Le fin (in some sun)

After Manuela left, Dale and I did another walk around the Calvados countryside that was very similar to the walk we’d done with Manuela the day before.  I think that the previous day’s walk was more picturesque but there were some very nice views of a large chateau. 

 
There were more cows this time, including quite a number of very fetching white ones but they weren’t quite as friendly as the horses. 

Anyone know why one cow has horns pointing up and the other one's pointing down?

Although we encountered a couple of very friendly and vocal donkeys that I think were a little annoyed that we didn’t feed them

Not to be left out, here's some sheep

We liked many of the older Norman houses that have svelte looking thatched roofs.  There is also very often grass growing out of them. 
 

The rain returned on Saturday in a big way so we used the day to do some more shopping in Trouville and Deauville.  It was actually the only time that we had really wandered around shops in Trouville and we found some gems and had some lovely conversations while spending money and sheltering from the rain. 

Along the way we saw scrabble being used as window dressing in one store.  Dale realised that the words at the bottom were ‘F-ck Marine’ and were obviously a political statement.  Marine refers to Marine Le Pen who is the leader of the French extreme right party Le Front National (the FN).  Marine’s party has been having some big successes in by-elections while we have been here.  A recent opinion poll also suggested that if a French presidential election were held today, she would finish second behind Francois Hollande and ahead of any of the candidates who might run on behalf of the main conservative party, L’Union Movement Populaire (UMP), which is the party that Sarkozy belongs to.  We have been watching the evolution of the FN under Marine Le Pen for a few years now as she has an appealing personality and media presence and has managed to appear to soften the hard image of the party even though their policies haven’t really changed.  Other followers of French politics will know that her father Jean-Marie Le Pen started the FN and also finished in second place in the first round of the presidential election in 2002. 

Enough of the dissertation, Dale suggested I take a picture but I was hesitant as the proprietor was watching, so Dale went in and asked him of it was ok.  As it turned out he was very happy to have his political statement shared and he had a little conversation with Dale about how worried he is about the rise of the FN.  

We also went to see a French movie at the cinema for the first time.  We hadn’t made it to the movies before now because we’d been able to borrow quite a number of DVDs from the language school while we were in Lyon.  We decided to see a movie that we thought might be hard to understand because Danny Boon is in it.  We’ve seen other movies in which he is impossible to understand but he is very very funny.  In fact it was a fairly gentle comedy with quite a lot of slapstick so it turned out to be fairly easy to follow.  We saw a kids’ movie the following ay called TS Spivet, which is an American movie that had been dubbed into French and was much more difficult to follow.  I think the main reason was that there were a lot of scientific words being used.

We had a table reserved at Trouville’s most popular restaurant on Saturday night.  Dale had a final helping of magret de canard and the highlight for me was a crepe that was covered in calvados and set alight.  Our waiter said that in his view the best time to come to Trouville is in June when it’s starting to get warm but all the tourists still haven’t arrived.  So there’s a travel tip for you.

The restaurant was pretty small and it was full but that didn’t stop a couple sitting near us from bringing their very very big dog into the restaurant.  Even in France I haven’t ever seen anyone bring a dog quite as big as this into the restaurant.  It was also very friendly and came over to visit us as well as a number of other tables.

While we had a very relaxed evening we think we upset the couple at the table next to us at the end of the evening.  They were very sweet but spent the whole evening holding hands and kissing across the table.  Finally I looked at Dale and said ‘you know what Dominie would be saying at this point’ (sorry about including you in this Dom) and in unison we both said – a little too loudly – ‘just get a room’.  It turns out that the woman must have understood English because she looked a little unsettled, starting giving explanations to her boyfriend while glancing at us as they promptly paid and left the restaurant.  We decided that it was a good lesson for them about the appropriate behaviour in restaurants.  It’s more likely they think that Australians are rude prudes, although they probably thought we were English.

Before finally leaving on Tuesday morning we visited two charming towns further along the coast from Deauville called Benerville-sur-mer and Blonville.  The Germans built a whole lot of gun batteries in the hill above Benerville-sur-mer as part of their Atlantic defence system. 

We also re-visited Honfleur and discovered a whole quartier, that we hadn’t seen the week before, that was full of all types of artisanale shops and galleries.  There are always little shopping surprises to be found aren’t there?  However the most amazing discovery was this timber cathedral, built in the Norman architectural style.  It had a much warmer and open ambience than most of the cold, dark stone churches that we have been into.

On our last afternoon we decided to visit the very small art museum in Trouville.  They don’t have many paintings so it was a very quick visit but the building itself is impressive and has good views across the beach.  A lot of significant impressionist painters have painted scenes at Deauville, Trouville and Honfleur but they are mostly in museums in Paris, London and New York.

The tidal river leaves the fishing fleet high and dry at low tide

 
When we came out of the museum the weather had improved markedly and it had become very sunny.  We decided that we had to have one last walk along the beach in the beautiful sunshine.  This turned out to be a great decision as Trouville had been transformed and we hadn’t noticed.  It was also the first day of October school holidays in France so everyone was on the beach.  There was some very small kids rides being operated, and there were children everywhere building sand castles, having pony rides and generally being nuisances.  Suddenly all the cafes along the shore front were open and people were sitting around with their faces in the sun drinking beers, coffees and whatever else took their fancy.  We decided that we just had to join in by finding a sunny spot at a café.  Then we spied an aperitif that we’d never tried before – the Kir Normande (a kir + cidre).  It was a lovely refreshing drink that also struck us as an excellent mix of southern and northern French culture.  It was a truly lovely way to have ended our latest 3 months of francophilia.  Adieu nos amis, jusqu’a la prochaine fois.