Normandy

Tuesday 23rd September 2025 – from Siouville-Hague to St Germain-sur-Ay…

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Today was a much sunnier and less windy day and a great day for beach walking – starting first thing with a walk to look at the tide covered glorious sandy beaches we walked along yesterday afternoon on our way along to find Plage du Plate still in the shade from the morning sun…

After packing up and heading on our way south our first stop was the glorious Plage de Sciotot where we enjoyed a lovely walk along the deserted golden sands…

Next up the equally delightful Plage de Surtainville…

Followed by two more beauties – Plage de Carteret and Plage de Potiere…

We only managed a distant glimpse of Plage de Barneville-Carteret as I missed the turning and ended up at Plage de Port Bail instead…

Enough for one day but after parking up for the night at a Camping Car Park Aire we had enough energy to wander down through the village to take a quick run (Tilly not me!) on Plage de St Germain-sur-Ay before calling it a night – what an amazing day…

Thoughts of the day:

  • Not much I’m too exhausted but
  • There seems to be a coastal route a bit like the NC500 – the first section was Tour de les Caps and this current bit seems to be Tour de les Havres – I need to do some searching to see if this is a reliable route to follow.
  • Even though some of the roads through the villages are a bit tricky (narrow with sharp turns) – non of them have landed me in any difficulty….so far

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 37
  • Miles walked – 10
  • Beaches – 9
  • Food – £27.42
  • Aire – £12.53

Monday 22nd September 2025 – from Cherbourg to Siouville-Hague…

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A nice sunny day albeit a bit of a chill wind blowing us around the coast as we explore the area around the Cap de la Hague, the north western tip of this peninsula.

We started our day negotiating our way through Cherbourg (not too frightful as it happens) and onto the coast, taking a brief stop off to look at the Plage de Cherbourg, though appreciating the fact that the tide is quite high…

With 2 more quick stop offs at Plage d’Omonville-la-Petite and Port du Rancine ( the smallest harbour in France) and its beach…

At the Cap de la Hague we were able to park up properly and go for an explore – here we have almost turned our back on the English Channel and are catching the full brunt of the Atlantic – home from home really! We wandered along Plage du Cap de la Hague – mostly shingle and tough to walk along taking in Goury Lighthouse standing proud on its rocky outcrop and then strolling around the small village before returning to the van and continuing our journey….

Next stop was to visit the rugged Nez de Jobourg and its hidden beach. Inaccessible, unless you are a serious climber or able to access from the sea – pity really as it all look rather inviting…

Our penultimate stop of the day was this stunning viewpoint of Baie d’Ecalgrain and ahead the Island of Alderney – the beach car park at the bottom of the hill had a couple of recently arrived coaches so we decided to give it a miss…

Our next stop was in a free motorhome Aire in the small village of Siouville-Hague and once settled in we took a short walk down to the seemingly limitless sandy beach for a lovely long walk as far as Anse de Vauville and back before settling down for the night…

Thoughts of the day:

  • Technology – Whilst visiting Cap de la Hague today my phone welcomed me to Jersey and assured me that my phone would continue to operate as normal and ever since I updated my Fitbit to the correct time zone it has been speaking to me in French – all way too intelligent!
  • These beaches are just massive gently shelving sandy beaches that almost disappear at high tide

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 53
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 8
  • Fuel – £60.40 (about £1.50 per litre)

Sunday 21st September 2025 – from Cap Levi to Bricquebec-en-Cotentin….

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After a bit of a wet and wild night, we awoke to another grey one, which was forecast to become wet later, so we didn’t hang around and soon made our way down to the village of Cap Levi and it’s picturesque little harbour…

A short hop took us to Anse (Cove) du Brick but the tide was high and lumpy with no beach visible….

A little further down the road the heavens opened so we pulled into a seaside car park and watched what I thought was a gig rowing race out at sea but what turned out to be 6 man kayak racing – who knew? From the warmth and shelter of the van with a coffee and croissant- when in France.

As the rain eased we popped down into Port du Becquet and took the opportunity for a quick walk along Plage du Becquet and on to Plage de Collignon….

As the beach ran out at the mouth of the entrance to the Port of Cherbourg we about turned at the outer harbour wall and made it back to the van just as the heavens opened again…

As the rains eased a little we decided to make a dash for inland (avoiding Cherbourg) to the small village of Bricquebec-en-Cotentin where we have booked a Camping Car Park Aire for the night and give in to that Sunday feeling.

Thoughts of the day:

  • With the rain came that positively Autumn feeling and I won’t lie but I was cold in my sandals and shorts and as we are on electric hook up – the heating is on! But I’m not giving in just yet as we start to head south tomorrow
  • I think I might have to admit defeat and buy a French data only sim for the router as I don’t seem to be able to get a strong enough signal on my phone to hot spot
  • French bread and fresh pastries are really very good…

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 27
  • Miles walked – 3
  • Beaches – 3
  • Food – £25.97
  • Aire – £13.82

Saturday 20th September 2025 – Barfleur to Cap Levi…

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Not such a stunning day today but all good until about 2 and then showery and quite blustery for the rest of the day.

We start our day just the other side of Gatteville Lighthouse with a Quick Look at Plage de Gatteville and the small and serene Port de Roubary next door…

Next stop off was at the ruins of the Batterie de Caqueret – similar in many ways to the concrete remains of war defences found on many British beaches including strangely enough the graffiti. On either side were the remote beaches of Anse de Gattemare to the east and Plage de Caqueret to the west – still plenty of beach though the tide is high. We just got out of there in the nick of time as about 10 4×4’s arrived carrying Frenchmen sporting rifles and gun dogs – Tilly had the common sense to remain silent inside the van.

A further brief stop was Plage de Réthoville- we would have liked to stay but the parking was less than ideal….

Parking was not a problem at our next stop – Vicq-sur-Mer so we enjoyed a nice walk to Plage de Renouville and then back to enjoy a bite to eat and coffee on Plage Vicq-sur-Mer….

Another quick detour to a small village called Fort Joret, where again parking was less than ideal so just a quick hop out by me to capture Baie de Torcqueboeuf to the east and Plage de Fort Joret to the west before being waved off by a French lady who I think was checking that I was not going to put down roots and was relieved to happily wave me off

As it turned out our final stop for the day was the rather uninspiring lighthouse at Cap Levi.

From here we took a walk along a footpath back to look at Plage de la Mondrée but decided to turn back as it was starting to rain and the wind whipping up….

Not looking quite so calm out there now – next stop Weymouth….

Thoughts of the day:

  • From tomorrow we will be starting the long journey south and I’m looking forward to see what the west coast has to offer – hopefully a bit of sunshine too
  • The sky seems huge and blue then suddenly it’s not
  • The roads along the way seem quiet but then we you arrive at a ‘beauty spot’ the car parks are busy especially where permissible overnight stays are welcomed

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 21
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 9

Friday 19th September 2025 – from Quineville to Barfleur….

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A beautiful day for us today as we headed down to the beach at Quineville again for our morning walk and at the northern end of the beach we took a sneak view of Plage de Hameau Simon across the river….

We had planned to cover a bit of ground today but as it is such a stunning day and we were lucky enough to get a spot in the village Aire at our first port of call, being Barfleur, we decided to park up and go for a long walk instead…

As the tide is quite high we wandered into Barfleur, a pretty coastal village around a sizeable harbour….

We then set off, headed north enjoying the pretty beaches of de l’Anse de la Masse and de la Crabec as we walked..

Eventually arriving at Gatteville-le-Phare Lighthouse, the second tallest in France standing at some 73m tall – an amazing tranquil spot – good job I brought my flask of coffee!

We walked back to the van and after a brief break (trying to cool the van down) we were amazed to find that on the other side of the sea wall a stunning beach had appeared (it was completely covered by the tide when we arrived)….

We continued our walk around the now empty harbour….

And visited the beach south of Barfleur – Plage de la Sambiere another beauty….

Thoughts of the day:

  • Doesn’t the feel and look of a lovely sunny day just make you feel that all is well with the world?
  • We haven’t had many of those days this year
  • On my quest for chutney I found a jar of small silver skin pickled onions so thought I’d give them a try…. Sour doesn’t begin to describe them.
  • Where do all the French go or live – there are very few cars on the roads and as you wander around the villages you rarely see a soul?

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 14
  • Miles walked – 8
  • Beaches – 6
  • Food – £7.78