We came, we saw, we mowed
The grass before ... and after
"A trip to France just to mow the lawn? You're crazy." was a common response, but two of us decided it wasn't so silly. My mate Norman and I hopped on our motorbikes and crossed from Portsmouth to Le Havre overnight on the excellent LD Lines for a quick weekend break before the Winter truly set in.
Our excuse was that no-one had mowed the grass for several months and if the grass was left over the Winter, it'd be a mess in the Spring. The fact that we reckoned we'd get the grass cut in plenty of time for a quick few hours off for a trip round the quiet lanes (Normandy is great for motorcycling), plus a leisurely amble back to Calais (if only the return LD Lines ferry didn't get back into Portsmouth so late) meant it wasn't so stupid after all.
We hit a run of good luck. The trip to Portsmouth on Thursday evening was trouble-free, if a bit blustery, the weather stayed dry and bright so we got the grass cut in good time and we had an excellent gentle run back to Calais trying to keep off the main roads and a long way from the autoroutes.
The dry weather meant we managed to cut the grass in double-quick time, allowing us most of an afternoon to wend our way up the eastern side of the Cherbourg peninsula. We reached Barfleur in time to enjoy a traditional Normandy apple tart in the last rays of the sunshine before refuelling in Cherbourg and heading back to Cormolain along the main road. La Basse Cour is about an hour from Cherbourg, which was very handy when P&O used to run a Portsmouth-Cherbourg crossing. Alas it's long gone, but the smooth, fast dual carriageway that was built to whisk holidaymakers south is still there, emptier than ever.
Ready for the journey home
P.S. The original plan was to mow the lawn in October, but work commitments got in the way. However, we did have visitors in October, who wrote about their own experiences in a blog.
