Phil&Jill

To begin today's entry I feel I should show you a photo of the sunset from our window last night, giving us great expectations for today....and it didn't disappoint.

After breakfast and a nice chat with Marg my friend from French class via Messenger, I was keen to get down to the centre of the old town of Dives (which incidentally means 'rich' in Latin) to their weekly Saturday market in Les Halles (the market place). I always love a market.

On the way we passed the SNCF station for Dives sur Mer. The pink building just at the back is our appartment block, called Kyriad Prestige.

The area is still prominent for its fishing fleet and sailing. The car is the vehicle of the local sailmakers.

As we approached the village square we could see many locals hurriedly going to the market with the inevitable basket on their arms. Crossing the road however we were distracted by a medieval courtyard named after the very popular William!! Old William is venerated in this town and he pops up all over the place. This time in the Village of Art - William the Conqueror. This was an orginial hostel for pilgrims in the 15th century when this area was a tiny fishing village but became popular for spa treatments in the salt water to cure ailments. An enterprising developer in the 18th century, Monsieur Le Remois, who was a passionate collector of antiques decided to renovate the old hostel, brought in a bust of Louis IV, some Ursiline lion statutes, a wood carving of St George a mount his dragon, some beautiful stain glass windows depicting musicians such as the trumpets of Jericho and some bas-relief inspired by life at the time of William. The area now houses the Office of Tourism and small artists boutiques. Very quaint!! At the time William was here, there were 1,000 boats in the bay for his assault of his cousin Harold in England.

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The market started in the street next door mainly clothes, belts, underwear and hats. Then as you scrambled down the little windy narrow streets you came across the famous Du Pont teahouse with baguettes seemingly leaping into customers hands...and look at these cakes!! Boy I am strong to resist these delicacies.

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Further along the laneway we came to the village church, once again in 1067 from Mr Popular William who helped fund the build because of so many pilgrims coming to the area that the original edifice couldn't cope with the crowd. The church has had many iterations over the centuries as all these old churches do, but the history tied up with this one is fascinating. Firstly as it has a list of all those who accompanied William on his journey and also because the monks tended to the sufferers of leprosy in the community
The decree at that time was that anyone suffering from leprosy couldn't stand within 20 feet of a healthy person. So just near the choir stalls there is a small hole through which those with leprosy could peek in and listen to the sermons and singing. The beautiful stain glass windows were brilliant with the sun beaming behind them.

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But I have kept the best bit til last about this church. The reason for so many pilgrims coming was that one day way back when a fisherman pulled out of the sea a statute of Christ without a cross. There was a dispute between the oeople of Dives and the people of Cabourg as to who should own it. As with all disputes in the days of the Normans they put to court and the people of Dives won. However someone years later soneone tried to disfigure the wood and like a miracle the wound produced blood. At the same time another fisherman from Dives found a cross in the sea exactly the right size to hang the sculpture of Christ on. Thus this area came to be known for its miracles and was certainly a place to visit to help you with your faith.

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Just when we thought we had seen it all we walked down the last lane and came across the real market place - Les Halles de Medievales (with 66 pillars after the 1066 conquest of our friend William. I tell you he is everywhere). For 6 centuries a market has operated here and every Saturday vegetable snd fruit growers, cheese makers, butchers, jam and wine makers ply their stuff. The photos will speak for themselves. I will only give you a sample and not bore you with the thousands I took.

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Lots of people gathered in the local cafes to meet with friends or have coffee or drink. We only heard French going around and believe this was a truly local market.

Very pleased with ourselves I tried to navigate us a quicker way home, but this can turn out to be disastrous....and it was!! We actually took a much longer, circular route home which was too much walking for Phil who really suffered bad pain as a result. I won't be doing that again!!!