The Fridays tour - Normandy 15th-22nd June

[srw]

 

[srw]

 

[srw]

 

[srw]

Some reminiscences of Chez Cri-Cri on Thursday night. I've got a couple of dozen of these shots sitting on the computer which I'll upload at some stage.

 

[User10571]

The above half a dozen or so posts will require further elaboration upon, of course.

 

[srw]

Friday was sunny, calm and not at all rainy. The very early team got wonderful views of the Atlantic coast; the middle team had a lovely sunny, gentle ride down to the coast and there was no traffic at all on the short-cut back up to the hill. None at all - honest. No lorries, no cars, no tankers - nothing at all.

On the other hand, lunch was a sandwich of stale bread, it got rainier and rainer through the afternoon, the W car is extremely overloaded and we had to leave Diana's bike behind at the chateau, @Agent Hilda hasn't learnt how to fold a Bromtpon, and dinner was a complete write-off without enough food and drink for more than half a dozen people.

The previous two paragraphs may contain traces of untruth.

 

[srw]

The above half a dozen or so posts will require further elaboration upon, of course.

We went to dinner a couple of miles down the hill, and I took advantage of the gap between main and pudding to get my long lens out. Then @theclaud raided the loo and found a can of air-freshener which caused unaccountable hilarity - almost as much as the walking route at Gatteville-la-Phare which @wanda2010 has got on her phone and should be posting.

 

[dellzeqq]

Chez Cri-Cri is a cafe at Ruffoses, some 4km from the chateau. It's a lunchtime thing, but they opened in the evening for Les Vendredis. We dined and drank wonderfully, and paid 22.50 for the privilege. Which isn't a lot for five courses and all the cider and red wine you drink. Then again, the bill at Grosville came to 12.50 each. And the grub was a delight.

 

[dellzeqq]

The thing about the electricity workers is this. Our host said 'follow the electricians'. And he was right. The electricians dine as kings. The miracle is that they go out and play with 115,999 volts of electricity after knocking back all that cider and red wine

 

[rvw]

...the W car is extremely overloaded and we had to leave Diana's bike behind at the chateau, ....

...no thanks to srw, who had literally nothing to do with the loading of the car. He was much better employed conconcting a very boozy bread-and butter putting for supper, while the technical parts of the procedure were done by the female half of the team! (and Diana's bike is in, without even taking the front wheel off!)

 

[srw]

Please note the division of labour - Mrs W takes the technical jobs, Mr W's place is in the kitchen. We are the very model of a modern marriage.

 

[mmmmartin]

We had a good time. It was a blast. I will be signing up for next year deffo.

 

[Andrew Br]

We're now back in Manchester where it's not raining.
Since we're missing everyone, we've decided to cheer ourselves up with Champagne.
It's working so far.

We've had a marvellous time.


.

 

[StuAff]

Les Vendredis (Cherbourg-Pompey group) are now less than an hour from port. Crossing much better than expected.

Full report will follow. But for now, a thought. You've all heard of second album syndrome, the idea an act can struggle to follow up a debut success. Many of those second records are masterpieces though. Personal favourites include Metallica's 'Ride The Lightning', Garbage's 'Version 2.0', and Rammstein's 'Sehnsucht', for example. But what album could best represent the Fridays' fantastically successful follow-up?

Hmm, great tunes, a charismatic frontman, awesome backing band and something seen as a classic decades later? Well, there's only one Iggy Pop and we're no Stooges, but this was truly the Fridays' 'Fun House'.

 

[StuAff]

Back home with a cup of tea. What is would have been a straightforward trip home took a little bit longer than expected. Diana's foot injury meant she had to be met and taken on from the terminal by car. Those staying at hotels needed directions/escorting to the Travelodge (in the case of rvw), Cate took a taxi to Fratton station (she'll have made the train) and Sonia's whereabouts were the subject of some confusion on mine and Rachel's part, so a phone call ensued- she'd tagged along with the mini-peloton and got there safely. Phew! Didn't want anyone getting lost or stranded and I think that was avoided.

My body clock thinks it's 1am. Bed beckons.