DAY 4 – CHERBOURG-EN-COTENTIN, FRANCE

After a wonderful night’s rest, I awake to a beautiful Sunday morning – and I’M IN FRANCE!!! I’m at Sandrine’s, on the northern coast – but we got in so late that I didn’t get to see much of it. We sleep in – then head out to a Patisserie to grab the makings for a yummy breakfast (and snacks for later). And – we take the pastries to the beach, and eat and catch up on each other’s lives. It’s a beautiful coastal town – right on the English Channel. There’s also a park there, with kids and families, and lots and lots of dogs. People flying kites, kids riding bikes on the sand – it’s so nice.

            When the wind picks up we pack up – and head on to another beach (there’s TONS of them here). And the entire French coastline is beaches – and they are all 100% public. People can build “near” the beach – but no one can own private land that blocks people from the beach. (How I wish California were set up like that.)

            As we walk toward the beach, there’s still quite a wind – so we opt to stop into the little restaurant there – and old stone cottage, with fabulous windows overlooking the ocean. Oh, and they serve crepes – like any respectable French restaurant should. We sit and visit and enjoy the ocean. As I pour the last of the water into Sandrine’s glass she shares a tradition that whomever gets the last drop of water from the carafe will be the next to get married. (Hmmmm, I may start strategically pouring more water.)

            After a bit of driving around and sightseeing we stop at a grocery store – and I load-up on fruit. I am a big fruit lover – and the fruit here is AMAZING! The apricots are incredible. And the raspberries are perfectly soft and sweet – and I’m pretty sure it’s all vine-ripened, because it all tastes soooo much better. I eat as much as I can handle – to the point where don’t care about dinner. And that’s the perfect way to end the day.