Heat wave in Normandy

Tags

climate, Normandy, postaday2012, rain, sun, weather

Francoise still can’t believe that just the day before the baby girl and I came to town, it had been raining for three months straight. We have had clear blue skies and 82 degrees for the past four days and tomorrow promises to be a scorcher as well. Normandy I’d say is beautiful in the rain and fog, what with its vast forests but add a whole lot of sun in the mix and it transcends beautiful, it jumps to glorious.

However, this heat makes one tired and lethargic, especially when a strong summer sun is beating down on you while you are visiting various sights. So today, we took a day of rest and stayed in the cool interior of Francoise’s beautiful house. While the baby girl was lounging about, Francoise and I were in her office, caught up in a project of hers.

When I was at Pierre and Isabelle’s house, Isabelle introduced me to the latest variation on the good old photo album, it’s called the “livre de photos” or photo book. I  don’t know of any website in the States that offers photo books but I’m sure that they must. This was the first time that I had seen one. Pierre and Isabelle go to Venice with their children annually, so with all the digital pictures of several years of trips left on the computer, Isabelle wanted to showcase the pictures and the memories so she went on the photo website and produced her own photo books. She has been doing it for a while and has gorgeous books illustrating their travels.

Given that introduction to photo books by Isabelle, it was a nice surprise to spend the afternoon helping Francoise do the actual layout for a photo book that she is putting together as an important family gift due in a few short weeks. Working on the website with Francoise and getting the feel for what was possible, what was hard to do and what was visually appealing was a lot of fun and a huge learning experience in the French terminology of computer language. I learned so much in this one afternoon, I am looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow.

Summer in Normandy continues

Tags

beaches, heat, Normandy, postaday2012, Seine river, summer, sun

The countryside of Normandy is lush, green, full of hills, mountains and valleys. The forest is everywhere, surrounding the towns, it plays an important role in the background of the Normandy tapestry, the towns and cities stand out in much sharper contrast against the majesty of all those regal trees. This morning Francoise, the baby girl and I went on a small hike through the forest which led out to the top of a falaises,  a cliff overlooking the Seine river. Any view from up high tends toward the picturesque and this view was no exception. The Seine river runs through Rouen down towards Paris and past meandering through further on in France.

After a few minutes of admiration, hunger started calling and we went back home. Francoise had purchased sausage, breast of duck kebabs and chicken and pepper, onions and tomatoes kebabs, those went on the electric grill and Francoise served them with a tabbouleh salad. Dessert was homemade yogurt and fruit. Once lunch was eaten, the kitchen cleaned up and put away. We stayed inside in the cool until 6:00 when Francoise suggested that we visit Rouen plage before it closed for the season.  Rouen plage means Rouen beach; the city of Rouen, for its residents, creates an urban beach setting along the river complete with sand, playground, a rope bridge climbing structure, a scuba diving tank and two cafe’s. The dock along the river is temporarily closed for a month on the left side and the effort doesn’t go unappreciated. The children were having a blast and all the adults seemed to be enjoying their time at the beach.

I promise that as soon as I get back I am going to post every single picture that I have taken and explain them so that it all makes sense.

So far the weather here has been magnificent, Francoise has, so far, every day mentioned that we are experiencing a rarity in Normandy weather, 3 whole days of cloudless blue skies and 80 degree weather. Tomorrow will be day number 4, I haven’t a clue as to what we are doing but I don’t care. I told both Francoise and Nicholas that I am doing what I cam here for, visiting with them. The rest is all gravy on something great.

Pick a beach, any beach

Tags

beach, pine forest, postaday2012, sand, sun

• 
• Where’s the most beautiful beach you’ve ever seen?

• 
• June 20, 2012

• A Beautiful Beach
• Hendaye

  My personal favorite beach of all the beaches that I have visited throughout the years is the Truc Vert on the tiny peninsula called Presqu’ile of Cap Ferret in the Southwest of France right outside of Bordeaux. The Truc Vert is a beach right on the Atlantic Ocean, when you go there by car, you park in the midst of a pine forest. You walk through the forest, smelling pine, sand, sun and the ocean and the forest thins out bringing you to a long stretch of planks leading you to the Atlantic Ocean, where the crashing waves are waiting to be frolicked in and the sea breeze keeps the sun’s heat at bay.