Special Find

This blog is about a cheese farm we have found in France where we had a really nice time. We found the farm in our French passion book and arrived on Saturday night. We went to the barn with the shop inside. It was very busy, there was a long queue for the counter. We watched his wife Martine make some butter and milk their cows. Then we met Alain, the cheese maker. Mum and Dad had a big talk with him and he told us about his cheese business which is now three years old. He let us try some of his products and then kindly gave us some to take home and enjoy. He also invited us back for a cheese experience on Monday morning.

The next day we went to the beach and had a great time swimming in the very cold Atlantic sea waves. That evening we went back to the farm and saw Alain again. He was making fromage blanc, which we think is like sour cream. He asked Anneke to help him label his products and clean up and then he gave us a pot.

The next day Mum and Dad made some special French cheese and learnt lots about how he manages everthing. A journalist from the local newspaper came and Alain asked he English Neighbour-Judy to translate for him. We went to Judy’s place after the curds started draining and had coffee.

Thank you Judy and Alain for your kindness and generosity,
The Nieuwys

Brittany

On our first day in Brittany William cooked us great pancakes for breakfast. We drove through Saint Malo the walled city but not much to do in the wet weather. After lunch we driving and stopped at a Jypsey fair which mostly sold junk. We bought a corkscrew which we needed because before dad had had to open the wine with a knife and how could we be in France and not have a corkscrew. For the night we stopped at another French passion goat farm. When it was time for milking about 30 people turned up to watch. We like their shed it was simple and tidy. They we different because they made very soft young cheese that we almost curd but they were very tasty and not too goaty. The next morning we had a great walk along the cliffs by the sea. We followed the tracks between the gorse and flowers to a lighthouse and back it was very windy. We had a good afternoon at the beach. We stayed at an air at Point Plerin where some of us went walking and ended up sliding and sinking to our knees in the mud at low tide. At the next air by the beach at Plouha. us kids went for a freezing swim and played with French kids on the playground. Thomas baked a delicious custard and peach pie for dessert. The next day at the beach we went for a walk and had a ice-cream from the supermarket. The girls collected shells on the beach and made necklaces.

We arrived at the next air early the next day. Mum and Dad did washing and we played on the nearby beach and the rocks surrounding the harbour. We all went to the beach in the afternoon and made pools and rock hard sand balls. We had such a good day we decided to stay another day which we spent doing washing, relaxing, reading books and playing more on the beach and in the harbour.

Mont St. Michel

Hello Everyone,

After leaving the D-day beaches we drove to Mont-Saint-Michel. We were lucky that we got there. Our stupid at times GPS wanted to save us some miles and decided to send us down a steep hill with tight especially for a camper switchbacks. We had seconds thoughts about going down but we didn’t really have a choice. We were relieved when dad managed to get us around the first tight turn after two attempts but then we reached the second and things went downhill well thankfully not but almost. The second switchback was tighter and sharper. When dad was stuck halfway round he made us all get out of the camper and we watched as the front wheel spun without any traction. After many attempts dad our amazing driver got us around and onto a wider road. We were all very shaken and thankfully dad didn’t wet himself.



Our first views of Mont-Saint-Michel were stunning despite the grey weather. We found a park where we wouldn’t get stuck and walked out along the causeway to the abbey on the island. It was funny though Thomas got annoyed when a coach drove through a puddle and he got wet. Mont-Saint-Michel is a one thousand year old abbey on a granite island that is surrounded by sinking sand and water during the tides. We walked around the abbeys many shops, paths and the stone walls and buildings. There were many terraced levels all with great views of the surrounding setting. On the walk home we watched as one of the car parks was emptied so the cars weren’t flooded from the rising tide.

Normandy

We have spent the last week hugging the coast of France. Thomas was ill for a few days but recovered once we’d hit the D’day beaches of Normandy. It was a grey and drizzly while we explored Juno beach, where the Canadian Allies landed on D’day to free France and Europe. We moved on to Arromanches and parked at an Aire - a designated parking area for motor homes. Most of them are packed because of the summer holidays. We walked up a hill overlooking the concrete caissons protecting Port Winston, the temporary port where the British Allies unloaded their supplies to help liberate France.


The next day we went to the American War Cemetery overlooking Omaha beach. It was a little piece of America in France. We had to go through a security check in the Visitors Centre which was just like one’s in the American National Parks. We learnt a lot and understood a lot more about WWII and the importance of the D’day landings here in Normandy. Outside in the immaculate Cemetery were endless rows of white granite crosses and no matter how you looked at one others behind it would line up perfectly.

We went to Point du Hoc the next day and enjoyed Pate, homemade blackberry jam and some good French bread. We walked out to the German gun points and bunkers on the point. It looked like mars with all the bomb craters and we explored the damp, dark bunkers. We stayed at Utah beach where more American landed. We saw the memorials and watched our massive sandcastle get swallowed by the tide.

The next day we went to a German war cemetery and World Peace Garden. It had over 20,000 graves but was very different ti the American one. We stayed at a ‘France Passion’ Goat farm inland. We enjoyed petting the goats and watched them being milked. Anneke was lucky enough to bbe able to milk them with the owmer she said it was much easier than hand milking. So we left with more great ideas for our goats and cheese making back home.