Trip Reports - Trip Report/Photos: Paris, Brittany, Normandy (65th anniversary of D-Day)

This may be a record for me: a trip report, with photos, written and posted in the same year as the actual trip! For instance, see my very recent posting of my trip report and photos for Portugal, a trip taken two years ago (laziness - it's a curse).

I took my Dad on a trip to Normandy this year for the 65th anniversary of D-Day. No, he's not a vet - he was three at the time and no doubt sleeping snugly in his bed as it was occurring. That is the very first question I am asked when I tell others about the trip so I thought I'd get it out of the way!

Here are the photos in case you would like to follow along. Some of them are from Paris so if you saw my other recent photo-set you may have seen those particular ones.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157619314809149/show/

In Paris we stayed at the Hotel des Grands Hommes which is adjacent to the Pantheon (and if you look at the Pantheon you will see "AUX GRANDS HOMMES..." written across the top). This is a great location and a lovely hotel which looks quite traditional but has all mod-cons including wi-fi. It is an easy walk to the Luxembourg Gardens as well as Notre Dame.

http://www.hoteldesgrandshommes.com/

Here is a quick summary of what we've done (taken from my emails to friends so it may sound a bit chatty):

On our arrival day, Saturday, despite the jet lag, we did about 8 miles of walking in total including a WWII guided walking tour. We wandered around on the Ile St. Louis and of course had Berthillon ice cream. Our day's walk took us from the Pantheon, down to the Luxembourg Gardens and then down to Notre Dame and from there all the way to the Louvre, Tuileries, and Place de la Concorde. We wandered back to the Pantheon through the 6th arrondissement, going up and down the side streets. Part way there we stopped and had a Kir Royale - in fact each night we had one as an aperitif. Dinner was at the Restaurant Perraudin and the 30E pp menu was a very good value - the entree was easily a meal in itself. The main course put me over the top but I had dessert anyway.

Neither of us could believe we walked so far on the first day with only about an hour of sleep. Dad is a real trouper - despite his double knee transplants (yes, he has fake knees - and they set off security bells wherever he goes) he has been keeping up just fine.

On Sunday we headed over to Saint Chapelle and I bought 2-day museum passes. These are a decent value at 32E per person, but, to be honest, you're better off getting the 4 or even 6 day pass because you simply won't see more than a few museums a day.

Over Sunday/Monday (from the pass) we visited:
Saint Chapelle: you can't believe it until you see it - someone went to heaven for sure after building this.
Musee d'Orsay: Dad is diabetic and had a sugar crash and we saw little of this - we went to the top floor first and at least managed to see the Van Goghs and Whistler's Mother... and then we left to find him some OJ and crepes.
Arch of Triumph: We climbed this and enjoyed the view - as far as the eye can see - Dad exclaimed over this the most.
l'Orangerie: Dad was thoroughly impressed not only with C. Monet's paintings but that the space clearly was designed just to show them off.
Cluny Museum: We spent over 30 minutes talking to the curator about the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and in fact when I get home I am buying the Tracy Chevalier book about them - apparently she weaves a novel/story into the history of them.
Pantheon: right next door, how could we NOT? Dad was really impressed by Foucault's Pendulum.

We also visited Notre Dame. Just the church itself and not the Towers (which are on the museum pass) because the line was not only very long it was also in full sun - neither of us wanted that. Of course, finally, the Eiffel Tower.

We did not get into the Louvre, as I told him that Monday would be a good day to visit just the Louvre and Les Invalides (both on the pass)... until at dinner Sunday night we realized that Monday was Pentecost.. you guessed it, CLOSED. Bummer! He was more interested in Les Invalides (Napoleon's tomb, and the Musee de l'Armee) and we visited neither.

Sunday's dinner found us sitting outside at Le Petit Pontoise, which was very good but very spendy - I paid 115E for the both of us (do the math - yes, yipes). I guess the de rigeur Kir Royales with three courses and of course espresso after that did the trick. Monday's dinner was on the Rue Cler before the walk over to the Eiffel Tower - decent but nothing to recommend although we did sit outside which was wonderful on such a nice night.

Quick tip: not far from St. Sulpice is a mecca to pastries and chocolates called Gerard Mulot. I bought croissants, pain au chocolat, macarons (which were heavenly and in fact I think they are famous for them) and some chocolate squares with spices mixed in (cardamom and nutmeg and a few others, maybe pepper?). We walked back to the Luxembourg Gardens and sat on a bench for a while eating some of our goodies.

To be continued...

After three nights in Paris, we took the 9 AM TGV to Tours and picked up a car upon arrival. Before our trip, I lent my Dad my copy of the book, "Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure" and as a result he wanted to see some vineyards on this trip. Perhaps you may have read my threads in the Spring regarding the possibility of visiting Reims, which actually did figure into that book. I do wish we had more time on this trip as I think a visit to Reims would have rounded out the WWII theme - not to mention the champagne!

At any rate, once the plans coalesced I decided upon the Loire because you aren't going to find many vineyards in Brittany or Normandy and using the TGV made the Loire to Brittany drive reachable in a day. We drove along the Loire on our way to Saumur. We stopped for a brief visit in Candes St. Martin on the way. Take note: you won't find a meal in Candes St. Martin, apparently the only restaurant has closed and our wander around the little village didn't unearth anything else. We then drove on and finally found a small nondescript place on the river where we were promptly ignored - and I have to say in all my many visits to France I've never had that happen before. The food was unremarkable to boot, ah well. As our "quick lunch" took so very long (40 mins wait even before we were asked our meal preference) we unfortunately couldn't tarry too long in Saumur as we still had to drive to Fougeres. We did stop at one winery named "Domaine de la Bessiere" and enjoyed a tasting. We bought 3 bottles - the one that was supposed to go home to Mom was unfortunately left in the trunk of the rental car but the other two were enjoyed at the Chilcott's B&B in Normandy. After a very quick photo-op stop at the chateau in Saumur we were on our way again. If I could have a do-over I'd have dropped Candes St. Martin and headed straight to Saumur and after a few wineries would have had lunch and actually visited the chateau.

We pressed on and reached our destination for the next two nights near Fougeres, a B&B which is just outside of a tiny little village called Landean. This B&B was recommended by Coquelicot on Fodors and I'm so glad she directed us to it! My Dad loved the place and dearly wants to take Mom on a visit there sometime soon. Below is the link to the B&B and you'll see the owner (Paul Renault) is quite a good photographer. He even showed us the personal books he made showing the various butterflies and moths which frequent his elaborate gardens. His books not only had beautiful photos but quite a bit of information about the entomology of the bugs - you could tell he used to be a school teacher. I booked the "suite" which had two bedrooms with a shared bathroom. The breakfast featured their own homemade jams (cinnamon-pumpkin: TO DIE FOR) and he made crepes for us as well.

Their home was a little "off the beaten path" and took a little bit of sleuthing to find the first time. For this trip I bought the Pudlo guide for Brittany and Normandy. As luck would have it, for all that this village was so tiny, it actually had a Pudlo's pick. The owner recommended it even before I consulted Pudlo and I was happy to find a reference for it. I can recommend taking Pudlo on a trip to Brittany with you. It's not only small and easily packed, I can vouch from personal experience that researching restaurant options ahead of time is advisable as my last trip to Brittany in 2004 saw me living on crepes and salads because I mostly relied on what was in walking distance in the little towns I visited. The link:

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/la-perou...tagne-home.htm

to be continued...

I want to delete the other thread but I can't delete it for some reason.

Phenomenal pics! Thanks for the report...

Thanks Chanp!

Wednesday morning dawned bright and sunny. In fact, from notes to friends home I said:

The weather has been simply perfect, if having a very intense sun - very little clouds! No humidity and a good breeze and the first few days was mid 70s - I think Monday must have been 80. Here in Brittany the sun seems even more intense for some reason. In fact, for all that we were wandering all over from Saturday to Monday in Paris, I was fine.. yesterday we spent much of the day in the car and I got the first sunburn I've had in years, just on my upper left arm, from driving! I had sunscreen on but missed the bicep I guess. Odd.

We had only one spit of rain on the whole trip, and that was on June 6 in the afternoon. You will know how lucky we were if you've visited Normandy before.

Paul (the owner) pulled out a map to show us how to find a laundromat in town. It was a full service dry cleaner in the Carrefour and they did our laundry (to the tune of 45 euros). I dropped it off with a promise that it would be done in 24 hours as we were off to Normandy the next morning. Quick tip: If you can find a Carrefour, there is a good chance it will have a dry cleaner/full service laundry there. Not cheap, but better than sitting around waiting for your laundry on vacation.

We then took off for Mont St. Michel. I especially wanted Dad to see this. Given that this is one of the top ten of tourist attractions in France I suppose I don't need to go into its history or explain what it is! On our way there we overshot a main turnoff by about a mile so instead of backtracking we reviewed the atlas and decided to take a one lane country road to get us back on track. I didn't post the photos (I tried to edit, really I did!) but it was a pleasant diversion with a tiny little village and church where we stopped briefly on our way. I rather like that we did this diversion because instead of taking us into Pontorson and then straight up, we ended up driving on a road that approached MSM from a different direction and got a much, much better view (and I did post those photos!).

The view from this road (and I can look it up and post it later if you like but it's quite easy to find, being the closest road to MSM that is not going directly straight into but rather parallels the bay behind it) is incomparable and I have to again state how perfect the weather was. Full sun but no humidity and on the cool side with a light breeze. An absolutely perfect morning to wander around gazing at one of the wonders of France. You can see the cows are enjoying their meal and my understanding is that the mutton from the sheep who graze here is a delicacy given how salty their diet is from the tides.

We made our way in and spent the next few hours climbing up and up and wandering around Mont St. Michel. My Dad, as you can imagine, was utterly awestruck. He was like a little kid peering into every crevice and looking over every view and dropoff. As you can see from some of my photos, you are QUITE high up when you reach the top! Take a look at the photo of the guy wandering around in the sands below - he looks like an ant.

After a few hours at Mont St. Michel we left to find something to eat. Paul had mentioned looking for a meal in Pontorson on our way home and we realized we were pushing it, timewise. Many places will close in France at 2 PM or so until dinner. I didn't want to chance it (especially with my Dad's diabetes) so we picked the first roundabout into town and parked and wandered a short time. We found a bar which had outdoor seating (and umbrellas! really important with that sun) and had a seat. After a meal and a glass of wine we meandered back to the B&B.

That evening our host gave us another meal recommendation. It was a cheerfully decorated (I remember a lot of purple and even some gold) bar au vin in Fougeres called Terre Happy and we had an excellent meal there with a few glasses of wine each. Here is their brief blog below. Terre Happy is the French pronunciation of the word therapy, by the way!

http://terrehappy20.blogspot.com/

This wine bar is a close walk to the St. Leonard Church, which looks down (and practically across – that is how large it is) to the Chateau de Fougeres. This medieval fortified castle was the main reason I chose this town for a brief visit and a base for Mont St. Michel and we both wanted to walk its ramparts at dusk. On our walk, we saw that St. Leonard's has a large public garden which was already closed. It is a treat to finish dinner when it's full sunlight and after 9 PM - I could get used to that. Nonetheless it was a shame the garden was closed as you'd have quite a good vantage point to see the castle. Dad and I wandered through the quiet center of town on our way down the hill to the based of the fortress and happened across a man just coming home from errands. My Dad has never met a person he doesn’t want to talk to, so we spent some time chatting with him. My Dad is a real charmer! We even got invited to come in for a drink (this was very near the guy’s house – his wife joined us briefly too) but since dusk was rapidly approaching and we still wanted to walk down the hill to the castle we reluctantly said our goodbyes. Had it not been our last night in town we would have had a different ending to the evening – how often do you have locals invite you in for a drink?

We continued our walk down the hill (and one of my favorite photos from the trip is of my Dad, walking ahead of me down the hill – I posted it) and eventually made it to the ramparts where we walked along the top and peered down the side – a dizzying view and a long drop. I’m glad we made Fougeres our base and wish we had more time there because in my research we had so many options for nearby villages to visit.

To be continued..

I'm back everyone, sorry it has taken so long for the updates. Most of my "home project time" has been making a Blurb photo book of the trip for Dad, for Xmas. I have to get it finished and sent to Blurb for printing before I leave for Belgium. If you've never heard of Blurb, check them out at www.blurb.com. I used them for the large-format photo book of my BMW Euro-delivery last summer and the book turned out beautifully. I'm using the 10x13 format which works very well especially when you want to highlight the best photos from the trip with a full page.

We left Thursday mid-morning for the Chilcott's B&B near Bayeux. Earlier that morning I decided to let Dad spend some time wandering around the Renault's gardens and talking with the owners and so I drove into town alone to walk around the chateau (and pick up the laundry while I was out). It was, again, a beautiful morning, crisp, sunny and cool. In addition to walking around the base of the castle I also went back to the public garden in the upper part of town to view the castle "down below". It's such a huge castle you do not feel as if you are looking down very far!

I had the Pudlo guide out and decided that we'd stop for lunch in Vire at the restaurant Au Vrai Normand. I really think carrying the Pudlos along is a good idea. When you are on the road, good luck trying to find a place on your own that will have reliably good food. Don't ask me what we had, the fact that I even remembered to write down the restaurant names on this trip is a triumph! I can just tell you that we enjoyed the meal and Pudlo gave it good marks. They actually have a website: http://www.au-vrai-normand.com/

We continued on and decided that we would do some touring before heading to the B&B. We made a beeline to Caen. I had not yet visited Le Mémorial de Caen but I knew Dad would enjoy the museum. I was right. This museum is billed as the "best WWII Museum in France" and I'd say it lives up to that hype. Your ticket is actually a 24 hour pass (we showed up in the mid afternoon, not sure if that is why it was a longer pass) and if you are staying in Caen it would not be a bad idea to take the museum in chunks over the time allotted because there is a lot to see. We were staying near Bayeux and had limited time so we spent almost 3 hours there all in one go.

After we left, we pulled out the map and decided to meander back roads to the beaches. I also really wanted him to see Arromanches and the Mulberries as well as the 360 degree movie theater high on the bluff above the beaches. I've seen this film 3 times now and it's one of the most interesting D-Day documentaries I've seen. As it is 360 degrees, you get that dizzy sensation that you are part of the action on the boats crossing the channel! This film was made for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Here is the website: http://www.arromanches360.com/eng/index.php

After the movie we walked up and down the top of the cliff, peering over the edge. Off in the distance were the remnants of the Mulberries, which were the artificial harbors designed by the Allies. You look at the bulk of them and you marvel at the thought that they were transported from the coast of England! You can see in the photos the people riding horseback on the beach far below. You can also see Arromanches village in the near distance. We didn't head down into the village that evening because we wanted to get to the B&B and also eat dinner. As it happened we didn't make it back to the little village which is a shame because on my last visit, five years ago, I did visit there with new friends I made at the Chilcott's home. Arromanches has quite a party there in the days surrounding the anniversary of D-Day.

After visiting Arromanches we continued along our meandering way to the Chilcotts.

to be continued...