I know, I know, I'm hardly ever here any more. Why do I bother? lol
Well we had a lovely holiday at my mum's and I wish I could have stayed and stayed. It was lovely to see her although she's definitely showing more signs of age and slowing down more. Considering how amazingly she recovered from her severe stroke, it's sad. She bought the house 30 years ago so it's the place everyone in the family considers "home". The kids have all grown up going there on holiday and for weekends and it's brilliant that it has actually changed so little there. Towns either side along the coast are more built-up and touristy. My mum's house is on a private road, and there is no lifeguard on this section of beach, so it doesn't get that busy, ever. Even in August!
Most nights we go out and check out the sunset. I didn't have my phone with me this night, but I drew a heart in the sand and got Claire to snap it with her phone. I love the light ;)
I'm not even going to THINK about what that horizon is going to look like when they've built their damn windfarm out to sea in that direction.
We were lucky enough to have a hire car this year, cute little thing.
We had such amazing weather all the time, apart from the odd shower of rain. Bliss.
The coastline here was called Juno Beach during the D-Day landings. This is remembered everywhere - such as in the name of this road:
The troops that landed on Juno Beach were Canadian and British. They have remembrance services every year and on the 60th anniversary they inaugurated this little monument in memory of the soldiers who gave their lives on 6.6.44. ("The memorial is in the shape of a Inukshuk, a staple of stones in the shape of a person pointing in the right direction. These Inukshuk were used in Canada as route-indicators.")
(I have to say, I'm not sure why that flag in the background is at half-mast! I didn't notice it until after I took the picture....)
On the last day of our holiday my sister came up from Toulouse a day early so that we could spend some time together, and so Claire could see her cousins. The girls wanted to go shopping (they share a birthday and had some spending money to use up), so my brother-in-law drove us into Caen, and then he and I went to see William the Conqueror's castle and the Abbaye aux Dames. It's amazing to think these buildings have been there for nearly a thousand years. Even with the devastation that hit Caen during the liberation of France, there has been some great renovation work so there is a lot to see.
Well, you get the picture. There are more photos on my flickr photostream.
Since we've been back, it's been Claire's birthday and that kind of end-of-the-summer feeling. It's been brilliant to have such a long, hot, sunny summer, but today it's pouring and feeling a lot cooler, which is kind of a relief!
We're off out shortly, if we can face the wet, and tomorrow we're looking forward to having my niece down from Manchester with her husband and my adorable great-nephew. Plans are brunch followed by (I expect) a trip to Cassiobury Park so little one can let off steam. Weather should be fine again, so fingers crossed.
