Monday 19 October 2009

Life's a beach

I know that I have now been away ten times this year. However, those of you that follow my blog will know that we have had several trips away this year that have were not really for the purpose of enjoying ourselves. Holidaywise we had a four night break in Kent and the New Forest in May, one week in Ireland last month and then three days in France last week. Our other seven trips have been to three family birthdays, two funerals, one trip down to Sussex to bring my mother up to Cheshire and another trip down to Sussex, to do some sorting out and cleaning at my Mother's bungalow, in preparation for selling it.

Our days of lying on a Mediterranean or even a Caribbean beach have gone, but we have visited several beaches over the last few weeks. The only beach that we saw whilst in County Clare, Ireland last month was Lahinch.


Last Sunday we stayed the night in the Southsea area of Portsmouth, and we managed to go for a walk along the sea front at Southsea, before going out for a meal in the evening.


On Monday morning we travelled by ferry to Cherbourg in France. That afternoon, on our way from Cherbourg to Trouville-sur-Mer, we stopped off at some of the D Day beaches. Omaha with its American memorial was the most impressive of the three that we saw.


Then we went on to see the British beaches - Gold, where the remains of the Mulberry Harbour can still be seen if you enlarge the photograph below


and Juno, which was actually the Canadian beach.


All the D Day beaches were wide, empty and golden with the waves rolling in and it was not difficult to imagine the scene on D Day, 6 June 1944. We missed the American beach, Utah and the British beach, Sword. However, the next day we walked along the promenade at Trouville

and then walked over the bridge to Deauville, where we also walked along the beach.

22 comments:

Maggie May said...

Lots of different beaches! It is hard to imagine the terrible scenes that took place during D Day or any place where a battle has taken place (in history) I always find that. Sometimes there is a definite atmosphere to such places.

You need to calm down now & pull up a chair after your travels! LOL!

Nuts in May

Sandi McBride said...

I'd give a small fortune to be able to walk along with you! Lovely lovely beaches...take it all in, remember everything for future posts!
Sandi

Helen P said...

Lovely! Those huge expanses of sand and sea make us feel slightly insignificant don't they? Glad you enjoyed your trip but I feel, CW, that you may have to rename your blog 'Globetrotting Wife'!

Scriptor Senex said...

Lovely picture of Omaha. I find it astonishing to think of war when one looks at such peace and beauty. But I suppose many would argue that war was the price we had to pay for being able to see that peace and beauty now.
Hope your world gets a bit calmer and more peaceful for a while.

Anonymous said...

Looks divine, and empty! And there's nothing wrong with going away 10 times!! Life certainly is a beach.

CJ xx

Dottie said...

Hi CW :) I can only agree with you about the D-Day beaches. Our holiday there in July was more like a pilgrimage. My grandfather landed at Juno with the Canadians, to whom he had been seconded as he was in the Royal Corps of Signals. The Juno Beach Centre is definitely worth a few hours, and happily bilingue for non-francophones. Thanks for this post, which brought back this precious time which we found very moving.

Carol said...

It is amazing to visit places of historical importance and just breath in the atmosphere isn't it!!

The first time we visited Kanchanaburi we went to see the Wampo Viaduct and Hell Fire Pass on the Thai/Burmese railway line. My Great Uncle Will was a POW there...he never talked about his experiences but it left him with a fear of water that I never really understood till I read about some of the torture techniques....it was hard to imagine such cruelty taking place in such a stunning and peaceful setting but Maggie May was right...there was a definite atmosphere!!

I hope you now plan to take it easy and have a few weeks relaxing time!!

C x

Akelamalu said...

I love walking on beaches, so uplifting. :)

Anonymous said...

JP and I walked those beaches in '1960...sad, humbling and so beautiful.

Sniffles and Smiles said...

What a blessing it is to us that some gave their lives in order to rescue those beautiful beaches...Maggie is right. It is hard to imagine the events that took place there at this point in time. Thank you for sharing your lovely days, and journey!!! Sending my love and best to you~Janine XO

Jan said...

Stay put in CHESHIRE now for a bit, Ms Cheshire Wife....otherwise you'll be having to change your name!..( to more exotic a place!)

imbeingheldhostage said...

Gorgeous. I want to go! I'd say you had a pretty full year of travel, didn't you. I'm sorry it wasn't all for fun though.
I hope you had a great birthday!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Love to go away also but isn't it nice also to be by the fire at home. Must be getting old!

Jinksy said...

Portsmouth and Southsea?! My neck of the woods, Blogpal - we could have met up to say 'Hi!' ... You know the old saying 'If I'd knowd you was a-comin' I'd have baked a cake!' I could maybe have pointed you in the direction of a slightly different beach, at Langstone, where there's a picturesque old watermill still standing. You've certainly seen some beautiful shore lines in your travels. :)

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Dearest CW, thank you so much for sharing my happiness with me!!! You are a fantastic friend!!! I treasure you!! ~Janine XO

Snowbrush said...

My but you have traveled a lot lately. I think you must know more people than I, which I suppose can be both a blessing and a burden.

I enjoyed the photos.

Jennyff said...

When we crossed to Dunkirk earlier this year I was reminded to the happenings in the war. Beautiful peaceful beaches now but we should never forget.

Sniffles and Smiles said...

I am so blessed with friends who help me keep my perspective straight...and I count you as one of my very dear!!!! So glad for the internet as it introduced me to you--my pharmacist friend who should have been a writer...Love to you, my dear CW!! ~Janine XO

MelMel said...

Hello, i'm new to your blog...lovely holiday!x

Lesley (Notesfrommydays) said...

love all the pictures i just love beaches!
found you via melmel blog - nice to see someone else in cheshire and I am now going to have a read back through your blog :-)
Lesley x

Cheffie-Mom said...

Beautiful, beautiful beaches!! Can I go with you next time?

Anonymous said...

Before finding out about links of london uk watches you should be familiar with some of the terminology. cheap links of london The word horology has two meanings; it is the study or science of measuring time links london jewellery or the art of making clocks, watches, and devices for telling links of london sale time.Since the first appearance of man on the earth an effort has links of london silver been made to determine time.The tracking of the sun's movement across discount links of london the sky, candles that were marked at intervals.Water clocks did links of london bracelet not depend on the observation of the sky or the sun. links london bracelet The earliest water clock was discovered in the tomb of Amenhotep links of london bracelet sale I who was buried around 1500 B.C. Greeks called them clepsydras ; they were cheap links of london bracelet stone boxes with sloped sides that allowed water to drip at an almost unceasing rate from a small hole in the bottom.