Tag Archives: Brehal

Refresh — Regroup — Relaunch

You may have noticed a significant absence of posts for the last three months — and that’s because Mark has been working away like a busy little bee over in the 1400s house. And I’ve been carefully building a base of clients for my writing and editing business.

We took a much-needed weekend escape at the end of February — over to the far western side of Normandy in beachside Brehal. We didn’t do a lot — ate, slept, read, watched movies, and had a few outings in the icy cold weather. But it was a good break and we came back feeling refreshed.

Mark looking out to sea in Brehal, Normandy, France

A moules (mussels) farm at the seaside in Normandy, France.

On an afternoon drive along the seacoast, we stumbled upon this medieval chateau ruin from the 14th Century in Regneville sur Mer and had a quick walk around. It’s a tiny but very pretty village facing the sea.

The corner of a 14th Century chateau ruin in the seaside village of Regneville sur Mer, Normandy, France.

What was meant to be a short hop back over to England for Mark’s parents’ 40th anniversary party ended up being a two week visit instead. It’s always wonderful to visit with them and see all of the other assorted family and friends, but everyone in the house ended up sick as could be with whatever lurghi was hanging around England at the time and I ended up in A&E getting meds for a chest infection when our local GP couldn’t see me. Aarrgghh!

Margaret & Brian Harmes at 40th Anniversary Party

We arrived back in France exactly 4 weeks after our icy cold visit to the seaside in Brehal — and everything here at the farmhouse in Notre Dame de Fresnay had burst into bloom!

View of the Normandy countryside through the bedroom window in Notre Dame de Fresnay.

Daffodils beside the old well.

Down by the duck pond.

We’re preparing to move on from here in three very compressed weeks. But we’re headed to the OTHER large house belonging to the owners of this house — and we’ll be there for 6 weeks whilst Mark does renovation work on it. I’ll send pictures of that project as it progresses.

The REGROUP and RELAUNCH part of the title refers to us regrouping, going over to England for several weeks at the end of June, and trying to decide if we want to settle down or continue to work and travel for awhile longer. That’s a longer stand-alone post about the turbulent social and political factors at play here in Europe right now, so we’ll save that for another time.

I have to be truthful, it’s one of those things that sneaks up on you a bit as you get older — the mental cushion of a home base. And right now our ‘home base’ is a huge storage unit full of our possessions in England — one we refer to far too often when we reach for something and then realise that it’s in the $%^&£@! storage unit!

In the next couple of months, we will be relaunching ourselves away from here. And I have ALSO just relaunched my personal website — but I’ll leave that for a follow-up post.

Back soonish!

Saying Goodbye To Northern France

We chose our time for departure beautifully. It was the last few days of winter and the following week would see the arrival of the tourist season in full bloom. As we walked through the sleepy streets of St. Martin de Brehal one last time, we enjoyed the almost silent aspect of walking along a crowd-free pavement.

Sleepy St. Martin de Brehal in Normandy, France on the last days of winter

I won’t downplay the emotions involved — it was wrenching to leave northern France. We fell in love with Normandy and made so many lovely friends there over the last year. But it was time to drive south so that Mark could start his new job in the Midi-Pyrenees.

Walking the ramp down to the sea in Brehal, Normandy, France

Mark left a chunk of his heart by the seaside in Normandy

One of the hardest things for Mark to leave behind was the seaside. He felt so alive there. So on that last day, we packed the car, drove to the beach at Brehal, and we had one last look at the seacoast there.

Deserted wintery beach at Brehal, Normandy, France before the influx of spring tourists

The beach was deserted — completely devoid of other people. But next week is the beginning of April and the start of the Easter holiday period. From that point on, we would have been looking at a packed beach full of people and pets. So this traquil view was one more special moment before we moved on.

One quick stop at the local supermarket for a few bottles of sparkling pear cider (yum!) and a full tank of diesel, then away we went for three days of driving from the very top to the very bottom of France — almost all the way to Spain. We certainly don’t take the ‘middle path’ and move a mere few hours (or countries!) away, do we!

Over the next few days I will be uploading photos from that wonderful trip. So come back soon for more beautiful views of a beautiful country.

Below Zero in Brehal, France

This may be the Normandy coast of France and yes, I know that our temperatures here are a few degrees warmer than they are at our friend Polly’s house 35 minutes inland from here. But the below zero temps we’re having are a shock to the body!!!

Oh my! It is below zero in Brehal, France!

Brrr!!! It is below zero and windy in Brehal, France!

Deborah is smiling in the sunshine in spite of the below zero temperatures in Brehal, France.

Each and every puddle in the road that is left over from last week’s rains is frozen solid and the pond at the end of the lane looks like a small skating rink.

Iced-over puddles in Brehal, France

We kept the walk with the dogs briefer than usual because every intake of breath was a bit painful. As you can see in the photos above, I was bundled to the eyeballs and underneath that heavy wool coat, long wool scarf, wool hat, and lined leather gloves that are visible, I had on lots of layers — leggings, a thick pair of baggy track pants, a long-sleeve thermal shirt, a turtleneck, a long-sleeve cashmere sweater. I was still freezing and my face ached!

Mark seemed fine as he wrangled with the spaniels, but he did admit that his face was feeling icy.

Mark walking the spaniels on the beach in winter in France.

I can’t even imagine sailing on a day that was so cold, but the sun was bright, the skies were clear, and this man with the red sailboat was dressed in waterproof sports clothing and he decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, the boat seems to have been hit by a wave and shoved onto the beach a bit too far up the beach from the preferred destination. So, after making certain that the small boat was firmly wedged against the sand and it wouldn’t float way, the sailor gave up and walked down the beach to get his truck and boat-trailer.

Walking away from a red sailboat to get the boat-trailer

Ah well — back to the sofa with a blanket around my legs while I edit photos!

Back in Blustery Brehal in Normandy

We’re back in Brehal, St. Martin de Brehal to be specific — right on the coast in Normandy. Having arrived back on one of the Brittany Ferries a few days ago, we’re happily re-ensconced at the beach. We love this beach house and it may be blustery and rain-battered most winter days, but we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Wet and windy weather on the English Channel

The picture above was the weather outside my window on the ship on the day that we sailed back — and nothing has changed. Winters in Normandy are wet, wet, wet!

So is it any wonder that I was more than willing to push this button and go back inside whilst on the ship?

Press the button to go back inside

I had gone up on the decks to find out just where the lifeboats were on this ship. And after the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia last week off the coast of Italy, this picture below (which is not exposed correctly due to shadows) shows the FIRST THING that I looked at when we got into our cabin!

The all important evacuation route map on the back of the cabin door

Keep coming back for a series of Photo Of The Day posts from quite a LOT of places we have travelled in the last 14 months. I’m doing edit-and-upload sessions to my various agencies and I continue to come across wonderful slices of life in various European cities that aren’t necessarily commercial or sales-worthy, but they might be funny or poignant or simply an interesting angle on the world.

Photos Of The Day: Drive Oh-So-Alertly At This French Beach

The sign below is not something to glance quickly at and then ignore. If you happen to be in a car, you will be ignoring it at your peril!

Pay attention! Drivers need to be alert about what is right in front of them!

This sign is on one of the main streets in St. Martin de Brehal on the Atlantic seacoast of France. It may have been a gloomy and chilly day when we took our walk last Saturday through this village in Normandy, but at least the rain wasn’t horizontal as it had been for the previous four weeks.

Here is what the street looks like with a restaurant and bar right on the corner as you approach the beach.

The beach and the sea are just past the last building on the corner in St. Martin de Brehal in Normandy, France.

And this is the beach scene below. Walking on that beach is one thing, but trying to get a car out of the sand or potentially plunging into the high tide is another matter altogether!

If you drive down the wrong street in St. Martin de Brehal in Normandy, France -- this is where your car will end up!

Rainy Sunday At Brehal

Normandy beaches in winter may not always be as gray and rainy as our last week here has been in Brehal on the Atlantic coast of France, but it’s definitely the kind of weather that makes you want to stay dry, cook, and work on some sort of project.

This small video expresses those sentiments on this early December weekend. Just a tiny bit of warning, these videos sometimes take awhile to load if you have a slow connection, so be patient!

I’ve been craving something home baked for several weeks and these bananas needed to be rescued before they ‘expired’ altogether!

Overripe bananas about to be turned into banana nut bread

Feeling the need to actually get up and move around after sitting still all day with the computer in front of me, onto the internet I went to search for a recipe for banana nut bread.

The result? The gas mark on the oven was a bit off (I checked at a gas mark to fahrenheit conversion site and I had actually chosen the correct option with Gas Mark 5 = 375 degrees) and it got a bit too brown a bit too quickly. But yes, it tasted perfectly lovely. Yum!

Banana nut bread baked in our beach house in Brehal, Normandy, France

Beachy In Brehal

Winter has descended on Normandy and all of the wool clothing has been unpacked. We’re back at the seaside for a week or more of out-of-season stay in a marvelous 6 bedroom beach house named MAISON MIELLES in the lovely small seaside town of Brehal. Make sure you click on the link for Maison Mielles and have a look. If you are ever thinking of having a holiday in Normandy near the beach, this place is simply splendid!

What I didn’t know prior to our arrival in Brehal was that we would be within visual range of Granville — a place that I mentioned wanting to return to in a previous post. As we walk the two dogs that we are dog-sitting along the curve of the bay, we can quite literally see Granville in the distance.

Spot the springer spaniel in his basket at the beach house in Brehal, Normandy, France

Dougal the cocker spaniel asleep in his basket at the beach house in Brehal, Normandy, France

It’s too cold and gray today for me to be walking through the stone streets and alleyways for those picturesque views, but as soon as we have a sunny day — we’re off! As it is, I’ll be getting my fair share of brisk exercise on the second long walk of the day with the dogs. Mark does the early morning hour-plus with the sweet wee beasties and I join him in the afternoon so that they’re tired and they sleep well at night. Think along the lines of getting a toddler good and tired and you’ll understand!

Mark is quite happy to have some peaceful time for his cross-stitch and I have a backlog of writing and photo editing to do this week. So keep watching for more posts and photos of places that we have visited in Normandy in the last month or so.

Mark working on cross stitch at the beach house in Brehal, Normandy, France

Bye for now!

Spot dreaming in his basket at the beach house in Brehal, Normandy, France

A Wanderful Life

The Neverending Journey