Click here for plan of Pont d'Ouilly showing location of house
Directions to Chant du Noireau from the port at Ouistréham (Caen)
As you leave the ferry terminal keep right and follow the signs for Caen. At the traffic lights follow Autres directions. At the next set of lights, turn left for Caen/A13/Bayeux. Continue straight on past the bungalows and at the first roundabout take the 2nd exit (Caen). At the second roundabout (past an Esso service station and Champion on the right) take the 3rd exit onto the D514 dual carriageway (Caen). Continue on this road, which becomes the D515, following Caen/A13/Autres directions.
On the outskirts of Caen (still on the dual carriageway) you take the exit signposted Périphérique Est towards A13(Paris)/Alençon/Lisieux. You join the main carriageway and go across a long high bridge (Castorama on the right). Continue towards Alençon/Lisieux (BUT on the left) and then Alençon (do not take A13 Paris/Lisieux).
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You leave the ring road at junction (sortie) 13 marked Alençon, Falaise, Le Mans, Argentan and Z.I. IFS (Carrelage Ornais on the right).
At the end of the slip road, you arrive
at a roundabout. Take the 3rd exit, onto dual carriageway, marked
Falaise, Alençon and Le Mans by the side of a Fiat/Lancia
dealership. Just after you join the dual carriageway (N158) there
is a large supermarket on the right (E Leclerc) which is a good
place to get petrol.
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It is about 30 km to Falaise along the dual carriageway. As you come up to Falaise, the two lanes narrow to one and then you arrive at an island with red painted metal sculptures on it portraying Norman soldiers. Take the 2nd exit marked Alençon, Le Mans, Bagnole sur Orne, Argentan and Condé sur Noireau. This will take you along the ring road around Falaise. When you arrive at the next island, with more Norman soldiers, you take the first exit, marked Pont d'Ouilly, Condé sur Noireau and Noron l'Abbaye.
Pont d'Ouilly is about 10 km down this road. The road leads you directly into the main street of Pont d'Ouilly. Carry straight on down the hill, past the Hotel du Commerce (on your left) and the Market Hall (on your right). Continue across the bridge over the Orne in the centre of Pont d'Ouilly, then past the Church and parking area on your left and turn first left opposite the blue and yellow hairdressers. The road is signposted Athis de l'Orne and Mesnil Hubert (D42).
You continue for a few hundred yards past,
on your left, a park and some rather smart thatched houses and,
on your right, a camp site. You then arrive at a bridge over the
river Noireau. On the right side of the road, by the river, there
is a large, modern looking building (constructed mainly in green
stained wood), which is the club house for the Kayak Club and
for the open air leisure area at the side of the camp site. About
50 yards up from this, on your left, you will see a modern detached
house and on your right a lane with a red & white post and
a yellow postbox with a sign "La Caunière".
Turn down the lane - our house is about 50 yards along the lane
on the right. It has double gates and a postbox with our name
on it - ‘Buckingham'. The gates are not locked.
If you get as far as the Peugeot garage you have gone too far!!
Directions to Chant du Noireau from the port at Le Havre
From the ferry terminal take Toutes directions (all directions) and at the lights turn right. Follow the signs for the motorway Péage - Rouen/Paris/Pont de Normandie. Keep following signs for Toutes directions/Péage/Pont de Normandie.
Where the signs indicate a choice of motorway, take Caen/Rouen/Pont de Normandie/Amiens.
At the next choice, take Caen/Le Mans (A29).
Just after you pass some strange drill-like sculptures on your left, you cross the estuary on the first part of the bridge (Caen 75 km), crossing the Canal, then the River Seine on the Pont de Normandie itself (toll/péage 5 euros).
Continue on the motorway towards Caen.
Where the motorway splits again, take Caen (A13) - toll 1 euro (Caen 54 km). Continue on the motorway towards Caen. The next toll is at Dozulé - 2.70 euros.
Just after the services (Aire Nord de Giberville) leave the motorway at junction (sortie) 31 for Alençon/Rennes/Cherbourg. This leads you onto the southern part of the Caen ring road (boulevard périphérique - B.P. sud).
Now follow the directions from ***** on previous page. Prices for tolls were correct as at April 2002.
Directions to Chant du Noireau from the port at Cherbourg
From the ferry terminal take the road signposted to Caen/Rennes/Mont St Michel.
Keep following the signs for Caen.
At Bayeux, continue towards Caen. You come to some traffic lights with a signpost Toutes directions (zone industrielle) (no mention of Caen!) and you carry straight on. At the island with President Eisenhower's statue take the N13 for Caen. The road is then mostly dual carriageway.
When you reach the outskirts of Caen (on dual carriageway) you take the exit signposted to Paris(péage)/toutes directions/Caen centre. This takes you onto the southern part of the Caen ring road (boulevard périphérique - B.P. sud).
You leave the ring road at junction (sortie) 13 marked Alençon/Le Mans/Falaise/Z.I.IFS (Porte d'Espagne).
At the end of the slip road, you arrive at a roundabout. You take the 1st exit onto dual carriageway, marked Falaise/Alençon/Le Mans by the side of a Fiat/Lancia dealership.
Now follow the directions from ##### on previous page.