Date: July 15 - 21 2006 Boat: Summer Song
Trip:Ouisterham; Honfleur; Fecamp; Dieppe
Days: 6
Skipper: Pam Wyatt
Crew: Linda Hadcocks, Simon & Liz Dugdale
Right: Liz Linda and Simon explore Honfleur.
I have taken the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen which actually stops near Ouisterham which is where I am meeting Summer Song for a week. On the ferry I manage to meet up with Liz who is also joining and Richard who is going to join Eliona. We soon find the boats in the small marina and Pam, Simon and Linda tell us of their awful journey the previous day where the exit from their previous port had been solid with weed and soon after leaving what was predicted in the forecast to be a minor squall turned into a full blown howler.
Just as they started to relax nearing the entrance they suffered engine failure and had to work quickly to avoid hitting the lock. Fortunately there appeared to be no lasting damage to the engine although later in the week we fished out more weed from the water intake filter.
We decide to stay the next day in Ouisterham to allow them some rest and time to check out the engine. Once again as has happened on all of the longer trips I have done the sun appears. I have been incredibly lucky as every trip I have done has had perfect weather for virtually the whole period and this would turn out to be the hottest of them all.
We left the following day to spend a couple of days in Honfleur which is just about as picturesque as it is possible to get. We manage to raft up in the old town basin for the night and then luckily get a space on one of the pontoons the following morning. We have to erect Pam's excellent home made shade over the cockpit as temperatures soar to the 100 mark and the old basin becomes like a cauldron
with its solid stone walls and high town houses reflecting the sun into the boats from every angle.Left: Honfleur by day and night.
Below: The medieval church and Eliona
We leave the heat of Honfleur for Fecamp home of Benedictine liqueur where we look in vain for Monks tirelessly toiling over vast vats of liqueur in the Abby basement. As it turns out there is no Benedictine Abby nor any Monks. It transpires that an enterprising wine merchant called Alexandre Le Grand discovered the recipe lost since the Revolution in an old manuscript. He founded the distillery in Fecamp around 1863 to produce the famous liqueur. Above is his modest house which stands opposite the equally austere distillery......not. Apparently the exact formula is a secret, but before you fret about it copies of the recipe are kept in three far-flung regions of the globe, just in case there is a nuclear holocaust and someone asks, "Where’s the Benedictine recipe?" A visit to the distillery is recommended and there are lots of non drink related exhibits as Alex it would appear had more than a little cash to spare on a trinket or two - particularly locks and keys for some reason.From various Victorian period posters on display it would appear that Fecamp was at that time a rather upmarket and very attractive town. Sadly the wide boulevards have been removed and the remaining impressive buildings are now hemmed in by more modern and austere post war structures. Thus it is now a mixture of the picturesque and ugly.
Our last stop on my week is Dieppe site of the famous raid by Canadian and British troops in August 1942 and now a major Ferry terminal. As such I was expecting a post war concrete monstrosity along the lines of Le Harve (Sorry Le Harve lovers but personally I don't like it much). However I was completely wrong. The Ferry docks well outside the harbour and the town has been rebuilt sympathetically, its really rather nice when the sun shines and has some good quayside restaurants and places to visit.
On the unfortunate side it turned out to be the place where Richard had his wallet stolen. He was in the showers which are entry controlled by keypad. However some local thief tailgated their way in and had the audacity to reach over the top of Richard's cubicle while he was under the shower and take his bag. Running out while pulling stuff out of the bag the thief got Richard's wallet. Fortunately for Richard the trail of discarded items included his shorts so the frustration of being robbed was not compounded by having to parade Naked all the way round the crowded quayside to Eliona. So the lesson is to try and ensure your gear cannot be grabbed even in apparently secure places.Right: Graham cools his heels.
Thanks as always to Pam & Summer Song and to Linda, Simon and Liz for a great break.
