A fantastic stary sky greeted us as we packed the last few items into the car at 6am today. Not a cloud interrupted the view of the dark sky, and the simple beauty of Oakhanger with its open common, lovely community, and warm pub was again refreshed in my heart.
Clear sky did mean a frosty start to the day though; our breath left vapours in the air, as we jumped into the car, and headed towards Portsmouth for our morning ferry.
Getting to the port about 6.30, we checked the last few details before boarding for a relaxing crossing. Our allocated seats were right at the front of the ship, and we coud not have been offered a better view of the calm English channel as we sedately travelled across to Caen – our next port of call.
Arriving at Caen 3pm French time, meant we had a few hours to explore before darkness, and heading for our accommodation.
We went up to Pegasus bridge, a bascule bridge that became a focal point of the D-day landing on the eastern end of the invasion. I am still amazed by the feet of flying that led to the successful capture of the bridge, but this blog is not a historical essay – and the reader is encouraged to research this if they are interested.
From Pegasus we drove west along the beaches to our destination, a lovely little single bedroom cottage near Port En Bessin, a fishing harbour in Normandy.
Unpacked – hungry – we headed to Port En Bessin and found a fantastic fish restaurant for our evening meal. Our first chance to practice some French, as we ordered some beautiful sea bass and mussels.
After dinner we had a quick explore of the harbour at night, watching the fishing boats race into their moorings to unload the day’s catch.
There is a market on in the town tomorrow, so we will return by day-light…..!