Al fresco.

Time to eat al fresco.
Ham and eggs, green and yellow pepper rings, cold noodles and a sprig of mint.

Fields of Gold.

Norman fields have turned golden these days. Rape seed - colza - crops are in bloom.

Here, in a field near Reffuveille, South Manche, colza is blooming while stumps in a severely trimmed hedge still struggle to shoot new growth.

A Cotentin Donkey.

A friendly Cotentin donkey lives in the field near us.

La Victoire.

Tomorrow is La Victoire - VE Day, a public holiday in France.

This is a military memorial in Jurques, Calvados. It was erected in memory of the first world war dead, but bears the scars of the second. At the top of the pedestal, bullet pockmarks are seen, and lower down a shell or a mortar explosion chipped larger bits off the granite. They keep it as it is, lest we forget.

Jurques is a village of about 700 people between Vire and Villers-Bocage in Calvados, Normandy. It was the scene of heavy fighting in the Battle of Normandy in 1944. Now it is famous for a zoo which boasts several white lions.

Marianne on Top of a Volcano.

No photoshop, just an angle. It looks the Marianne in the market square in Vire, Calvados, sits right on top of a fountain (not quite volcano.)
Photo by ©A.Anichkin.

Mont St Michel. Running in Normandy.

Mont St Michel. ©A.Anichkin.

Mont-Saint-Michel in the morning.

This view is about a mile from the gates of the famous abbey on the rock in the sands off the coasts of Normandy and Brittany, one of the most recognised sites in the world. The spot, next to a newly-built barrage on the river to the left, was the start-line of the 10 km road race I did on Sunday with my running buddies Francesca and Leaharna.

It had been grey and raining all week before the race but Sunday met us with glorious sunshine and warm weather with refreshing breeze.

I took this picture with my old Nokia, so the technical quality isn't high.

Georges Seurat in Port-en-Bessin.

Port-en-Bessin in Calvados is a lovely fishing village today, famous for its coquilles St. Jacques (scallops). During the Battle of Normandy in 1944 it was through here that petrol for the Allied troops was delivered.

In the 19th Century it was a favourite destination for Georges Seurat (wiki), the impressionist painter who invented pointillism. He made dozens of sketches of the harbour and the surrounding cliffs. A tresle with a study by Seurat stands near the Round Tower of Port-en-Bessin.