There are of course many types of holidays. My girls and I had done the Haven Park type of holiday and the beach in Spain holiday and the retreat in the mountains type of holiday. This year we decided to book a hotel apartment in Deauville, France – and for a little additional adventure we would take the car via a ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe.
My eldest would be taking one of her friends so that meant that three adult size people and a ten year old child, with luggage, would need transportation in my little Suzuki splash. This spatial challenge was met by purchasing a set of roof bars along with a waterproof and canvas roof sack. And in addition to the load carrying modifications to the vehicle we would also need some additional kit to meet French legal motorway moving requirements. So a kit was purchased containing a breathalyser and various other safety items such as a first aid kit and reflective vests.
The car was fully loaded on the Monday morning and we were ready to make the 55 mile trip to Newhaven. The skies were black with storm cloud and we were not long underway when the rain storm darkened the sky and flooded the roads. Driving through Shoreham several streets were blocked by police vans and I was in no way certain we would make Newhaven in time to catch the Ferry.
So it was not the best start to the vacation but we did make the Ferry and boarding it was very straightforward. The three hour cross channel trip, in spite of the storms, was pleasant and calm and various card games along with our reading material meant boredom was never an issue.
It didn’t take long to get through the passport checking barriers at Dieppe and to commence the 85 mile trip to Deauville. It was here that my alert levels were on a high state due to driving a car built for left lane driving in a country where the right lane is the legal lane. In addition my GPS did not have maps for France so navigation would be the old fashion way with frequent stops to check the Atlas and confirm a correct route had been taken. Driving on the opposite side of the road and also finding Deauville was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Once arriving in Deaville however, finding the hotel was a greater challenge. After driving about the district and doing the circles I decided to stop at a tourist office for assistance. The lady handed me a local map with the route penned on it – and fifteen minutes we were checking in the hotel resort.
The resort was a Pierre & Vacances site positioned near a golf course. There would not be the arcade parlours and rides and slides associated with a Haven or a Butlins. This resort would focus more on relaxation and we found it very pleasant indeed. The swimming pool was a good size and so too was the apartment. A separate bedroom, kitchen and lounge room – a home away from home.
There were no restaurants or shops in the resort – and this was fine with us and gave us an opportunity to explore the local town each evening when searching a restaurant for our main meal. Deaville is a wonderful town and frequented by the rich and famous. Elegant, stylish, fashionable and peaceful – we all enjoyed this five day break in the Normandy region of France. And the pictures will tell more than my words could – and so the reader is left with some of the snaps from our little holiday in France.
Peace to All
