French Friday - up the coast at Port Mer

This week we've had a mini heatwave which lasted all of three days. But three days of heat was enough for us to down tools and head for the coast, as the forecast looked like it was going to change 'back to normal' (whatever that is this year) again so hardly beachy weather. It was cloudy at home on Wednesday and slightly misty by the sea, but it was cooler and it was just great to get up the coast at long last - summer has seemed such a long time coming.

Port Mer is just north of Cancale and south of Pointe du Grouin and is the first sandy beach that you come to on this strip of coast coming from the direction of Mont St Michel. After that going west the rest of Brittany is full of sandy beaches but the bay of Mont St Michel is a big tidal mud flat full of oyster and mussel beds.

Naturally seafood figures high on the menus in all these coastal places with moules frites being a cheap and popular dish, but just to be contrary we both had something different!

I'm not going to waffle on any more; I'll just post photos with captions.

He had: duck breast and frites
I had: cassolette of moules and prawns in a creamy saffron sauce
Excuse my franglais

He had: fromage blanc with coulis de fruits rouges
I had: tarte au citron renverse, which intrigued me.
Was it going to be like tarte tatin or pineapple upside down cake?
It was a sort of upside down tarte - that was bits of sweet pastry
sticking into the lemon mixture, with little meringues.

This is what Port Mer looks like on a sunny day. It has 3 restaurant/cafe/bars and that's it.

I've had that ruddy Mull of Kintyre song stuck in my head since I saw this.
The mist did come and go and wasn't as bad as it looks. It was just over the big
posh house on the green hill you see above on the left. Serves them right for
having a big posh house overlooking a beautiful beach.

So after lunch we went for a walk and admired all the floral displays.
I'm just amazed by all the tender plants which grow happily here that would be
frosted in an instant chez moi. What a difference one hour north makes!

This looks like two different kinds of what Mum and I call "the Greek plant".
They are fleshy type plants which grow all over seaside places with
bright daisy like flowers. I think one of them may be Delosperma which they
sell in all the garden centres here, but which won't survive in my garden.

There was Agapanthus galore

It's such a pretty plant, but oh so tender!

I loved all the red here with the balcony geraniums and what I think is a sage beneath.

Now I can grow house leeks and ivy, but the spiky thing probably
wouldn't like it inland, and I did have a hebe once which my mum gave me.
That didn't survive winter!

Whilst walking along the coastal path we saw a Little Egret
wading around in the seaweed, which was rather fun.

I have these at home too and they are just coming into flower for the first time.
It's a sedum (stonecrop) of some sort.  
(I don't have to be all knowledgeable and look up names when it's not my garden!!)
Edit: Sedum reflexum

This one goes into the "I haven't got a clue" category. I don't know if it is a garden escapee,
but it was growing wild all over the place, very pretty and the bugs liked it.
Edit: thanks to Miss M it is Jasione, either montana or maritima

Why bother having a lawn when you can have this instead?

I ought to know what these are but I don't. I recognise them though.
Edit: It's Sea Campion

Looking back towards the beach through a forest of Mimosa trees.
Quite common inland but anyone following my blog will know that my tree
is no more, after being frosted 3 out of the last 4 years :-(

Very common around all these coastal parts and all through Normandy,
a WWII German concrete gun emplacement.

Someone had added some very colourful graffiti! No idea what it means but I think
it looks really cool!

Less cool with manky white legs and feet out. My OH gets annoyed
when I want to check the photos he's taken of me and get him to do it
again, and again, until one passes muster. So this time I accepted whatever
rubbish came off the camera. Don't click on me.

This is coming up the hill from the beach to the car parking area (but looking down. Obviously).
Have you ever seen such a perfectly clipped hedge before?!!

That's all folks. Bon weekend!