Our final full day in France and I really thought we should have a quick look at the town in which we are staying. I am actually very impressed with Cabourg - it is a proper working town with a real heart. There are a number of independent shops, florists and bakeries and the central street - Avenue de la Mer is full of places to eat. We parked near the promenade which is pedestrianised and walked past the impressive ‘Hotel Grand’ on the front. The sea was grey and the weather has definitely changed into a more autumnal feel from the scorching sun and 34 degree heat of just over a week ago.
Colin had promised to show me just a few of the D-Day Beaches that he and Chris spent over a week visiting during their WW1 and WW2 trip in April last year. Our first stop was at Saint Aubin sur Mer (located on the D-Day Sword beach) which is the little town that I had booked an apartment in for Chris and Colin. It is a very sleepy town and all but one restaurant was closed - I am glad we went for Cabourg to stay as it definitely feels rather more alive!
From there we drove on to Arromanches (Gold Beach) further down the coast where we were able to see the the remains of the 'Mulberry Harbour'. These massive floating harbours (two of them) which can still be clearly seen at low tide were unbelievably towed all the way from Southampton in June 1944 to provide a place to dock in deep waters. The tide was going out but we still got a good view. Our final stop of the day before our return to Cabourg was at Station Radar 44 Museum. A place that Colin had not spotted during his trip with Chris last year and it was fascinating. What was nicest (and not related to the radar) was the very nice chap in the ticket office who told me, after my usual rant about the massive mistake of Brexit, that British people would always be welcome in Normandy and that he saw it as a doorway into Europe. I felt quite tearful.
We then drove back to the apartment and had a brief rest before walking into Cabourg - just ten minutes - to try and find a restaurant for our last meal in France. We were in luck as half way down we spotted L’Embarcadere. We were welcomed in and had one of the best final meals of a trip that we have ever had. I started with six oysters and they were definitely on a par with ones I had enjoyed in Cancale earlier in the week. Main course was home made tagliatelle with seafood. The tagliatelle was extra wide and a bit more bite that the Italian version and was the perfect foil for the sauce and plenty of seafood. The finale was dessert and in respect of our final location I went fo r the Normande ‘ice cold cup’. This was a stunning concoction of apple ice cream, sorbet, fresh apple, Chantilly cream and a shot of calvados - a big shot! It looked rather like a white hedgehog and was delicious with a massive kick of alcohol. Colin had a great meal as well - what a brilliant end to our trip.
