Arromanche-les-Bains

The ferry arrived in Ouistreham at about 6.30 am, French time (5.30 am English time!) Fortunately, I managed to sleep on the ferry. Not so Mrs Mikey and our daughter! Although it wasn't particularly rough, the ship was going up and down a bit and there was the occasional judder as we hit a bigger wave. Mrs. Mikey, who had never been on a ferry before, was waiting for every rise, fall and judder.

As it was so early, there was very little traffic on the the roads and I got used to driving on the right. We went right along the coast road to Arromanche-les-Bains and found the cottage pretty much straight away. The girls went straight to bed, while I took my camera and went out for a walk.

The beach was a couple of minutes away, and at that time of the morning, almost deserted and with a fantastic light. I was really pleased with some of the shots, including this blip, which shows the remnants of the Mulberry Harbour which was constructed to provide a way to unload stores and equipment to support the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

The concrete blocks sit quietly out in the bay, home to seabirds and slowly - very slowly - crumbling away. It is quite a contrast, this quiet beach with a family walking across it, with what was probably going on here in June 1944.

Eventually, I walked back to the cottage, buying a loaf along the way for some toast, and after Wife and Daughter had woken up and had some breakfast we all went for a walk. We went along the beach and into the D-Day Debarquement Museum, then a look around the town. After that, we drove back along the coast to a supermarket which we had seen that morning and sorted out basics for the week, then back and a simple tea.

It was dark pretty early, so it was an evening of watching television and an early night after the rigours of the crossing and the nerve-wracking driving on the wrong side of the road. Good first day in France.