Normandy

Mont St-Michel

It was an early start and out to Gare Montparnasse to catch our train to Rennes. It was a pleasant, restful train ride. Upon arrival, we transferred to coach to get to Mont St-Michel. Driving up to it was certainly an impressive sight, with its large abbey rising high above a little medieval-looking town on its own little island. Though we did pass an ominously full parking lot and braced ourselves for hordes of tourists. We found our hotel and dropped of our luggage before walking outside of the village to get a good view of the abbey. The weather was cooperating, giving us beautiful blue skies and a warm breeze. We were able to walk all the way around, as the tide was super low. We grabbed some lunch at our hotel–mussels and seafood, specialties of the area, before heading up to the abbey. It was surprisingly large, as we kept descending into chamber after chamber. we were amused by a young woman meditating in the middle of the church, legs crossed and everything, which was an odd sight given the high tourist traffic and the fact that it was a church. It was nonetheless a beautiful place, with great views of the countryside. We spent the better part of the afternoon wandering the ramparts and numerous pathways through the surrounding village, which had unfortunately become distinctly touristy. We had dinner and got drinks to find a spot with a good view of the abbey to see it lit up at night. It was a beautiful sight, and they thankfully lit up the hill and village as well.

Rouen

We awoke to a steady drizzle. We certainly had lucked out on the weather for the day before. We puddled-hopped our way up and down the main lane to find a boulangerie for some croissants before grabbing our stuff and heading down to the gate to catch our bus, which miraculously pulled in just as we arrived. It was to be a lengthy day of travel, so we tried to grab a nap before arriving in Rennes to catch our train to Paris. A speedy transfer via the metro in Paris to Gare St-Lazare, and we caught our train to Rouen. Somewhat confusingly, the tickets had assigned coach and seat numbers, but nothing (not even the train cars) had numbers, so we ended up sitting in the cabin in between cars. It actually was relatively comfortable, as we avoided the screaming children that had plagued us on previous trains. It was only a 45 minute train ride to Rouen in Normandy, and we arrived to clearing, warm weather. Our hotel was unfortunately a little farther from the train station than anticipated, but it did give me an opportunity to see a little bit of the town.

After we grabbed some groceries and drinks (yay for hotel mini fridges!), we decided to take a wander through the old part of Rouen. Our first stop, of which our hotel room actually afforded a nice view, was the Notre Dame Cathedral. The sculpture work and carvings all over it were insane! So detailed and intricate. We did a quick tour around the inside, and found out there was a little organ concert going on. There is really nothing like being in a huge cathedral, in a forest of thick stone pillars, listening to the sound of the gigantic organ resonating throughout. Crazy. We then took a walk down the main street of the Old Town; and it really was a delightful town, with quaint buildings and a fabulously ornate clock–Gros Horloge. Which, upon walking by, we discovered had a little audio tour, so we seized the opportunity and went up the clock tower. The final part of the tour involved a panoramic view of Rouen, which was actually a trifle nerve-wracking, as the grates and fences had been set up in such a way that you could see down through them, which was surprisingly a little knee-knocking for me, but it did have a fantastic view. D pointed out the many, many cathedrals in the city (easily, 5 or 6). From there, we wandered around the square where Joan of Arc was burned, and the site of an impressively ugly church–it’s all modern, with a strange, witch hat-shaped roof. Popped into a French pub called Big Ben, ironically enough, for a couple drinks to kill time as we waited for the restaurants to open for dinner. We had a fantastic meal, if not ridiculously filling, where I tried escargots and actually quite enjoyed it, as well as foie gras.

Normandy Coast

It was an early morning to pick up our rental car, though we unfortunately got a little lost trying to find the rental office. After finally breaking down and calling, we walked back and, to our dismay, discovered they were literally in sight of our hotel. We finally got our car, a Nissan Note, and headed off in the general direction of the coast. Since D had lived in Normandy for 8 months, he was happy to play tour guide of the area he was most familiar with. The countryside in Normandy was beautiful…rolling hills and endless fields dotted by farmsteads. Our first stop was Yvetot, the little town where D had lived and taught high school. D showed me the high school, and we stopped at a boulangerie to get our breakfast in front of a fabulously ugly, pink church. From there, we carried on towards Le Havre, but D wanted to try and find a few interesting sites along the way first. We stopped at a cute little town to see the museum D had worked at, then drove along the river to find the ruins of a cathedral, St. Wandrille. They were doing restoration work on a part of it, but the parts that we were allowed to see were very cool. From there, we went off in search of the “oldest tree in Europe”, which D said was neat, but was a little dubious about actually being the oldest tree, since everyone claims to have it.  During our search for this old tree, we did manage to meander our way through a bunch of tiny little French country towns, with their old churches, cobblestone streets, and Camembert-producing cows. We couldn’t find the tree, so we set off for the coast, a relaxing half hour drive through similarly picturesque country. Our next stop was Honfleur, a fabulously old town, where we stopped for a coffee and to look around. The sun was out in full force, as we had our drinks at a sidewalk cafe by the Old Port. During our wander through the town, we came across the wooden church D had been looking for, which was a remarkable church in that it had been around since the 1400s (impressive for a wooden anything).

After Honfleur, we drove to Le Havre, not a terribly attractive town, as most of it had been flattened during the war and then hastily rebuilt. D deposited me at the boardwalk while he visited an old friend, so I took a wander around the beach. After Le Havre, we drove off towards Etretat. We stopped there for some gelato and coffee, and headed to the beach to get a look at the stunning, chalky cliffs. Etretat is particularly known for its rocky arch, which was an impressive sight. We climbed up to the top of it for a stunning view of the sea and the little town. But my goodness was it ever blustery up top! D had mentioned that people die each year at Etretat from falling off (I suppose because they’re a little dumb and go out of designated areas), but he was more than a little leery of my going too close to the edge. Once we’d had our fill of the chalky coastline, we headed up the coast to Fecamp. We got out and took a wander along the coast to the lighthouse, before heading into town. D remembered some type of brewery, Benedictine’s something, which was a fabulously ornate palace type thing, which had unfortunately just closed. We decided we’d head up to Dieppe, another half hour away, since D hadn’t been there before. For some reason, we both thought that Dieppe was rather close to Belgium, and entertained the idea of driving up into Belgium after dinner. As we rolled in to Dieppe, we spotted a castle atop a hill, and drove up to take a look. It was indeed a castle/museum, complete with turrets and iron gates, overlooking the city. We went in search of dinner, and finally came across a restaurant strip along the old port. After a delicious meal, where I had escargots and skate (a type of ray), we determined we were a little too tired to attempt Belgium today, and headed back to Rouen. Much to my dismay, I had developed a bit of sore throat during the drive back, but hoped it was just the wind.