Yesterday started as a very restful day mainly because we were both "stuffed" from lots of early mornings, late nights and being on the go non stop for a few weeks. Also of course because we were looking forward to one of the biggest highlights of the whole trip yesterday evening and wanted to ensure we both appreciated every second of it. Last night was the night at the Moulin Rouge, would have loved to be able to share some pictures with you all but, they are ...

Today we woke up in Conflans, ready for our morning's excursion to La Malmaison. Conflans is the traditional home to the barge people, those plying their trade up and down the French rivers. According to our guide most of the barges in France are registered in Conflans, it is here that there is a support set up for retired bargees and their families. whilst we did not get time to visit the town as we were doing the Malmaison tour, others who visited the town com...

Today we had 3 choices of tours: 1. The American landing beaches, followed by the American Cemetery 2. The Commonwealth beaches, centering on the Canadian involvement 3. The Bayeaux tapestry and tastes of Normandy Graham chose option 2 and these are the pictures attached to today's blog, Jane chose option 3 but unfortunately forgot to take her iPad or phone to take any pictures. The day started in Ranville near where the first action of D-Day took place, Benouv...

Today is Rouen, the capital of Normandy, site of the burning of Joan of Arc, and a city of so many churches it makes Adelaide look positively heathen. Seriously though it does have a lot of churches as it was the centre of the church for many years in France, however today many of them have been sold off for private housing, or government buildings and one is now the Rouen concert hall. A lot of Rouen managed to survive WWII, unusual for a large town in this pa...

Today we took the included tour on the Route des Chaumieres, (the thatched roof road) and the optional tour to Honfleur. Whilst we have seen many thatched cottages in the UK and Ireland, these in Normandy are somewhat different, the thatch for one is thinner and on the ridge line they plant Irises. The ridge line is caped with clay and the Irises planted to both keep the clay stable from washing away and also to keep the moisture down in the thatch. As the guid...