Tag: Port-en-Bessin

Highlights from Port-en-Bessin

by ginnyinshanghai

It could be dicey, staying in a small town, but it was a central spot to visit the number of places on our list. It was a good decision. No surprise, it’s a fishing community and most of the restaurants feature freshly caught seafood.

When Adrienne goes on her morning run, she’s been able to get the lay of the land and find local landmarks. One day we visited their local church, Eglise St. Andrea.

Built in the late 1800s, it was dedicated to men of the sea.

Inside are many ship models and sailer tributes.

Half block away was their local cemetery.

It was multi-level and the upper level had the oldest grave markers.

Behind our rental was this structure, a fortification by Vauban, a French military engineer who worked under Louis XIV in the 1700s and considered the greatest engineer of his time. What you can’t see in my photos are the barricades preventing anyone from visiting. The structure was considered unsafe for visitation.

Walking to nearby restaurants, we traveled over this swing bridge. I finally got to see it in action! Coming in was this fishing boat.

Followed by this shipping vessel leaving the port.

BTW – the real truth……………..we were stranded on the wrong side of the water. We had a lunch reservation and we had to wait until the boat traffic cleared. Which gave me a chance to see the swing bridge in action.

Did you notice the dog at the very end of the video? We decided it was the town mutt. We saw him periodically throughout our visit and he was obviously very comfortable with the swing bridge.

I won’t take credit for the next photo – its Adrienne’s shot.

Port-en-Bessin was a great jumping off point for our adventures in Northern France. Here’s one last photo from our veranda.

Ginny

Bonjour!

by ginnyinshanghai

We headed out of the country – but this time as a party of four. After getting the luggage checked in and made it through security screening, our next stop was the MCO Club Lounge. Food is filling and most importantly………nothing costs extra with our membership. We were there early enough to catch breakfast offerings and lunch offerings.

Our connecting flight was through Atlanta. Originally the layover was 45 minutes – WHAT? That was tight! And totally dependent upon all the stars aligning and pieces falling into place correctly for us to make the connection. Not going to lie, had some grey hairs growing just thinking about that situation. One week prior to departure, Delta notified us the flight was being changed……….we now had a 3-hour layover- yeah. ~Happy dance~.

Eight hours later, we were in France.

After picking up a BMW rental car, we headed north to Port-en-Bessin along the northern coastline in Normandy. What is special about this city:

~This site has been occupied since protohistory.

~Hosted the shipyard of William the Conqueror.

~In the 1970s, the town became the first Normandy fishing port with the creation of its own fish market.

We typically reserve AirBNBs for our accommodations. With this town being along the coastline, Eric was able to find a location right along the waterfront. Here was the view from our veranda. Yep, a little cloudy but so far, the rain held off.

We were met at our rental and given a quick run-down of the place and expectations for when we depart.

Three bedrooms, two toilettes, one shower and a small kitchen. That’s all you need.

First order of business – lunch, Normandy style. walking along the waterfront, this was our pick, starting with cidre – a specialty in this region with all the pommes (apples) grown here.

Seafood salad, a savory galette and pizza (shared) were our selections. You’ll have to guess who ordered what. 🙂

Walked to the shore to checkout the tides. There was a large tidal range. My photos were at the ebb tide.

Going up and down these ladders looked challenging and not for the faint of heart.

Connor and I walked out a little further to check out the English Channel.

As expected, we came across a number of memorials. This was at the end of the breakwater.

This port was not suitable for a large D-Day landing, however it was important for another reason – P.L.U.T.O. Pipe Line Under The Ocean.

We came across this info walking back to our rental.

This was the first of many more memorials.

Ginny