"Are we alright Woody", went my alarm. Despite us having an enforced late brekkie, Tina and Mark aren't early risers, I only got an extra 10 minutes! Single rooms on the next tour Grizzly!
Les Cheres Meres is idyllic, so much so, that Grizzly said he could stay there and Mark could have his bike to continue the tour!
Having got ready, we sat on the sun kissed patio for our brekkie, with a family of four from Essex. They were on their way down to near Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast for a camping holiday.
Having got ready, we sat on the sun kissed patio for our brekkie, with a family of four from Essex. They were on their way down to near Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast for a camping holiday.
Fuelled up, our goodbyes said, we were out on the country lanes again. The rain from the previous evening had totally dried up and we were looking at another warm day. Our next stop would be the Montormel memorial site.
Today we rode the Corridor of Death. Not some dodgy french motorway but the corridor of land that the German 7th Army and 5th Panzer Division were squeezed into in August 1944, as they strived to retreat towards Paris. The Allies encircled them, eventually, killing 10,000 and capturing 40,000. 50,000 more escaped before the pincer movement was complete and the 'pocket' closed. This we learnt at the Montormel Memorial Site, known as Hill 262 in the conflict. There is a very good film and explanation of how the battle came about, followed by a guided talk, as you look out over the valley below. The guide points out the various towns and places of importance during the battle and even recounts a personal experience his grandmother had in a field with a young German officer. There's another film and a good static exhibition too. It is a quite remarkable place, remarkable story and well worth a visit if your are in this part of the world.
They were laying new concrete paths at the site and someone, who shall remain nameless, managed to step in the fresh concrete whilst taking a picture of a memorial stone. I don't think they noticed though, so my print (oops!) may remain as a constant reminder of my visit.
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| Montormel |
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| Peaceful now but once a bloody battlefield |
A short 20 mile blast through the Corridor of Death, took us to our next fuel stop and from there it was an hour or so to our Premiere Classe hotel, on the outskirts of Bayeux. When we arrived, there was nobody in reception, as it didn't open till 17:00 but cleverly, they have an automated check-in machine. Put the credit card you booked the room with in and it produces a key card, as it tells you your room number. Then all you do is swipe it at the outer door, to gain access to the building. Simples! There were some people sitting in the car park, waiting for the receptionist to arrive. Not sure why, you didn't already have to have had a reservation to check in. The room wasn't bad, no worse than the Ibis in Munich, though in this one, there was the double/single combo, which meant I had to climb up to the single bunk. Not a problem, aside from the metal stepladder which kills the feet getting in or out. Cheap does as cheap is, so no complaints.
Freshened up, we set about walking into town. It wasn't actually that far and we were soon by the Cathedral. Grizzly made his usual beeline for the souvenir shops, where he could practise his language skills. "Do you have any stickers?", seems to be an internationally recognised phrase ;-), least it should be, as far as Grizzly is concerned. Maybe learn the phrase in the local language next time G? To be fair, in Bayeux, they understand English or even Irish, so he got what he was looking for.
We made a quick visit to the Cathedral, where there was a service in progress, so I wandered off to take some photos, whilst Grizzly said a few prayers and lit a couple of candles..one for Dudley, of course. Then we took a quick walk around the town, before settling down for dinner and beer.
Whilst sitting in the street for dinner, I witnessed this young woman from one of the shops along the way, let her little puppy out to do his business. One of the other diners was saying how cute the dog was until it squatted and deposited on the pavement. Jobbie done, he was ushered back in the shop and the door closed. No pooping scooping going on there. Ugh!
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| Bayeux Cathedral |
As we walked back to the hotel, I checked out one of the road signs near the hotel, which confirmed what I suspected, we were a short distance from the Bayeux British (Commonwealth) Cemetery. It was decided we would add that to our itinerary for the next morning. Tomorrow will be a busy day, as we plan on doing a lot of the D-Day related stuff, now including the cemetery up the road.
Grizzly is already in the land of the leprechauns and snoring soundly, so I'd best get some kip myself. Weather forecast looks OK over here for tomorrow, though we may just catch the edge of the showers when we head out east to Pont L'Eveque, our overnighter tomorrow.
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