I've just returned from the Suisse Normande area. I was so very lucky, I hiked for four days, it was hot, sunny and I hardly saw a cloud. I really liked Falaise and Thurry Harcourt and the villages in between. Pont d'Ouilly was a little disappointing (everyplace closed by 8.00pm) although if I was a canoeist I'm sure I'd have loved it. I arrived on the late afternoon of May 8th, the end of WW2. Why I wonder do the French celebrate and respect the date, but we don't seem to?
The hiking route was really great, especially when I started on the GR36. I was surprised by how many really steep up and downs I had to clamber up and down and how the route zig zagged this way and that, I lost sense of all direction and found myself looking at my compass a few times. No worry though, the route is all clearly signposted. The countryside is beautiful, the River L'orne meanders along, winds its way past cliffs, farmlands and wooded areas. I spent some time looking down from rocks and listening to canoeists laughing and bantering. Except for a few places I was rarely aware of any traffic, the silence of the area was deafening.
What I did find impressive is that an old railway line has been tarmaced (so smooth) and its just designed for cyclists, roller bladers and walkers. My walk took in a few miles and the road signs suggested that a cyclist could pedal all the way from Caen to La Rochelle if they felt so inclined. Apart from cyclists, the route itself is a roller blader's heaven, I've never seen so many people, both young and old, whizzing along and enjoying themselves. Some of the blade wheels were 4" in diameter and some of the designs, plus the clothing to go with it, must have cost a fortune.
My only downside is that after a few years without blisters I managed this time to get one under each foot! I've convinced myself that I caused it by walking along part of the cycle track and due to the heat of the tarmac surface it made my feet really overheat. By the time I walked into Caen all I wanted to do was sit down for a while.
When I caught the ferry home, three families in the afternoon were causing mayhem in the terminal. The middle aged husbands/partners were so drunk! For a jolly jape they even put a couple of their small children (they looked about three) in a fairground money-in-the-slot rocking car and then for a laugh deliberately tipped it over onto its side to 'surprise' them. The children screamed but their parents thought it was hilarious! Their loud blokish laughter drowned out the swcreams of their children. The terminal staff were furious and threatened them with the Police. The families then dispersed outside into the car park area and everyone calmed down. Not a pretty sight, Brits at play!