This is the second and sadly final post of my French min-adventure. I was only over there for the week, and even though I wish I could have stayed longer, I had to come back sooner or later. I also wanted to get more than just two posts out, but because of the nature of the holiday I only managed to get to a couple of cafés and also due to lack of wifi I wasn’t able to put the posts up very easily. I am also writing this from home, as we went to the café on the last day of the trip meaning that this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write.
We had just visited the Pegasus Bridge museum and had learned all about what happened there during D-Day and what the brave British soldiers did to help. While there I noticed some information about the first liberated café in France, so of course I knew I had to write about it. So after we finished in the museum and we raided the gift shop we headed over the Pegasus Bridge (which is actually not the original due to technical difficulties) to a tiny café called Café Gondrée, where we enjoyed a much needed cup of coffee and a sandwich.
As you walk up to the tiny café you can see it is covered the plaques and signs telling the history that the building has been through. As I walked in I was blown away with the sheer amount of stuff inside. A massive collection of photos, paintings, signs, postcards, original helmets, jackets, badges and even a few knitted army men. This collection fills the shop with not an inch of wall showing. The owner of the shop welcomes us in and moves a few of the tables around to fit all five of us into what little space she had left. The counter at the back of the café is this massive wooden countertop, all engraved along the side and beautifully made. We order a pot of coffee and a few sandwiches between us, while still in awe of the sights before us.
Our food and drinks are brought to us and we tuck into the warm familiar taste of coffee. The coffee really wasn’t anything extraordinary, just a filter coffee. However, it was strong and had a full flavour which is the main thing I always look for. I also noticed that they did have a full menu and just as I was mentioning this to my family, the owner walked past with two bowls of homemade soup, which looked and smelled divine. It would have been just perfect seeing as the day we went it was rather miserable outside.
As we went to pay the owner asked us where about we are from, and in saying Worcestershire she told us how he had been there just weeks before, staying in Pershore. It seems that we are better known as an area than I first thought.
The café really is a must visit if you are in the area. It is full of history, the owners and waitresses are very friendly and polite and they do a rather nice egg salad sandwich. That is if you can get in, we went off season and even then it was quite busy, so I can only imagine what it is like during peak seasons!
Coffee: 3/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
Overall: 8/10 (However, don’t let the coffee put you off, it’s a great place to visit anyway!)
If you want to find out more about Café Gondrée then you can visit their website here: http://www.pegasus-bridge-cafe-gondree.com/
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comment box bellow.
An Intrepid Insight 