Je n’aime pas vegemite.

Bonjour

Every year around Australian Day, the Saturday markets in Cherbourg have a stand that is manned by some Australians to ‘introduce’ some of the locals to our so-called national delicacies. There is no problem in getting a thumbs up for the lamingtons, Anzac biscuits, sausage rolls and Tim Tams. But the Vegemite was a definite thumbs down. Obviously an acquired taste.

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With all our travels in December and January, we have had a break from living out of suitcases. Yesterday we took Clio for a bit of a spin to the beautiful coastal area, just south of the Cherbourg.

It’s strange to see these seaside places that are obviously packed in the summer months, but on a cold, bleak day in January they are deserted. There are hundreds of holiday homes and even more caravans, sheds and shacks that are locked up and waiting for the warmer weather.

As you can see from the map above, this area looks like the perfect place for some recreational sailing and fishing. It appears that many others think the same thing, based on the number of boats we see in all the harbours up and down the coast. It would be a mad rush to get to your boat and out to sea, then back again before the tide goes out.

The coastline is quite stunning in a remote, windswept kind of way. Another curiosity (to us anyway) is the kilometres of picket fencing, all wired together by hand. It looks so much more natural and appropriate than any man made materials, but how labour intensive would it be to put that up?

There is a bit of controversy here in Cherbourg about the old fish auction building ( or la petite criée). This building was put up in the early 1950’s so that fishermen could auction off their catch without having to go directly to the fishmongers.

It was really only used for 6 months until they established a bigger market and it fell into disrepair. Then some developers decided to transform it in the early 1990s to something that looked like this…

Even though the council gave the project the go ahead, local restaurateurs protested, so the plans were scrapped. These days the building is looking very sad, but the discussions go on about its future. Eventually, it will probably just fall down and then the decision will be made.

January is nearly over and we are yet to see any snow or really cold weather this winter. The days are quickly getting longer and the daffodils are starting to bloom. Bring on summer. (We can see all those Australians still in the middle of heat waves rolling their eyes).

Au revoir

L & M.