a long weekend in france, so it was a short drive up to basse-normandie with the au pair fam. they've got a place in deauville, a quaint beachside town. it's the closest beach to paris, so it's full of parisians & is considered to be "paris, by the beach" - meaning that their are chic boutiques, a slightly bourgeois culture & (not gonna lie) that infamous parisian rudeness...
one of my fav things about deauville is the norman-style houses with thatched, pointed roofs & dark, vertical, wooden beams against the white of the houses. it's such a different kind of architecture to what you find in paris, so it was really refreshing to see & be around.
we were 10 in the house, so it was a relief to get out of the house & into the sun. surprisingly, aside from one evening looking after four kids - i was basically free to do as i pleased. they had a stash of bikes at the house so i hijacked one (lucky me chose the one with the tallest seat that wouldn't budge) and, with some difficulty (slight issues with stopping & knowing who to give way to) managed to find my way into the city centre. checked out the deauville morning market, where i nabbed an amazing pair of burgundy gypsy pants.
after a bit of struggle town dismounting my bike made for giants, i was strolling along les planches, the famous boardwalk that runs along the beach. there's a cannes film festival equivalent here in deauville at the end of the summer, so the boardwalk is lined with little beach cabins - each of them named after one of the many actors & actresses who have come to deauville in the past. some of the ones i passed: clint eastwood, john travolta, elizabeth taylor & robert de niro.
the actual beach is just like those at home, with soft golden sand & freezing water (sorry port phillip bay, i love you but it's true). then there's deauville's signature multi-coloured beach umbrellas dotted across the sand...
i walked past a few young frenchies along les planches who had decorated a collection of little shells with rainbow textas, and were selling them for 2c - and if you buy 2, you get 1 free. mignon!
à plus tard...
S.
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| deauville market |
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| who's keen for half a cow? |
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| post-market space |
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| le morny's café, place morny |
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| the deauville town hall |
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| martine lambert's delicioussssssss passionfruit gelato |
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| Add caption |
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| why yes i did pay €1 for a ferryride the distance of 50m |
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| les planches |
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| so comfy |
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| plage du ....soleil |
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| texta'd shells on les planches |
