A bit showery on and off and a stiff breeze blowing which at least meant that when we did get wet, we got dry quite quickly too! We loitered for a while on the aire at Honfleur because as you can imagine some 100 or so vans trying to leave and use the facilities was quite chaotic but were on our way just after 11. A forty mile drive took as back to the Ferry Port and the coastal village of Ouistretham and we found parking at the far end (west) at the Plage de la Breche d’Hermanville where we began our walk along alternately the beach and walkway back towards Ouistretham.

All along the walk way are reminders of the eventful D-Day landings which took place here on 6th June 1944 and many photos of the 70th Anniversary ceremonies attended by our late Queen and Prince Phillip – I am sure there will be many other markers on our journey along this section of coastline.

The next section of beach is the Plage de Coleville-Montgomery leading onto Sword Beach where the fateful landings took place and on this blustery day mecca for a few hardy and experienced wing surfers….

Beyond lies Plage de Riva Bella (set up for volley ball and other sports) and the great expanse of Ouistretham Beach leading up to the entrance to the Ferry Port – here Tilly had great fun chasing the sand and little bits of seaweed caught up in the wind….

As the beach ran out we walked inland towards the village to seek a bit of respite from the wind and flying sand now blowing into our faces and I’m so pleased we did as we got to visit the stunning memorial created for the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in 2014….

Breathtakingly beautiful and poignant at the same time – a little further along the beach is the original monument ‘The Flame’ and four (2 pictured) ‘nothing to do with the war’ animal sculptures by Michel Bassonpierre….

All in all another very successful and somewhat educational day and a very handy small camping carpark Aire a couple of miles inland at Hermanville sur Mer (only 24 units at capacity!).

Thoughts of the day:

• How beautifully kept and maintained are the memorials – clearly a sense of pride and honour
• In fact – how beautifully well kept is everywhere – no rubbish / graffiti
• How come the beaches around the uk get all sorts of waste washed ashore – but I have seen no evidence of anything similar here so far

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 40
• Miles walked – 7
• Beaches – 5
• Aire – £13 with EHU

A very grey day today but after some rain during the night it remained dry until the evening, which suits us just fine. We drove a short distance and found parking on the outskirts of Deauville taking a short walk down to the seafront our first beach (dog friendly) was Benerville sur Mer, a long section of shell strewn sand – a good place for a coffee and for a runabout for Tilly…

Walking eastwards towards the centre of Deauville lay a long stretch of sand with some pretty imposing properties overlooking the beach and some peculiar small sand hills down by the shoreline. On closer inspection these little sand hills are the result of the top layer of sand up by the centre of town being dragged down to the shoreline – I’m not exactly sure why but maybe to keep the sand up by the town fresh?

As expected the centre of town was busy as we wandered across the river into Trouville sur Mer and alongside it’s busy street market to the beach (not dog friendly) before making our way back to the van….

Another few miles up the road we made a quick stop in the small village of Villerville to catch the fast disappearing sandy beach of Plage des Bains….

Another brief stop to see the Plage de Vasouy, an out of town beach with just a beach cafe and some toilets but also not dog friendly? Town beaches having dog restrictions I get but this is a good few miles from anywhere – we didn’t linger.

Our next and final stop was the buzzing small coastal town of Honfleur. Here there were people of all nationalities meandering down the small cobbled streets lined with boutiques and bars. There was even a cruise ship in town!

After parking up in the motorhome aire which was huge having some 180 spaces, most of which were occupied – normally I would take one look and drive on but I wanted to visit the town so decided to brave it – in fact it was very peaceful and I felt very safe here so this will probably be the first of many. We wandered into town and across it to take a look at the beach>. The beach was again not dog friendly but full of dogs!! However we are walked out so just took a looksee before heading back to the aire….

Thoughts of the day:

• I wanted to visit Honfleur, Deauville and Trouville to see if I remembered them from visiting as a teenager (a few years ago mind!) and though I didn’t recollect anything specific there was a certain familiarity, so mission accomplished and now we shall head back to the otherside of Caen and start our journey along the coast, ultimately heading south, from there.
• Not many other Brits about, judging by all the vans in the Aire

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 14
• Miles walked – 11
• Beaches – 7
• Site – £13 with EHU

Not quite such a nice day today, cloudy but with the odd bit of sun here and there. We left site and made the short trip to Cabourg a pretty town with a garden in the centre and a pedestrianised walkway lined with boutiques and bars all doing a roaring trade – not for us though we are on the way to the beach….

Unfortunately not dog friendly, so we returned to the van and moved on to Houlgate. Here also the beaches where not dog friendly – they are not even allowed on the walkway along the edge of the beach – is this a theme? The first beach – Plage du Temple was busy with several team games using a frisbee (apparently called Ultimate) going on and Plage de Houlgate all but deserted – probably because all the dog walkers are confined to wandering the streets!

Next we moved on to Blonville and having found a spot for the night in a deserted Tennis Club car park we set off in search of the beach taking in the rather splendid Town Hall on the way….

Here too the beaches are deserted and not dog friendly though at least here we could walk along the boardwalk and we eventually made our way to Laforge Beach in the neighbouring village of Bernerville sur Mer – where what little beach visible at high tide was taken up by fishermen….

Not a very successful beach day for us today but we still managed to enjoy a good walk and retired gracefully to our park up for a quiet evening.

Thoughts of the day:

• I am really surprised at the beach dog bans as France is known to be a very dog friendly country – to be fair most beaches seemed to have dogs on them but I need to be here a bit longer before I start breaking the rules!!
• Doing a bit of research for parking places on Park4Night is certainly paying off, even if I only want day time parking, at least I know which spots I’m likely to get parked in

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 14
• Miles walked – 6
• Beaches – 5
• Food – £3.90