Cathie Dunn writes...

Following our long drive to Bayeux and the beaches, we decided to stay in Argentan for the day. Partly to relax but also partly forced by a flat tyre which was repaired free of charge by a friendly local mechanic. Merci beaucoup! We strolled through the pretty town centre, spent some money, had yummy baguette out of doors and enjoyed the sunshine. The locals were welcoming and friendly and the atmosphere overall was relaxed. A stroll through fields followed our return to the cottage. A peaceful and calm day! After a night of rain rattling on our skylights and winds howling in the cottage’s nooks & crannies, keeping us awake half the night, it finally cleared up a little in the morning. In light of recent tyre trouble – and the change of weather – we decided to postpone our farthest trip to Mont St Michel and head for nearer places. For once, we skipped the full brekkie and opted for a quick fix – two chocolate filled brioches and coffee. Yumm! Then we were off. We arrived in ...

Embroidery and War: Bayeux and Arromanches-les-Bains We left late in the morning after another leisurely brekkie, so we had to adjust our original plan of doing Bayeux and Caen on the same day. Under normal circumstances, two towns in one day should have been easy to do but not with a late arrival in Bayeux of 11am. Well… The road up to Caen, and onwards to Bayeux – via the Caen ‘peripherique’ – was fine, at first a one-lane country road, later a dual carriageway, which is currently being extended further south (we found the many road improvement projects in the area quite impressive - counties along A1, take note!). I’m sure if we come back here one day, it’ll all be finished and we can head straight from Argentan via speedy road up north. But what are we doing planning another visit already? On our arrival in Bayeux we found a handy car park not far from the town centre – and free! A surprise on a Monday in a touristy town. We took the short stroll to the ‘Tapisserie’, the Tape...

Given my recent renewed research into Normandy, I've decided to share episodes of our fantastic trip from my old blog so that you can get an idea why I'm so fascinated. ;-) Here goes... once upon a time, in October 2007 to be precise, hubby (then my fiancé) and I took our car, a Renault, to its home country of France. As it turned out, this wasn't the best idea, but let me start on our first day following the ferry trip... Relaxation & Exploration of Argentan Our first full day here in Argentan began well: with a lie in. Our home for the next week was to be a farmstead with house, three cottages (a former barn turned into 3 self-catered units), whitewashed outbuildings with wooden beams and plenty of grass and grounds. Our cottage was pleasant, with wooden beams and original walls, living/kitchen area downstairs and a spacious bedroom and bathroom upstairs. We had booked the cottage next door, which turned out a bit small in the living room area, so we were of...

Yayyy! My editor at The Wild Rose Press sent me the final galleys the night before our trip to Germany to my gran's funeral. So I had no option but to upload the final version to my iPhone. It was actually fab to read on the plane, no big bulky books to be carried around. Nice test to see how my potential readers would view it. So now it's all in my editor's court. Or rather her production team's. Hopefully by next week I'll have my release date. Can't wait! I'm on leave this week. Nice! Well, hubby's at work so I have plenty of time to catch up with my current WIP. Important scene where my protagonists meet Geoffrey of Anjou, father to Henry II and quite obviously descended from the Devil. How does this show in the story? Wait and see! ;-) I love writing about Normandy. Can't believe our 10 days there was 3 1/2 years ago! I'm now really keen to go back and explore more, most definitely including a trip 'down the road' to Tours, Angers an...