Granville

Bonjour

Happy new tax year.

This week, we had a lovely Sunday drive to Granville, about 100 kms south of Cherbourg. It is on the coast facing west, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and runs ferries across to the Channel Islands when the tides are right. It was first settled in the 11th century and the old town is all about narrow winding cobblestone lanes and stone buildings.

But one of the main attractions is the childhood home of Christian Dior which has now been converted to a museum with many of his originals designs plus many family photos. The house was not huge but still lovely and overlooks the ocean. The gardens were beautiful and probably at their peak at this time of the year. The hydrangeas grow like weeds everywhere, even along the roadside, and at their best in the garden (see bottom left photo). The lower centre photo doesn’t look much, but it was a lantana that had been trained as a standard. Not like the weeds that grow at home.

The house itself was full of displays of original Dior designs that had been donated to the museum by family and friends of Christian Dior. It started from the early designs just after the war when fabric was starting to become more available. The models must have had 18 inch waists to fit into the dresses.

After the museum, we explored Granville and checked out the beach. Along with crowds of other people. It’s hard not to compare these French beaches with what we have in Australia. And they don’t come close.

C’est nos nouvelles pendant cette semaine

L & M.