Round The Orne

Between 1965-68 there was a popular radio comedy called Round the Horne featuring not only the talents of the eponymous Kenneth Horne but also Kenneth Williams. I couldn’t resist using a play on that as my title as I’m walking up the Orne River from Caen. So Round The Orne it is!

This walk is my 11th in eight years since I decided in 2016 to follow an old pilgrimage route to the Mont St Michel. Since then I’ve walked most of the Normandy coast and followed the River Seine from Paris to the sea. This five day endeavour will take me through the so called Suisse Normande before heading east to Falaise. In some ways it’s a tale of two Chateaux. I begin by the one built by William the Conqueror in Caen but finish where he was born in the castle at Falaise.

Having travelled overnight on the ferry from Portsmouth to Ouistreham, I took the bus to Caen where I couldn’t resist going round the Friday market in Place Saint Sauveur. In England we have expensive ‘Farmers’ Markets’ out Waitrosing Waitrose, and others where you wouldn’t ask the provenance of the goods on sale, but France is still full of local open air celebrations of in season produce. Today the fruits were strawberries, raspberries, melons, cherries and apricots and the vegetables were broad beans, spring greens and early peas. Many are from local farms.

My walk was mostly along cycle paths. The River Orne exudes peace and tranquility just as you leave Caen’s city centre with its hippodrome to your right.

Bucolic but just yards from the centre of Caen

I encountered quite a few cyclists and runners on this stretch. The river was sometimes in view but the path at times deviated. For a walker cycle routes can get a little boring so I decided on a couple of detours firstly to get a coffee and then I went in search of lunch. This time I hit the jackpot with a good value offering in St-Martin-de-Fontenay. I walked through residential areas, former villages which now prospered as part of Caen’s commuter belt.

Choices….but not too many, and the vegetarian option?

My bed for the night was an Airbnb in a village called Amayé-Sur-Orne which I gathered, has no restaurants but my hosts, a Portuguese couple could offer a meal. My arrival time was to be 5pm, but I arrived early in the village as I decided I’d had enough detours and decided not to visit the Roman remains at the aptly named Vieux. Amayé is home to a canoeing centre and I spent time watching some of the participants.

You never know what you are about to receive with Airbnb. Here I was very much in a family home but I was left to myself until dinner which was a beautiful meal washed down with a Portuguese Vinho Verde. The son of the house is doing an English degree at Caen University so conversation flowed well in two languages.