Missy's Blog: September 2013

We just returned from a 3 night stay in Normandy. What a great trip! Rob got here last week (yay!!!) and after a few days spent in Paris we picked up our rental car and headed to Normandy. Rob has always wanted to visit the D-Day beaches and we were all ready for a break from the city.

Our first stop was lunch in Honfleur, a charming port town in northern France. We spent some time wandering and then decided to eat. Mussels must have been in season, as every restaurant was serving them and the pot I got for 10E could have fed 4 people. They were tiny and sweet. The next stop was our hotel in Villers-Bocage. It was more of a manor house bed and breakfast and was surrounded by lovely grounds and farms. We enjoyed our first night unwinding with a picnic dinner outside and watched the kids play badminton.

The next morning after a great continental breakfast, we headed to Bayeux to start our D-Day beach visit. The Museum in Bayeux had a great exhibit and 30 minute movie that gave me and the kids a good introduction. We also watched some of the movie "The Longest Day" before we arrived - which helped a lot in our understanding of events. We then proceeded to walk along Omaha beach and later see the Pointe du Hoc where the American rangers climbed the cliffs. It was so moving and depressing to think about all of the lives lost, especially at the American cemetery. I had to keep reminding myself how much more depressing the alternative would have been.

Driving through the little towns in this area was delightful. Everything is so clean and uncluttered. At one point, we were getting a little hungry and a 'Snack' stand appeared on the side of the road. A typical frenchman (scarf, cigarette hanging out of his mouth) was waiting for his order and was obviously buddies with the owner so we ordered what he was having. It was called 'the Americain' and was basically narrow hamburgers on a baguette with lettuce, tomato, mustard, and french fries on top. Soooo good.

This second day also happened to be Conrad's birthday so of course we had to wrap it up with a little celebration. Our innkeeper, Annie, was kind enough to make us dinner which included aperitifs, salad, an entree of Normandy chicken and potatoes, a cheese course, an apple birthday tart, and a grand finale of her father's homemade Calvados. It was all so delicious and special. We asked Annie how long she owned the manoir and she explained it had always been in her family and she used to summer there as a child. We asked if WWII had caused any damage and she said no, the Germans did move into the house though and stole some of their belongings. The village of Villers-Bocage (less than a mile away) was leveled.

Sadly, we had to leave Annie and the Manoir de la Queue du Renard the following day and head towards Mont Saint-Michel. It is located in lower Normandy and is an island commune that has been a monastery since the 8th Century AD. This was my first time seeing the Mont and it is truly spectacular. I didn't realize there is also a cobbley town surrounding the abbey. Rob kept saying, "This is where Disney got all of his scenes from!"

For this part of the trip we stayed on a farm a short distance from the Mont. It was quiet and relaxing except for the mosquito onslaught that we suffered at bedtime. Did I forget to mention that this day was Bryn's birthday?! Yes my babies are 3 years and 1 day apart. Staying on the farm was the biggest treat for her with all of the chickens, bunnies and Homer ( pronounced Omair) the golden retriever. So we decided to not drag her out for a birthday dinner. Instead, we bought some provisions in town for a picnic dinner and hung out at the farm.

Day four consisted of driving back to Paris. Rob handled the driving expertly (although he did run one red light and got a parking ticket for leaving the car too long in Honfleur). We've already decided to train it to Germany in November. Enjoy the photos!

Scenes from Honfleur

Les moules meunieres.

Manoir de la Queue du Renard

View from our room.

Neighboring farms

Happy Birthday my sweet son!

Local cheeses.

Annie busting out the family calvados.

Snack stand.

on the Mont Saint-Michel

Abbaye of Mont Saint- Michel

the cloister

Happy Birthday farm girl!

View from our room.

Peaceful Omaha Beach.

Renting sailboats at the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Today the Parc Monceau Academy put down the books and had a field trip. We went to the Louvre. A little research told me that I could skip the line if I pre-purchased my ticket so I went to the billetterie at FNAC yesterday and did that. Kids under 18 are free so that was a bonus. My research also told me that pickpocketing has gotten so bad at the Louvre that the Louvre employees have had greves (strikes) to try to get something changed. Well, one mention of this and Conrad was preparing his backpack like Fort Knox. He padlocked the zippers on his Jansport and hid the key in his sock. We probably could have seen a whole section of the museum in the time it took to get out his iphone and to later put away his sweater. But it added a little excitement to the experience for him and that's all good in my book.
We took the metro to the Louvre and got there early. Piece of cake cutting to the front of the line and getting in. The Mona Lisa was number one on the kids' list so we made a bee line to it. I wanted the kids to see as much as possible as quickly as possible before they were worn out so we decided against the Nintendo DS guided tour that you can rent. We stopped to look at anything that caught their attention and read the descriptions. All of those were in french so I had a good challenge for the day.
Something new I caught on this trip that I hadn't seen before were Napoleon III's appartements and the collection of objets d'art ( fine china, vases etc.) We lasted about 4 hours and then the exhaustion and crabbiness crept it. All in all a great day. Enjoy the photos!