France!

Good times in Normandy camping with the boys.  Weather was warm and we only had one morning of serious rain.  Our trip coincided with D Day so the boys not only got to see the landing beaches, they got to meet some of the veterans too.  

There was a Monopoly tournament which has yet to be won (first to win five games takes FOREVER!) and apparently I'm making the prize which is to be a gold hotel mounted like a trophy.  Ummm...I'll need to work on that....And obviously Dad's have their own special going-on-holiday counters to move round the board.

The countryside is beautiful and transports you from your normal work weary world into one of peaceful, birdsong filled meandering.  Sigh.

We visited the Abbeys in Caen and Bayeux and I felt obliged to take pics of the stained glass windows and pretend they will be inspiration for a quilt.  But since I currently have mental plans (that's plans in my head not muppety plans) for 4 quilts to be completed before christmas, that inspiration will probably not happen anytime soon.  But I liked this.  I thought it looked very much like a potential quilt.

And this was just filled with bright colours.  I won't need to wonder which colours will work together, I can just look at the photo.  (Lazy designer!)

We spent our wet morning in Caen and this is the only remaining old area of the town.  (Isn't it pretty?)   We learned that 75% of the town was destroyed, not during the war but as part of the fight to liberate France in 1944.  By the time we had enjoyed a coffee and a croque monsieur the rain had cleared and the sun was shining.

We headed for the beaches which once were defended by guns but are now guarded only by little rows of beach huts.

We proudly strung our home made bunting round the tent and I went shopping with my Bunting Bag but I couldn't get a good enough picture of all that so instead, here's the real reason tent pegs were invented....

Our return sailing from Caen to Portsmouth was 6 hours of heaving, pitching seas and I have vowed never, ever, ever to make that crossing again.  Or if I do I'll book a cabin.  With a basin.  Oh and of course the boys managed to squeeze in another game on the way back while I stared fixedly at the horizon in an effort to control those sea surges - ewww!