We never get tired of the Normandy countryside. It is a
visual feast of dairy farms, wheat fields and apple orchards dotted with
villages which have many houses dating from as early as the 16th
century. As with other parts of Normandy, typical houses are made of brick or
stone plus timber, and many are just made of timber.
We had never heard of Deauville, but it turns out that the
town has long been a resort for wealthy French and foreigners. Even the Emir of
Dubai has a villa there. Deauville also hosts an annual film festival dedicated
to American cinema which started in 1975. It also hosts the Deauville
International Triathlon on the third weekend of June each year, so it will take
place tomorrow. The road closures and other preparations are well advanced. The beaches leave Monte Carlo for dead. Think beautiful fine almost white beaches and
lots of multi coloured umbrellas for hire.
The wind was blowing off the Channel this morning so most people were
rugged up in jackets and scarves, except for the 2 idiots from Canberra who
were both in shorts and Tshirts. Holy
smoke, the weather was around 16C, a long way from the -3C you had in Canberra
this morning.
Deauville has a huge convention Centre sitting right on the
sand of the beach. The French are always
looking to make a Euro or 2, so with the accommodation built for the rich and
famous they have 400 rooms set aside for school excursions. As it sits right on the beach you guess it is
well used and helping defray costs. They
have a row of rooms along the beach promenade that has the names of the rich
and famous who stayed there. However, as
more come to stay, the names are upgraded to reflect the newer stars. Some of the older ones are there in
perpetuity.
Gamblers are well catered for with a huge Casino in
Deauville, and across the bridge is the huge Casino of Toueville. As the Emir has a ‘house” in Deauville you
can imagine the he comes with many staff, as do so many of the big names and
big spenders from around the globe. It appears
to be well kept secret by those in Hollywood and surrounds,
Photo 1: Nice little country cottage?
Photo 2: Low tide at Deauville.
Photo 3: Casino at Deauville.
Photo 4: The Normandy Hotel. For the rich and famous only at
639 Euros per night $1003)!!!
Photo 5: Names of some of the Hollywood stars who have been
celebrated at the film festival.
Photo 6: Beach at Deauville.
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