A La Prochaine - Until Next Time

Our trip is finally at an end.  Tomorrow we fly home.  It has been six weeks of food, fun and foibles, as promised!

We spent our last day packing, and sorting through the small mountain of ticket stubs, booklets, brochures and receipts, hoping to narrow the pile down a bit.  Our luggage was full when we arrived 6 weeks ago, and there wasn't much room for souvenirs at the end!  Rick left a trail of paperbacks around the country as he finished the books he brought to read.  (We always appreciated having some reading material left behind by others, so we hoped it wouldn't be a problem.)  That had created some room in his suitcase, which I quickly filled.

We had our last dinner in Villefranche at La Serre, where we had eaten before.  This time the weather was cooler, so unless you were a smoker, sitting inside was preferable.  Once again we had a great dinner. 

I had heard a couple near us speaking English, so I leaned over and asked where they were from.  They were from Colorado, and were at the mid-point of their trip. They mentioned that my accent gave me away as having grown up in the midwest.  No way, I said!  I've lived in Washington for 35 years!  I don't have an accent!  I guess I still do have a little of that Illinois accent, and I'm found out on occasion.  I always love recognizing other travelers who are from the midwest though too.  And, I can usually nail their accent too!

We compared travel stories, and laughed about the washing machines and toilets - each one different than the last, and in the case of washing machines usually at least a 2-hour cycle. 

After chatting with them for a few minutes, another couple in the vicinity made a comment to us in English.  When I said I hadn't realized they were English-speaking because they'd been talking so softly, they said, We're not speaking English!  We're from Scotland!  And honestly, we could hardly understand them sometimes.  We did have a great chat with them about their travels, and the trips they've already got plotted out over the next two years.  I was impressed!  I said we didn't have any trips planned at all.  The wife said we'd have to plan something right away just to get through the Post Trip Blues.  She's right!

The Colorado couple had gone, but Rick and I were still enjoying talking to the Scottish couple when our cute waitress asked if we'd all like a limoncello, on the house.  We would like one, we said, and we did enjoy it.

The Scots weren't looking forward to their climb up 105 stairs to their apartment.  It was on the ground floor of their building, and had a great view, but their building was way up the hill.

We said good night, and hoped we'd run into them when they were in California in a few years.

Our flight wasn't leaving until noon on departure day, and the airport in Nice is small, so we didn't need to be there much in advance.  A cab would be picking us up at 9:30.

One of the instructions at the apartment, and really at all of our rentals, was to empty the refrigerator when we left.  They didn't want any perishables left behind, although sometimes we'd leave coffee or spices.

I thought about the elderly couple downstairs.  They were really the only French people we'd interacted with who hadn't been business owners or employees.  Would it be an insult if we offered them our leftover milk, butter, fruit & veggies?   I was inspired to try it by Michel, from the blog Our House In Provence, who always takes leftover groceries to an elderly neighbor as they head back to the U.S.

So there I was with two bags of food, hesitating at the neighbor's door.  A woman happened by on the street and started talking to me in French.  I said, Je parle seulement un petit peu français!  Je ne comprend pas!  She said, Donner? (Give?)  Oui!

She rang the bell for me, let the lady of the house know what I was there for, and went on her way.  Our neighbor was in her late 80s, at least, and was about 4-1/2 feet tall.  We hadn't seen each other until now.  Her husband, who had visited us on two occasions, wasn't home.

She came out to greet me with a big smile.  She said lots of things in French, which I didn't understand, and I let her know I didn't speak much French.

She kept saying trés gentile (very kind, very nice)
Between the few words I understood, and a little pantomime, she told me she'd heard us upstairs.  She wondered if we were the proprietaires (owners). Non.  She asked - loué? (rent?). Oui.
I indicated it was trés belle, or is it trés beau here - the view, the village.
Conspiratorily, she leaned toward me and asked if the apartment was trés cher (very expensive).  I said non.
We talked about the rain dripping into their place. I said c'ést terrible.
After a few minutes I said, à la prochaine, which means, until next time.  She brightened up.  She said la prochaine année (next year)!  She counted off the months that would be great times to visit.  I nodded.  She kissed me on both cheeks as I left. 

Madame, I truly hope we'll be back.  You can be sure we'll stop by to say hello if we are.  That conversation was the most fun I've had trying to communicate in France.

We bid our little apartment good-bye and took one last look at the bay.

Our flight home was uneventful - and that's saying a lot for me!  Maybe a little bumpy, but all-in-all a good flight.  I love watching the little plane on the Trip Tracker on the movie screen at my seat.  I like to keep track of what's going on in case the pilot needs a "heads-up" for any reason.  I can tell you we were flying at 36,000 feet, 585 miles per hour.  Our flight from London to Seattle was 9-1/2 hours long.  From the time we left our apartment in Villefranche until we got to our door on Camano Island, it took 21 hours.  In the flash of an eye, we had left the cafés, the croissants, the sailboats and the sunshine thousands of miles behind us. 

But, you know, I always leave a little part of me in France, waiting to be found again.

Today's Three Cs - Cruise Ships, Chandeliers and Cliffs

There were two cruise ships in port when we awoke on Saturday, one of them a huge Royal Caribbean ship.  The weather was overcast and raining some, and I felt bad for the visitors.  They'd probably only be here for the day, and wouldn't see much through the clouds.

We stayed around town and did some shopping.  We bought quiches at the bakery for lunch, and afterward walked down to the waterfront.  When a cruise ship is in port there are merchants set up all along the water selling souvenirs and local products for the visitors to buy.   Plus the Saturday farmers' market was going on higher up in town and the visitors were enjoying that too, although they wouldn't have needed produce on the ship!  The merchants are always happy to give tastes of their cheeses, mustards, olives and jams.  It's almost like going to Costco at lunchtime, but without the toaster ovens.

Rick fixed the lamb shanks we bought at the frozen food store for dinner.  They were falling-off-the-bone tender.  We watched the launches taking the cruisers back to the big ships for dinner.  The ships were lit up like Christmas trees as they left the harbor after dark.

Lamb shanks with veggies and pasta

The weather had improved greatly by the next day, Sunday.  The last thing on my list was a walk around Cap Ferrat  that Lynn McBride of the blog Southern Fried French talked about in one of her posts.  We headed over after breakfast.  Up near our bus stop yesterday's farmers' market was today an antique market.  As I've seen at the other antique markets, there was lots of silver, lots of china and crystal, and lots of junk.  Among the fun antiques at our apartment, I had begun to covet the chandelier, decorated with lots of heavy crystals.  We were tempted by one at the market, but would have had a hard time getting it home.  And if you remember my difficulty buying one stamp at the post office, I'm sure mailing a chandelier home would have been a daunting process.

The chandelier in our apartment won't fit in my luggage!

Le Tour du Cap Ferrat was described as being 7 kilometers long, with little or no elevation gain, and an easy walk.  Once again we didn't make it within the 1.5 hour estimated time.  Every single step of the way there was something to look at, so it probably wasn't a very aerobic walk!

The first thing we saw was scuba divers heading out to a raft.  I don't know if it was a club or a class, but the dog left behind on shore didn't like the idea of his owner going underwater one bit!

Dog barking as scuba-diving owner disappears in the water

Since it was Sunday, there seemed to be lots of activity on and around the water.  We watched a group of sailboats head out of the bay.   Rick enjoyed finally seeing some sails in use.

View of sailboat regatta in the bay

The trail was well-maintained, but sometimes there was no guard rail, and the cliffs were treacherous-looking below.  I didn't like seeing little kids along some of the more dangerous parts of the walk.  I don't know how to voice my grandma concerns in French, so I could only watch as they passed by, hoping the parents had the sense to hold on tight.

Along the trail, sometimes a rail or wall cliffside, sometimes nothing!

The trail with no guardrail and treacherous-looking steps down to the water

Dramatic rock wall along the path

The lighthouse on the point of Cap Ferrat

The trail goes through a moonscape of rocks at the point

House with moveable fabric shades along the path

View on the east side of Cap Ferrat.  You can just barely see the bridge up to Eze a bit left of center on the hillside.

We finished the walk and had lunch in St. Jean before catching the bus back to Villefranche.  The wind was picking up as the afternoon wore on.  By 5 o'clock it was pouring rain, thundering and lightening.  Rick's downspout fix seemed to be holding.


Rick fixed the duck breast we bought at the frozen food store for dinner, and once again, it was great.  We shared some tarts from the bakery for dessert.

Citron and cerise tarts (lemon and cherry)

We Take a Hike in Villefranche

There was a lot of ruckus on our street late last night.  It was probably a garbage truck, and must have been about midnight.  We've noticed this before in Paris and Nice.  Late night trash pickup must be the norm, although we also see garbage trucks during the day.   Otherwise, this is a quiet neighborhood, with only the occasional motorbike roaring up the street. 

Now that we're only on the second floor, the boulangerie is just a minute away.  Rick went out to get croissants and a baguette, and was back in 4 minutes.  Yippee!  My ancestors owned a bakery, so I know my craving for fresh bread and pastries is in my genes.

There was a market in the square today, so we headed out to get some vegetables and whatever else looked good.  We bought cheese at one vendor's table, veggies from another vendor, and some fish at yet another.  The only bad part of this is that you need cash for each transaction.  Two pieces of cheese came to 21 euros, and 9 different kinds of produce came to 4.68 euros.  We think food is more expensive here, but we know it's grown or produced locally too.  Baguettes, on the other hand, fresh from the bakery, are less than a euro. 

Saturday farmers' market in Villefranche

We stopped at the butcher shop for some chicken, and at the little grocery store for wine, and we were set for a day or so.

I had read about some good walking paths in the area on the Southern Fried French blog, and wanted to see what they were all about.  In fact, Lynn McBride, the blogger, describes one of the walks around Cap Ferrat as the most beautiful walk in the world.  Rick Steves also mentions some of the walks in his "Provence and the French Riviera" book. 

We stopped at our local Tourist Information office and got the booklet showing all of the walks along the entire Riviera and describing them in French.  The group of walks near us are called the Sentiers du Littoral.  They had translated the directions into English for the local Villefranche walks, so we picked those up too. 

We thought we'd try one of the shorter, local walks called the Circuit de la Rade - Bay Circuit.  The directions described it as easy, 2.5 miles long, with an elevation gain of 330 feet.  It should take about 1-1/2 hours.  The directions were good, we had gorgeous views of the bay from above, and the return walk was along the beach. 

Bougainvillea in bloom along the path

We saw lots of trumpet flowers around town

Bay of Villefranche from the trail above

Zooming in to the waterfront

Another view of the bay

It might have taken a bit longer than described, if just because we stopped so often to take in the view.  It was a great way to see some of the area away from the town, and we vowed to try a few more walks over the next several days.

We'd used our baguette for lunch, so Rick had to go to the bakery again to get another one for dinner...just like the French people do!  He cooked the fish we bought at the market earlier with garlic, onion, tomato, zucchini, and some white wine.  I thought he did a better job than the restaurant the night before!

We shared a pastry from the bakery for dessert as the church bells chimed the hour in the background.

A week in Provence

Today we left the beautiful fortified city of Carcassonne.  After a good breakfast at our B&B we ducked into the cathedral for a look.  It was beautiful, and the stained glass was as amazing as that of Sainte Chapelle in Paris.

Stained glass at the cathedral in Carcassonne

One of two rose windows in the cathedral, dating from the 14th century

Check-out time at the B&B was 10.  When we went back to pick up our bags and leave, the cleaning lady had already been into Tim and Linda's room, and changed the linens and the towels.  It wasn't yet 10 and their bags were still in the room, so that was a little strange.  Maybe we were still in trouble for checking in early the day before.

Our only itinerary item today was to drive from here to the town of Sablet, in Provence, and check into our next rental.  The skies were cloudy, with just a spit of rain now and then. 

We drove on the toll way (Péage) for a good part of the way.  At a truck stop again for lunch, Rick had lasagna, which he said was pretty good, and the rest of us had sandwiches made with baguettes.   Sometimes the fresh pastry selection is huge at these places.  The stop today also had a McDonald's.  I got a café crème from one of the many vending machines, and it was very good.  The cost was less than 2 euros.

We've been buying gas along the way, of course, and the cost has been between 1.35 and 1.50 euros for a liter.  That's 6 euros for an imperial gallon, which converts to about $8 for a little more than a gallon.  Our car uses diesel, and gets great gas mileage.  I wish I had more accurate stats for all you car enthusiasts out there!

As we got closer to the city of Orange, the GPS notified us of a slowdown and re-routed us through the area.  We could see the big backup on the highway and felt bad for the people stuck in it.  We were happy we weren't among them though!

The hill town of Sablet - our home for a week

The drive from Carcassonne to Sablet took a bit over 4 hours, plus a stop for lunch, and we arrived about 3.  Sablet is a small hill town near Vaison la Romaine, in the northern part of Provence.  I found a rental house there after following a blog called Our House In Provence.  The blogger, Michel, is from the Sonoma area of California and visits France 3 or 4 times a year.   Michel and his wife Shirley bought a renovated house and created their dream home in Provence, and luckily they rent it out.  They're part owners of the Bistro des Copains, a great restaurant in Occidental, California, too, so you know they're into great food!  That explains the big, well-appointed kitchen, and the list of good restaurants for miles around!

The gourmet kitchen in the Sablet House

Our terrace off of the kitchen

Michel and Shirley were back in the U.S., but they have a nice local woman who helps facilitate everything for the renters.  There was plenty of info at the house to help us with the workings of the house, and the resources in the area for food.  The added advantage to staying in a house owned by a blogger is that he writes about everything in the area.  With our little laptop computer, and the great wi-fi connection, I could access all of his blog posts over the last few years.  That helped us with some sightseeing and restaurant plans over our week here.

Our first priority was to find groceries for dinner, and food for tomorrow, since it'll be Sunday and we don't know if stores will be open.  We're in a part of France where everything closes for at least two hours in the middle of the day for lunch.  Well, except the restaurants, which stay open until 2 or so to serve lunch, but then close for a few hours before dinner.  Woe be to the hungry traveler who doesn't have the schedule figured out!

We found the boucherie, the boulangerie, and the épicerie, and stocked up on provisions.  Our little tiny village has 2 boulangeries (bakeries), 1 boucherie (butcher) and 2 épiceries (little grocery stores).  For a supermarché we need to venture closer to Vaison la Romaine, a much bigger town.  Have I mentioned that neither milk nor eggs are refrigerated in the stores here?  Well, sometimes they are, but they aren't required to be, I guess.  The milk is ultra-pasteurized, so it's fine sitting on the shelf.  I don't know what the deal is with the eggs, but we find them in the unlikeliest of places - next to the matches, for instance. 

We got settled into the house and Rick fixed a simple chicken dinner.  Linda made a great salad dressing out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little cassis flavored dijon mustard.  Plus, Linda and I always make sure to buy a little something sweet for dessert.  We haven't weighed ourselves since we left home!

Church bells ring every hour and every half hour here.  Actually, they ring the hour twice, just a minute or two apart.  Is that just to make sure everyone hears it?  The bells ended at 10, letting everyone know it was time to go to bed.

A sign at the Sablet house  - "Let the good times roll!"



Du vin, la cuisine and l'argent

Today was a travel day, so it gives me some extra time to address questions from readers.  (I'm thrilled that I even have any readers!)

This is actually cider and Calvados, but let's just pretend it's wine! 

Kris asked about the wine we're drinking.  We made a pact before coming to France that we wouldn't try to find the absolute cheapest wine to drink. (Rick says he agreed to no such thing.  He loves finding really inexpensive wine that's drinkable!)  It's fun to think you can get a whole bottle for 2 euros, but it's not usually a very good wine.  When our foursome was in Italy 4 years ago, we were tickled to try lots of inexpensive wine, but came home feeling like we might not have really experienced the good, but moderately priced, regional wines.

The criteria on this trip was to spend a bit more, but not too much, and see how we liked the wine.  I like my friend Cheryl's hint on her blog Paris and Beyond 2012.  She and husband Norman decided that if they looked for wines that had won acclaim here in France the wine would probably be good.  We've followed that advice, and when we see the gold, silver or bronze medallion on the bottles, we've found them to be very nice wines. 

Our goal is to find wines in the 4-8 euro range.  Every region has its own local wines, with the exception of Normandy, where Calvados and cider rule.  We really like Côtes du Rhone, Bordeaux & Côtes du Provence, both reds and whites.  Wine is readily available at grocery and convenience stores, and there are also fancier liquor stores, and about a million wineries where we can taste first and then buy. 

It's also possible to fill your own containers with wine at some of the wineries.  We bought lots of wine that way in Italy, but it was usually at the grocery store where they only had one kind to buy.  Here we've only seen this at some of the wineries, and you'd be able to taste before buying, so you'd know better what you were getting.

Choice and availability are affected by the fact that we're traveling down the west side of the country, so we're not seeing lots of Burgundy wines, or wines from Alsace. 

For our food choices, we're all adventurous eaters, so we'll try almost anything.  We would like to have some idea what it is though!  Years ago I bought a great little book called "Eating and Drinking in Paris, A menu reader and restaurant guide" by Andy Herbach and Michael Dillon.  It's been invaluable as we peruse menus without english translations listed on them.  Patricia Wells also offers an extensive glossary of translations of food terms on her website that you can download for free.

A lovely lunch salad.  Would knowing that it was made with octopus (poulpes) change your order?

Sue asked whether we'd be publishing a companion cookbook, after all the great meals we're cooking and eating.  I wish!  A good Wi-fi connection has been a help when trying to find recipes for unusual ingredients.

We knew we wanted to have some picnics while we were on the road, so I brought a tablecloth from home, along with bandanas in different colors to use as napkins.  A corkscrew, swiss army knife, plastic cups and little plastic cutting boards have made it possible for us to eat anything, anytime, anyplace.

Pique-nique supplies

In France, bread is life, oui?  Fresh bread is a given.  Someone here explained that not only do french people buy a fresh baguette each morning, but might also buy a fresh baguette later in the day so as to have fresh bread at dinner.  Sometimes we overbuy, but at 85 centimes per baguette (about $1) it isn't a crime if we have to throw some out.  Just going to the bakery every day is part of the culture we want to experience.

L'argent - money!  I think we're always a bit nervous about being so far from home and having problems getting cash or using our credit cards.  It seems there is a cash machine on every corner here, so that hasn't been a problem.  Plus, the limit of the cash we can get in a day seems very high, and usually is higher than what the machine will actually allow anyway.  Credit cards have been a bit of a challenge this time though.  The Bank of America card we've tried to use doesn't seem to work in machines (ticket, toll), but is accepted where there is an actual person processing the charge (restaurants, stores.)  The Chase Bank card (through British Airways) we use has an imbedded chip - which is common, or maybe standard (?), in Europe.  We've been able to use it almost everywhere, whether there is a human being processing the transaction or not.  One notable exception was on the tollroad one day, when we used the card to pay a toll, and then at the next booth, on the same road, it didn't work!  Go figure!

Bye-bye Bayeux

Today we're leaving Bayeux.  I'd come back here again, if just for the great food & beautiful scenery. 

Here's a daytime photo of Linda next to one of the picturesque waterwheels in town.

 

Linda, a waterwheel, and beautiful flowers

We had another great breakfast of pastries at the hotel.  Today we had french toast with apples in addition to the usual croissants & baguettes, and a little glass of rice pudding.  I'm in heaven!

We're headed to a little B&B in the Loire valley, in the township of Ligré.  On the way we stopped to see Mont St. Michel.  Rick Steves suggests a stop at a biscuit shop along the road, Biscuiterie de la Baie du Mont St. Michel.  They offer free samples of the cookies they make, decent bathrooms, and a photo op of the Mont.  We stopped and took advantage of all three, plus bought some of the great cookies. 

View of Mont St. Michel from the causeway

Mont St. Michel has been a major pilgrimage site for the last 1,000 years.  Now millions of tourists visit every year.  Since the island was cut off by tides each day, decades ago a causeway was built to allow consistent access.  A parking lot built near the island would still flood at high tide, but was used by hundreds of cars at other times of day.  Blocking off the flow of water around the island was negatively impacting the whole area.

Currently the parking lot that was fairly close to the entrance has been demolished.  A new parking lot has been built far away from the entrance, and a free tram will take you closer in.  This involves lots of walking.  It's about 1/2 mile to the tram from the parking lot, and another 1/4 mile or so from the tram stop to the hill.  But the end result of all of this will be a bridge replacing the causeway, which will allow water to flow around the island, and will reestablish the ecosystems that are in jeopardy now. 

The messy entrance to the Mont

Once we reached the island we relied on Rick Steves' advice once again.  The narrow main street is packed with tourists.  He suggests going up the stairs just inside the gate and walking along the ramparts.  You're above the hoards of tourists, and get to the top faster too. 

We paid to tour the abbey at the top of the island, and saw huge fireplaces, peaceful cloisters, ornate stonework and great views.    

The abbey at Mont St. Michel

Cloisters in the abbey

A view of the village below the abbey

We could only allow a few hours for our visit, so we bought some sandwiches and ate them sitting on a stone wall watching the crowds.  I hear that the island is magical at night, all lit up and devoid of the crowds,  but we'll have to save that for another visit.

After a few more hours on the road we arrived at our next B&B, La Closerie Saint Martin, in Ligré, which is south of Chinon.  Run by charming Marcel and Katharina Hirt, from Switzerland, it's a beautiful little place. I found it on TripAdvisor.  The inner courtyard is a perfect setting for drinks in the afternoon and dinner on warm evenings.  We had nicely appointed and comfortable rooms.  

The most fun part was the dinner they served, as an option, with a night's stay.  It began with a trip down

into the wine cellar, where wine and hors d'oeuvres were served.



Candles light our path down into the wine cellar

Host Marcel serves wine and hors d'oeuvres

The other guests staying at the B&B and sharing the dinner with us were english-speaking, which made it easy for us to enjoy the conversation.  We sat at one big table and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  Marcel and Katharina had already polled the guests about dietary issues and based the menu on what everyone could, or would, eat.

Dinner table set up in the courtyard

We had some kind of white fish with a wonderful sauce.  A good salad accompanied the dinner and the greens had come from our hosts' garden.  Marcel said mushrooms were starting to appear in the woods, so we had fresh mushrooms on the salad too.  In France, like in Italy, pharmacists are trained to recognize different species of mushrooms.  Townspeople can take the mushrooms they gather into the pharmacy to make sure they're not poisonous.  Tim, being a pharmacist, thought that was interesting, but said that mushroom recognition wasn't part of his training in the U.S.

Dessert was panna cotta with a vanilla sauce and pears.  I wish I had pictures of the great dinner, but frankly, by the time we think about it, we've eaten most of the food!



Heading west to Bayeux

We arrived in Bayeux, near the Normandy coast, in late afternoon.  This was after taxiing from Paris out to Versailles, picking up our rental car, driving to Giverny, having lunch and seeing Monet's garden at our leisure.  It really doesn't take very long to get to Normandy from Paris.   It's about 140 miles, and a good part of the drive is on a toll road. 

We found the toll roads to be fast and efficient.  Just like in the U.S. though, you might not see the most fun scenery along them.  Taking the back roads in France might have you driving through the center of tiny, little villages.  This can be good or bad!  The cost of the toll roads seemed a bit high - for our trip to Bayeux it cost about 15 euros, or $19.  We also had varying success using our credit card to pay the tolls at the machines along the route.  Our British Airways card through Chase Bank has an imbedded chip, which seems to work most of the time in France, but we had occasional problems on the road.  There was always a "help" button to push when we got stuck at an automated tollbooth, and an attendant would come over and allow us to pay cash.  Some of the tollbooths took only coins.  

Our driver for the next two weeks is Tim.  Rick is the navigator, and the car has a GPS, which we've named Brunhilda, after Tim and Linda's GPS at home.  Everyone names their GPS, don't they? 

Our little hotel in Bayeux, The Hotel de Sainte Croix, which I found on TripAdvisor, was in an old home right on the main square, Place St. Patrice.  The sign said "B&B de Charme", and that it was.  We had beautiful, bright rooms, big beds & huge bathrooms.  Our hostess, Florence, spoke english well enough, and welcomed us graciously, even though we arrived almost an hour early for check-in.  It's so hard to know how long it will take to drive between our destinations, and we're usually early.  This little hotel, and the B&Bs for the rest of this week, were all in the homes of the proprietors, and they didn't have reception desks.  We had to ring the doorbells to check in, and in each place we had a key for the door to the building, and a key for our respective rooms.

One of our rooms at the Hotel de Sainte Croix

Florence suggested some restaurants for dinner, but we decided to try a place where Rick and I ate 9 years ago when we were here.  La Rapiere was a great little place down a narrow alley in the center of town.  We didn't know that since we were here last it's been included in the Michelin guide, the highly-regarded last word on good quality restaurants, so it was "complet" (full) on this night and the next.  We made reservations for our third and final night in town and went up the street to find another place that looked good. 

La Table du Terrior looked like a good spot, and had lots of customers - always a good sign.  We ordered escargot as our appetizer, and each ordered a "menu" which is a fixed-price meal composed of a number of courses.  It's usually a good deal, although the selections for each course might not include all possibilities on the a la carte menu.  Linda chose a duo of prawns and bulot for her main course.  "Bulot" is the french word for whelk, and my menu translator calls it "large sea snail".  We all like seafood, so why not try it, Linda thought?  Well, it was interesting, but not very tasty.  A little too tough and chewy, and lots bigger than an escargot. 

I had cafe gourmand again for dessert.  This is the little dessert tray with 3, or in this case 4, little desserts and an espresso.  I can't do this anymore!  It's just too much!

Breakfast each morning was a nice surprise.  We were served in the dining room, and a big table was set for 8 guests, with a little table for two on the side.  Each day we had coffee, tea, juice, croissants, baguettes, and on this day a little cup of caramel custard.  Then came a sweet bread, and a small waffle for each guest.  We would have liked a bit more protein, but each item was delicious and special.  We also enjoyed talking to the other guests each day, and comparing activities and restaurants with them.

Breakfast table at our hotel

Since it was Saturday, the square was filled with the weekly farmers' market.  We perused the fruit, veggies, meats, cheeses, breads and sweets, and bought some things for a picnic lunch later.

I hope these chickens being sold at the market will be someone's treasured pets!

Fruit and veggies at the Bayeux market

Our plans today were to see the D-day beaches and the American and German cemeteries.  We started at the town of Arromanches where you can still see the remnants of huge concrete blocks sunk by the allies to create a false harbor.  It's almost surprising to see these very physical reminders of something that happened over 65 years ago.  For the people of these now-peaceful villages it must be a constant reminder of a horrible time. A theater-in-the-round shows actual footage taken during the advance on the beaches, and the young soldiers getting ready to attack. 

The town of Arromanches and a few of the concrete blocks sunk off the coast to create the harbor

After visiting a museum dedicated to D-day (or Jour J in french) we had a picnic lunch on the wall overlooking the beach. 

Tim, Kathy and Rick setting up our picnic

From there we headed down the coast to see the American cemetery overlooking Omaha beach.  It is truly a moving experience.  Over nine thousand of the troops who perished on D-day and the days afterward are buried there.  We heard visitors speaking many languages, all there to pay their respects to the men and women who helped free Europe from the Nazis.   We saw an American family looking through the rows of grave markers with papers in hand, undoubtedly trying to find a relative who was buried there. 

Over 9,000 crosses and Stars of David fill the American cemetery in Normandy

From there we drove to Pointe du Hoc, a jagged cliff where 300 US Army Rangers attempted an assault on a heavily fortified German gun battery .  Only 1/3 of the Rangers survived the difficult climb, and the area is still pockmarked with craters from the bombing there.

Our last stop was the German cemetery.  This is the resting place of over 21,000 soldiers, and has a bleak and despairing feeling.  The grave markers here show the dates of the birth and death of each soldier, making it clear how young some of the soldiers were.  At the American cemetery only the date of death is noted on the grave markers.

The German cemetery in Normandy

Back at the hotel, we noticed the streets blocked off around the Place St. Patrice.  From our hotel windows we couldn't help but hear the cheers and see dozens of bikers racing by in front of our hotel.  Just a few minutes later they would go by again.  There seemed to be a bike race set up right in town, circling just a few blocks, based on the appearance every minute or two of the pace car and the racers.  It was very exciting, and we could hear an announcer speaking over the loud speaker when the race ended.  We had no idea what was going on, but it was fun to watch.

Our hoteliere, Florence, had made reservations for us at a new place in town, L'angle Saint Laurent, and some friends of Tim and Linda's were hoping to join us for dinner.  Karla and Jay, also from Washington state, were in the area doing some biking.  We hadn't been able to connect with them in the last day or so to coordinate dinner plans.  As we were driving around to see the WWII sites, we happened to recognize them on their bikes.  

We came across Karla and Jay riding their bikes in Normandy

We had a wonderful dinner at L'angle Saint Laurent, some ordering a al carte and some ordering the menu option.  One fun little detail was a tiny cup of warm liquefied foie gras with fig sauce served in between courses.   

Dessert was layers of puff pastry filled with chocolate cream, topped with gelato. 

Even the little sign on the top was edible chocolate

In Rick Steves' France book, he notes that Normandy is famous for the four Cs: Calvados (apple brandy), Camembert, cider and cream.  I would add caramel, crepes and seafood to the list.  We tried plenty of everything while we visited here!



Paris and All That Junk

Our first day in Paris.  The nice part about having an apartment is that we can fix our own breakfast that includes some protein.  It seems like some of the little hotels serve just baguettes, croissants and coffee or tea, and the charge for that is usually about 7 euros.  That's about $10.  Think of the breakfast you can get at Denny's for that!   Of course the baguettes and croissants in France are the best ever, so we have to consider that in the equation.

Breakfast at the apartment is coffee and tea with croissants and eggs and ham.  After that we're ready for a full day of sightseeing.

My absolute must-see, must-do, not-going-home-until-I-do-it goal, after being in Paris 7 times and never accomplishing this, is to visit a flea market in Paris.  I chose the Porte de Vanves market, since it has about 200 vendors, as opposed to the Clingancourt and Montreil markets which have over 2,000 vendors.    My fellow travellers aren't really into pawing through old junk looking for treasures, so I thought this would be a good choice all around.

The Porte de Vanves was an easy Metro ride from our neighborhood.  At the station we purchased a packet of 10 tickets (a carnet) for each couple at a ticket machine.  Rick Steves suggests buying packets of tickets (for a stay of less than a week) as opposed to the Passe Navigo, which sounds similar to the Oyster card in London, but requires a photo and isn't quite as user-friendly as the Oyster card.

So off on the Metro we went to the Porte of Vanves, and found the street of vendors.  After yearning to be here for oh-so-many years I couldn't believe I wasn't buying lots of great treasures.  In reality, there was lots of silver, lots of china and crystal, and lots of junky junk.  My soul was fed just walking through it all and watching the other shoppers.  I'll go back again someday for sure, and maybe find some special things to buy. 

Linda at the Porte of Vanves flea market

I'm happy just looking at all of this wonderful stuff!

We had lunch at a nearby cafe and headed back toward our neighborhood on the Metro.  We decided to get off nearer the Seine and walk along it for a bit. We passed by a few bridges, each unique in decoration.

I had read about the custom of attaching padlocks to the bridges in my friend Cheryl's blog Paris and Beyond 2012.  She talked about couples attaching a padlock to the metalwork on the bridge and tossing the key into the Seine to seal their love for each other.  There is one bridge known for lovers and one bridge known for committed love.  She said the lovers' bridge was loaded with locks, whereas the one pledging a commitment wasn't so crowded with locks.  I thought this sounded like a fun idea, so I bought two padlocks at home and had them in my day pack as we were out and about.  I couldn't remember which bridge was which, but when we came to a bridge with padlocks attached, I got out the locks so Linda and I could show the guys how much they meant to us.  And since we didn't really know which bridge we were locking our feelings to, we decided for us it would be a reflection of a lifetime commitment that still felt like a passionate love affair.  They were both touched by the sentiment. 

Tim and Linda pledging to stay together for another 40 years!

I'm not sure, but this might be the hot love affair bridge!

After the bridges we decided to hop on bus #69, which Rick Steves touts as a great way to see the city without paying for a bus tour.   He cautions against taking the bus on a hot day however, since the buses aren't air-conditioned, so we were foolish to do it!  We did see a lot of the city though, and enjoyed the ride, aside from the heat.  Maybe we wouldn't go on such a hot day again.  

Back at our apartment dinner was nice little beef filets wrapped in bacon from the local boucherie.  And lots of great wine, of course!