The weather was forecasted to be beautiful for the weekend, so we decided to take a day trip. After consulting with colleagues and the Tom Tom, we chose the Normandy region. The plan was to drive to the coast with stops along the way.
After an hour and a half of driving through the countryside, we came to the city of Rouen. We parked the car and walked, visiting two huge cathedrals and stopping for lunch at an outdoor café. The architecture was different from Paris, with brightly painted buildings and half-timbered walls. We thought it looked German, although who’s to say the Germans didn’t borrow it from the French?
After lunch we walked to the biggest cathedral, Notre Dame. We entered through a discreet side door and were taking photos when a guide came up and asked if we wanted a tour of the crypt with some other visitors. Of course our French is terrible, but we went for the view. It was pretty neat, we passed an iron gate into an alcove with a statue and stained glass window of Joan of Arc (who, in French, is called “Jeanne”). Behind the statue was a small set of stone stairs that led down to the crypt.
Once underground, our guide gave a small speech about the history of the cathedral. We understood that it’s built on Roman remains, but that’s about it. She showed us some relics from the old Roman cathedral in a small room that David had to stoop in. Really wish I knew what she was saying.
What we did hear a lot of was “couer”, which is “heart”. I later read that Richard the Lionheart’s heart is buried at the cathedral (who knows about the rest of his body).
After the tour and back on the ground level we started examining some weather-damaged statues when the tour guide came up and offered to show us more. I decided then to save her time and politely explain that we didn’t speak that much French. She laughed, knowing full well that we had just sat through her 20 minute tour without understanding most of the words.
The Notre Dame was one of the best cathedrals we’ve been to. It wasn’t very crowded, the architecture wasn’t too overbearing, and the lighting was beautiful (important for photos). Plus, there were numerous helpful guides around who were more than happy to explain things. In French, of course.
In the gift shop I learned that the cathedral was painted by Monet in one of his series (same subject in different light). In fact, we had seen a few paintings from the cathedral series at the Musee d’Orsay.
Right in front of the cathedral were a bunch of modern shops, so Dave indulged me by waiting on the steps of the church while I did a little shopping.
By then it was around 5:30. We weren’t quite ready to go home yet, so we asked the Tom Tom to take us to the nearest coastal city. Another hour and a half later we were in Le Havre, right on the Atlantic Ocean. We took a walk along the beach, which was really rocky and quite painful on the feet, so we returned to the boardwalk with the rest of the strollers.
The boardwalk was lined with small restaurants with terraces and we decided to have dinner in one. We both ordered the plat du jour, mussels marniere with fries. By the end of the meal we were getting too cold for dessert, so we walked back to the car accompanied by the sunset and drove home by eleven.
On Sunday I did the usual market trip, but this time the street was extra crowded due to the good weather and the upcoming election. The first of two presidential elections is next Sunday, and the campaigners were out in full force waving their paraphernalia in everyone’s faces. Last week I brought home a pamphlet about Sarkozy that Dave enjoyed reading, so this week I brought one home for the leading female candidate.
After the market I brought home the food and walked back to the bakery. Just as I got to the counter a fresh bin of baguettes was carried out. I received the first loaf from the batch, so hot I couldn’t even hold it. I had to wrap the little change purse around the paper to protect my hand. I ran all the way home and up the steps, burst into the apartment and ripped off a piece for each of us. After that I made sandwiches with the rest, and the warm bread melted the brie inside.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Bois de Boulogne again. Dave took a run and we both read. Over the
past week Paris spring had suddenly become Paris summer. This was further proven by the half dozen bug bites I found when we got home.
Our apartment doesn’t have air conditioning (neither does our car, for that matter), so we’ve kept the windows open for the past few days. It’s so wonderful to have a breeze flowing through. However, the French don’t use screens on their windows, and we’ve had to battle the occasional (sometimes frequent) fly. But the open windows are so nice, it’s like living on a porch.
After an hour and a half of driving through the countryside, we came to the city of Rouen. We parked the car and walked, visiting two huge cathedrals and stopping for lunch at an outdoor café. The architecture was different from Paris, with brightly painted buildings and half-timbered walls. We thought it looked German, although who’s to say the Germans didn’t borrow it from the French?
After lunch we walked to the biggest cathedral, Notre Dame. We entered through a discreet side door and were taking photos when a guide came up and asked if we wanted a tour of the crypt with some other visitors. Of course our French is terrible, but we went for the view. It was pretty neat, we passed an iron gate into an alcove with a statue and stained glass window of Joan of Arc (who, in French, is called “Jeanne”). Behind the statue was a small set of stone stairs that led down to the crypt.
Once underground, our guide gave a small speech about the history of the cathedral. We understood that it’s built on Roman remains, but that’s about it. She showed us some relics from the old Roman cathedral in a small room that David had to stoop in. Really wish I knew what she was saying.What we did hear a lot of was “couer”, which is “heart”. I later read that Richard the Lionheart’s heart is buried at the cathedral (who knows about the rest of his body).
After the tour and back on the ground level we started examining some weather-damaged statues when the tour guide came up and offered to show us more. I decided then to save her time and politely explain that we didn’t speak that much French. She laughed, knowing full well that we had just sat through her 20 minute tour without understanding most of the words.
The Notre Dame was one of the best cathedrals we’ve been to. It wasn’t very crowded, the architecture wasn’t too overbearing, and the lighting was beautiful (important for photos). Plus, there were numerous helpful guides around who were more than happy to explain things. In French, of course.
In the gift shop I learned that the cathedral was painted by Monet in one of his series (same subject in different light). In fact, we had seen a few paintings from the cathedral series at the Musee d’Orsay.
Right in front of the cathedral were a bunch of modern shops, so Dave indulged me by waiting on the steps of the church while I did a little shopping.
By then it was around 5:30. We weren’t quite ready to go home yet, so we asked the Tom Tom to take us to the nearest coastal city. Another hour and a half later we were in Le Havre, right on the Atlantic Ocean. We took a walk along the beach, which was really rocky and quite painful on the feet, so we returned to the boardwalk with the rest of the strollers.The boardwalk was lined with small restaurants with terraces and we decided to have dinner in one. We both ordered the plat du jour, mussels marniere with fries. By the end of the meal we were getting too cold for dessert, so we walked back to the car accompanied by the sunset and drove home by eleven.
On Sunday I did the usual market trip, but this time the street was extra crowded due to the good weather and the upcoming election. The first of two presidential elections is next Sunday, and the campaigners were out in full force waving their paraphernalia in everyone’s faces. Last week I brought home a pamphlet about Sarkozy that Dave enjoyed reading, so this week I brought one home for the leading female candidate.
After the market I brought home the food and walked back to the bakery. Just as I got to the counter a fresh bin of baguettes was carried out. I received the first loaf from the batch, so hot I couldn’t even hold it. I had to wrap the little change purse around the paper to protect my hand. I ran all the way home and up the steps, burst into the apartment and ripped off a piece for each of us. After that I made sandwiches with the rest, and the warm bread melted the brie inside.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Bois de Boulogne again. Dave took a run and we both read. Over the
past week Paris spring had suddenly become Paris summer. This was further proven by the half dozen bug bites I found when we got home.Our apartment doesn’t have air conditioning (neither does our car, for that matter), so we’ve kept the windows open for the past few days. It’s so wonderful to have a breeze flowing through. However, the French don’t use screens on their windows, and we’ve had to battle the occasional (sometimes frequent) fly. But the open windows are so nice, it’s like living on a porch.
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