Нормандия... тарых китеби...

We continue along the dreamy coastal road towards Carbourg. It doesn't happen often... but yes! We need a campsite with a washing machine... urgently! And behold: the search paid off. Camping sur Mer offers everything your heart desires. Just behind the large sand dune (with the washing machine in sight, woohoo) we find a great spot. Quickly put the laundry in the machine and off to the sea. Climbing over the dune, both humans and dogs are amazed. The sea is gone! It's low tide and way in the distance on the horizon we see the water glittering. About 1 km of mudflats lies before us. Countless people are going on a mudflat hike and we join them. Lucy chases seagulls until she's exhausted. The people enjoy her. Here, a dog can finally be a dog and do whatever it wants. And we humans also find great joy in the spectacle. We collect shells for dinner (...actually everyone does that here). The beach is littered with shells, crabs, oysters, and more. Exhausted and hungry, we return before the tide comes in. The mussels tasted great... but to really get full, we would have needed ten times the amount, hehe). Lucy falls straight into a coma.

In Vierville-sur-Mer, we spend the night on the cliffs about 100 meters above the sea. Countless bunkers from World War II can be seen around us. In fact, you can't escape the history of World War II in Normandy. Every town has memorials, monuments, bunkers, and history plaques. Even the beaches have American names. We visit Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. Beautiful, kilometers-long beaches alternate with high cliffs. All of this is framed by the beautiful old stone houses with blooming gardens.

We continue through Saint-Marie-du-mort with various overnight stops towards Barfleur. We meet nice people and at the Phare-de-Gatteville lighthouse, we get the feeling that our Hummel is being photographed more often than the actual attractions of the lighthouse. Here too, we marvel at the extreme tides. We haven't seen anything this fantastic before. At noon, we climb over rocks that will be the seabed the next morning.

We drive along the entire coastline, find countless free overnight accommodations, and can't get enough of this breathtaking landscape. Every now and then we take detours to smaller towns. People wave at us and we are in bliss. By now we don't even know what day it is anymore and it feels sooo good. In the supermarkets, we go crazy over the countless delicious cheese varieties and are happy about diesel for 1.60 euros.

A planned highlight, Le Mont St. Michel, unfortunately falls literally into the water. When we arrive, we drive around the city for ages. Some pitches are too far away to walk and since dogs are not allowed on the shuttle bus, those are not an option. The pitches near the famous monastery are mercilessly overcrowded and when it starts pouring rain, it's clear: no St. Mont Michelle. Instead, we check in 50 km away at a campsite with a heated indoor pool and a few hours later we blissfully swim in the warm water and look forward to a hot shower. A sign saying "welcome to Bretagne" reminds us that we have left beautiful Normandy. Bretagne, here we come...