Joliefleur

I recently returned from a self-drive trip thru Normandy and the Loire Valley (24 April - 10 May). I rented a car from Hertz at CDG and drove to Giverny, Les Andelys, Rouen, Caen, Bayeux, Le Mont St Michel, Angers, Saumur, Fontevraud, Amboise, Orleans, and back to Paris. I did take some notes but I don't know if anyone is interested in the gory details.

I had reserved the smallest compact car but ended up with a Chevy SUV. It was a diesel which was a blessing until I had to go down some really small lanes with my tank.

Hint #1...I had a Garmin Nuvi 370 (loaded with US & European maps) with me which did a great job of navigating me away from CDG and on to Vernon during rush hour traffic. I highly recommend having a GPS, especially if you're going solo. I didn't always make the right turns and my little Nuvi was always "Recalculating..." to fix my goofs.

Hint #2...I also highly recommend having a French cell phone. I got an unlocked phone on Ebay and bought a French SIM online. I know I could have gotten one at CDG but I wanted to have it ready to go when I got there.

Hint #3..Don't stay on the Mont. The view of MSM from the quay was breathtaking. I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Hint #4: The Joan of Arc Festival takes place in Rouen, Chinon and Orleans during the last week of April and ends on 9 May in Orleans. If you can plan on being in Orleans during 5-8 May, GO! It was like a cross between a Renaissance Festival and Mardi Gras. The whole region gets involved. There are parades, reenactments and fairs. Sound and Light shows too. I ate lunch off a trencher and watched a trained bear do his tricks. Fantastic!

Joliefleur

klondike

Well, I for one like all the gory details. Did you have any good meals -- restos to recommend?

Efoss3

Joliefleur,

I'm planning a similar trip in September, so I'd like to know more about your trip.

We once reserved a small car and got an SUV- we were driving in Poland and the company we rented from thought we needed a sturdy car for the bad roads. It worked out, but I prefer small cars in Europe.

Is there any chance that you would sell me your sim card? We will be buying one when we get to CDG and we'd prefer to know our phone number ahead of time.

Joliefleur

OK, you asked for it. It's late tonight but I'll post the gory details tomorrow.

And yes Efoss3, you can buy my SIM, if you'd like. Just make sure you have a quad band, UNLOCKED cell phone to put it in. Let me check the fine print to see how long SFR holds the phone number and I'll get back to you. It saved my bacon when I couldn't find my B&B on the map.

A demain....

yk

Can you tell us the hotels/B&Bs you stayed at?

Efoss3

Thank you, Jolie!

I have the right kind of phone which I've used several times in France. The chips expire in about six months and I never get back in time to use my old chip.

It's good to know the phone number in advance to let friends and family know ahead of time.

Here's my email: [email protected].

Merici encore, Evelyn

Joliefleur

OK, here's that trip report that I promised.
First, you need to know that I had some very specific goals in mind. I was on a chateau hunt for notable places visited by William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart and Joan of Arc so there are going to be a lot of references to chateaux in this description. If that's not your thing, skip me now.

I flew into CDG and arrived around 7am. I flew United and the Hertz desk was in the same terminal. Couldn't have been easier to find my rental car which was a good thing because I did not get much sleep on the airplane.
I had programmed my GPS ahead of time for the first couple of days' stops so all I had to do is input Foundation Claude Monet and I was on my way.

The gardens were extraordinary! I had worried that it was too early to find the flowers in bloom (Apr 26) but it actually was a great time. The wisteria was in bloom (but not the waterlillies). I have a great picture of that famous bridge. Vernon is a quaint little artist colony. They have artist studios there where impressionism is still going strong. You have to walk through town so save yourself a few steps and park in the main lot opposite the bus lot. I had lunch at Vernon at the walk up window cafe. (There are only two places opposite the Foundation entrance so you can't miss it.) I thought the restaurant was kinda pricey and I was still overstuffed from my flight. I left afternoon.

From Vernon I set my GPS for Gisors. Chateau Gisors was owned by the Dukes of Normandy and was built in 1096. The tower and walls in fairly good shape but you cannot go inside. Looks like it might have been an old motte and bailey castle redone in stone. Next stop, Chateau Gaillard at Les Andelys.

Joliefleur

Chateau Gaillard was built by Richard the Lionheart. It sits high above Les Andelys and has a great view of the Seine and the town below...Can you say "Mountain Goat"? Leave plenty of time to climb the walkway to the castle(very steep slope and not for the handicapped). Opposite the chateau on another hill there's a great vantage point to take a photo. DO NOT PARK THERE! There's a lot down the hill and around the bend that is much closer. The chateau closes from 3:30 to 4:00 and only those on the guided tour can enter. Of course I was late because of my detour to Gisors so I looked around outside and decided to come back the next day.

I checked into the Hotel de Paris, 10, avenue de la République, 27700 LES ANDELYS, France tel : 33 (0) 232 (http://giverny.org/hotels/deparis/). Cost 65E per night.

Wow! I found this small hotel on the internet and I would highly recommend staying here. The room was medium sized for european standards. They operate a restaurant downstairs and for 23 euro you can eat like a king. I started out with an aperitif (kirsch) with pate and shrimp, then had smoked/marinated salmon as an "entree" and then breast of duck for the plat. For dessert I had creme brulee -- a recurring theme on this trip. Finished up with expresso and a choc truffle. Yum!

I succumbed to a nap before dinner so I was wide awake until 2am. My new alarm clock let me oversleep so I started programming the alarm on my cell phone to wake me up.

Joliefleur

Day 2 - Apr 27
How do the French make bread taste soo good? Bread and cafe for breakfast and then off to Chateau Gaillard for the inside tour. Madame said that I had to go inside so I detoured there before going to Rouen. I hiked back up the hill to the chateau and paid my 3euro to get inside. It was worth it. Gaillard looks massive from the outside but it really isn't that big from the inside. There are exhibits and signs posted telling about how the chateau was made. It was a favorite of RTL.

On to Rouen. I was very surprised by how rural the countryside is. Normandy must be the bread basket for France -- lots of farms and fields. By chance I happened to find the parking lot beneath the Vieux Marche. I had a wonderful time trying to park my tank of an SUV in the parking spaces underneath the Old Market.

I emerged right on the Square at Joan of Arc's church. It's a really modern church but the stained glass windows inside are spectacular. There's a three story cross in front marking where she was burned. Made my way down the Rue de Gros Horlorge and took in the old clock tower. I stopped in to watch some of the faience (pottery) painters and ended up buying some and having them ship it home.

The Cathedrale at Rouen is magnificent and should not be missed. I was impressed by the statuary and stained glass and spent way too much time there. Then I walked to the St Oulx Church (closed for repairs) and abbey (also closed for repairs) but found the statue of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy outside the abbey and watched some dirty old men bowl.

Drove back to Les Andelys and washed up for dinner (bring something nice to wear). Had an apperitif, some delicious squash soup and baguette, the fish fillet in a white sauce, and the charlotte for dessert. The white wine was fantastic (domaine Chateau de Chinon) so I asked Madame to bring out the bottle so that I could look at the label. That sparked a lively conversation about Calvados and pommeau. Both are apple liquers. Pommeau is made in the department where Les Andelys is. Calvados is made near Caen, my next stop. Madame gave me a free pommeau as a thank you for staying there. Did I say that I highly recommend staying here???

Joliefleur

Day 4 - Caen.
I am still jet lagged and I have decided that I need to pair down my aggressive list of things to see today. Out goes the Abbey de Jumieges and Caudebec-en-Caux. I drove straight to Caen and parked on the street near the Chateau. Word to the wise. Be very careful when parking on the street to make sure that you don't have to pay.

Look for a sign (it might even be across the street) that says PAYANT on it. If you find one, then buy a ticket and put it on your dash. They will ticket and/or tow your car.

There are three sites that you should see in Caen: the Ducal Castle, the Abbaye des Hommes and the Abbaye des Femmes.

The Ducal castle was the home of William the Conqueror. It has been extensively renovated. There are a couple of museums (in the church and one of the out buildings) on the site. There's not much left of the original keep. I was impressed by the fact that I was walking in his footsteps...

Tried to have lunch at the museum cafe but they stopped serving at 2:00. I exited and went to one of the restaurants on the left side of the chateau and had "moules frites" for the first time. Contrary to what you might think, this isn't fried mussels. It's plump mussels steamed in a marvelous white wine, onion and garlic sauce and served with fries. Yumm! Hauled myself out of the chair and started off for the Abbaye des Hommes and the Eglise de St Etienne.

First you should know that the church is a working church and so there are weddings and funerals and such going on. You will not be able to enter the church if there is an event and you may have to wait. There's a tour that you can take of the abbey and the church. The emphasis is on the abbey -- they spend a lot of time going thru all the rooms and giving their history. My French is pretty good but the tour guide spoke so fast, it was exhausting to keep up. Do yourself a favor and time your visit to have the tour in English (2pm I believe). They have English brochures that they pass out but they only contain 30% of the info that the guide is telling you about. Skip the tour entirely if your focus is the church. I wanted to see William's tomb. The tour lasted about 1 hr 45 min and we only spent the last 10 mins in the church. No info about the various chapels or about the stained glass.

Joliefleur

I left late in the afternoon for my next lodging - Les Fontaines 14220 Barbery, France Tel: +33 (0)2 31 78 24 48 (http://www.lesfontaines.com/en/index.htm). Here's where I needed my cell phone. There is no street address for Les Fontaines and there were a couple of Barberys in my GPS so as the sun was setting on Caen, I was on my phone to Madame asking her for directions.

It was worth the angst. Les Fontaines is a pretty little country house B&B. The gardens are are gorgeous and I'm sorry I didn't set aside some down time to just explore and enjoy. I got demi-pension again so I had dinner in that evening. Dinners are served family style around a large table and drinks are included. You can have as much or as little as you like.

===>>I need to correct a price. Demi pension at Hotel de Paris is 80E and at Les Fontaines the room is 65E and dinner with drinks is 23E.

Dinner was quite tasty (the quiche she made was delicious) but the conversation was the best part. There was a family there from Brussels and two guys from Paris there for the Labor Day (1 May) holiday. The conversation that night was conducted in French. It could also have been done in English. Even the children were bilingual to some degree and could participate.

Day 5 - Apr 29
Got up much later than I should have thanks to Madame's excellent Calvados mixed with B&B brandy.

The first stop of the day was Falaise. WTC was born at Falaise. Duke Robert fell in love with the blacksmith's daughter and William was the result. When Duke Robert died while on crusade, William became the new duke.

There's a great statue of WTC in the square in front of the entrance to the chateau. The chateau has also been extensively restored. There's a very nice sound and light show with the theme of chess that evidently was all the rage from nobleman to serf in the Middle Ages. On the lower floor there's a fantastic exhibit about WTC and the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings. Much was made of WTC being the rightful King of England. It was a great introduction to the Bayeux Tapestry.

Next I drove to Bayeux to view the tapestry. Fantastic! I would recommend that you buy a guide before you go into view the tapestry so that you will get the most from the viewing. There's also a short video that they show about the tapestry and the history that it depicts.

Drove back to Les Fontaines. Dinner that night was roast beef and veggies again served en famille. The two Parisiens were gone and we were joined by a familly from Brazil. They were vacationing for a month after he had run a marathon. They spoke very good French but somehow, every time Madame went to the kitchen, we lapsed into English for conversation. I learned a lot about Brazil and now would very much like to see the northern provinces.

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Tomorrow, Le Mont St Michel.....

stokebailey

Lovely report, Joliefleur. I like details.
A fun idea, too, for a trip. I guess you didn't get as far as Loches, a medieval chateau with a past including stays by Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of Arc, and Agnes Sorel. We liked it there a lot. Maybe you can squeeze it in next time.

jody

Really enjoyed reading your report!And I can sympathize with the SUV..Avis gave us a monster van in England one time..I thought we'd be wedged in some country lane forever!

pjsparlor

ttt

Joliefleur

Here's the rest of the trip report.

I left Les Fontaines for my 1.5 hr trip to Mont St Michel in the late morning and arrived around lunch time. I had thought that the crowds would not be so big because it was late spring but since 1 May is a holiday in France (our equivalent of Labor Day) many families were taking a long weekend and camping near MSM. I took my guide book's suggestion and took the stairs to the abbey and avoided the rabbit warren of stores packed with tourists.

You have to pay to visit the abbey. There are a couple of options for guided tours. There's a comprehensive tour that lasts more than 2 hours and one that is shorter with less commentary. I took the shorter tour and was pleased. I stopped for lunch in one of the brasseries on the left side of the street (sorry didn't catch the name). They had moules en creme frites which is mussels in wine, garlic and onions but also garnished in cream. Wow!

I left MSM and made my way back to the quay to check into Hotel Relais du Roy. Their website said that my room would have a view of MSM and I booked based on the description. It does have a view of MSM...if you open the sliding glass door and stand on the 1 foot wide balcony and lean to the right you can just make out MSM in the distance. I did not see any hotels that truly had that great a view of the Mont so don't book based on that criteria.

I decided to book a hotel not on the Mont so that I could see MSM at night. It was truly the most awesome sight at night!! Seeing MSM at night was the high point of my trip and made it worth every penny.

I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was good but the service was excellent. One of the dishes this area is known for is the mouton pre sale or preseasoned lamb. It's the specialty of the restaurant down the street so I'd try it there.

May 1 - Labor Day
I got up early and drove to Angers. I had thought it was going to be a 3 hour drive. It turned out to be closer to 4.5 hrs which is OK because this way the holiday. Everything is closed on a holiday in France so don't plan on doing any sightseeing or eating out. I decided to skip the planned stop at Angers and continue on to Fontevraud and check-in to my next hotel.

Domaine de Mestré, 49590 Fontevraud  l'Abbaye - France (33)02.41.51.75.87 is just a few kilometers from the abbey, near the town of Montresor (where I stopped for a late lunch of quiche at the local betting parlor). Madame makes soap (savon) so the air is filled with the most wonderful perfumes. I would not recommend this place to someone who is allergic as there is NO WAY to avoid the smell. I have once again chosen half-board so dinner is a 8. I did the wash in the sink and hung it on the heated towel bar. (My jeans were dry within a day.) There almost was a problem with my reservation but since I had a copy of the confirmation email, I showed it to Madame and the confusion was cleared up.

The room is like one of the monastery cells but was roomy enough for me. The bathroom with tub was wonderful after a long day in the car.

Dinner was 6 courses and very tasty. The rate for the room was 50.5E and breakfast and dinner were 32E. There are not many restaurants in Fontevraud so I'd highly recommend doing the demi-pension.

Joliefleur

2 May
I visited Fontevraud Abbey (opens at 10am) and the chateaux de Montsoreau (can skip this one), Saumur and Chinon. BTW, Saumur is beautiful but the interior is undergoing renovation so the chateau is closed. Have lunch at La Panorama across the parking lot from Saumur. Chinon was a disappointment. Unfortunately most of the fortress is in ruins. They are doing renovations and rebuilding. I hope they don't make it look like Disney when they're done.

3 May
Visited Angers and Plesse Bourre.
Chateau Angers is well worth the visit. Its exterior is striking and has stripes. The interior has some great ramparts and a museum dedicated to the Apocalypse Tapestry. Another must see.

I finished the day at Plesse Bourre, a privately owned chateau complete with moat and drawbridge. We had a very nice tour thru all the public rooms which are furnished. I had a little trouble finding this place but what a jewel!

May 4
Checked out of Domaine Le Mestre for Amboise. Visited Chaumont and Azay Le Rideau on the way to Amboise. The Chateau de Chaumont, home of Catherine de Medici and Diane de Poitiers was closed, although there was a garden festival in progress. I wish the websites would post if they are going to be closed. I did quite a lot of research prior to leaving for France and nowhere did I see that Saumur and Chaumont were going to be closed.

Checked into La Brèche - 26, rue Jules Ferry - 37400 Amboise - Tél. 02 47 57 00 79. They have a small restaurant in the hotel but based on dinner, I'd skip it if I were you and elsewhere dine in Amboise. It was a nice sized room with shower for 70E per night. This was the only place where I had to send a 50E deposit to confirm my room.

Visited Clos Luce, home of Leonardo Da Vinci, then went to Blois for the day. The Chateau at Blois is well worth the visit. Many of the rooms are decorated and there's a short video on the assassination of the Duc de Guise that's worth sticking around to see. I did not do the guided visit but used the brochure instead. There's underground parking near the chateau.

6 May
Checked out of La Breche and drove to Orleans. I decided to make this another travel day and take it easy. Checked into my hotel, Ibis Orleans Centre Gare, 17 AVE DE PARIS, ORLEANS France. This is the first chain hotel I've stayed in. It is a three star hotel. The rooms are very large and the bathrooms are spacious. You can do breakfast in the hotel or go down the street for a hot breakfast with eggs, which I recommend. The hotel is across the street from the train station. My room was on the 7th floor and faced the train station so I was worried about noise. Once I closed the windows, I didn't hear a thing. Also, the hotel was the first place I'd stayed that had air conditioning.

I arrived in Orleans during the festival of Joan of Arc. I am so glad that I came to Orleans during the festival!!! The whole region gets into celebrating the lifting of the siege of Orleans. The first day, I went to the Campo Santo for the medieval market/fair. Lots of people in costume, medieval music, dancing and food and crafts.

The next day, 7 March, was the first day of the siege celebration. There were reenactments and mini mock battles with soldiers and knights dressed in medieval armor. There were booths where people demonstrated medieval crafts like blacksmithing, weaving, and engraving/illumination. Oh, and we must not forget the dancing bear. The streets are closed in the evening for the parade where the girl chosen to play Joan is escorted into Orleans on horseback with her knights. Here's a video clip on YouTube that shows you everything I've described in words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L_dQomkFx0

I attended a choral concert in one of the smaller churches and then when to the cathedrale for the sound and light show and to see the end of Joan's parade.

8 May
I wish I'd planned to stay for the last day of the festival but I needed to turn in the car at Orly. I took the Air France shuttle bus from Orly to Montparnasse and then walked from there to my hotel: Les Jardins De Paris Montparnasse, 22 RUE HIPPOLYTE MAINDRON, Paris. I also booked this hotel on Travelocity for $97 per night. What a deal! Nice sized room with shower and tele.

The hotel is 2 or 3 short blocks from the Pernety metro stop. I purchased a museum pass which included a metro pass before I came so I looked for a hotel that was near a metro stop.

9 May
Having been in Paris several times before, I decided that I would spend the day visiting the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay.

The Louvre has a new audio guided tour based on the Da Vinci Code - 10 E. They also have a regular audio guided tour - 5E. Both are in english. I took both and was more impressed with the Da Vinci Code tour. First let me say that I've never seen the movie but I've read the book. The audio guide takes you to the places that are in the movie, shows you the best way to navigate thru the museum to the art work and then gives you a nice description of the historical background of the item in addition to its DV code importance.

Hint -- there is more than one place to purchase the audio guides. The stall at the entrance to the wing where the Mona Lisa is tends to get crowded. The wing to the left also sells audio guides and there's usually no one in line there.

==================================
So ends my trip report. Hope you find this useful.

Efoss3

Your trip report has been useful to me since I'm planning a trip to several of the places you went. I'll be going in early September tho. I would love to be in Orleans for the Jean d'Arc fete- I loved the video you listed! I think I like Joan in the way you like William and Richard;-)

Perhaps we'll try to get a Nuvi to use. I wonder sometimes if they are worth the hassle.

We are planning on B&Bs and I saw one with a view of MSM, I'm going to see if it's the one you stayed in. Eating dinner in the B&Bs sounds good to me also.

You really planned your trip well. Thanks for sharing the details with us- your report is quite complete.

BTW I'm still interested in buying your SIM card- my email is above if you want to contact me.

Evelyn

yk

Fascinating trip. thanks for posting the full report!

Intex

Joliefleur,
If you were to do a 2 day trip to Normandy from Paris, would you see Honfleur, Bayeaux , Rouen, and 1 D-Day beach ? If so , based on your travels, which order of cities? I am thinking of a TGV to one town, then rent a car, then TGV back from another town?
Thanks for any suggestions.

annhig

hi, joliefleur,

great report.

what prompted your interest in WTC, Richard et al?

regards, ann

ps mouton "pre sale" is lamb, I think, that has grazed on the salt-marshes - so it is literally "pre salted". same here with sheep grazed on Romney marsh.