Hi Fodorites:
First, a HUGE thank you to all of you who helped me on my threads for planning. This trip came together at the last minute and we had a wonderful time. A huge part was all the help I received here on where to go and where to stay.

Below is my trip report and it's not my usual style. Usually I just hit the highlights and rate our hotels and restaurants. But since the Paris path is well-trod, we haven't any unique insights on things to see or do or places to eat so, therefore, I am just posting the trip journal I keep for all our trips.

Paris: We stayed in an apartment we found on Lodgis.com. It worked out perfectly and gave us room to spread out and a place to cook. Eating in was important to our budget (and turned out to be really fun since we were near Rue Mouffetard). We only ate out a few times, mostly in unremarkable places except for the special dinner out at Le Pre Verre, http://www.lepreverre.com/

Bayeux: We stated in a charming Bed and Breakfast called Les Trois Pierre, http://www.les3pierre.com/. The best restaurant we went to in Bayeux was Pizza E Pasta, 67 RUE ST JEAN, 14400 BAYEUX.

<B>December 14-15, 2009</B>

Originally we planned to leave on the 14th for Peru. After my husband’s car accident and broken back, though, Peru would have been too difficult. So today we are off to Paris. We had a Monday night flight to Paris on Air France so we had the whole day to get situated.

It’s a bit of a hassle for me to be wrangling all the luggage but I’m just glad we’re still taking a vacation.

The flight was uneventful. The meals were pretty good; we both ate the vegetarian meal of mixed veggies in marinara with rice. We also each had a glass of red wine. I slept almost the whole flight but poor hubby couldn’t sleep a wink because he is so uncomfortable. The back brace is part of the problem but he also caught a terrible cold.

We breezed through Charles De Gaulle airport and hopped on the Roissy bus to get into Paris city center. It dropped us off and we had a bit of difficulty finding the bus stop to take to the apartment we are renting. As we looked for it we saw some department store windows decorated for Christmas. One window was a stack of champagne glasses with stuffed animal rabbits playing in them. It was terrific and made us smile.

The bus took us close to the apartment, 34 Rou du Fer a Moulin. We walked down the street then through a gate into a little cobblestone private street of apartments. The place we are renting is up one flight of stairs. There’s a small kitchen with a mini-fridge and two-burner stove. There is another room with a futon and then a freezing-cold bathroom. The whole apartment is tiny but it suits our needs.

We didn’t see the landlord when we arrived. We set out to eat lunch. We ate in a crêperie where we each had a toasted baguette sandwich. Then for dessert I ate a freshly made Nutella crêpe; it was so delicious and I was so happy!

After lunch we went to find a few groceries for dinner and breakfast and came upon the market at Rue Mouffetard. We didn’t know it was there so it was a delightful “find.”

We stayed up a little later in hopes of meeting the landlord but by 7:00 we were too exhausted to stay up any later and went to bed.

<B>Wednesday, 12/16/2009</B>

We slept in late even though we went to sleep so early last night. We ate our delicious yogurt from the fromagerie and some fruit for breakfast. The plan today was to tour the opera Garnier and the Louvre. We rode the metro to the Opera for the 11:30 tour but found that it was unexpectedly closed for the day. We walked down to the Louvre and took photos from the outside for a while before we went in. I liked seeing Pei’s glass pyramid, although it really is out of keeping with the rest of the museum’s style.

We bought tickets and went to the top floor, where the French Painters are displayed. The audio guide explained some pieces and others we simply enjoyed on their own. Our favorite was called “Madonna of the Rabbit” where the Virgin Mary is holding a white rabbit for Christ. We looked everywhere for a print or postcard of that piece but never saw one, even though the piece had a room of its own.

We tried to avoid seeing the most famous pieces until the crowds had a chance to thin out. We ate packaged sandwiches and chocolate éclairs for lunch in the museum cafeteria. We also shopped for souvenirs. We found a little replica of a Barye bronze rabbit in the gift shop to add to our rabbits-of-many-lands collection.

Later in the afternoon we went to see some of the most well-known exhibits, winged victory, Michelangelo’s “Dying Slave,” DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa,” and the “Venus de Milo.” We also liked seeing Barye’s bronze animals, although the piece that we bought a replica of was not displayed. We saw a lot of statues and artifacts and other pieces, too.

The “Mona Lisa” room was terribly crowded but seeing the famous painting was worth it.

After many hours in the museum we were exhausted. Our legs were tired and my husband’s back was really aching so we were ready to head home.

We headed to the grocery store when we got back so we’d have paper towels and something else for dinner besides cheese. We picked up a box of soup. We almost couldn’t get back into our access street because the code on the door didn’t seem to work. Luckily, a woman heard us knock and let us in.

As I was heating our soup in the apartment, the landlord came and introduced himself. He told us how to use the internet and the door code. He also told us that we can call to the U.S. for free from the phone in our room. He seemed nice and also made sure we knew what was near us in the neighborhood. We ate our soup and cheeses (chevre, brie, and manchego), and wine. The wine at the supermarket is less than $3 for a bottle. Meanwhile, everything else is rather expensive.

After dinner we tried to use the internet but still were unable to use it successfully. We’ll have to ask again tomorrow.

<B>Thursday, December 17, 2009</B>

Today was scheduled for Notre Dame and the Cluny Museum. We awakened, however, to snowfall, which grew heavier throughout the morning. Luckily the only plan it deterred was climbing the tower at Notre Dame; it was closed for ice.

My husband had a rough night with a lot of back pain and little sleep. It is difficult for him to have a cold and a broken back.

We ate yogurt and fruit and tea and then set out for Notre Dame. The snow made walking a bit treacherous but we didn’t have any problems. The cathedral is really amazing. The cathedral was crowded and people were not very respectful of the religious nature of this landmark. We were able to walk around the perimeter but since the cathedral is also used for Catholic services, we could not enter the middle area. Unfortunately, we could not climb the towers because of the snowy weather.

We stopped for lunch at a little Chinese noodle shop. We each had an egg roll and a huge bowl of noodle soup. The soup really hit the spot in the wintry weather..

We walked on to the Cluny Medieval Museum. We were excited to see the tapestry “The Lady and the Unicorn.” Last year, my boss brought me postcards from the museum that showed the rabbits depicted in the tapestry. We took to calling it the “rabbistry” for all the rabbits woven into it. The museum had other interesting things like ivory combs and boxes, triptychs, and many religious artifacts. The most exciting part is really the six-panels of tapestry, though, which show a lady and a unicorn. The first five depict the five senses; what the sixth depicts is more mysterious—perhaps knowledge, or love. We counted all the rabbits on it and found that there were forty!

After the Cluny museum we walked around a bit more, got me a Nutella crepe, and shopped in the tacky souvenir stores. They all have the same things so that got boring rather quickly and we walked home. On our way home we passed the world’s most enchanting candy shop. Le Bonbon au Palais http://www.bonbonsaupalais.fr/ All the candy is displayed in pretty glass dishes and it all looks unusual or hand-made. The front window drew us in with its glass jars of homemade marshmallows. We bought three; peach, raspberry, and violet. The proprietor seemed very nice and we loved supporting such a lovely shop.

We walked to Rue Mouffetard to shop for tonight’s dinner. We really wanted fresh pasta from an Italian store so we got some cheese ravioli and marinara, then we bought salad items, chevre gouda, wine, bread, and raspberries from all the individual sellers. We were so anxious to come home and enjoy all this lovely food. Part of the experience of being in Paris is going out to all these shops and buying everything as fresh as possible!

<B>Friday, December 18, 2009</B>

It was snowing again this morning. After a breakfast of raspberries, yogurt, and tea we got ready to go out in the wintry weather. Today we went to Versailles. The Fodor’s guidebook said that a ticket on the RER was €16.50 but it was really only €2.45. We rode the train there and signed up for a guided tour into the palace.

Our tour guide was excellent and really explained well the opulence of Louis XIV’s palace.

The tour took us through many public rooms for the king; a billiard room, thrown room, ceremonial bedroom, etc. We went downstairs and viewed the Dauphin’s apartments and wanted to walk out into the gardens to Marie Antoinette’s hamlet but it was closed due to the snowy weather.

Instead we walked back toward the train, peeking in a few shops along the way.

We got off at the Eiffel Tower stop to enjoy the famous monument. It was really neat to see Paris’s most iconic tourist site. We took some photos and saw that the towers were closed due to icy conditions. We then walked to the Arch de Triomphe. We bought tickets and went up to the top for the view. It was a great view and not as cold and windy as we expected.

We strolled down the famous Champs E’lysse and looked at the spendy stores.

We took the Metro home and changed for our special dinner out. Before I left, my boss recommended a restaurant called Le Pre Verre in our arrondisement so my husband called and made a reservation for 7:30.

We arrived at 7:25 and were promptly kicked out by the maitre d’ who said simply, “your reservation is for 7:30, it is only 7:25.” We were dumbfounded and waited outside. As we waited be noticed that the restaurant did not open until 7:30 but it still seemed strange that we couldn’t wait for a few minutes at the bar but instead waited, locked outside, in the cold. At 7:30 the maitre d’ didn’t even open the door and welcome us in, he simply unlocked it and walked away. Despite this baffling behavior, the dinner was superb. There were no vegetarian dishes on the menu but when I asked, the waiter said, “of course,” though he did not explain what the item would be. Everything was delicious and I made “yummy” noises after practically each bite of the meal!

We took the metro home and I went to bed, exhausted.

<B>Saturday, December 19, 2009</B>

I ate some yogurt and fruit this morning but our real breakfast we ate on our way out for the day—we stopped in the bakery on the corner for croissants. They were so flaky and delicious.

We walked to Place D’Italie for the metro to Eiffel Tower. On the way we saw pigeons eating a baguette—even the pigeons fit the French stereotype!

The metro dropped us near the Eiffel Tower and we were hoping to go to the top today. The icy conditions prevailed though so we were only able to go to the first floor. It was still a great view and fun to ride the cable car up the foot of the building. Meanwhile, other tourists stood in longer lines simply because those lines were closest to the metro stop.

We walked from the Eiffel Tower to go to the Musee D’Orsay. Along our route we happened upon another tour we wanted to do—the Paris Sewer tour! We went down into the sewers and looked at some of the machinery they have used for maintenance since the sewers were built in the mid 1700s. There was a strange little window of stuffed rats that we took pictures of and then we walked through the stinky sewers on the tour.

We continued our walk to arrive at the Musee D’Orsay. We first went to get a hot chocolate in the café, where we also ate some of the bread and cheese we brought with us. Then we viewed the museum’s collection. We loved seeing the art displayed there; it was such a sharp contrast to the religious art we saw in the Louvre. We saw lots of impressionist works and famous artists like Monet, Degas, Van Gough, Manet, and others. Many of the works showed pastoral scenes, natural settings, or ordinary people, it was great. The most recognizable were Monet’s “Waterlilies” and Van Gough’s self portrait. I also liked a big sculpture of a polar bear. The museum itself is interesting because it is a converted train terminal and it is quite pretty with a huge arched ceiling and clock on one wall. There was also an Arte Nouveau portion of the museum which we really disliked.

We decided to walk to the Opera to see if we could tour it and buy tickets for the Nutcracker performance tonight. Our plan was a bust, though, as the tours were closed and the Nutcracker was sold out.

<B>Sunday, December 20, 2009</B>

We slept in late today and had a relaxing time. We ate fruit and yogurt then hopped on the metro to get to Montmatre. We had to change lines a couple of times to get to the Abbesses metro stop. We arrived in Montmartre and admired Sacre Couer. We went into the basilica along with a huge crowd of people. We then walked around the outside where some of the gargoyles had ice dripping from their mouths.

Next we went to the Montmatre museum where we got a taste of the area’s history and also a view of the original Au Lapin Agile painting—it was great and we bought a small print of it. We were glad we bought the print there because we didn’t see it for sale anywhere else in the area. The actual Au Lapin Agile cabaret was just around the corner from the museum, so we got a few photos and then went to lunch.

We found a café that serves lunch all day (most close at 2:00 and it was 1:40) and had a delicious meal. The best part of the meal was grog—hot spiced wine---which was delicious and fun!

I wanted to see the Moulin Rouge so we walked to get a few photos in front of it. By that time the gray sky had cleared a bit and so we walked back to get some better photos of Sacre Couer. After that we headed back home. I bought a baguette at the corner bakery so I can take a silly photo of me wearing a beret and holding the baguette in front of the Eiffel Tower.

We went out to try and catch the 9:00 light show at the Eiffel tower. We arrived in plenty of time and were excited to discover that floor 3 was now open! We could go to the top! So we hopped into the line and rode up. It was cold, and part of the area was still roped off for ice, but the view was gorgeous of the city at night.

Back at the base it was about 9:40 so we had to wait for the 10:00 light show. We crossed the Seine to get to a better vantage point and then watched the show. It was very fun—sparkling lights followed by all kinds of patterns and colors. The evening seemed magical since we had been able to go to the tower’s top. Freezing cold, we stopped into a café to warm up with a drink. It was a perfect ending to our time in Paris. Tomorrow we leave for Bayeux.

<U> BAYEUX</U>
<B>Monday, December 21, 2009</B>

We got up early to get out of the apartment and pick up our rental car. We walked to Europcar and picked up our Peugeot. My husband stopped outside our apartment for me to load the car; as soon as I was inside the entrance, parking police came to the block but he was able to sweet-talk his way out of a ticket. I gathered our belongings, ran to the bakery for croissants, and we were on our way.

The drive out of Paris was stressful, but once we were on the highway, we had no difficulty. We ate our croissants, and some of our bread and cheese. There were quite a few expensive tolls but it felt nice to have the freedom of driving. It took us about 3 hours to get to Bayeux and, unfortunately, the directions failed us once we arrived. Luckily, we just drove into town and ended up very close to our B&B, Les Trois Pierres.

The owner greeted us outside at about 3:00, which was serendipitous because we weren’t supposed to arrive until after 5:30 to ensure that someone would be there to greet us. The place is cozy and welcoming and the owner is delightful.

We went out to see the shops and the town. There are two famous liquors from the area, Calvados (apple brandy) and Pommeau (apple aperitif). We tried them in a bar; I loved Pommeau though the Calvados was a bit strong for me. We bought some bottles of each as gifts to bring back for various people.

We left the room around 7:00 for dinner and ended up at one of only a few open restaurants. It was an Italian-type place called the Bellagio, although we actually ate more regional food. I ordered from the set menu, but since I didn’t like the appetizers, I ordered snails for my husband to try; he liked them, comparing them to chewier mushrooms.

We relaxed in our room after dinner and will get up early tomorrow for a tour of the famous D-Day sights.

<B>Tuesday, December 22, 2009</B>

The owner had our breakfast ready for us at 7:45 this morning. It was a typical French breakfast of bread, pastries, jams, yogurt, juice, and tea. The owner struggles every now and then with and English word and so when he described “wine jam,” we assumed he meant “grape.” Nope. It was wine jam, and it was quite tasty.

Our tour picked us up and our guide, Aurelie, introduced herself. We picked up a few more people and then began the tour. The guide was very knowledgeable and seemed to enjoy telling us all about the area’s history relative to D-day.

We stopped first at the German cemetery. The cemetery was made by the Americans as a temporary cemetery for all the soldiers who died. In 1947 farmers were honored to donate land for a permanent American cemetery but refused to donate for a German one. Therefore, all the German soldiers remained in the temporary cemetery. The site is now well-maintained and final resting place to 21,000 Germans.

Next we went to Saint Mar Eglise, a town freed by paratroopers who were dropped in the night before D-day. The church honors the liberators in their stained glass. The first of its type, after the war the windows combined images of war and religion.

The paratroopers museum was also there, and we had some time inside there. There we were able to see the landing boat, a tank, a glider, and a paratrooper plane. The museum’s heat was broken so going through there was actually pretty cold. Lots of interesting artifacts, though.

Next we went to Utah beach. That beach was a bit easier to access for invading forces than the other American beach, Omaha.

We ate lunch in Carenton at a little sandwich-shop place.

After lunch we drove to Point du Hoc, the cliffs that the U.S. Rangers were supposed to take and hold on D-day. The terrain in the area was full of bomb craters and many of those had big pieces of concrete in them from buildings that were destroyed by pre-D-Day bombing.

We went on to Omaha beach next. The beach is a really long stretch and it is one of the places that they built and artificial harbor. It was really clear looking at this beach what easy targets all the troops were for the Germans in the higher positions above them. Our guide mentioned Bedford, Virginia, here, as it is known as the town that lost the largest percentage of men in the invasion. She was excited that we live near there and had toured the national D-Day memorial.

Following Omaha beach, we went to the American cemetery. It was a very moving site. Lines and lines of marble grave markers and a huge wall of unknown soldiers. We had a very special moment when my husband was allowed to participate in the color guard as the flags were brought down for the night.

We had a few brief moments in the museum before it closed and then we were essentially finished with the tour. The guide brought us through a little fishing village just for a nice view of another town that was important to the invasion. Overall the tour was excellent and it was generally a good group.

We returned to Bayeux and relaxed in our room until we were hungry for dinner. We then went out to find a place and saw a place called “Pizza E Pasta” that had some customers so we went in.

We had a delightful dinner. My husband ate a pizza called “Normandy beaches” and I had cheese ravioli. The server didn’t speak any English and seemed a bit brusque but the chef, who also spoke no English, was really nice. He was enjoying the customers and when we had finished our meal, he brought out some homemade limoncello for us to enjoy. He refilled our glasses and poured some for all the customers in the place and had some himself; it was a very fun evening.

<B>Wednesday, December 23, 2009</B>

I was so horribly sick last night and this morning that I couldn’t do anything all day. I have a stomach virus that is too virulent for me to even get out of bed.

My husband went and got me some yogurt and some medicine to help me feel better then he set out to the D-Day Normandy Museum. He was there for only a little while before he was kicked out while they closed for lunch. He returned there after lunch and really thought it was a good museum.

I wasn’t even feeling well enough to eat dinner so my husband went out to get something and ended up having a bit of an adventure. He originally went to a crowded brasserie and ordered a sandwich. It never arrived, though, even though he ordered twice, so he finally left. He returned to the pizza place where we ate last night and was the only patron there. The chef recognized him and asked him what he wanted to drink. My husband left it up to the chef and ended up with some strange concoction of vodka, Kir, champagne, other liquors and a cherry AND and olive. He then asked the chef about the sign on the wall indicating that he was the pizza champion of France. The chef was very excited and told a long story in French about the competition and that he went on to a World Pizza competition and came in 35th. So when the chef asked if my husband wanted to eat, he again asked for the chef’s suggestion; the chef got excited, went upstairs where he and his wife live, and brought down Tupperwares. The end result was a pizza covered in every imaginable seafood; crab, scallops, shrimp, octopus, squid, snails, etc. He really enjoyed it and after the meal the chef brought limoncello again!

I hope I am feeling well enough tomorrow to go to Mont Saint Michel since we didn’t get to go today.

<B>Thursday, December 24, 2009</B>

I wasn’t feeling great this morning but I was well enough to travel so we ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and drove to Mont Saint Michel. We didn’t have any trouble finding it. The weather today is wet, foggy and dreary but the abbey was still impressive to see. We walked around the town a bit then went into the abbey for a tour.

Walking through the abbey was interesting because I recently read The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and both describe monastic life extensively. It made it easy to imagine what would have happened in the abbey. Later, the abbey was converted to a prison.

As we finished touring there it started to rain and we got back in the car to drive back to Paris.

The drive back to Paris was largely uneventful until we got to the city running low on our diesel tank. We’d made the entire drive so far on one tank and were planning to refuel just before we dropped the car off. The traffic in the city was so terrible, though, that I became fearful that we would run out of fuel on the road. When we saw a Shell we pulled in and refueled for over $80!

Finding either the hotel or the rental car return was a nightmare. The airport exists in its own mini-city that has highways connecting it. Combining that with the fact that it was dark and rainy made it very frustrating. A really nice desk clerk at the Holiday Inn (not our hotel) printed us driving directions and translated them for us. We still couldn’t figure out where to go and eventually just happened to come upon the terminal where we could return the rental car. In our haste to get everything out and get the car turned in we never refueled (luckily, the tank was still considered “full”). We were relieved to have gotten where we needed to go. We took a cab to the Comfort Inn hotel; our flight tomorrow is at 10:30 a.m.

<B>Friday, December 25, 2009</B>

A bus took us to the terminal this morning for our flight. We spent a little bit of time in the wrong line before we learned that there are multiple check-in points throughout the terminal for Air France. After just a little trouble with my husband wearing his back brace through airport security, we got on our flight back to Dulles.

While we were gone the East Coast of the U.S. had a monster snow storm. There was still a lot of snow on the ground at Dulles.

Our trip was amazing, even more so since we put it all together at the last minute.

An interesting trip report. Thanks for sharing.

schlegal,
I am so happy to read that you and your husband had a good trip in spite of his injury, his cold, your stomach virus, the brutal weather...and driving out of Paris! As if I didn't already know it before, you have confirmed that you two are truly adventure travelers.

I <i>like</i> the Art Nouveau part of D'Orsay. Do you not care for Art Nouveau or is it that particular exhibit? On the other hand, by the the sound of it that drink your husband had at the pizza place in Bayeux is something everyone can enjoy!

I enjoyed reading about Paris and Normandy through your eyes. It is an amazing city and France a beautiful, beautiful country. Someday you must go back when you're both feeling a little better and the weather's just a little warmer.

Any photos to share and where to next? Peru?

Thanks for the great report. I remember when you were planning and people were worried that your husband would not feel up to the trip with his bad back. It sounds like there were some challenges but that the trip was certainly worth it.

Your husband deserves a medal! He must have suffered in silence a lot of the time to make your trip a success - what a star!
I loved your trip report! Did you tell your boss about that rude maitre D at Le Pre Verre? I think that was out of order. It would have taken a mighty lot of smooth talking on my part to keep my DH from not walking away if we were in your shoes!

Hm, re-reading it is clear that we are rabbit-crazy. I should have explained that that is because we are certifiably crazy house-rabbit owners. Or maybe it was more fun to just leave you wondering why we are so into rabbits...

Leely - It wasn't the exhibit, it is Art Nouveau. We don't appreciate that chairs and paper dresses are "art." But then, what do we know?!

I probably won't share photos from this trip since I don't like putting pics of ourselves on the internet and pics just of the sites probably aren't that interesting.

And yes, next year PERU!

Nikki and tod - He was up to the challenge and came through with flying colors. Traveling is really our very top priority in life so he would have trooped on no matter what!

I told my boss about the maitre d' as a funny anecdote. We weren't offended but we thought it was really weird (we just figured we don't always understand a local practice or manners. We would have walked away if my boss hadn't made the recommendation (and actually was treating us, which I left out of my original report).