{"id":54623,"date":"2025-05-31T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/?p=54623"},"modified":"2025-07-10T15:26:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:26:50","slug":"from-currywurst-to-sorry-sauce-by-way-of-normandy-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/?p=54623","title":{"rendered":"From Currywurst to Sorry Sauce by Way of Normandy (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Wrath of Caen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Train (regional, double-decker, French): a warren in whose burrows bunnies often wedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our carriage, burrow 3, has a colony from les \u00c9tats-Unis blocking the stairs, debating whether the small seat numbers are downstairs or up. Being on their way down from up, they decide the lower deck is a safe bet. We\u2019re keen to get to up, so cherrfully encourage them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We soon encounter a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeriously?\u201d says The Mathematician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our seats are heading backwards. Again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeems so,\u201d I say, sliding in. \u201cI didn\u2019t get to chose when I reserved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sighs and joins me. As I inspect what counts for a window to my right, I catch a glimpse of her peering round the chair in front. She gets up and inspects a four-seater section. She checks the display on the luggage rack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese aren\u2019t reserved,\u201d she says. \u201cLet\u2019s sit here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these circumstances, my face usually answers before my voice. I\u2019m Law and Order Boy, committed to sitting where the train gods ordain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She makes a face in answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStay there if you want then. I\u2019m sitting here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine,\u201d I say, getting up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can always move back if there\u2019s an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can sit by the window.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a table! I can do some work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is nice to have a little extra room \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she unpacks some food, I watch a teen lope up the stairs, check out our empty seats, and flop down. He positions his rucksack as a pillow and pulls his blind down. Not going back there then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNuts or nana?\u201d says The Mathematician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm, nana.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She passes one across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He takes a seat across the aisle from us and begins to cough.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shortly before the train\u2019s about to leave, a suited late teen\/twenty-something man hurries down the aisle to a set of occupied seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh,\u201d he says to the kids sitting there, \u201cone of these seats is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He points to where his butt should be. As the trespasser starts to rise, Young Suit shakes his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, no, it\u2019s OK. I\u2019ll just sit somewhere else. I just wanted to let you know that I\u2019d reserved this seat, in case the conductor asks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n[You might, at this point, be wondering how good my French is. Not good. I can, however, read hands and faces \u2014 The Mathematician kindly translates the rest.]\n\n\n\n

He takes a seat across the aisle from us and begins to cough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mathematician looks at me, clearly annoyed. As all frequent travellers know, there\u2019s a Universal Public Transport Law: There\u2019s always someone coughing, and they\u2019re always next to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s sick,\u201d I say quietly (English not being the language of secret conversations). \u201cLook at his neck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His hair is wet and matted, his skin flushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI bet he ran for the train. He\u2019s just out of shape, that\u2019s all. Probably coughing up phlegm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mathematician’s somewhat convinced. She eats a few hazel nuts. In 30 minutes, the coughing will stop, but until then, I feel her wince every time he clears his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we amble in the direction of Normandy, I watch Young Suit with some amusement. He gets out a laptop and phone, stares at one, slaps at the other nervously to check for notifications. When the conductor comes, he hastily explains that he should be sitting over there (he half stands to point) and says he can move back if needed. The conductor shakes his head. He couldn\u2019t give less of a shit. Lesson for us all there, perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did they spray teflon on the lino?<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ah, Caen. Sand, sea, and sustained traffic noise. We amble the 600 metres or so to our hotel, starting to feel a little tired from all the travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really loud,\u201d I say, looking for a quiet road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mathematician shrugs. \u201cIt\u2019s a city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but Leipzig doesn\u2019t seem this loud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIts Leipzig. I told you it\u2019s quieter than other cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think about this as I reacquaint my body with walking, and I\u2019m not convinced it makes any sense. I also can\u2019t say that she\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hotel\/apartment is fine, if (you guessed it) noisy. It\u2019s also exceptionally slippery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid they spray teflon on the lino?\u201d I ask. Shoe, sock, or barefoot, you\u2019re powersliding into the bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look out over the city.
\u201cDo you think that\u2019s a restaurant down there?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Part of our reason we\u2019re travelling to the UK via Caen and not Brussels (on the Eurostar) is that I rather fancied the idea of undertaking William the Conqueror\u2019s 1066 journey (though landing in Portsmouth and not leaving from Saint-Valery-sur-Somme (and also with only one ship)). His residence is here in the Ch\u00e2teau de Caen, a castle that would become one of the largest fortifications in western Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We head there now, walking along the estuary of the river Orne before heading into the medieval quarter. It\u2019s a magnificent structure, still in the process of being restored after centuries of damage. (It was also bombed in 1944.) We walk the ramparts and admire the fantastic barbican guarding the eastern gate house. There are benches and seats on the grounds, tastefully cemented in positions that face each other. You come to the castle to talk, not just to look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look out over the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you think that\u2019s a restaurant down there?\u201d I say, pointing to a place with tables outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe. Are you hungry?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 17.10.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I nod again. We have an understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019re some other things I want to see. Think you can hold on till 18.00?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seems like a big ask \u2014 we\u2019ve been up since 4, so this is about 20.10 in the evening for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure,\u201d I smile, casually adding, \u201cany idea where you\u2019d like to go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve shown you a bunch a places already.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, yes you have. Only, I was just wondering if you knew which was the closest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She tuts and gets out her phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOr I could look,\u201d I say, pulling out my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou do that,\u201d she says, and we go off exploring some more, looking at very different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cD\u00e9sol\u00e9. The kitchen\u2019s closed.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact: Many restaurants in Germany are closed on Mondays. Many restaurants in France are closed Mondays and<\/em> Tuesdays. Today is Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis one’s closed too?\u201d I say, despairingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeems so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the f\u2014! I thought the French liked food!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cover a good few kilometres of closed doors before deciding to head back to a place we know is open, somewhere we passed on the way up to the castle. Most of the tables are full, but we find a few inside that are free. We find the owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm,\u201d we say, pointing to the wall-mounted menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh,\u201d says the man. \u201cD\u00e9sol\u00e9. The kitchen\u2019s closed. But I think if you try \u2026\u201d He gives us the addresses of a bunch of very touristy restaurants that we\u2019ve already walked past and decided against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d we say, and head off in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m getting hangry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We navigate to the Asian quarter, giving up on our dream of eating local cuisine, and find a Chinese restaurant with some vegetarian dishes. We enter. We eat. We\u2019re a little disappointed. Still, what it lacks in ingredients, it makes up for in atmosphere. It seems to be very much a locals\u2019 place. The restaurant owner greets the customers like she knows them, and the customers greet each other like old friends. It\u2019s the special sauce that makes the dishes palatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhat stuffed, we make our way back to the hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe light\u2019s really beautiful,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mathematician squeezes my hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to go back right away,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat about walking along the river? We\u2019ve about an hour before sunset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s exactly what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Next week: The river, the abbey, the English Channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plucky travellers make it to the sea with time to spare to storm Old Will’s castle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[213],"tags":[228,224,246,227,229],"class_list":{"0":"post-54623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cf","8":"tag-caen","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-gwasaga","11":"tag-travel","12":"tag-william-the-conqueror"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54623"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54683,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54623\/revisions\/54683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}