letsgo12

I just spent 2 weeks traveling Normandy, Provence and Paris. I'm gonna answer some of my own questions that I had before the trip.

My passport was stamped during my layover. I was curious about this and heard different things, maybe it changes but mine was stamped when I entered Schengen area.

All my chip credit cards worked just fine. Every place we went to had a handheld machine that would just print out a receipt and have you sign. The only issue was in Provence twice the machine wasn't getting service they said and we had to pay with cash. Not sure about the swipe cards but i think they would work too.

I really recommend having a card to pay for tolls if you are driving. Very easy to just pull up, insert card and be on your way. Also watch out for speed cameras they are everywhere!

Probably the biggest help (if you have a data plan setup for your cell phone) is to set up the directions to where you're going and start it, then turn off your data. This worked as a GPS and didn't use any data. Also if your hotel has wifi you can set it up there and start it then.

The trip was great overall, theres a few things I would change if I could but even still everything was just about perfect.

Two final things. Etretat in Normandy was so beautiful and I didn't see any tourists there. Just seemed to be mostly French on vacation. Valensole in Provence for lavender was worth the trip. Miles and Miles of lavender and on the east side of the town there was virtually nobody else there.

Any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to give an answer

miket123

Can you elaborate a bit more on Etretat? It's a place I'm hoping to visit this fall, but the guidebooks are a bit confusing. Did you hike along the top, or go down to the sand level? Was parking hard to find? Any other tips for visiting it?

TPAYT

And the miles & miles of lavender-----any photos?

CarolJean

We were in Etretat in early June, our second time. It is at the water and the cliffs are on either side. You can hike both sides. It is beautiful! Also very relaxing. We had a parking place at our apartment but could imagine that parking might be a problem. Just find a hotel or apartment with parking. I highly recommend a visit there.

pariswat

Shhhh. Etretat is just for us Europeans.
You discovered it, great, but don't advertize it...

one of my favourite places/

manouche

There's really not much to do in Etretat, so I wouldn't recommend staying overnight or longer. It's fine for a long afternoon, though.

bilboburgler

If you liked Etretat you would also like Lulworth Bay and Durdle Door (right next to each other)

letsgo12

We arrived in Etretat at the perfect time, it was raining all day and right before we got there the sun came out and it was a beautiful afternoon. I highly recommend hotel dormy house, ecspecially if you can get a balcony. We stayed 2 nights. I agree there wasn't all that much to do but it worked out great, we were really busy before (bayeux- D day tours ; and then a day trip to Brittany and a night at mont saint Michel) so we had a day and a half to just relax and enjoy the views before heading to Provence.

As far as the cliffs we hiked up both sides, really wasn't too difficult. The side with the church on top has a parking lot and also a little trolley that runs up there.

letsgo12

I don't have any albums set up for pictures but the fields in valensole were amazing. I've seen pictures and people say some of them are saturated and edited so I thought the lavender would be a little lighter in color, but no, the fields popped with color very bright purple everywhere.

kerouac

Here is the report I made 6 years ago and then added to this year when I went to see "the tide of the century" : http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-normandy.cfm

annhig

We always seem to start or end trips to France in Brittany rather than Normandy, mainly because that's where the Brittany Ferry boat goes.

Thanks for reminding me that we ought to explore further east.

Next time???

kawh

bookmarking

roguemckenzie

going to bookmark your report, we are planning our first trip to France! 6 days in Paris and then 10 days driving the country side including Normandy. How much time did you spend driving? thank you!