Tournez à gauche, Tournez à droite? Maitai’s Scenic Detour Through France
Dec 11th, 2012, 01:45 PM
#162
Tom, I'm still here, but just keeping quiet. [unusual for me, I know].
actually, I'm ashamed. Despite living much closer to it than you, we've never seen Bayeux and its tapestry, the beaches or the cathedral. disgraceful, isn't it?
actually, I'm ashamed. Despite living much closer to it than you, we've never seen Bayeux and its tapestry, the beaches or the cathedral. disgraceful, isn't it?
Dec 11th, 2012, 04:14 PM
#165
Original Poster
"It takes FOREVER to write trip reports, doesn't it?" SC, That's for sure. This one is tough since work is so busy. Thankfully, there are only five days left to write about.
And willowjane: Yes, Tracy is most definitely a Saint.
annhig, Bayeux is a terrific little town combining D-Day sites with the Bayeux Tapestry and The Cathedrale along with some pretty terrific restaurants...especially the one in the next installment...Coming soon to a Fodors Board near you.
And willowjane: Yes, Tracy is most definitely a Saint.
annhig, Bayeux is a terrific little town combining D-Day sites with the Bayeux Tapestry and The Cathedrale along with some pretty terrific restaurants...especially the one in the next installment...Coming soon to a Fodors Board near you.
Dec 11th, 2012, 04:50 PM
#166
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Really enjoying your report - a fun mix of entertainment and information. Believe me, it is truly worth the wait between installments. My wife, granddaughter and I had a great time during our adventures in Paris, Normandy & the Loire Valley last year and your tales bring a lot of it back. Are there any pictures of this saga in our future?
Dec 12th, 2012, 12:54 AM
#168
annhig, Bayeux is a terrific little town combining D-Day sites with the Bayeux Tapestry and The Cathedrale along with some pretty terrific restaurants...especially the one in the next installment...Coming soon to a Fodors Board near you.>>
yes, Tom, i know all that...it's not exactly that far away after all, but somehow it's fallen between the two stools of crossing over to Brittany and travelling south, and using the chunnel and going east.
perhaps i can get DH interested in going there on a spring break.
yes, Tom, i know all that...it's not exactly that far away after all, but somehow it's fallen between the two stools of crossing over to Brittany and travelling south, and using the chunnel and going east.
perhaps i can get DH interested in going there on a spring break.
Dec 13th, 2012, 04:56 PM
#170
Original Poster
<B>Day Fifteen – Walking In The Footsteps Of History, Germ Warfare, Checking Out the City of Bayeux Plus An Inventive and Incroyable Dinner </B>
Up early, the four of us walked down to the Place de Quebec (maybe that’s why Mary thought we were Canadians yesterday), where, at a little before 8:30 a.m. we were to be met by our guide from Overlord Tours who would us take the four of us (and three others) on a half day tour of D-Day sites.
We first stopped at the nearby L'hôtel Reine Mathilde where we had four awakening café au laits. At about 8:20 our van showed up, and the seven of us along with our guide got into the van for the beginning of the tour (55€…cash only). We had booked the tour a few months ago to assure our early time.
Fortunately, we were not seated next to our guide, because as a couple from Seattle was about to find out, she had a terrible cough (she even made the people on my influenza-laden flight over to France seem healthy).
In any event, our first stop was at the Batteries of Longues-sur-Mer, which housed artillery used by the Germans. According to our guide, the Germans fired 100s of artillery shells into the area of oncoming ships, but they all missed their mark. We then walked around the area looking at the bunkers and the remaining weapons.
Back at the van, the guide, who now had hacked up the equivalent of about four lungs in one hour, was amazingly puffing away on a cigarette. Yes, there is no cure for stupid.
In any event, as our guide drove to our next location, through her coughing spells, she told her vanmates not to worry. “It’s only an infection that is not contagious.” Meanwhile, the couple from Seattle was looking through their records to see when they received their last flu shot.
Our next stop was famed Omaha Beach, and it was quite remarkable to be standing on such a historic piece of earth. In between her spastic coughs, our guide did provide us with interesting information.
It was especially interesting, personal and moving for Mary, whose dad was part of the D-Day invasion. He saved one of his comrades from drowning by cutting his too-heavy pack, and years later, after Mary’s dad had passed away, the person he saved arrived at Mary’s door to tell her the story of her dad’s heroism. She had never known about it.
We then drove past some other historical sites, but we didn’t get too much information from our guide. She spent a lot of time on her cell phone, because it seemed her dog might be dying this day, too. Eisenhower didn’t have this many problems.
Soon, we arrived at The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach (Cimitére Americain). Tracy and I had visited here in 1998, and it was quite an emotional experience, especially when they played Taps late in the day. More than 9,000 soldiers and sailors are buried here, and the group was allowed to tour the cemetery on our own for about 45 minutes.
We meandered throughout the crosses and Stars of David, and came upon Teddy Roosevelt Jr.’s tombstone, which showed he was a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Teddy survived the invasion, but died a little more than a month later from a heart attack. He is buried next to his brother, Quentin, who was killed in World War I.
There was one more important stop on the tour, and soon we were at Pointe du Hoc. This is where the U.S. Army Rangers scaled great heights to combat the Germans. The landscape around Pointe du Doc is basically littered with bomb craters. We had about 30 minutes to walk around the area, and it’s pretty remarkable to think about what went on here nearly 70 years ago.
If you want a really good read, pick up David Brinkley’s book, “The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion”, which intertwines the story of the valiant Army Rangers with the speech Ronald Reagan gave on the 40th anniversary of D-Day. It was literally I book I couldn’t put down, because I read it in one sitting.
Soon, however, history gave way to trying to find my bottle of Purell Hand Sanitizer as our guide’s coughing hit a new crescendo. The entire tour takes four hours.
I thought the tour was informative and well worth the price, but I do think they could do a better job. There was lots of dead time in the van where perhaps a sound system explaining more details could come in handy. Plus, it would have drowned out her coughing.
Before leaving, we saw our new friends from Seattle (who were trying to contact the nearest Hazmat Unit), and bade them farewell (or was it really farewell). Back in Bayeux, the four of us sat down for a relaxed lunch at a restaurant on the town’s main street. We then wandered the streets of Bayeux on a bustling Tuesday afternoon, before walking back to the hotel for a little nap.
For dinner, Kim and Mary decided to stay at the hotel and dine there (they enjoyed their meal, especially the chicken), while Tracy and I made one last walk into town for our dinner. Our hotel had made reservations at a restaurant that had received a good deal of hype on the Fodors Board and elsewhere in the Foodie world. Not really being a foodie, but one who enjoys a good meal (obviously), I was skeptical it would live up to the hype (doubting Thomas, I guess).
Le P’tit Resto, 2 Rue de Bienvenu, lived up to all the advance press and more. We were seated in the front section of the restaurant near the bar (the trend continues), and we only saw a few more tables seated in this tiny restaurant on a drizzly Tuesday night (we sat between a couple from Cape Cod and a couple from Canada…not Mary).
Tracy and I started with a Kir Cassis, and after that we didn’t have a kir in the world. This is a restaurant for more adventuresome diners, because the menu changes often and is rather limited.
Although limited, our choices were spectacular. We started with the amuse-bouche of warm figs with jambon.
Next up was the appetizer. Tracy had crème fraîche and caviar on soft bread. I sneaked a bite, and it was the first time I ever tasted anything with caviar (not that I dine on caviar often) that I enjoyed. So much for the doubting Thomas. “This is going to be fun, “ I said to Tracy.
I started with an appetizer of foie gras (I didn’t tell the ducks when I got back to the hotel) with cinnamon and apple slices. It was fantastic.
For the main course, I had an incredible pork tenderloin on a bed of risotto with a shot of caramel sauce on the side for 17€. It sounds weird, but the caramel sauce was the perfect complement to the meal.
Tracy went for the smoked salmon in a puff pastry on a bed of mashed peas with a shot of warm gazpacho. It, too, was magnificent.
This was no rime to stop even thought we were rather full, so on to dessert we traveled. Tracy’s Baba-au-Rhum was like no Baba-au-Rhum we’d ever seen (well, we had never seen one in person, but had looked at pictures). I had one little bite, but Tracy liked it so much she wouldn’t share, a unique experience from my usual caring spouse.
The Baba-au-rhum was reconstituted with framboise and a shot of liquor that wasn’t easily recognizable (you’ll have to see the photo when I put it up, because it’s hard to describe), although through our sheer powers of deduction we figured it must have been some sort of rum.
Not to be outdone in the dessert department, I had a scrumptious chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell on a bed of pistachio cream. Our bottle of Saumur vin rouge lasted almost throughout the entire meal.
The total bill came to 101€, and it was totally worth the price. It was one of the best meals we’ve had anywhere.
Somehow we were able to amble back to the hotel, said one last farewell to the wood ducks, and soon we were packing for the following day’s journey.
We only had one more stop to make before returning to Gay Paree. We were going to stay in a town, that in retrospect, we gave short shrift to back in 1998, although we had enjoyed our stay there on that trip, as well. It would be the perfect stop to refresh our engines before the final few days in Paris, and even though both rooms at our hotel would present some minor “challenges,” it was a cool, little spot in a very charming town.
<B>Next: Day Sixteen - Harboring Four Americans, Is That A Boat Or A Church, Killer Caramel Crepes, Dancing In The Street, Death Stairs 2012, What’s This Tree Doing In My Shower, Not Dine But Dash and The Perfect Way To Spend An Evening</B>
Up early, the four of us walked down to the Place de Quebec (maybe that’s why Mary thought we were Canadians yesterday), where, at a little before 8:30 a.m. we were to be met by our guide from Overlord Tours who would us take the four of us (and three others) on a half day tour of D-Day sites.
We first stopped at the nearby L'hôtel Reine Mathilde where we had four awakening café au laits. At about 8:20 our van showed up, and the seven of us along with our guide got into the van for the beginning of the tour (55€…cash only). We had booked the tour a few months ago to assure our early time.
Fortunately, we were not seated next to our guide, because as a couple from Seattle was about to find out, she had a terrible cough (she even made the people on my influenza-laden flight over to France seem healthy).
In any event, our first stop was at the Batteries of Longues-sur-Mer, which housed artillery used by the Germans. According to our guide, the Germans fired 100s of artillery shells into the area of oncoming ships, but they all missed their mark. We then walked around the area looking at the bunkers and the remaining weapons.
Back at the van, the guide, who now had hacked up the equivalent of about four lungs in one hour, was amazingly puffing away on a cigarette. Yes, there is no cure for stupid.
In any event, as our guide drove to our next location, through her coughing spells, she told her vanmates not to worry. “It’s only an infection that is not contagious.” Meanwhile, the couple from Seattle was looking through their records to see when they received their last flu shot.
Our next stop was famed Omaha Beach, and it was quite remarkable to be standing on such a historic piece of earth. In between her spastic coughs, our guide did provide us with interesting information.
It was especially interesting, personal and moving for Mary, whose dad was part of the D-Day invasion. He saved one of his comrades from drowning by cutting his too-heavy pack, and years later, after Mary’s dad had passed away, the person he saved arrived at Mary’s door to tell her the story of her dad’s heroism. She had never known about it.
We then drove past some other historical sites, but we didn’t get too much information from our guide. She spent a lot of time on her cell phone, because it seemed her dog might be dying this day, too. Eisenhower didn’t have this many problems.
Soon, we arrived at The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach (Cimitére Americain). Tracy and I had visited here in 1998, and it was quite an emotional experience, especially when they played Taps late in the day. More than 9,000 soldiers and sailors are buried here, and the group was allowed to tour the cemetery on our own for about 45 minutes.
We meandered throughout the crosses and Stars of David, and came upon Teddy Roosevelt Jr.’s tombstone, which showed he was a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Teddy survived the invasion, but died a little more than a month later from a heart attack. He is buried next to his brother, Quentin, who was killed in World War I.
There was one more important stop on the tour, and soon we were at Pointe du Hoc. This is where the U.S. Army Rangers scaled great heights to combat the Germans. The landscape around Pointe du Doc is basically littered with bomb craters. We had about 30 minutes to walk around the area, and it’s pretty remarkable to think about what went on here nearly 70 years ago.
If you want a really good read, pick up David Brinkley’s book, “The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion”, which intertwines the story of the valiant Army Rangers with the speech Ronald Reagan gave on the 40th anniversary of D-Day. It was literally I book I couldn’t put down, because I read it in one sitting.
Soon, however, history gave way to trying to find my bottle of Purell Hand Sanitizer as our guide’s coughing hit a new crescendo. The entire tour takes four hours.
I thought the tour was informative and well worth the price, but I do think they could do a better job. There was lots of dead time in the van where perhaps a sound system explaining more details could come in handy. Plus, it would have drowned out her coughing.
Before leaving, we saw our new friends from Seattle (who were trying to contact the nearest Hazmat Unit), and bade them farewell (or was it really farewell). Back in Bayeux, the four of us sat down for a relaxed lunch at a restaurant on the town’s main street. We then wandered the streets of Bayeux on a bustling Tuesday afternoon, before walking back to the hotel for a little nap.
For dinner, Kim and Mary decided to stay at the hotel and dine there (they enjoyed their meal, especially the chicken), while Tracy and I made one last walk into town for our dinner. Our hotel had made reservations at a restaurant that had received a good deal of hype on the Fodors Board and elsewhere in the Foodie world. Not really being a foodie, but one who enjoys a good meal (obviously), I was skeptical it would live up to the hype (doubting Thomas, I guess).
Le P’tit Resto, 2 Rue de Bienvenu, lived up to all the advance press and more. We were seated in the front section of the restaurant near the bar (the trend continues), and we only saw a few more tables seated in this tiny restaurant on a drizzly Tuesday night (we sat between a couple from Cape Cod and a couple from Canada…not Mary).
Tracy and I started with a Kir Cassis, and after that we didn’t have a kir in the world. This is a restaurant for more adventuresome diners, because the menu changes often and is rather limited.
Although limited, our choices were spectacular. We started with the amuse-bouche of warm figs with jambon.
Next up was the appetizer. Tracy had crème fraîche and caviar on soft bread. I sneaked a bite, and it was the first time I ever tasted anything with caviar (not that I dine on caviar often) that I enjoyed. So much for the doubting Thomas. “This is going to be fun, “ I said to Tracy.
I started with an appetizer of foie gras (I didn’t tell the ducks when I got back to the hotel) with cinnamon and apple slices. It was fantastic.
For the main course, I had an incredible pork tenderloin on a bed of risotto with a shot of caramel sauce on the side for 17€. It sounds weird, but the caramel sauce was the perfect complement to the meal.
Tracy went for the smoked salmon in a puff pastry on a bed of mashed peas with a shot of warm gazpacho. It, too, was magnificent.
This was no rime to stop even thought we were rather full, so on to dessert we traveled. Tracy’s Baba-au-Rhum was like no Baba-au-Rhum we’d ever seen (well, we had never seen one in person, but had looked at pictures). I had one little bite, but Tracy liked it so much she wouldn’t share, a unique experience from my usual caring spouse.
The Baba-au-rhum was reconstituted with framboise and a shot of liquor that wasn’t easily recognizable (you’ll have to see the photo when I put it up, because it’s hard to describe), although through our sheer powers of deduction we figured it must have been some sort of rum.
Not to be outdone in the dessert department, I had a scrumptious chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell on a bed of pistachio cream. Our bottle of Saumur vin rouge lasted almost throughout the entire meal.
The total bill came to 101€, and it was totally worth the price. It was one of the best meals we’ve had anywhere.
Somehow we were able to amble back to the hotel, said one last farewell to the wood ducks, and soon we were packing for the following day’s journey.
We only had one more stop to make before returning to Gay Paree. We were going to stay in a town, that in retrospect, we gave short shrift to back in 1998, although we had enjoyed our stay there on that trip, as well. It would be the perfect stop to refresh our engines before the final few days in Paris, and even though both rooms at our hotel would present some minor “challenges,” it was a cool, little spot in a very charming town.
<B>Next: Day Sixteen - Harboring Four Americans, Is That A Boat Or A Church, Killer Caramel Crepes, Dancing In The Street, Death Stairs 2012, What’s This Tree Doing In My Shower, Not Dine But Dash and The Perfect Way To Spend An Evening</B>
Dec 14th, 2012, 04:57 AM
#174
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Tom, I've just begun your report . . . I've only read through Day 3, but am experiencing the usual joy in your journey. Your last Paris trip introduced us to Miracle Cream — now I'm hoping to learn more about Wound Glue. I'm in for the duration . . .
Dec 14th, 2012, 11:47 AM
#175
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Thanks for all the detailed info Geonev. I have been without electricity for a week!! Don't ask.... so haven't been able to check in too often. (running a cable from neighbour!!) Now that I have to upgrade all the electricity I am not sure about my holiday.... need to reassess. I will see what the insurance will pay for and what I am up for.
But appreciate all the detail - love detail!!!
Ps Maitaitom, still reading along
Schnauzer
But appreciate all the detail - love detail!!!
Ps Maitaitom, still reading along
Schnauzer
Dec 14th, 2012, 12:07 PM
#176
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We did the Overlord tour a few years ago and had a really great guide. It was one of the highlights of our 2 weeks in France. Our guide took us through some interesting points at the American Cemetary and one of them was the grave of Teddy roosevelt Jr. and told us his story. Sounds like you got a little less than you should have. Bayeux was a cute little town and the Bayeux Tapestry was amazing. We read your Rome trip report from a few year back. We leave March 1st for Rome, Sicily and Paris. We went to Rome the first time in 2010 and want to thank you for introducing us to Prosecco. Enjoying reading your trip report. They are always so much fun!
Dec 14th, 2012, 01:01 PM
#177
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You could make your own <i>eau de noix</i>:
Split in half 20 green walnuts picked on June 24 and put them in a jar with 1.5 litres of alcohol (vodka will do, and if using Everclear more watering down than indicated will be necessary). Cork tightly.
Leave this mixture to infuse for 6 weeks in a cool place, taking care to shake the jar from time to time.
Strain through a cloth. Mix in a syrup made from 1 pound of sugar and 1 cup of water. Add a little cinnamon and a pinch of coriander.
Leave to infuse for another month. Strain and bottle. (from the Larousse Gastronomique)
An alternative if <i>eau de noix</i> cannot be found, it to drink <i>nocino</i> which is more readily available in the States.
Split in half 20 green walnuts picked on June 24 and put them in a jar with 1.5 litres of alcohol (vodka will do, and if using Everclear more watering down than indicated will be necessary). Cork tightly.
Leave this mixture to infuse for 6 weeks in a cool place, taking care to shake the jar from time to time.
Strain through a cloth. Mix in a syrup made from 1 pound of sugar and 1 cup of water. Add a little cinnamon and a pinch of coriander.
Leave to infuse for another month. Strain and bottle. (from the Larousse Gastronomique)
An alternative if <i>eau de noix</i> cannot be found, it to drink <i>nocino</i> which is more readily available in the States.
Dec 14th, 2012, 02:11 PM
#179
Original Poster
"Leave this mixture to infuse for 6 weeks in a cool place"
This has always been my downfall when making limoncello or Kahlua. It's that darned six week waiting period. Question: June 24??? Thanks for the info!
This has always been my downfall when making limoncello or Kahlua. It's that darned six week waiting period. Question: June 24??? Thanks for the info!
