Normandy Highlight Tour
Sep 12th, 2016, 01:06 AM
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Normandy Highlight Tour
Hi all,
Wanted to share our trip report of the Normandy Highlight tour...the trip that a lot of people do their first time in Normandy: Mont Saint-Michel, Bayeux, and Honfleur. A little about us: We are a 30ish year old couple, not big museum people - prefer strolling and taking in the sights leisurely and like boutique B&B accommodations. We currently live in Europe so we travel a bit, but hadn't been able to spend any time exploring France (outside of Paris) up to this point.
Day 1: Paris - Saint Malo - Cancale - MSM
We flew into CDG Friday afternoon and spent the weekend enjoying Paris. Monday morning, we caught a 7:30am direct train from Montparnasse station to Saint Malo to begin our Normandy adventure. We arranged to rent a car from Europcar and their office was right across the street from the train station - super easy. We opted to prepay for a tank of gas and return the car empty - probably not the more cost effective option, but made life easier. Side note, when booking online it was cheaper to select the Saint Malo city pickup rather than the Saint Malo TGV station...even though it's the same office/place. We drove the 1 mile to the center of town and parked where the road ended in several parking lots, just outside the old city walls. We spent probably two hours strolling the streets and along the ramparts and stopped for a bite to eat. We ended up having some of the best moules and frites of our trip! I can't remember the name, but it was just before you cross through the wall onto the ramparts by the sea, with a yellow awning/sign. Saint Malo was cute and we enjoyed it. No doubt it's been made more popular of late by the book All the Light We Cannot See.
From there, we made the quick hop over to Cancale (about 20-25 min) for oysters!! We jumped the gun a little bit on parking as soon as we entered the town - there were plenty of spaces towards the market end, but we didn't mind walking the length of the town. It was neat to see all of the boats "stranded" in the sand due to the tide. We finally made it to the other end and found a half dozen stands selling fresh oysters from €4.80/dozen with several different varieties. Add €0.50 for a lemon and €0.50 for the lady to open them all and serve them on a plate. We sat right on the sea wall and tossed the shells over the edge. The oysters were so good, so fresh...so we had a second dozen! Once we finished, we simply brought the plate back to the lady to wash in a big soapy bucket. We sat for a bit and watched the fishermen tend to the oysters beds, driving out in big tractors - it was really neat.
It was about 5PM at this point, so we needed to get moving and drove the 50 min or so to Mont Saint Michel. I had read that dinner options were limited and we would need to be seated around 7pm, so instead we stopped at the Carrefour en route and picked up some bread, cheese, meat, etc and a bottle of wine for a picnic. We weren't exactly starving after a late lunch and a few dozen oysters, so this worked well for us. We arrived at our hotel - the Mercure - dropped our bags and set off for the 2km walk towards the Mont.
It was an absolutely gorgeous walk and so quiet and peaceful. We stopped to take so many pictures. It was hard to imagine that there would be crowds of people in the morning! We walked part way up the main path inside the walls - still teeming with vendors - and decided that we would save the ascent for our morning visit. We hopped on one of the shuttle buses back (they're free and run every 10 min or so to the main land hotels and parking lots) and got off at the first stop which was the observatory area on the newly built dam. There we caught the last rays of light and enjoyed the quiet of nature as the sun set. We sat and enjoyed a few snacks and beverages and absolutely could not have asked for a better late summer evening.
The Mercure hotel is just past an access gate, but still on the main land in the last cluster of hotels just before the causeway to the Mont. It's dated and motel style, but we had an interior room with a renovated bathroom and once you got past the bad carpet in the lobby, it was actually quite okay. Rooms were a decent size (huge by Paris standards!) and the price was right. I think it was about €135 including breakfast. And for us, the location was unbeatable, literally across the street from the shuttle stop and so close to the observation area. Many people argue that staying on the Mont is a once-in-a-lifetime experience (and worth the €300+), but we loved our evening watching the sunset around the Mont - it was one of our favorite evenings. I'd absolutely recommend staying here (or one of the neighboring places). There are no views of the Mont if you're staying on the Mont!
Day 2 coming up...
Wanted to share our trip report of the Normandy Highlight tour...the trip that a lot of people do their first time in Normandy: Mont Saint-Michel, Bayeux, and Honfleur. A little about us: We are a 30ish year old couple, not big museum people - prefer strolling and taking in the sights leisurely and like boutique B&B accommodations. We currently live in Europe so we travel a bit, but hadn't been able to spend any time exploring France (outside of Paris) up to this point.
Day 1: Paris - Saint Malo - Cancale - MSM
We flew into CDG Friday afternoon and spent the weekend enjoying Paris. Monday morning, we caught a 7:30am direct train from Montparnasse station to Saint Malo to begin our Normandy adventure. We arranged to rent a car from Europcar and their office was right across the street from the train station - super easy. We opted to prepay for a tank of gas and return the car empty - probably not the more cost effective option, but made life easier. Side note, when booking online it was cheaper to select the Saint Malo city pickup rather than the Saint Malo TGV station...even though it's the same office/place. We drove the 1 mile to the center of town and parked where the road ended in several parking lots, just outside the old city walls. We spent probably two hours strolling the streets and along the ramparts and stopped for a bite to eat. We ended up having some of the best moules and frites of our trip! I can't remember the name, but it was just before you cross through the wall onto the ramparts by the sea, with a yellow awning/sign. Saint Malo was cute and we enjoyed it. No doubt it's been made more popular of late by the book All the Light We Cannot See.
From there, we made the quick hop over to Cancale (about 20-25 min) for oysters!! We jumped the gun a little bit on parking as soon as we entered the town - there were plenty of spaces towards the market end, but we didn't mind walking the length of the town. It was neat to see all of the boats "stranded" in the sand due to the tide. We finally made it to the other end and found a half dozen stands selling fresh oysters from €4.80/dozen with several different varieties. Add €0.50 for a lemon and €0.50 for the lady to open them all and serve them on a plate. We sat right on the sea wall and tossed the shells over the edge. The oysters were so good, so fresh...so we had a second dozen! Once we finished, we simply brought the plate back to the lady to wash in a big soapy bucket. We sat for a bit and watched the fishermen tend to the oysters beds, driving out in big tractors - it was really neat.
It was about 5PM at this point, so we needed to get moving and drove the 50 min or so to Mont Saint Michel. I had read that dinner options were limited and we would need to be seated around 7pm, so instead we stopped at the Carrefour en route and picked up some bread, cheese, meat, etc and a bottle of wine for a picnic. We weren't exactly starving after a late lunch and a few dozen oysters, so this worked well for us. We arrived at our hotel - the Mercure - dropped our bags and set off for the 2km walk towards the Mont.
It was an absolutely gorgeous walk and so quiet and peaceful. We stopped to take so many pictures. It was hard to imagine that there would be crowds of people in the morning! We walked part way up the main path inside the walls - still teeming with vendors - and decided that we would save the ascent for our morning visit. We hopped on one of the shuttle buses back (they're free and run every 10 min or so to the main land hotels and parking lots) and got off at the first stop which was the observatory area on the newly built dam. There we caught the last rays of light and enjoyed the quiet of nature as the sun set. We sat and enjoyed a few snacks and beverages and absolutely could not have asked for a better late summer evening.
The Mercure hotel is just past an access gate, but still on the main land in the last cluster of hotels just before the causeway to the Mont. It's dated and motel style, but we had an interior room with a renovated bathroom and once you got past the bad carpet in the lobby, it was actually quite okay. Rooms were a decent size (huge by Paris standards!) and the price was right. I think it was about €135 including breakfast. And for us, the location was unbeatable, literally across the street from the shuttle stop and so close to the observation area. Many people argue that staying on the Mont is a once-in-a-lifetime experience (and worth the €300+), but we loved our evening watching the sunset around the Mont - it was one of our favorite evenings. I'd absolutely recommend staying here (or one of the neighboring places). There are no views of the Mont if you're staying on the Mont!
Day 2 coming up...
Sep 12th, 2016, 09:09 AM
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Day 2: MSM - Bayeux
We had breakfast at the hotel the next morning and hopped on the shuttle bus to be at the Mont shortly after 9am. We chose to follow the ramparts up to the top which proved to be a very good decision as we peered down into the main street. We toured the abbey and snapped a zillion more pictures of everything - the incredible history, stunning views, etc. We loved it. We were off the Mont by 11am and couldn't believe the difference in crowds. We opted to walk leisurely back to the hotel as the weather was nice and checkout wasn't until noon. We did feel a bit like salmon swimming upstream at that point. I was so glad to have read recommendations to visit the Mont twice - once in the evening and again the following morning before the day trippers arrive. It was great advice.
We loaded up the car and headed to Bayeux (about 1h30). We stayed at the most lovely B&B right in town by the cathedral, Hotel Tardif Noble Guest House (€334 for 2 nights). It was once owned by a botanist that worked at Versailles so the grounds are beautiful and the house is decorated with antique period furniture. Our host met us as we arrived, showed us to our room and kindly let us know that the last entry to the Tapestry was at 5:45pm.
We set out looking for some crepe options for a late lunch and stumbled upon Creperie Le Triskell which hit the spot. My husband, however, was less than enamored with his selection with Andouille sausage...which apparently is made with intestines in Normandy - lesson learned! After lunch, we strolled the town. Small, nice, and certainly a pleasant afternoon, but not somewhere I would go out of my way for unless using it as a base for D-day tours (which we were). The L’Aure river (stream) runs through town and there is a pretty water wheel with flowers. I went for a long run along the river into the countryside late afternoon and then we enjoyed a bottle of local cider that we had picked up in town on the terrace of the hotel. Dinner was recommended by the hotel and was an ok but unmemorable evening at Le P'tit Resto (not to be confused with Au Ptit Bistro which gets very good reviews).
Day 3: D-day Tour
We booked the full day American tour with Bayeux Shuttle and it was worth every penny. I highly, highly recommend it. We lucked out and had only one other couple and a solo guy on our tour, all around our age. Our guide, Mike, was phenomenal. He lives and breathes WWII history and is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate on the subject. I was a little worried that I wouldn't have enough prior knowledge (I knew the basics!) but Mike explained everything very thoroughly and answered our many questions. He added additional commentary as he drove and really made each site come alive for us with personal stories of soldiers that had been there. He had an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and history of the area. There is no way we would have the same appreciation for what happened that day without Mike to guide us.
The tour included the German Cemetery, St Mere Eglise, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. We were the first ones to the German Cemetery and it was so quiet and peaceful, really pretty. As part of German military service, they must care for their cemeteries worldwide and sure enough, we saw German soldiers mowing the lawn that morning. Omaha Beach was filled with families and kids splashing in the water when we visited in the afternoon. Mike said that some visitors tell him they find it offensive that people use Omaha Beach as a beach, but his response nails it: Isn't that what they fought for? The freedom to enjoy this beach? And oh my goodness, the American Cemetery was simply stunning. I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the memorials and patriotic does not even begin to describe how I felt. The whole day was absolutely incredible.
We were pretty beat after we arrived back in Bayeux around 6pm, so we relaxed with another bottle of cider on the terrace of our hotel (don't worry - it's low alcohol!) and headed almost next door for a casual, outdoor dinner (crepes) at Moulin de la Galette. We had wanted to try La Rapiere or Au Ptit Bistro but just weren't up for a big meal that evening. Food was good and service was friendly but slow. I asked for a dessert menu after our meal and waited for 15 minutes before giving up and going inside to pay and leave.
Up Next: Pays d'Auge and Honfleur...
We had breakfast at the hotel the next morning and hopped on the shuttle bus to be at the Mont shortly after 9am. We chose to follow the ramparts up to the top which proved to be a very good decision as we peered down into the main street. We toured the abbey and snapped a zillion more pictures of everything - the incredible history, stunning views, etc. We loved it. We were off the Mont by 11am and couldn't believe the difference in crowds. We opted to walk leisurely back to the hotel as the weather was nice and checkout wasn't until noon. We did feel a bit like salmon swimming upstream at that point. I was so glad to have read recommendations to visit the Mont twice - once in the evening and again the following morning before the day trippers arrive. It was great advice.
We loaded up the car and headed to Bayeux (about 1h30). We stayed at the most lovely B&B right in town by the cathedral, Hotel Tardif Noble Guest House (€334 for 2 nights). It was once owned by a botanist that worked at Versailles so the grounds are beautiful and the house is decorated with antique period furniture. Our host met us as we arrived, showed us to our room and kindly let us know that the last entry to the Tapestry was at 5:45pm.
We set out looking for some crepe options for a late lunch and stumbled upon Creperie Le Triskell which hit the spot. My husband, however, was less than enamored with his selection with Andouille sausage...which apparently is made with intestines in Normandy - lesson learned! After lunch, we strolled the town. Small, nice, and certainly a pleasant afternoon, but not somewhere I would go out of my way for unless using it as a base for D-day tours (which we were). The L’Aure river (stream) runs through town and there is a pretty water wheel with flowers. I went for a long run along the river into the countryside late afternoon and then we enjoyed a bottle of local cider that we had picked up in town on the terrace of the hotel. Dinner was recommended by the hotel and was an ok but unmemorable evening at Le P'tit Resto (not to be confused with Au Ptit Bistro which gets very good reviews).
Day 3: D-day Tour
We booked the full day American tour with Bayeux Shuttle and it was worth every penny. I highly, highly recommend it. We lucked out and had only one other couple and a solo guy on our tour, all around our age. Our guide, Mike, was phenomenal. He lives and breathes WWII history and is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate on the subject. I was a little worried that I wouldn't have enough prior knowledge (I knew the basics!) but Mike explained everything very thoroughly and answered our many questions. He added additional commentary as he drove and really made each site come alive for us with personal stories of soldiers that had been there. He had an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and history of the area. There is no way we would have the same appreciation for what happened that day without Mike to guide us.
The tour included the German Cemetery, St Mere Eglise, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. We were the first ones to the German Cemetery and it was so quiet and peaceful, really pretty. As part of German military service, they must care for their cemeteries worldwide and sure enough, we saw German soldiers mowing the lawn that morning. Omaha Beach was filled with families and kids splashing in the water when we visited in the afternoon. Mike said that some visitors tell him they find it offensive that people use Omaha Beach as a beach, but his response nails it: Isn't that what they fought for? The freedom to enjoy this beach? And oh my goodness, the American Cemetery was simply stunning. I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the memorials and patriotic does not even begin to describe how I felt. The whole day was absolutely incredible.
We were pretty beat after we arrived back in Bayeux around 6pm, so we relaxed with another bottle of cider on the terrace of our hotel (don't worry - it's low alcohol!) and headed almost next door for a casual, outdoor dinner (crepes) at Moulin de la Galette. We had wanted to try La Rapiere or Au Ptit Bistro but just weren't up for a big meal that evening. Food was good and service was friendly but slow. I asked for a dessert menu after our meal and waited for 15 minutes before giving up and going inside to pay and leave.
Up Next: Pays d'Auge and Honfleur...
Sep 13th, 2016, 06:39 AM
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We'll be taking a similar trip at the end of October, so am eagerly awaiting the next installment! Still fiddling with the details of our itinerary and trying to decide where to stay one night and where to stay 2 nights, out of an 8-day trip total.
We'll start in Giverny, head to Honfleur (1 or 2??), then to Bayeux (or maybe outside the city in the country?) for 2 nights, then Mont St Michel, then Cancale (1 or 2?), and finally back to Senlis for our final night before morning flight back to the States.
The biggest problem we're facing is one place sounds more charming and lovely than the next, I wish it were going to be a much longer trip.
Any takeaways from your trip, in terms of places you wish you'd stayed longer, or anything you look back on and think, "coulda skipped that"?
We'll start in Giverny, head to Honfleur (1 or 2??), then to Bayeux (or maybe outside the city in the country?) for 2 nights, then Mont St Michel, then Cancale (1 or 2?), and finally back to Senlis for our final night before morning flight back to the States.
The biggest problem we're facing is one place sounds more charming and lovely than the next, I wish it were going to be a much longer trip.
Any takeaways from your trip, in terms of places you wish you'd stayed longer, or anything you look back on and think, "coulda skipped that"?
Sep 13th, 2016, 11:46 AM
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Day 4: Pays d'Auge - Honfleur
From this part of the trip on, planning was a little loosey goosey...
Breakfast at the Hotel Tardif in Bayeux was nice - a spread of breads, meats, cheeses, yogurt, croissants, etc around a communal dining table. We finished up, bid our host adieu and hit the road to the Pays d'Auge. The original plan was to do the cider route, but after thinking about it - how much cider did we really want to taste and buy?? The revised original plan would be one cider and one cheese place en route to Honfleur…
We stopped first in Beuvron-en-Auge. I had read that this was "the" quintessential Normandy town and it looked just like a postcard with it’s half-timbered houses. As is our custom, we wandered around and snapped a few pictures, enjoying the late summer sun. We did stop in and taste some Calvados and Pommeau. The Calvados was a bit strong for my liking, so I ended up with a small bottle of Pommeau which is a mix of cider and Calvados. I also ended up with a small jar of Teurgoule to try, which if my French is correct, is a sort of rice pudding with sugar and cinnamon. Initially we had considered trying to come to Beuvron-en-Auge for the gourmet meal at Pave d’Auge, but after looking at the map, it made sense to be our first stop coming from Bayeux which would be right after breakfast, so we scratched that idea.
From there we headed to Domaine St Hippolyte, having read on another thread it was a great place to taste and buy local cider and cheese and have a picnic on their grounds. Unfortunately, it was closed — looks like they may be doing some work. Whoops there went our lunch plan.
Fortunately, we had also planned on visiting Chateau Saint Germain de Livet, the checkerboard chateau, so we hadn’t driven out of the way. It was about 1:20PM at this point and naturally, the chateau was closed for lunch until 2:00PM!! We had a little meat and cheese left from our apero the previous evenings, so we sat at a picnic table in the park next door to the church and soaked up the sun. There was a sign for a creperie, but we were a little crepe-d out at this point. It seemed like everybody knew that the Chateau reopened at 2:00 because when the doors opened, there was a group of 10+ people waiting to get inside. It’s a guided tour and while the tour guide made an effort for the English speakers (us and another couple), the 10 minute French explanation was usually followed by only a 2 minute English description. I was surprised by how small the interior of the Chateau was, but the exterior was beautiful - complete with peacocks in the gardens and swans swimming in the moat. It’s kind of a quirky place, but I liked it!
By this time it was mid-afternoon so we decided to head towards Honfleur. We did stop briefly on the way at Chateau de Breuil — I had marked it as cider, but it was a Calvados distillery. No big deal, it was right on the way. We arrived in Honfleur a short while later and settled in at La Petite Folie.
La Petite Folie was also gorgeous (€323 for 2 nights), right in the center of Honfleur. It’s located down a narrow lane that judging by the number of people in the street, looks to be a pedestrian only street, but it’s not! Erwan welcomed us and gave us a list of restaurant recommendations, including a warning that all of the restaurants around the harbor were touristy and terrible. We wandered around the picturesque harbor and debated having a drink somewhere, before buying another bottle of cider to enjoy in the quiet garden of the hotel. We had dinner at L’Homme du Bois which had good atmosphere and we enjoyed. The oysters and mussels were very good. The prawns were so-so.
Up next...
From this part of the trip on, planning was a little loosey goosey...
Breakfast at the Hotel Tardif in Bayeux was nice - a spread of breads, meats, cheeses, yogurt, croissants, etc around a communal dining table. We finished up, bid our host adieu and hit the road to the Pays d'Auge. The original plan was to do the cider route, but after thinking about it - how much cider did we really want to taste and buy?? The revised original plan would be one cider and one cheese place en route to Honfleur…
We stopped first in Beuvron-en-Auge. I had read that this was "the" quintessential Normandy town and it looked just like a postcard with it’s half-timbered houses. As is our custom, we wandered around and snapped a few pictures, enjoying the late summer sun. We did stop in and taste some Calvados and Pommeau. The Calvados was a bit strong for my liking, so I ended up with a small bottle of Pommeau which is a mix of cider and Calvados. I also ended up with a small jar of Teurgoule to try, which if my French is correct, is a sort of rice pudding with sugar and cinnamon. Initially we had considered trying to come to Beuvron-en-Auge for the gourmet meal at Pave d’Auge, but after looking at the map, it made sense to be our first stop coming from Bayeux which would be right after breakfast, so we scratched that idea.
From there we headed to Domaine St Hippolyte, having read on another thread it was a great place to taste and buy local cider and cheese and have a picnic on their grounds. Unfortunately, it was closed — looks like they may be doing some work. Whoops there went our lunch plan.
Fortunately, we had also planned on visiting Chateau Saint Germain de Livet, the checkerboard chateau, so we hadn’t driven out of the way. It was about 1:20PM at this point and naturally, the chateau was closed for lunch until 2:00PM!! We had a little meat and cheese left from our apero the previous evenings, so we sat at a picnic table in the park next door to the church and soaked up the sun. There was a sign for a creperie, but we were a little crepe-d out at this point. It seemed like everybody knew that the Chateau reopened at 2:00 because when the doors opened, there was a group of 10+ people waiting to get inside. It’s a guided tour and while the tour guide made an effort for the English speakers (us and another couple), the 10 minute French explanation was usually followed by only a 2 minute English description. I was surprised by how small the interior of the Chateau was, but the exterior was beautiful - complete with peacocks in the gardens and swans swimming in the moat. It’s kind of a quirky place, but I liked it!
By this time it was mid-afternoon so we decided to head towards Honfleur. We did stop briefly on the way at Chateau de Breuil — I had marked it as cider, but it was a Calvados distillery. No big deal, it was right on the way. We arrived in Honfleur a short while later and settled in at La Petite Folie.
La Petite Folie was also gorgeous (€323 for 2 nights), right in the center of Honfleur. It’s located down a narrow lane that judging by the number of people in the street, looks to be a pedestrian only street, but it’s not! Erwan welcomed us and gave us a list of restaurant recommendations, including a warning that all of the restaurants around the harbor were touristy and terrible. We wandered around the picturesque harbor and debated having a drink somewhere, before buying another bottle of cider to enjoy in the quiet garden of the hotel. We had dinner at L’Homme du Bois which had good atmosphere and we enjoyed. The oysters and mussels were very good. The prawns were so-so.
Up next...
Sep 13th, 2016, 11:53 AM
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Let me try again in bits and pieces and see what the system is not liking...but really, all good problems to have! We essentially did the same trip but in reverse, minus Senlis. I was trying not to end up at Mont Saint-Michel, the furthest point away, leaving us with a long drive before our flight back from Paris.
Sep 13th, 2016, 11:54 AM
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I actually really like the pace of our trip - MSM (1), Bayeux (2), Honfleur (2). We felt like we had "done" each city and were ready to move on, but nothing comes to mind to have skipped off hand, but let me ponder some more...
Sep 13th, 2016, 12:42 PM
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Thanks for finishing the rest of your trip report and your thoughts! We have the same dilemma with whether to head to the furthest point west first (Cancale) and then make our way back, but figure that a 4+ hour drive on our last day, then an overnight close to the airport would be preferable to a 4+ hour drive on our first day, after an overnight flight.
Oct 3rd, 2016, 12:34 AM
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Nothing earth shattering in the last couple days of our trip, but wanted to go ahead and finish it!
Day 5: Deauville - Trouville & Relaxing!
Breakfast at La Petite Folie was similar to the Hotel Tardif - a continental spread around a communal dining table. Each couple gets a little bread basket and the croissants were out of this world delicious. So buttery and flaky.
We spent the morning exploring Honfleur some more, wandered up towards the Cote de Grace and marveled at all of the artists’ workshops lining the streets - it is still very much an artists’ town. We popped into Saint Catherine’s and right away noticed the two naves looked like hulls of ships (first seeing the chapel at MSM built by shipbuilders helped!).
We drove along the coast to Trouville (20 min) and parked the car. We spent the next several hours walking along the beaches and pedestrian streets of Trouville and then across the bridge to neighboring Deauville. As others have said Trouville is the more authentic beachside town, while Deauville is the glitzy 21st arrondissement of Paris. I wish we had brought swim suits as the weather was warm! I settled for ice cream along the boardwalk
Mid-afternoon we stopped at Manor D’Apreval on our way back to Honfleur and tasted a couple of ciders. We had noticed it on our way out of town and thought it looked interesting. At their suggestion, we tried the pear cider and actually found we liked it the best! We returned to La Petite Folie and relaxed in the garden with a bottle of the pear cider and a couple of good books until dinner.
Dinner was at Le Moulin St Georges just outside of Honfleur towards Trouville/Deauville. Ambience was nice and only French was spoken. I had the Seafood platter and my husband had moules once again. The discovery seafood platter had a half dozen oysters, half dozen shrimp, crab and a pile of whelks and periwinkles. We were too full for dessert! I don’t think I had ever eaten whelks before and have to admit, I couldn’t quite figure out the periwinkles. There didn’t seem to be much to them anyway. All in all, a very nice evening.
Day 6 - Giverny & back to Paris
Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and made our way back to Paris via Giverny. Ideally, we would have liked to have been at Giverny at 9:30 when it opened to avoid the crowds, but we were on vacation! No sense in stressing about getting up and moving too early. It was about a 90 min drive from Honfleur to Giverny and we arrived around 12:30. There were a ton of people there, but it was beautiful nonetheless. There was still plenty in bloom in the gardens and the water gardens were green and luscious, even in early September. I can only imagine what it looks like in the summer! Even though it was crawling with people, there's something about that pink house and the brightly painted rooms that I just love.
We drove the last hour back to Paris and dropped our car off at Gare Montparnasse without any issues. Fortunately I had read somewhere that the rental car return was on the bottom floor of an Indigo parking garage next to the station because the Europcar sign was very small and I had trouble finding a rental return address on the Europcar website. Google maps had the Indigo parking garage shown.
One last side note about navigation systems. The rental car company wanted to charge us another €100 for a GPS system (almost as much as the car!) which I thought was ridiculous. I know many people like to buy the Michelin maps or other hardcopy maps, but as millennials, we would be lost without our smart phones We used an app called CoPilot that works offline. We downloaded the map for the country/region that we needed while we were connected to wifi and then put the phone in airplane mode so as not to rack up huge roaming charges, and we were able to type in any address and get directions on the fly. There's a 7 day free trial, which was perfect for this trip, so we didn't need to buy any of the country maps (which at $30-$40 still would have been a lot cheaper than the rental GPS!). There are several of these apps -- I think TomTom offers one -- but just wanted to share an alternative to the rental car GPS or hard copy maps!
We had a delicious dinner our last night in Paris at Paul Bert, which understandably gets mixed reviews. Our meal was very, very good, my husband thinks their steak au poivre is the best ever, and the waiter was working his butt off. Service was still slow (especially at the end of the meal once the restaurant was really buzzing) and our entire side of the restaurant was all Americans. I guess that's what happens after Anthony Bourdain visits!
Those of you who are planning trips to Normandy -- enjoy! It really is a spectacular area to visit.
Day 5: Deauville - Trouville & Relaxing!
Breakfast at La Petite Folie was similar to the Hotel Tardif - a continental spread around a communal dining table. Each couple gets a little bread basket and the croissants were out of this world delicious. So buttery and flaky.
We spent the morning exploring Honfleur some more, wandered up towards the Cote de Grace and marveled at all of the artists’ workshops lining the streets - it is still very much an artists’ town. We popped into Saint Catherine’s and right away noticed the two naves looked like hulls of ships (first seeing the chapel at MSM built by shipbuilders helped!).
We drove along the coast to Trouville (20 min) and parked the car. We spent the next several hours walking along the beaches and pedestrian streets of Trouville and then across the bridge to neighboring Deauville. As others have said Trouville is the more authentic beachside town, while Deauville is the glitzy 21st arrondissement of Paris. I wish we had brought swim suits as the weather was warm! I settled for ice cream along the boardwalk
Mid-afternoon we stopped at Manor D’Apreval on our way back to Honfleur and tasted a couple of ciders. We had noticed it on our way out of town and thought it looked interesting. At their suggestion, we tried the pear cider and actually found we liked it the best! We returned to La Petite Folie and relaxed in the garden with a bottle of the pear cider and a couple of good books until dinner.
Dinner was at Le Moulin St Georges just outside of Honfleur towards Trouville/Deauville. Ambience was nice and only French was spoken. I had the Seafood platter and my husband had moules once again. The discovery seafood platter had a half dozen oysters, half dozen shrimp, crab and a pile of whelks and periwinkles. We were too full for dessert! I don’t think I had ever eaten whelks before and have to admit, I couldn’t quite figure out the periwinkles. There didn’t seem to be much to them anyway. All in all, a very nice evening.
Day 6 - Giverny & back to Paris
Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and made our way back to Paris via Giverny. Ideally, we would have liked to have been at Giverny at 9:30 when it opened to avoid the crowds, but we were on vacation! No sense in stressing about getting up and moving too early. It was about a 90 min drive from Honfleur to Giverny and we arrived around 12:30. There were a ton of people there, but it was beautiful nonetheless. There was still plenty in bloom in the gardens and the water gardens were green and luscious, even in early September. I can only imagine what it looks like in the summer! Even though it was crawling with people, there's something about that pink house and the brightly painted rooms that I just love.
We drove the last hour back to Paris and dropped our car off at Gare Montparnasse without any issues. Fortunately I had read somewhere that the rental car return was on the bottom floor of an Indigo parking garage next to the station because the Europcar sign was very small and I had trouble finding a rental return address on the Europcar website. Google maps had the Indigo parking garage shown.
One last side note about navigation systems. The rental car company wanted to charge us another €100 for a GPS system (almost as much as the car!) which I thought was ridiculous. I know many people like to buy the Michelin maps or other hardcopy maps, but as millennials, we would be lost without our smart phones
We used an app called CoPilot that works offline. We downloaded the map for the country/region that we needed while we were connected to wifi and then put the phone in airplane mode so as not to rack up huge roaming charges, and we were able to type in any address and get directions on the fly. There's a 7 day free trial, which was perfect for this trip, so we didn't need to buy any of the country maps (which at $30-$40 still would have been a lot cheaper than the rental GPS!). There are several of these apps -- I think TomTom offers one -- but just wanted to share an alternative to the rental car GPS or hard copy maps!We had a delicious dinner our last night in Paris at Paul Bert, which understandably gets mixed reviews. Our meal was very, very good, my husband thinks their steak au poivre is the best ever, and the waiter was working his butt off. Service was still slow (especially at the end of the meal once the restaurant was really buzzing) and our entire side of the restaurant was all Americans. I guess that's what happens after Anthony Bourdain visits!
Those of you who are planning trips to Normandy -- enjoy! It really is a spectacular area to visit.
