What do you do when you don’t have TV?

Of course we can talk to each other or read.  I’ve started to read a book, I haven’t read a book for ages, a proper novel, not a computer book, not a kindle book but a proper book, printed on proper paper!!!! I’m quite enjoying it really but trying to eek it out a bit as it’s the only one I’ve brought.

We’re now perched on top of the hill at the Arramanche 360 cinema experience.  This aire is not in the 4^th edition of the Aires book but was in the 3^rd – however it seems to still be ok – 6 euros a night, but if you get in after 6.00pm and leave before 9.00 am you might get away with it – they are the people we say are from Hastings – people who hurry away first thing in the morning to avoid paying, and there were a few of them.

We went to the cinema which was the Normandy landings story on 9 screens at once all around you. Quite good really and suppose it was worth the 5 euros each (day’s out will be a separate budget from food and drink). The problem with going to anything historical with Mr Right is that he’s Mr Always Right again and criticises everything that he sees.  I remember going to Turkey with him and going on a guided tour and he was teaching the guide all about Turkish history and pointing out where he was wrong – funnily enough the guide seemed to be enjoying his lessons.

Back to the Arramanche 360, Mr Right said to me when we left – “pretty well done but there were a few mistakes!!!” Here we go again, humour him, “what were they dear?” I asked.  “Well Churchill’s speech about fighting them on the beaches was about Dunkirk and not Normandy, and the German soldier shown was wrong, he was from the SS Panzer division and they weren’t at Normandy.”  Why oh why does he go to these things when he seems to know more than the presentation shows anyway.  He’s the same with history programs on the TV – it drives me mad.

After the cinema we went back to get the dog and walked into town for lunch. Not very far but a very steep hill to go down. I always think when I see a hill – if we go down here then we have got to come up again.  Arramanche is a pretty, small town with few useful shops and a woman in the tourist office who totally ignored me while she chatted on the phone. So we wandered off again.

Lunch set us back 40 euros, 20 for the food and 20 for the drink (2 and a half pints of lager).  Again a retort of “We won’t be doing this much when we’re full-timing”. Good job it wasn’t raining like last year when we got caught in a restaurant in heavy rain, we got back to the camp site dry and 70 euros lighter – but at least the brandy was good. Then as the museum didn’t allow dogs, I took the navette gratuis train up the very steep hill back to the aire while Mr Right visited the museum and then did the shopping for tea (bread and cider). Guess what – when he got back he moaned about the fact that he didn’t learn anything new – quelle surprise.

The aire was great and It was fantastic standing up on the hill looking out to sea, imagining 7,000 ships coming onto view as the dawn broke.  I’m sure the first feeling would have been to turn tail and run.

Now back to what to do with no TV – no no no not that you smutty person! But the thing is you can’t get drunk or there’s nothing to do but go to bed. You can’t read with a belly full of wine or you just have to read it all again the next day. TV is mindless and easy to watch when you’ve had a glass or two but reading – forget it.

Tip – when drinking wine from a wine box, we always decant it into a jug before pouring – our jug is 1 litre.  When it’s empty you can always have a top up from the wine box but at least you know you have already consumed 1 litre. Otherwise you keep going back when your glass is empty and wonder why you have a head ache in the morning and why the wine box doesn’t weight very much any more.  The wine we bought in the supermarket  was 10.8 euros for 5 litres and was very good.

In the morning it was get off the aire by 10.00 am or pay again and then trundle off to Omaha beach and then off to Bayeux.

Crib update Mr A Right is now 3/1 up – must have been beginners luck for me.