Rouen or Bust!

We headed to the capital city of the region of Normandy today, Rouen. It is a city with a fascinating history that includes Joan of Arc. Check out more here if you’re interested: More about Rouen

Amazingly it was quite simple to drive and park right in the city center a few blocks from the cathedral; it definitely was not Paris traffic but we were glad to get out safe and back on the country roads when we left. 

Our first stop was lunch at a boulangerie of course. Sandwiches, quiche and coffee or coke. 

We then watched a very cool multimedia presentation (it was about 90 min.) at the Historial Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc museum). It’s located in part of the palace of the Archbishop of Rouen. He resides in one section and this other section has been turned into the museum. We moved from room to room as videos were displayed on walls and different surfaces. We all know more about Joan of Arc than we ever thought we would. It was very well done ... said even the teenagers!

The old city center is very quaint and looks very old. It has a lot of nice shopping. Of course we were shopping only for windows ... 🤪

We then took a quick tour of the cathedral. It has the tallest spire in Europe. It’s a great example of gothic architecture, and they are currently renovating portions of it. 

We ended our visit with a coffee and hot chocolate break ... very needed. 

The day ended fairly early at “home” in Broglie. We made steak haché, potatoes, and green beans ... served with a béarnaise sauce for those of us with refined palettes. 😃

And pastries of course. 

Bon nuit!

Food, Fun, and a Little More Food

Let’s talk a little about food, shall we. We’re  sure that, while in France, if one wants to pay 30-50€ or more per person one could dine at some of the finest restaurants. We haven’t done that, nor will we. But we have been eating quite well. Fresh bread every day, amazing cheeses, delicious meats (like the terrine de canard — duck) we found at the butcher in Broglie — and, of course — PASTRIES!!!  There is lots of French food you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for but is amazing. 

This morning was a day to slept in. Kristi and Jim had breakfast and left the house before any of the kids were up. We went into town to get bread, cheese, some meats, and of course more pastries.  Today we tried the terrine de lapin (rabbit meat). Delicious, but the duck terrine is still Jim’s favorite; Kristi liked the rabbit because it had almonds. 

After lunch we headed to a medieval castle and estate just 20 miles from our house, Château d’Harcourt.  We assume because the weather wasn’t fantastic (a little rainy but not too bad) we were the only visitors. We felt like we had VIP access.

On our way back home we stopped at a local producer of cidre de pomme, which is a specialty in Normandy. It’s a liquor made from apples.  We tasted and then bought some, and some apple juice. 

We decided to have dinner out at a local restaurant in the next village. The prices were right and it was full of French folks eating lunch when we stopped by a couple days ago. Dinner was great!  The kids had filllet mignon, a burger and fish. Kristi had a filet mignon with seared foie gras (we have never had this before ... it was heavenly!); Jim had steak taretare.  We all had desert and coffee. We couldn’t do that it every night but it was very worth it. 

Road Trip! ... to the Normandy Coast

We were off by 8am today, on a three-hour drive to the coast (it was only about 100 miles to our first stop but only the last 60 miles was highway, slow and beautiful). It was a nice drive which took us through some small villages on narrow country roads as well as on a nice divided highway.

Our first stop was Le Mont Saint-Michel. This 1300 year old abby is situated on a small island about half a mile out in the bay.  The island is home to the abby as well as its walls, and a small collection of shops, restaurants and even a couple of hotels cleverly disguised within the old stone buildings.  Altogether, the island and its structures are massive and beautiful. It’s hard to imagine the labor that went into building it, especially without modern equipment for moving millions of pounds of rock and stone to the island.. 

For many centuries, the faithful made pilgrimages to the abby.  Visitors still climb from the base of the island, up staircases and the encircling corridors of ageless stone, into the heart of the abby.  We can certainly empathize with the emotions that the pilgrims must have experienced as they rose ever higher towards the heavens on that climb.  We were delighted to witness a service in progress when we reached the sanctuary.  We even got to hear the cloistered nuns singing.  It was very moving. Here’s a short video:

On our way down from the abby, we stopped for coffee and crepes.  The kids loved their first “real” French crepes, but they said they will still eat Kristi’s, even though they aren’t authentic enough. ;)

From there, we hopped back in the cars for another hour long drive north to Omaha Beach.  This is one of the D-day landing sites.  We walked out onto the beach and took pictures at one of the numerous memorials, then visited the Omaha Beach D-Day Museum.  We were impressed by the thorough and well-constructed displays.  The museum tour ended with a short video that was also quite good.  

We then drove a short way north to another part of the beach where we explored some bunker remains and saw more memorials.  The weather, which had been drizzly much of the day, cleared up and we enjoyed beautiful blue skies for the remainder of the afternoon. 

Being right there, and walking on Omaha Beach, was quite moving.  

On our two hour drive back “home” we stopped for a very un-French, but delicious and easy, dinner — Dominos pizza. 😃

A few more beach pics:

A Lazy, Relaxing Day

The rain finally arrived. We had been watching the forecast for weeks and were worried Paris was going to be sopping wet. We were blessed with four full dry days, and even sunshine. 

Yesterday on our way to Normandy was wet and it rained all morning today. The kids slept in and Jim and Kristi decided to do some grocery shopping.  After shopping, Jim, Kristi, DJ and Emma took a little drive a few miles away to explore some other villages. We even found another Patisserie and got a few more sweets (we have to compare products). 

The rain subsided by early afternoon.  After lunch a few of the kids enjoyed the outdoors around the house.  There was no more rain all afternoon but it was chilly. 

As one might imagine, the differences between Paris and the countryside are stark.  We shall point out just one for now: in Paris we went to sleep with (and heard it well into the late night) the bustling city sounds including, sirens, honking cars, loud talking, screaming and other people noises — and where we are now, as we fall asleep the silence is almost deafening; we wake to a multitude of song birds.  This is how it makes us feel:

We all either napped, watched Netflix, goofed around, or generally laid around all afternoon. 

We purchased a nice beef roast from the local bucerie (butcher) to make for dinner with potatoes and veggies.  No wine tonight — we overdid it a little last night in our excitement about being in the countryside.  We did buy some beer to try though ... 😁

We were spoiled in Paris. Everyone knew a little English. Out here ... not so much. We are managing.  Two years of high school French does not make one fluent, but it helps a lot. Merci beaucoup Madam Janian and Madam Hutchinson!

Tomorrow is a big day — headed to two coastal tourist musts.  Aurevoir for now. 

Paris to Broglie, Normandy

We got off quite early this morning. We got our rental cars, left Paris, and stopped at the Palace of Versaille today. There were so many people that we couldn’t imagine standing in line to get in, it looked like millions of people ... 🤪.  We decided to try again on Sunday morning, early on our way back to Paris. We headed on to where we’re staying in Normandy.

We arrived in the small village in the center of Normandy; Broglie is the name of the village. We rented a house just outside of the village through VRBO. When we arrived we were speechless ... it is so idyllic ... like beyond belief. It is situated by a small river.  Just beautiful. 

After arriving, a few of us went into the town for some bread and desserts. We also got some duck terrine at the butcher shop ... which was heavenly. Luckily the kids don’t like it ... more for Jim and Kristi!  

Looks like most people only speak French here, no surprise but in Paris most people spoke a little English.  We did meet Paul in the town square, Jim stopped him to ask where the bakery was. He is a retired man who now lives in Broglie. He spoke a little English and was happy to recommend some restaurants. He was very nice. 

We just ate, drank, and made merry for the rest of the evening.  Vive le France!

Late Monday Start

This was our last day in Paris, and we took it very easy. We’ve been on the go every day and it caught up with us all.  We slept in and had a lazy morning in the apartment. Jim and Kristi tried the chèvre (goat cheese) we bought the other day while Jim made a breakfast soufflé (puff pancake is what we call it at home).  The cheese was very good. It’s hard to describe exactly but it’s mild with a slightly pungent start, nothing like chèvre you get in the US. Truly French. 

We went grocery shopping, started a beef stew, and had lunch. Then we walked to the Moulin Rouge which is a twenty minute walk from the apartment. We just took a few pics. There was some fun shopping along the way. 

We then hopped on the Metro to visit the Military Museum and Nepolean’s tomb. 

The Metro and our feet have been our main transportation in Paris. We have a Metro stop just 50 yards from our apartment. It’s been very crowded at times but easy to use. 

After the museum we were done and came home for dinner, the beef stew we started earlier.  Stew, fried potatoes, wine, and of course, desert from downstairs (eclairs and other things filled with cream) were a great finale to Paris. 

And yet another day goes by without a tear, tease or grumpy face ... 😜

Early in the morning we will head out to pick up rental cars to drive to Normandy.  We have been told the region of Normandy is know for it’s butter — yes, butter — cream, and Camembert cheese.  Sounds like a dairy lovers paradise; we should fit right in.