Port en Bessin, France

A Normandy fishing village, Port en Bessin, was the nearest shopping area to our hotel at the Omaha Beach Golf Club during our recent road trip through France. This is where we found pastries to go with our morning coffee. Our meandering drive would take us past a busy fish processing center, where I now know, they sell 11,000 tons of fish annually for export. The road is small and winding, in many places only one lane, so drivers have to watch for a spot to pullover if someone is coming the other way.

We also made the trip to Port en Bessin one evening, for a seafood dinner and a stroll along the water.  Two long arms of seawall protect the harbor. Check out how the view changes as the tide goes out. All those boats sitting in the sandy mud just looks so strange.

Due to the recent 70th anniversary of D-Day,  all of the shop windows were decorated with Allied flags, lots of stars and stripes which is very unusual to see in Europe. I saw more of Uncle Sam on the streets of “Port,” as the locals call Port en Bessin, than when passing by an American Embassy.

While the tide was out, we could see where scallop shells had washed up and become tightly packed along the seawall in the most interesting pattern, as if they’d been placed individually! I’ve never seen so many shells on a beach before. I hiked down and picked up a bag full, so I’m sure future seafood courses at our house will be served in scallop shells.

All of the restaurant in the area have their outdoor seating surrounded with Plexiglas windbreaks. I guess there is always a sea breeze, and it can get kind of chilly.

Posts still to come from our summer road trip, Foodie shopping in France, and Brussels, Belgium. 🙂