French seaside

after le mans, we didn't have any set plans.

wow, what a difference from when we've traveled with all of our children!

it felt good to be carefree, spontaneous, following our every whim and fancy.

our new friend graham, a seasoned sailor, suggested a couple of french seaside destinations he thought we might like. the first was honfleur. oh graham, you got it right!

we loved the charm of this picturesque 12th century trading port tucked away on the southern side of the seine's estuary with its slate-covered frontages encircling the harbor.

enchanting!

my only request was to visit evreux. paul's was to visit omaha beach, the invasion of normandy.

we made a stop to the very first house to be liberated, just off the sea and up the hill from omaha beach.

we also visited the american cemetery in normandy.

an incredibly humbling experience.

later in the afternoon, we made our way along the coast to discover by surprise in the misty distance, the island commune of mont saint-michel. the mystically, magical monastery. like i said, we hadn't researched or planned this trip, it is lovely when things just work out for the best. it is oh so beautiful and a place i have always dreamed of visiting. lucky happenstance.

we stopped that evening at the seaside town of lorient. as we checked into our hotel (the black and white building left of center), the manager was anxious to tell us that our room had a balcony from which we could watch the volvo ocean race, leg 9, lorient to gothenberg at 5:00pm. really? really.

again, lucky happenstance.