close to the Hotel de Ville and the Tour de L’Horloge are the two other Francois Brochet monuments which I mentioned previously – Restif de La Bretonne and Marie-Noel. I know very little about the Restif de la Bretonne (except that he was a novelist around the time of the French Revolution) or Marie-Noel (except what I read about her in Auxerre Cathedral later in the day – she was a famous poet who was born, lived and died in Auxerre and was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour by that leading-edge Brexit Campaigner, General de Gaulle).

After musing over the aforementioned monuments for a while (they are unlike anything I have seen before) we followed the Cadet Rousselle Route to the 13th century Cathedral Saint-Etienne d’Auxerre (that’s Saint Stephen to those whose first language is English). It’s recognised as a masterpiece of Gothic Art (which I don’t deny) but it is the 15th and 16th century stained glass windows which most impressed me.

From the Cathedral it is a short walk to another must see ecclesiastical building in Auxerre (the Abbey of Saint-Germain) but follow the Rue Cochois and then the Rue d’Lyonne on the way to Abbey and pass through the Place Saint-Nicolas which has to be one of the most picturesque squares in the city. It has some wonderful photo opportunities which lend themselves to the lids of chocolate boxes and biscuit tins.

We didn’t go inside the Abbey Saint-Germain. One of the more interesting aspects of the abbey is it’s crypt and we were too late for that. So, from the abbey we retraced our steps to a small restaurant-bar near the cathedral where we could sit outside and people watch at the same time as we ate. It was time to eat if we were going to get some wine tasting in and we had promised ourselves earlier in the day that, if nothing else, we would compare the Chablis and Chitry wines.

As for lunch, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as in Bar sur Seine a couple of days ago. No more Tete de Veau for me… not for a while anyway. It would be something a tad more boring…but safe.

One place I regret not seeing during this visit to Auxerre is the Palais des Comtes and, in particular, a room known as Salle Eckmuhl. I make no apology for being a fan of Napoleonic history and in 1882, the last daughter of Napoleon’s “Iron Marshall” (Louis-Nicolas Davout) established a room of Davout memorabilia in Auxerre’s Palace des Comtes. Davout was born in Annoux, 30 miles south east of Auxerre and, like Napoleon, attended the military academy in Brienne Le Chateau (see the earlier blog during this Tour). The ‘museum’, for want of a better word, is still there and for my part, I’m sure I would find the place enthralling. Next time then.

Vermenton & Chitry (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We finally made it to the north of Burgundy. I’d promised myself this for some time (Auxerre has long appealed) and… Vanya? Well, Vanya was heard to remark only last week that she has “always enjoyed drinking champagne in Champagne and that it could prove equally pleasant to drink chablis in Chablis”. I’ll not argue with that logic especially since Auxerre and Chablis are both in the Yonne Department of Bourgogne-Franche-Comte and only 15 miles apart.

The drive across from the Aube to Yonne was enjoyable and one to be repeated except; next time, we will overnight at two of the places we drove through – the village of Les Riceys (to sample some of the area’s famous ‘Rose des Riceys Champagne’, so beloved by the French King Louis XIV) and the Yonne town of Tonnere (birthplace of the Chevalier d’Eon; site of La Fosse Dionne and; very close to where Chaource Cheese is made). But that is for a future tour.

For the present, Vanya had found us a tiny, very welcoming campsite (Camping Les Coullemieres) on the outskirts of the small agricultural village of Vermenton; which is in easy reach of both Auxerre (15 miles to the north) and Chablis (13 miles to the north east). We expected a very quiet evening in Vermenton. It was, after all, a Sunday and (no offence) but, nothing ever seems to happen in France on a Sunday evening. We were in for a pleasant surprise.

I was returning from a quick exploration of the town and noticed that the Cafe de la Gare (down by the railway station) was serving drinks. It wasn’t long before Vanya and I, together with our two dogs (Nala and Beanie), were seated outside the front of the bar with a most friendly crowd of locals knocking back wine after wine. To give you some idea, two of the locals insisted on taking turns to give Nala gentle back massages and one of them insisted on buying us a drink as he left to go home. I should mention also that early during the evening, the landlady of the Cafe de la Gare introduced us to Chintry (red and white) which, she claimed, is a local wine considered every bit as good as Chablis. We stayed with the Chintry (which everyone was drinking) but resolved to put her claim to the test at the earliest opportunity.

The villages of Chablis and Chitry are situated just a little to the east of Auxerre and within 7 miles of each other. That settled it; after visiting Auxerre the next day, we headed east to compare the Chablis and Chitry wines. Initially we had it in mind to progress our comparison with one of the major wine producers in the area (at Les Caves Bailly Lapierre) but changed our minds at the last moment and found a smaller family run business (Domaine Elodie Chalmeau) which produces the Chablis and the Chitry (together with Aligote and Cremant de Bourgogne but that’s another story). After the tasting Vanya and I were agreed that the only difference between Chablis and Chintry is the price (not that there is much in it) and both were very enjoyable. When asked what the difference is between the two wines, one of the owners of Domaine Elodie Chalmeau (Christine) told us that grapes grown to the north of the D62 (which road passes through the centre of Chitry) are used to make Chablis while those produced south of the D62 are used to make Chitry and that most locals drink the Chitry. Funny how some people swear there’s a difference. For the record, we bought 3 bottles each of Chablis, Chitry and Cremant (but only Vanya is allowed the Cremant – she claims it is the best she’s ever tasted and the Aligote was too dry for me).

Wonderful wines! Next I’ll talk a little about Auxerre…

Essoyes (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We visited the tiny village of Essoyes (pronounced Ess-wah) on a Sunday morning, out of season. It couldn’t have been quieter; which suited us down to the ground because I suspect it is a place that will be overrun with visitors during the summer months.

It is a charming little village in the centre of the Aube with less than 800 inhabitants. The village was ravaged by fire in 1763 and lost almost all of it’s many wooden houses with their thatched roofs. It was subsequently rebuilt with stone houses and tiled roofs but it remains a picturesque place. Obiter dicter: I swear that when I was a child we were taught that the plural of roof was rooves. I’m showing my age now.

Essoyes is famous as being a longtime home of the French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Aline Charigot, one of his lovers and the mother of his children, was born in Essoyes and she persuaded Renoir to buy a house in the village. They lived there between 1896 until 1919 when Renoir died (although they usually spent winters in Provence because of his rheumatoid arthritis) and he was buried in the local church (as were Aline and their three children when they died).

Essoyes is justifiably proud of Renoir and has created a ‘Renoir Route’ around the village which captures moments from his life. It leads to his grave in the local cemetery and, amongst other things passes his home and the local church.

NOTE: I’m having to give up on this particular blog. WordPress have issued a faulty update to one of the “Plugins” which keeps locking the site. We’re off to Burgundy next but I’ll finish with a copy of my favourite painting of Renoir’s; the ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’. Incidently, the young lady in the foreground holding the dog is Aline Charigot.

Bar sur Seine (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We fancied a day out from Dienville and drove 30 minutes south to the small town of Bar sur Seine (population of about 3,000 people) because (a) it was market day there and we both enjoy French markets and; (b) there are a few well regarded champagne houses in the town and Vanya wanted to “try and buy” some champagne to take home to the UK. We were late getting away from Dienville and didn’t therefore get to see much of Bar sur Seine but the market alone warrants a return trip.

I was so engrossed with the market that I failed to pay any attention to my photos. For such a small town the market is huge and the variety of goods, services and produce on sale eclipse anything I have seen before. Here are a few photos anyway but I’m not pleased with them.

To talk a little about the market – There were plenty of stalls selling the usual food, drinks, flowers and furniture (including beds and mattresses) which are to be found at any farmer’s market across France but the variety of live animals on sale surprised us; as did the range and quantity of tractors and other farm vehicles. There were also some really interesting stalls that you would normally associate with a flea market – for example, one selling the metal circular caps which top champagne bottles and another dealing in World War I uniforms and equipment but it was the fellow selling house roofs and another selling an enormous range of sheds and garages that most amazed us. You really could buy just about anything at this market.

We limited ourselves to buying ice cream and Corsican Cheese. Actually, the cheese tasted tasted so good that we bought lots of it – twice as much as our fridge could accommodate. In hindsight, that was a really silly purchase given that (a) we may well stop off in Corsica later during this tour and (b) Chaource Cheese (one of my favourites) is produced just down the road from Bar sur Seine. Good job that we both enjoy cheese.

Another interesting aspect to the Bar sur Seine market, although it came as no surprise, was the large number of stalls offering glasses of champagne. It seemed everyone was drinking champagne – even the on duty fire brigade officers lol.

We reveled in the market for a while and then sought out a local bar for something to eat. We couldn’t have Vanya sampling champagne on an empty stomach. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. On market day the menu in most bars is limited to the Plat du Jour and Vanya wasn’t interested in trying any of the local dishes that were on offer. I should have followed her lead but, instead, ordered a Tete de Veau (without properly understanding what it was). It proved to be the flesh from the head of a baby cow served in a mustard and vinegar slop. Enough said except that I ate almost all of it (the slop was actually very tasty) – crazy or what?!? Vanya would be tasting the champagne on her own.

Late that afternoon we arrived at the classy Domaine Devaux Champagne House on the edge of the town. I walked the dogs while Vanya attended a brief tasting session and the champagne couldn’t have been too bad because she bought two bottles.

I did learn a couple of interesting facts while at the Domaine. It seems that during the early part of the last century, the champagne houses in the north of the region (the Marne) objected to the champagne houses in the south (the Aube) using the champagne designation (notwithstanding that Troyes was considered the champagne capital and that the better grapes were grown in the south). The disagreement escalated; there were riots which saw vineyards burned, wine cellars destroyed, houses ransacked and people killed. Some 40,000 French soldiers were needed to end the rioting. Only in Champagne!

Essoyes, home and final resting place of Pierre-Auguste Renoir tomorrow.

Dienville (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

Vanya chose Dienville in the Aube Department of Grand Est because, she said, she wanted to stay at Camping Le Columbier (which site has a very good write up) but, there are two champagne producing areas; one in the north around Reims, Epernay and the Valle de la Marne and another to the south-east of Troyes (the Aube) which, we have been told, produces the better grapes. As we approached Dienville, I couldn’t help but think it was perhaps the Aube champagne which was luring her to this area. No matter, it is an area that is new to the both of us and, of more interest to me, steeped in Napoleonic history.

In the blog on Brienne Le Chateau I mentioned the Battle of Brienne. On 29 January 1814, while at war against the 6th Coalition, Napoleon attacked the Prussian army at Brienne and very nearly captured the Prussian General, Gebhard Leberecht Von Blucher. Three days later, having been reinforced by Austrian troops, Blucher attacked Napoleon at La Rothiere (2 kilometres east of Dienville) and forced the French Army to retreat. It could have been a great deal worse for Napoleon had one of his Generals (Etienne Gerard) not held the bridge at Dienville against Blucher’s Austrian allies. But that’s enough of Napoleon.

Camping Le Columbier is fine – a very pretty, quiet little campsite near the centre of Dienville. Dienville itself is a village with just 700 inhabitants. There’s a bar, a baker and a chemist in the village centre but not a lot else. The village grocery store closed down but there’s a small farmer’s market every Sunday morning and a Vietnames food wagon visits the village centre every Friday evening. The owner of the wagon is actually from Laos but what the hell – his Vietnamese chicken is great!

The village’s church, L’Eglise Saint Quentin, is a bit of a gem for such a small village. It has some very impressive arches and beautiful stained glass windows. It also appeared to be surprisingly well attended. Well, it was on the Sunday morning we were there.

Another impressive feature of the village is the Market Hall building which is located directly behind the church and opposite the Hotel de Ville.

On the other side of the River Aube to the village is Port Dienville. It’s a large boating lake and leisure park at the edge of the Aube Reservoir (now known as Lac d’Amance). The reservoir was created in 1990 to regulate the flow of the Aube and Seine Rivers and the port area now comprises a burgeoning marina with a few bars and restaurants, a water sport facility and a beach area. It was fairly empty while we were there and appeared a bit of a white elephant. I hope I am proven wrong in this regard because it is a pretty area and could bring great prosperity to the village.

Okay, so there’s not a great deal more I would say about Dienville but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the village and the campsite is perfectly placed from which to explore the Aube Department. We were planning on visiting Bar sur Seine (surprise, surprise – Vanya has identified a champagne house there that she would like to visit) and I would like to visit nearby Essoyes (where the artist Renoir lived out his final years).

Brienne Le Chateau (Grand Est), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

The drive south from Soissons to our next overnight stop at Dienville took us through Champagne (via Reims, Chalons en Champagne and the small town of Brienne Le Chateau in the Aube Department of Grand Est). We’ve decided to take our time this year, avoiding all toll roads and stopping whenever we feel like it.

I like to think we stopped at Brienne Le Chateau because of my interest in all things Napoleonic but it is more likely that we stopped so that Vanya could get to drink her first champagne of this tour. She wasn’t too happy with my driving straight past Reims and Chalons en Champagne (but, come on, she’s imbibed champagne in both those places during earlier visits).

Brienne Le Chateau is where in 1779, at the age of 9, Napoleon Bonaparte first attended military school. He lived there for 5 years until, in 1784, he transferred to the Ecole Militaire in Paris. Much later, in 1814, Brienne was also the scene of one of his last battles. The town simply had to be worth a visit and I wasn’t disappointed.

Much of the old military school was destroyed during the French Revolution but in 1969 a small museum, dedicated to Napoleon’s rise through the ranks, was established in what remains of the building. It is tiny but it’s a fascinating place to visit (full of interesting records and memorabilia) and a few of his battles (including Austerlitz, Borodino and of course Brienne) can be followed on computers in the museum. My visit to the museum was enhanced by a group of Napoleonic enthusiasts role playing outside the museum. He is wholly revered in this part of France and it is small wonder that for a time, between 1849 and 1880, Brienne Le Chateau was renamed Brienne Napoleon.

There’s not a great deal to see and do in Brienne but the museum is an absolute must and the Chateau Brienne (where Napoleon stayed during 1814) is perhaps also worth a visit. Take time out, too, to look at the Hotel de Ville (the Town Hall). It is quite unlike any others I have seen in France in that it doesn’t display the usual “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” strap line across the front of the building. Instead it displays a face of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (and, if that isn’t enough, there’s a statue of Napoleon as a boy outside the front of the building). Vive L’Empereur!

On to Dienville.

Soissons (Hauts de France), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

We travelled little more than 60 miles today to Soissons; still in the Hauts de France Region but in the Aisne Department. This area was once part of Picardy. Soissons sits on the River Aisne and is one of the oldest towns in France. It was the scene of much fighting between various Gallic tribes and the Romans under Julius Caesar. Indeed, there’s an Asterix Theme Park just down the road from Soissons where “Asterix and Obelix (continue to) fight the dastardly Romans”.

Sadly, this part of France and Soissons in particular has witnessed a great deal of war and suffering over the ages, most especially during World War I. Soldiers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth, France and Germany were entrenched in and around the town for much of the First World War and some major battles (the three Battles of the Aisne) were fought in the immediate area. The ‘First Battle of the Aisne’ was an allied counter offensive immediately following the Battle of the Marne in 1914 which saw the start of trench warfare. The ‘Second’ in 1917 was a more bloody affair with France and Germany suffering respectively 271,000 and 163,000 casualties in just 12 days of battle. The ‘Third’ was the German ‘Spring Offensive of 1918’ (also known as the Kaiserschlacht) which was finally repulsed after some 5 weeks heavy fighting but not before the British lost 236,000 men, the French lost 92,000 and Germany lost 348,000. There are numerous French, German & British cemeteries and memorials throughout Aisne and at least two monuments in Soissons itself (the first of which is a plaque in the cathedral honouring more than one million British dead from the First World War who are buried in France and the second being the Monument des Anglais which lists the names of 3,387 British & Commonwealth soldiers killed in Soissons while repelling the German Spring Offensive and who have no known grave.

But, enough of war and on to Soissons itself. There’s enough to see in the town to keep most people happy for a day or two. I was intent on visiting most of the major sights, especially Soissons Cathedral and the Abbaye de Saint Jean des Vignes but; I’d also read about the street art of a certain Christian Guemy (aka C215) and was keen to track some of his works down.

I started in the town’s tourist office. A lovely lady provided me with a map identifying all the must see buildings in Soissons. She was unable find a map of Guemy’s street art and suggested I wait for her colleague to return but, after enduring a five minute monologue on haricot beans (it seems Soissons is famous for it’s extra large white haricot beans) I decided to leave and find the paintings without a map – a treasure hunt of sorts.

With the town’s Cathedral of Saint-Gervais & Saint-Protais backing on to Place de Fernand Marquigny, where the tourist office is located; my next port of call was always going to be Soissons Cathedral and it is well worth a visit. It dates back to the 12th century and, except for one tower being missing, it is almost an exact copy of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It is possible to climb to the top of the cathedral’s tower for views over Soissons but, this once, I didn’t bother. The cathedral contains a number of quite exceptional paintings; one of which, “The Adoration of the Shepherds”, is recognised at least in part as being the work of Pierre Paul Rubens and that kept me occupied for a while…

Looking every bit a cathedral itself and within easy walking distance of Soissons Cathedral (actually, almost everything within Soissons is within easy walking distance of the cathedral) are the ruins of the 11th century Abbaye de Saint-Jean des Vignes. This once magnificent abbey was ransacked by the Huguenots in 1567 and turned into a stable but it was the French Revolution which saw the abbey forever closed…

My favourite photo of the Abbey of St John of the Vines is one I took from the Place de la Republique with it’s monument to the dead of the Franco-Prussian War (the Monument aux Morts de 1870) in the foreground…

I checked out other “must see” buildings in Soissons, including L’Abbaye Saint Leger, L’Hotel de Ville, L’Eglise Saint-Pierre and the Monument des Anglais (which was closed off), but my primary interest after visiting the Cathedral and the Abbey of Saint-John was the street artwork of Christian Guemy.

Christian Guemy has been described as France’s answer to Banksy and there are examples of his work all over the world – London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, New York, etc and even Aberdeen, Brighton and Morocco. He uses stencils and his primary interests are cats and portraits (more often than not of people that society appears to have forgotten e.g. the homeless, beggars, the aged, etc) but; in Soissons it has been directed more towards individuals with some form of connection to the town. I suspect he accepted a commission from the local council and/or tourist office.

His work is not always easy to find. Some of his creations will fill the side of a building and are easily spotted but others are small and hidden away in the most unusual places. Those I photographed below are just some of 25 he has left dotted around Soissons. I found a dozen or so.

Vanya and I walked back into town during the evening to a small creperie (Le Corsaire) I had stumbled across on Rue de la Banniere. It was tiny but the welcome was warm and friendly (especially towards Nala and Beanie) and we enjoyed it immensely. I ordered the ‘Corsaire Special’ Galette as an entree and followed it with the best ever crepe for dessert (caramelised apples with cinnamon ice cream and flambeed with a dark rum). I really cannot recall what Vanya ordered probably because I’d knocked back a jug of delicious but seriously strong Bretagne Cider.

Caramelised apples with cinnamon icecream and flambeed rum – wonderful

The stroll back through town to our Van took us past the cathedral and a couple more Guemy creations (Vanya was picking them out quicker than I ever did) and, hand on heart, I can say we both very much appreciated Soissons at night. Peaceful and typically French.

Feuilleres (Hauts de France), France April 2025 (Tour 11)

Yaaay!! It’s 9 April 2025 and we’re on the road again. That’s Vanya, Nala, Beanie and myself. After a quick breakfast in Brighton we finished loading the Van and set off via the A27 for the P&O Ferry at Dover. It was an event free journey (I’m not complaining) with surprisingly quiet roads and we arrived in good time for the 11.30 ferry to Calais.

The channel crossing itself was also uneventful (and very smooth) and within two hours we were on the road towards the tiny village (just 400 inhabitants) of Feuilleres.

Feuilleres is located on the Somme River some 30 kilometres east of Amiens in the Somme Department of Hauts de France. Vanya chose the place solely for it’s campsite (Camping du Chateau et de l’Oseraie); it being about as far south as I wanted to drive the first day out and with options to travel in all directions thereafter.

I have always found the first day of a tour very tiring and while I took time during the afternoon to explore Feuilleres and the nearby town of Peronne, I was happiest when settled down in Feuilleres with a glass of wine and some of the local bread and cheese (and not forgetting a half kilo of large, very delicious prawns which Vanya acquired during our drive south).

There is very little to Feuilleres – a small church, a restaurant-bar (closed) and the River Somme with plenty of fishing ponds – but, it served us well for the first night.

There is a considerably more to Peronne although, I wouldn’t go too far out of my way to visit the town. It was captured by German troops early in WWI and the town and surrounding area was the scene of several very bloody battles (including the three battles of the Somme) before being liberated by Australian soldiers in 1918. More than 90% of the town was destroyed during the war, including the 13th century Chateau de Peronne. The Chateau was restored in the 1970’s, renamed the ‘Historial’ and now serves as a Museum to the Great War.

I’m keeping this blog brief. On to Soissons in the morning.

Ambleteuse (Hauts de France), France October 2024 (Tour 10)

Ambleteuse is an interesting little town on the Opal Coast between Boulogne and Calais. We were staying in the neighbouring village of Audresselles but I took time out to visit Ambleteuse during the afternoon.

The place is steeped in history having been one of the ports from which Julius Caesar was said to have embarked from on his unsuccessful invasion of Britain in 54 BC (not that it was called Britain in those days). The Saxons also invaded from here and Napoleon Bonaparte stationed troops in the area in readiness for his planned (but ultimately aborted) invasion of our island. Indeed, General Claude JA Legrand, commanding Napoleon’s 3rd Infantry Division, stayed in Ambleteuse’s 17th century fort (one of Vauban’s creations) at the mouth of the River Slack in anticipation of the invasion. From what I saw of the fort, he couldn’t have enjoyed the most comfortable of stays.

The fort has been destroyed and rebuilt on more than one occasion, the last time being after it was occupied by German troops during WWII. During the summer months it opens as a museum but, if it’s museums you want, there is a WWII museum at the edge of Ambleteuse on the road to Audresselles. It is unlike most of the WWII museums that have mushroomed across Normandy in that, except for some artillery pieces and a Sherman tank placed outside, it’s exhibits are mostly confined to the uniforms and accessories of the combatants.

The beaches in Ambleteuse and Audresselles cannot be considered among the best along the Opal Coast, being narrow and stony. The seafronts in both places are also different from others in Normandy in that there are neither shops nor restaurant-bars along the small promenades; just houses and the odd WWII bunker built by the Germans in anticipation of an Allied Invasion near the Pas de Calais.

The elegant Eglise Saint Michel is definitely worth a visit. I cannot tell you much about this church but, inside, it is stunningly simple…I like it.

To finish, I’m reproducing just one of the photos I took in Audresselles and that was along the coast towards Les Deux Caps; Cap Blanc Nez (made of chalk) and Cap Gris Nez (made of clay). These are the closest points in France to the British Coast and numerous German artillery batteries were sited there during WWII to fire upon Dover. In fact, during the course of WWII almost 10,000 buildings in and around Dover were damaged by shellfire from these batteries with more than 200 civilians being killed and hundreds more injured. Looks quite peaceful now, doesn’t it?

A view along the coast from Audresselles

We‘re booked on the P&O ferry to Dover in the morning. Tour 10 ends here. Roll on the next one!!

Yport (Normandy), France October 2024 (Tour 10)

A visit to Yport invariably signifies that we are nearing the end of our tour. There will be another stop nearer Calais on our last night but we choose Yport because we can then visit our favourite restaurant in Normandy (Le Nautique) and the dogs can be seen by their vet in nearby Fecamp – it’s a legal requirement that a vet feed the dogs ‘tenia’ tablets before they can re-enter the UK.

We spent our last Monday morning in France down by the beach in Yport having a pleasant brunch on the terrace outside Le Petit Saint Pierre. The afternoon was about visiting Fecamp; getting the dogs seen by the vet and; then stopping at the large Leclerc at Saint Leonards to top up Vanya’s stock of Cremant.

Le Nautique is closed Mondays but we stopped by as they opened on the Tuesday lunchtime and reserved a table for the evening. Everything went smoothly.

Tuesday night was all about Le Nautique and the best huitres (oysters) and the best Moules (mussels) in Normandy, all served with the local dry cider and a bottle of Muscadet. The proprietor remembered us from when we last visited during the Spring. No one forgets Beanie and Nala, especially since Nala has been in her ‘walking wheels’. He was working in the kitchen that day but his son (who usually cooks) was happy to look after us and, as always, the welcome, the service and the food was outstanding.

We look forward to returning next Spring. Meanwhile, we had one more night in France at a place called Ambleteuse in the Hauts de France Region.