Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Normandy trip report: day one

We landed in Paris just before 11:00 a.m. on September 10th, finding our friend waiting to greet us after her arrival from Washington, D.C. a few hours earlier. AutoEurope had ordered our car from Europecar, and we picked it up with only the usual problem of being stuck in line behind someone with one problem after another. Our only problem was figuring how to get out of the airport parking lot.

Two weeks before our trip my husband had discovered the area maps on the Expedia site and had fashioned printed maps for each day of our journey, going from large to small scale. With those in hand, along with my trusty Michelin map, we piled into our Renault Scenic (which just held luggage for three) and headed for Normandy. We soon discovered that the car had a mind of its own, directed by an on-board computer. No key; just a card to be inserted when the message on the dash so directed. No parking brake; the car took care of that for us. It turned the lights on and off as it felt necessary. Sometimes it wanted to go where we did not. But on this day it behaved for the most part, and we zipped along the autoroute in good time.

Our first stop was in Les Andelys, a charming town on the banks of the Seine. Our lodging for the night was the restaurant-avec-chambres La Chaîne d'Or (named for the chain once slung across the river). We were entranced: our friend said it all looked like an Impressionist painting, with swans floating on the river and the light on the water constantly changing.

Our two rooms were spacious, airy, and attractively decorated, with windows looking out over the grassy verge to the river. We enjoyed watching barges go past, heading for the sea, and fishermen setting up for the afternoon's catch. Finally we forced ourselves out of the hotel for a late lunch on the patio of a nearby restaurant: omelettes and crêpes. The eating orgy was yet to come.

After lunch we drove up to the impressive ruins of Château Gaillard, built on the orders of Richard the Lionheart. On the way back to our hotel we stopped to see the Eglise Notre-Dame, which was built in the Flamboyant style but has a north side in the Renaissance fashion. The church has fine 16th-century stained glass, and the exterior has splendid flying buttresses. The Michelin green guide gives the church two stars, and we could easily understand why. It was a nice surprise.

After wandering by the Seine we changed for dinner and made our way down to the pretty dining room, all done in yellows highlighted with orange cushions on the wooden chairs--there were beautiful old cabinets, gleaming white tablecloths, and French windows that looked out toward the river. We had Kir Royales and an amuse-bouche, and then all of us had the 40€ menu. Bob began with a mélange of scallops and lobster, while our traveling companion (hereinafter called TC) and I enjoyed a kind of seviche of langoustines. All three of us had lamb grazed on the salt flats of Mont St-Michel for our main course, and then the TC and I had a yummy apple tart with carmel sauce, flamed in (of course) Calvados. Bob had chocolate caked topped with chocolate sorbet and covered in chocolate sauce. He still dreams about that dessert. After coffee and the usual mignardises (tiny cookies and confections) we rolled up to our beds, thinking we could not have possibly had a better first day in Franceops and lobster, while our traveling companion (herinafter called TC) and I enjoyed a kind of seviche of langoustines. All three of us had lamb grazed on the salt flats of Mont St-Michel for our main course, and then the TC and I had a yummy apple tart with carmel sauce, flamed in (of course) Calvados. Bob had chocolate caked topped with chocolate sorbet and covered in chocolate sauce. He still dreams about that dessert. After coffee and the usual mignardises (tiny cookies and confections) we rolled up to our beds, thinking we could not have possibly had a better first day in France.